Excerpted from Business Black Belt by Burke Franklin
Beware of extremes
In the past, I’ve often used examples of extreme situations to illustrate a point. The mistake I made was not to state that it was an extreme example of how something is or might be a worst-case scenario that only happens one percent of the time, or has a 1-in-10,000 chance of happening. Instead, I used an extreme example without qualifying it, mostly just to be funny or gross. The problem was that people mistook me or developed a perception about me that I was negative or off the wall.
While we’re on the subject of credibility, I’ll address sarcasm. You may use sarcasm to be funny. Maybe you think that you’re above it all; your off-handed sarcastic commentary demonstrates such mastery of the subject that you can afford to be funny. The danger with sarcasm is that people often cannot distinguish it from your true intent. They may take you seriously, with detrimental implications, or perceive that you’re a jerk. I discovered this when someone was sarcastic with me. I wasn’t sure what he meant. I didn’t get it. From this experience, I realized that I was sarcastic a lot of the time, and I realized why people weren’t paying attention to me or understanding what I really meant. If you’re always joking, when do people take you seriously? Besides, sarcasm is usually negative and puts people off.
Remember, qualifying your advice will keep you conscious of the quality of the advice you are giving; if you can’t qualify it, then it’s probably not worth mentioning. This will prevent you from steering people wrong, being taken seriously when you are joking, or being perceived as a fool when you are serious.
Business Black Belt Notes
In the past, I’ve often used examples of extreme situations to illustrate a point. The mistake I made was not to state that it was an extreme example of how something is or might be a worst-case scenario that only happens one percent of the time, or has a 1-in-10,000 chance of happening. Instead, I used an extreme example without qualifying it, mostly just to be funny or gross. The problem was that people mistook me or developed a perception about me that I was negative or off the wall.
While we’re on the subject of credibility, I’ll address sarcasm. You may use sarcasm to be funny. Maybe you think that you’re above it all; your off-handed sarcastic commentary demonstrates such mastery of the subject that you can afford to be funny. The danger with sarcasm is that people often cannot distinguish it from your true intent. They may take you seriously, with detrimental implications, or perceive that you’re a jerk. I discovered this when someone was sarcastic with me. I wasn’t sure what he meant. I didn’t get it. From this experience, I realized that I was sarcastic a lot of the time, and I realized why people weren’t paying attention to me or understanding what I really meant. If you’re always joking, when do people take you seriously? Besides, sarcasm is usually negative and puts people off.
Remember, qualifying your advice will keep you conscious of the quality of the advice you are giving; if you can’t qualify it, then it’s probably not worth mentioning. This will prevent you from steering people wrong, being taken seriously when you are joking, or being perceived as a fool when you are serious.
Business Black Belt Notes
- Question the source of people’s advice. Are they credible?
- Ask, “How do you know that?”
- Choose advice givers carefully. Don’t ask everyone for their opinions.
- Did the advice giver have a direct experience? How well did it work?
- Is this person successful in general or successful with the recommendation?
- Pass along the source of your own advice to build and preserve your credibility.
- When you are doing the advising, play it straight.
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Continue... to part 3: I Can't Believe You Asked That
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