Was It Something I Said? The Trap of High Self-Orientation
Interesting thing happened this week. Even though I’ve been at this business game for some time now – there are still these little gaps, where I fall victim to a little thing that I like to call the “trap of high self-orientation.” I started to doubt, to question if I had said or done something that would cause a potential client to not respond as quickly as we had during an earlier email exchange. Turned out to be all in my head, a self-inflicted ‘trap’ – if you will.
It got me thinking about the last time I reflected on this subject matter. So, here it is – a little insight into the psychology and the spirituality of getting off your S.
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It happened again yesterday. It happens about once a week, though I don’t generally notice it until later.
I had a proposal phone call with a potential client. It went well, but they came back a few days later with a concern. I responded at length in an email. The day ended. Another day passed. By then, it had begun to happen.
I started thinking, “Was it something I said? I’ve probably blown it. I knew I should have done X, I shouldn’t have done Y. On the other hand, maybe I should have…” and so on. You probably know how it goes.
I once kept track of these episodes for a month. There were ten of them in that month. And in 9 out of the 10 cases, the result was: the other person was just busy, that’s all. They weren’t thinking those negative things about me, in fact quite the contrary.
9 out of 10 times I was wrong. And not just about what they were thinking, but about how much time they spent on it.
Self-Orientation in Trust
The denominator in the Trust Equation is self-orientation (the numerator factors are credibility, reliability and intimacy). The higher your self-orientation, the lower your trustworthiness. The logic is simple: if you’re paying attention to the other person (client, customer, friend, spouse, whatever), then you’re probably interested in them, care about them, and have some positive intent toward them.
By contrast, if your attention is devoted inward, you will not be trusted. Why should you be? You’re obsessed with yourself. We trust people who appear to care, and who demonstrate that caring by paying attention. He who pays attention largely to himself is not the stuff of trusted advisors. (Note: you can take your own Trust Quotient quiz at the upper right of this page.)
Get Off Your S
For those of us who need catch-phrases to remember (count me in), here’s one: Get Off Your S. That is, stop being so self-oriented.
Here’s the psychology of it. You’re not as good as you think you are, you’re not as bad as you think you are–you just think more about yourself than others think about you. To live between your ears is to live in enemy territory. You empower what you fear. If you have a foot in yesterday and one in tomorrow, you’re set to pee on today. Blame is captivity. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.
Here’s the spirituality of it. To give is more blessed than to receive. To get what you want, focus on getting others what they want. Treat others as you’d wish they’d treat you. Pay it forward. Put change in a stranger’s parking meter. Do a good deed a day. Humility doesn’t mean thinking less of yourself, it means thinking of yourself less. Fear is lack of faith.
Here’s the business of it. Never Eat Alone. Listen before making recommendations. To get tweets, give tweets. Inbound marketing not outbound marketing. Customer focus. Customer service. Samples selling.
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Oh, and my potential client? They were just busy. They’re going to buy, they always were.
It’s not about you. It never is.
There’s an old aphorism that sits roughly parallel to this theme. “It’s very hard to get gracefully down off one’s high horse.”
In this instance, the “high horse” is more of an elevator of doubts…and the higher you ride it, the tougher it is to get down from there. Every doubt is yet another button stacked upon all the others. And there’s a kid in there mashing every button he can find!
Actually, as I started to read this, I *thought* you were going to head down the Dunning-Kruger train, so it was refreshing to see an alternate track being worn through this uncertain territory.
darn… where’s your ‘edit’ button! ‘Train’ very obviously should be ‘trail.’
There’s an old aphorism that sits roughly parallel to this theme. “It’s very hard to get gracefully down off one’s high horse.”
In this instance, the “high horse” is more of an elevator of doubts…and the higher you ride it, the tougher it is to get down from there. Every doubt is yet another button stacked upon all the others. And there’s a kid in there mashing every button he can find!
Actually, as I started to read this, I *thought* you were going to head down the Dunning-Kruger train, so it was refreshing to see an alternate track being worn through this uncertain territory.
darn… where’s your ‘edit’ button! ‘Train’ very obviously should be ‘trail.’
self orientation does not mean only care about yourself. it maybe means balance ur heart. Taking care of urself is not the oppositive side of caring for other people. at the same time.Do not give definition too quick maybe is good
Shanshan. I happen to completely agree with your view that self-orientation means much more than only caring about yourself. In fact, I’ve written many articles to that effect over the years. Which means that your accusation of “do not give definition too quick” is off base. Maybe you should “read first before write.”
self orientation does not mean only care about yourself. it maybe means balance ur heart. Taking care of urself is not the oppositive side of caring for other people. at the same time.Do not give definition too quick maybe is good
Shanshan. I happen to completely agree with your view that self-orientation means much more than only caring about yourself. In fact, I’ve written many articles to that effect over the years. Which means that your accusation of “do not give definition too quick” is off base. Maybe you should “read first before write.”
Have to uncover a very good astrologer to do my chart – something I had completed
a lengthy extended time ago and have considering that lost.
Have to uncover a very good astrologer to do my chart – something I had completed
a lengthy extended time ago and have considering that lost.