From The Vault: Fast-Track People Skills You Can Use Tomorrow #74

After all, all art is experience.

Hello and welcome to The Company Doctor. This week we're going back in time to bring you an episode from the vaults all about how to hone your people skills. This is one of those episodes which gets increasingly important every year and with every new tech development designed to automate our communication. So we thought it was high time to put this popular episode back on your radars. This is Fast Track People Skills You Can Use Tomorrow.

Gary, hello, and how are you doing?

I thought you were going to say something else there. You were like launching in.

Yeah, I was going to string it on. I was going to talk about what a lovely sunny day it is, but I just thought, no, I'll cut to the chase.

Well, the problem is by the time people listen to this episode, it will be raining and the flowers will be growing. So don't worry.

Yeah, you're right.

So the last couple of episodes have gone crazy and just, you know, we're kind of moving on with the topics.

Exactly. Sticking to stuff which we know people are finding interesting. So, yeah. And today I'm very excited to be learning all about how I can make people like me more, because for me personally, it's something which, you know—

Well, we'll do our best, George. I mean, you know, miracles take a little bit longer and all that. But the title today is Fast Track People Skills That You Can Use Tomorrow. And because it's a big topic, I think a lot of people listening to this have been on the course, you know, 'How do you learn how to increase your people skills?' And they go through the motions. Think of this as the kind of Nigella Lawson cookery cheats, but about people skills. I'm not going to teach you how to cook in a sexy way. Well, I don't know about that, but because obviously this is a really big topic and people know stuff, we're not— we're trying to remind people of things but give them stuff they can use tomorrow. So it's going to be really practical. It's not the full answer to being a super, superhuman people skills person, but As always, we'll be practical, to the point, and there's going to be 5 topics today. And then in another episode, not necessarily in the next one, but in another episode, we'll do part 2. So we're going to entice you, use these 5, see how you get on, and then we'll let people hear the next 5. How does that sound?

Sounds wonderful. And presumably, you know, this is stuff which we can use on a day-to-day basis in any sort of social situation. But specifically in this case, I guess we're going to be talking about in a professional capacity. These people skills.

Yeah, people skills hopefully transcend into daily life. You could try these tonight when you get home, but they are designed for people in business, in the business world, but you know, listen, it's for everything. So, you know, let's kick off and get into them. By the way, there's a fly that has decided that it wants to feature in this episode. So let's see if we can include him or her.

Maybe that's the guest. This is the fly.

Yeah. The fly on the wall documentary. Here we go. Oh, hey. Good. So before we get started, because I know you're pretty keen, you're going to ask me these really difficult questions. I just think it's important to lay this out there, that it's human nature for people to know why people do things. This is kind of the backdrop before we get started, because when you know why and how people will react, then you kind of cracked it, right? And so that's the lens that I want to look through in this episode, and to realize also that— and you're going to be surprised to hear this— that people are more interested in themselves than you. Not you, But sure, and here's— I'll give you an example. If I took out your school photo, who would you look for in the school photo?

Myself.

George, I can't believe— yeah, so there's— I would as well. I'd say there's me with my hair, and that's what people do.

In the same way that if you're on a Zoom call, you're looking at yourself most of the time, aren't you?

You're just making sure that you're looking when you want to do something with those. You may well be, but to be honest, it's not something I do. But yeah, good for you. So Let's kick off. We've got 5 to get through. Yeah. I'll start with the first one, which is, you said at the beginning actually, is getting people to like you. Yeah. And people do like you, by the way. So you obviously, you're doing this well. And for people listening, you know what, they're going to be thinking, well, people like me and that's fine. I'm not saying that people don't, aren't good at this stuff, but we're just going to give a few extra tips. And I want to talk about how to get people to like you as part of the first impression. Yeah. And I just want to create this kind of energy and rapport that really makes it work. Is that okay? Yeah, absolutely. Can you hear the fly that's trying to get in the episode?

No, you're all right. No, all good.

