Influencing Powerful People #9
This week’s Dirk Schlimm quote
“Remember that powerful people identify greatly with their work and their enterprise. They expect the same from you. Show them that you take your work seriously and that you are striving to make a contribution, rather than just do a job.”
As I re-read this quote, I think of heroes I admire and how I feel when I hear people bad-mouthing those heroes. I remember people obsessing about and picking away at heroes’ faults. As examples, I think about:
- people criticizing Bill Gates’ autocratic style [while ignoring the fact this man is the force behind mega-$Billion charitable donations]
- people criticizing Winston Churchill’s autocratic style [while ignoring the fact this man wrote and delivered some of the most-influential messages known to man]
- people criticizing their bosses [while ignoring the fact these bosses, certainly, must have at least one good quality which could be discussed from time to time]
About business leaders
As we watch and listen to business leaders, we can keep Dirk’s advice in mind. Business leaders and business bosses possess various levels of power in their workplaces. Every leader possesses, at least, some power. So, we have plenty of opportunities to make use of Dirk’s advice.
While many leaders are ‘driven’ and that can be troubling or off-putting to less-driven people, we can always find positive attributes in the people we work with.
For example –
I have never met a business leader, including the bad ones, who did not exhibit superior skills in the area of attention to detail. [A link to a little article I wrote a few years ago.]
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