Healthy collaboration is a necessity for almost any endeavor.
We need peers, partners – and bosses – to do our best work and accomplish big things.
And let’s face it, our bosses (or clients) are the most important ones to enlist – and please. They are the ones that evaluate performance and decide things like perks, promotions and compensation.
Renowned expert and author on persuasion and influence, Dr. Robert Cialdini, says in a recent Forbes article that one small adjustment in how you ask for help can make all the difference:
“Ask your boss for advice concerning your planned work, not for opinions or expectations regarding it. It turns out that evaluators who are asked to provide advice (versus opinions or expectations) on a plan are put in a cooperative state of mind before they even experience the plan, which makes them more favorable to it when they then do encounter it. There’s a saying, ‘When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice. I’d only add on the basis of scientific evidence that, if we get that advice, we usually get that accomplice. And what better abettor to have on a project than someone in charge?”
Advice is the better ask because it has a higher meaning. Advice is an opinion recommended or offered, plus, there is an automatic assumption that it is worthy to be followed.
If you want to gain an accomplice – a true partner – ask for advice.
Have a great week.
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