Okay, so, you know, I think the first thing to say is, you know, first impressions unfortunately count. We're in a kind of a hybrid world right now, so it doesn't— it might be a Zoom impression, which is slightly more difficult, but let's think about meeting people again. And I want to just give people an idea about creating energy and what that means. None of this is fake. This is all kind of being natural. But I was going to say the other day, but it was probably longer ago than I realized. I went to the Avis counter. Sorry about the advertising plug. And I said, hello, lovely Avis person. I've come to collect my car. And the woman stopped me and she said, stop a minute. She said, you're the first person that's ever said that. Normally people complain and bitch at me. Thank you so much for being so nice. I wasn't doing it to be nice. I was just trying to create an energy. Yeah, and you know, getting people to like you, yeah, has to be natural for you because you might be an introvert and think, well, hold on a minute, I'm not doing that. But just to be genuinely interested in people and interested in meeting and finding out about people, I think is an important first step.

Okay, and does that sort of take practice? Is that something which you have to work at? Because you say, you know, if you're not naturally outgoing, and would you recommend sort of just trying a little bit to be a little bit more sort of showy and—

Yeah, for people that can't see what you're doing, which is everybody, uh, George is showing me jazz hands. You don't have to do jazz hands.

That's how I make my friends.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you make friends by being jazzy. You do. And what I would say to you is it doesn't— we're not trying to get everyone to be mad people here, but just up a little notch from where you normally are. So slightly exaggerate your normal self, but also just be thinking a bit differently. Here's an example. Here's a surprise opening when I meet someone that always has a reaction and is genuine. Okay, so someone will say to me— you're gonna ask me how I am today, George.

Gary, how are you?

Oh, thanks for asking. I'm amazing. Yeah, or I say I'm fantastic. Those are the two things I'll say. I'm either amazing or fantastic. I don't say not bad. Yeah, yeah, considering it's a Friday, it's all right, even though I'm probably feeling like that. I just say it's amazing or fantastic.

It's an unusual response, that, isn't it? Because so many times, and I know that my go-to, people say, how are you? I'm like, oh, not bad, not bad. You know, it could be worse. But if you, yeah, I think as soon as you say you're amazing, I'm amazing, I'm fantastic.

Or fantastic, just try it and just pause and watch. And honestly, that is your key in. You've raised the energy, you've stood out a little bit. It's the start of people getting to like you. Okay. The next thing connected, and I say this very carefully, is you've got, if you can smile at people, it transmits.

Transmits what?

Yeah, exactly. So you have to be careful not to be a bit of a weirdo, but if you're on the train and you smile at people randomly, then be careful. Sure. But try this as an experiment on Zoom with someone you know. But just smile at someone and they smile back because our natural face is not to smile. I'm not saying like a village idiot or anything, but if you smile at people, it transmits. So if you've got a bit of energy and you're generally going to take an interest in other people and you smile, then you're on your way to getting people to like you. And bear in mind, I'm thinking about where I don't meet someone for very long, or I don't know them that well, or I'm meeting them for the first time, I'm just trying to be, just stand out a little bit more.

Why does that work, Gary? What's the, is that just because it puts them in a place of sort of positivity and happiness?

I've got to be careful what I say really, but I think a lot of people on the receiving end of someone quite grumpy, and you know, we've all had a bit of a difficult year and a half, and it just stands out and makes people feel good. I do it naturally because I genuinely like meeting people and and it creates energy and people remember me. I do get a lot of free things, but that's not why I do it. I've spoken on another episode about it. I was in Devon recently and I just went to get a crab sandwich. It was nothing significant, but I was like, oh, hi. I can't remember the name of the company, the crab people. Yeah. How are you today? It was just as simple as that. And the woman loaded up my sandwich like you wouldn't believe. And then the other thing is just connected to this is just look for clues so that you can try and connect to that person and make them feel a bit more important. Which is, sorry to say this, name badges, name necklaces, name anything, but not in the trite way. But I try to use their name if I can, but not overuse it. George. If I keep saying George all the time, which I think I might do, actually.

Yeah, here we go.

