Although the book How to Organize People is not a recent publication, as it happens with the great and very current manuals of the master of teachers Dale Carnegie, among others, I often use some of his valuable contributions to support my conferences on the development of Organizational communication skills and active listening, sheltered under the same title as this article. These retro glimpses are, paradoxically, refreshing, as they help us to take some distance from the information and documentary avalanche, sometimes laden with snobbery, and bring us back to the perennial formulas of success and prosperity in the business and business world. business.
John Naisbitt, the author of Macro Trends, had no praise at the time for this magnificent work: "Mary Kay's judicious guide to the new people-centered administration is a wonderful antidote to all those boring administration textbooks."
Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, a leading company in the beauty products market, with hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic and successful consultants around the world in the early 1980s, was successful in referring in depth to the fascinating and not very practiced talent of knowing how to listen. My first intention was to write a few notes related to the rumor and the misunderstandings in the organizations, but when reviewing the mentioned notes, extracted from the very pure day-to-day life of this outstanding “business woman”, I changed my mind.
I even leafed through the book again and rejoiced with such inspiring ideas like these:
"Dedicated to all those who still believe that people and pride are the two main assets in building a thriving business." 2. “Our criteria of caring for people has never conflicted with our needs as a profit-making company. Yes, we keep our eyes on earnings, but that has not become an imperative obsession. For me, P&G does not only mean 'Profit and Loss'… They also mean 'People and Gratuities'
I assume the commitment, in future articles, to expand on other powerful and keen appreciations of Mrs. Kay about how to organize people, but for now I will leave you the announced notes on the underrated but essential ability to listen actively and effectively:
1. At school they taught us to read, write and (maybe) to speak… But they never taught us to listen. However, while listening may be the most underrated of all communication skills, it is a fact that good employee coaches listen more than they speak.
2. A large corporation hired an administrator to fill the position of sales manager, but little did it know about the specifics of the business. When the company's salesmen came to him to ask him questions, there wasn't much he could answer them… However, the man really knew how to listen…
3.… No matter what they asked him, he answered them: what do you think should be done? And they came up with the solution themselves. He replied that he agreed and they left happily, thinking that the new manager was a fantastic thing.
4. THAT IS A TRUE LISTENING TECHNIQUE.
5. Mary Kay says: “Many of the problems I hear do not require that I offer solutions. I resolve most of them simply by listening to them and letting the grieving party vent. If I listen enough, the person will usually come up with a suitable solution.
6. If I am talking to someone in a crowded room, I try to make that person feel like we are the only ones present and close myself off to everyone else. I look directly at that person. If a gorilla were to enter the room, he probably wouldn't notice it. "
7. People can be distracted by their smallest prejudices. Perhaps you are irritated by a certain accent. I know Southerners who can't stand the New York accent, and New Yorkers who feel the same way about the Southern accent. As a consequence, they let something as insignificant as that distract them from the value of someone else's thoughts.
8. Listening will always be one of the highest priorities of our organization.
9. Today, our large sales organization is an invaluable resource that we turn to for new ideas. We continually put ourselves in communication with our beauty consultants to inform us, from their point of view, what is happening in the field.
10. Although many companies have the opportunity to listen to members of their sales force, many fail to meet such a requirement. On one occasion, a highly successful life insurance agent confided in me that his company totally ignores what its representatives say to people in the main office…
11…. "I no longer bother even making suggestions," he said, "because they don't pay the least attention to what I or any other agent has to say…
12…. Whenever he offered any idea in favor of a certain change, those of our sales department limited themselves to saying: you keep selling and let us worry about the types of policies we offer… We have all kinds of experts to prepare the policies. Don't even waste your time thinking about it. Do your job and let us do ours… ”.
13. That insurance company not only lacked vision, failing to take advantage of some potentially good suggestions, but in the process was also damaging the morale of the members of its sales force.
14. Mary Kay says: “In our organization we listen very carefully to what people have to say, but even more important is the action we take in response to what we have heard. This act of action consists of:
- Analyze the technicality and procedural applicability of a possible solution. Test the solution with target groups. Bring the results to the general body of associates. Get everyone's support. Carry out any necessary changes.
15. Mary Kay says: “I have spoken on the phone with people who were on the other side of the world and I have felt the enthusiasm they generated. Salespeople who stand out from the phone are the best proof that enthusiasm can be successfully conveyed simply by voice. ”
Medellín, January 28, 2007 will go to the clouds !.