So I think the final thing on this point, because we've got 4 more topics to go through, is take an interest in them. It's not about you, us.. And to do that, if you ask people questions about them rather than, you know, it's very easy to get into a conversation talking about ourselves, but if you can quickly turn that to just talking about them, not an interrogation but just a genuine interest, then the combination of those things will get people to like you initially.

That is something that you have to sort of train yourself to do, and I know that I sort of, there's a little switch that I have to flip every now and again when I'm talking to someone. I realize that I've been banging on about myself for ages and I have to consciously remind myself to ask loads of questions of the other person.

Yeah, exactly. And the test of that is, I think, if you've ever spoken to someone where you do talk about them and they spoke about themselves the whole time, they said, that was such an interesting conversation.

Yeah, yeah, I had a great time.

They had a great time, and good for them, but you did because you're genuinely interested in that. Yeah, that makes sense. Okay, so tip number 1 is, if you— the foundation, bear in mind, human nature is we need to know why people do things, and You need to know why and how people will react. If you can get them to like you, there's a bridge to everything else I'm going to cover. It's a good start. If they don't like you, the rest of it doesn't matter, to be honest. Now, it doesn't mean you have to be lovely to everyone, by the way. Yeah. Like a happy valley and I'm going to be lovely, but it's a good start. Okay. So good?

That's good. That's the good— that's the gateway, isn't it? You start with that.

That's the gateway. Yeah. It's the gateway. Cool. Ready for topic number 2?

Yeah. I'm ready.

You look like you're ready. I like it. The good news is because this topic number 2 is how to convince people. I got you to say yes to topic number 2, so that worked.

Consider me convinced.

Yeah. And this is, I'm going to give people some tips. Now bear in mind that I want to give you stuff you can use tomorrow. By the way, you can get out your people skills book. One of my favorite books is How to Win Friends and Influence People. I guess that's the foundation book for everything. If you look at any other book that's been written, that was written in 1925. I think you'll find that they'll link back to that. But the important thing is, in, in convincing people, there's two parts. The first part is knowing what people want, because if you know what people want, then it's not manipulation, but it's a good start in the right direction. That's why people that are bad at selling generally try and sell people features and benefits when they don't take the time to understand what people want. If you want to convince someone, I don't mean in a sales role, then you need to understand what they want and therefore what they want to hear. You with me so far?

How do you go about finding that out? Yeah, how do you find out?

Well, it comes back to the first part where you're going to talk to people and ask some questions. Right. And find out about them or do research in advance if you have the opportunity and it's not a spontaneous meeting.

Yeah.

But this is a good question because the secret is, and this is my how to use this tomorrow, If you know what people want, then you can tell them what they want to hear, and then you use their desires to move them. So it's like a bit of a chess move.

It's like, yeah, yeah, strategy.

I know what you want. I'm not just going to say what you want to hear, but I'm kind of tuned into your language, and then I'm going to use your goals to talk in terms of moving. If I want to move you in a certain direction, I'm going to use your desires to move you. What do you think of that?

I like it. Sort of using someone's own power against them in a way, but in a positive way, not sort of, you know, for them. Yeah, that's what I mean.

That's what you mean.

Yes, absolutely.

And basically what you're doing is you're showing interest in their interest. Yeah.

Well, I suppose you want to show that you have common interests, right?

This is my t-shirt moment.

Okay.

Show interest in their interest. Nice. Or speak their language, if you, you know, there's another way of putting it. Because what you're trying to do is make it, you're trying to make a connection with them.

Yeah.

And I've got a little bit of a secret face. I've got two parts to this. I'm going to move on a bit. But if I'm in a predicament, I need someone to get something done. You know, sometimes you phone someone up and you need them to help you in there. Less than helpful. I have a secret phrase, which is my thing you can use tomorrow piece. And here's my secret phrase: I understand if you can't, but I really appreciate it if you can. I understand if you can't, but I really appreciate it if you can. If I'm asking someone to help me do something, there's— it's a, I would say, 80% success rate. People don't want to let you down.

Yeah, yeah, that's great.

Okay, so, so the first part is knowing what people want, telling what they want to hear, using their desires to move them. Showing an interest in them, speaking their language, connecting. And the networking episode is a great backdrop in connecting, so we won't repeat it. And then the secret phrase that we've got there. The second part is, it's human nature for people to be skeptical of us, of you, especially when you say things that are to your own advantage. So if I'm trying to sell you something, I would tell you that it's the best thing since sliced bread. And of course I would say that. So people are naturally skeptical. So my advice is just take a completely different path. If people are skeptical of you trying to convince them because it sounds like you're selling to them, take a different path, which is let other people make the statement for you. And what I mean by that is if you always talk through a third party in order to leverage convincing people, it really has a really powerful effect. A good example would be my neighbor ' Bought this electric car recently,' and he said it was really— it was better than he thought it was going to be.

I see. Rather than I'm saying, 'Yeah, yeah, I bought this electric car and it was an amazing thing.' That's interesting because I saw that point written down in the sort of pre-prepared notes that you sent me, and thanks again for those.

And they were neat, right?

They're really neat.

Yeah, really legible.

And I wasn't quite sure what that point was going to be, and that makes perfect sense. And it's a really good tip, that, because you're right, the minute you start talking about what I think and what I believe. People just think you're just doing— you're just out to sort of— you're out to convince them, which of course you are, but it just, it makes it way more obvious. But you divert that through someone else and it works.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. So it could be— and that's what happens, why reference selling works, why someone else, you know, when you read TripAdvisor reports, it's someone else's comment, not yours. Yeah, it seems to have a power. So the thing to think through is people don't have the slightest doubt when you tell them indirectly it's true. So they do have a doubt, have less of a doubt than if you tell them directly. I always talk in third party. It could be in a sales situation, in a, in a leadership situation, trying to convince anyone to do anything. I just talk about someone else. That's why references work. References work because it's third party. Yeah. So that's topic number 2. Are you convinced?

Nailed it. Yeah, convinced.

Are you convinced? I'm convinced. You're convinced? I'm convinced, George. Other people tell me that when you're convinced, everyone is convinced.

My neighbor said to me that I was—

Your neighbor, exactly. There's going to be a lot of neighbor stories coming out. Okay, let's go to topic number 3. So topic number 3 is something that I know a lot of people have been nodding when I talk about this, which is alignment, not agreement. Let's stop disagreeing with things that are not important and start finding a path to making things work and making progress. Now, in corporate life, we spend so much time trying to be right. And everything's not green and we disagree. Now, I'm not saying capitulate, but just think about this. Could you align rather than agree on something? Not everything, because sometimes you can't and it's not right to, but could you align rather than agree? Because if you can ask yourself, on that particular point, I can align, if the answer is yes, just do it because you've moved forward. Nothing has to be perfect. You can always change it later. Okay. And I'm not suggesting that we give in and we capitulate.

Yeah.

But here's my example, right? Have you ever driven? Oh, you don't drive. Have you ever gone down a— sorry about that. That was a low blow. Have you ever gone down with someone else down a narrow street and then there was a car coming the other way?

Yeah.

And both parties decided to just stop. I mean, I was here first, so I'm not going back. Yeah. I mean, I was here before them. And everyone sits down and then we fold our arms and no one's moving anywhere. My suggestion is this: be the bigger person, just reverse back, you know? Because if you want to carry on your journey down this little narrow road when you're driving, then you should do it. So in proportion, let's spend more time aligning, not agreeing. What do you think of that?

Yeah, I like it. I should add that I can drive and I do have a license, but I just don't that much.

You choose not to. That's your choice.

That's my choice. Yeah.

I need to be careful. My neighbor had the same trouble as you and they found that when they started I used to drive and they got real confident. Anyway, just change subject.

Alignment and agreement. I was wondering if you could— what the difference is between those two, because do you mean align as in I'll go with it? I don't necessarily love the idea of it, but I'll go along with it for the ease of the entire situation. Is that alignment?

Well, no, not that's good. Probably capitulating. I'm thinking about you come up with an idea and I can kind of go along with some of it, or I can find a way to work with that.

Right.

But it's not completely what I wanted. But you know what, it's 70% what I wanted, so— or 60%. Yeah, so I'll align to you and I'll agree to— I'm not going to combat you and tell everyone you're an idiot. Yeah, I'll just go with it because it's, it's okay. It's not brilliant, but it's okay. But at least we all move forward. I'm not talking about capitulation.

Yeah, because otherwise you'll end up being a sort of people pleaser and just agreeing with everything, right?

Exactly. And then in conversations, if you're in a meeting and you want someone to agree with you, and this is a bit of a trick, so this is something to use tomorrow. When someone says something, try saying this: I absolutely agree with you, George. Can we also consider blah blah blah blah blah? Yeah, yeah. Not that— no, I disagree.

Yeah.

What is it when I say that? How do you feel? I disagree with you, George.

A bit upset, if I'm honest.

Yeah, you think I'm a bit of an arse, right?

Yeah.

I totally agree with what you're saying, George. Have you also— can we also consider this? Because sometimes blah blah blah. That's good.

It feels like we're on the same team, which is good. That's definitely a good takeaway too.

Automatically it feels, I'm not being manipulative because I'm not just going to— so if you ever go to this one very big company, I won't mention their name, but they actually teach their leaders to say, I agree with everything you're saying, but yeah, I'm very uncomfortable with that personally. Yeah, I totally agree with what you're saying, George. Can we also consider Yeah, that is way better. That is much collaborative, isn't it?

Much more friendly. And yeah, I mean, I've been on a training thing in the past where I say, I was told, don't say no, say yes, but. But I think that's wrong as well. I think your suggestion here is superior.

Yeah, because but can have one, two, or three, right? And that's not great. Thank you. So good. Let's move on to topic 4. Are you ready for topic 4? I'm ready. That's a great answer. Thank you very much. So topic 4 is about asking or listening. Here's the classic one, right? Listen more. Stop getting clouded by focusing on what you have to say and listen with intent. Because here's the problem. A lot of people spend so much time not really listening. They're just more worried about trying to get their point across and the world goes by and we miss out. It's a bit like people that spend more time taking photos of what's going on on their holiday rather than actually taking it in. Yep. So, you know, asking questions is imperative because if you don't ask good questions, you won't have something interesting to listen to.

Well, I suppose that's just great conversational advice anyway. And also, I think a lot of people fall into the trap of figuring out what they're going to say next rather than listening to what the person is saying.

Exactly. I'm going to give you a tip for that one because that is a problem that people are— they're so focused, they're just not listening. Yeah. And part of the problem is that good listening is a challenge and kind of good listeners are quite rare because of that. And so the answer to that is to ask good questions because good questions elicit a degree of trust. If you ask me good questions and you show genuine interest, a genuine one.

Yeah.

Back to the first point, I'm going to like you more because you're a good bloke and you seem to be interested in what I have to say. But as you said, sometimes we're so busy thinking about the next question, we don't listen to the answer. Yeah. So I'm going to give you a bit of a tip for that one. That's my what you can do tomorrow. Okay, great. Is forget the next question. Okay, you're looking— by the way, for those of you who can't see George, which is all of you, he's looking shocked now. Horrified. Yeah, forget the next question. Think about the answer to the question they just gave you and use that as the next question, because then you have to listen to what they're saying to have something to say next. But it's connected to what that person's just told you.

Okay, so you sort of have to, you have to hear what they're saying in order to generate that next question.

Yeah, if you're not worried about panicking, like, what am I gonna ask them next? I just need to listen to you and I'm gonna ask you a question based on that. So tell me, George, you were saying about the driving, what does that mean to you? Or how does that work for you? Or whatever.

No, sure, makes me sad, but yeah. Yeah, no, for sure. And I think also, I suppose you could also say that you can feel free to take time over asking these questions as well. I think sometimes in conversation, again, something which I'm guilty of, I feel like as soon as someone finishes talking, I then instantly have to dive in with a sort of probing question, whereas actually you can sort of mull over it. You can take your time over asking these questions.

Definitely. So, you know, and there's another benefit because if you're able to feedback keywords and phrases used by people, then again, it's just to show that you're really genuine, you're properly listening, because listening means I'm genuinely listening. I'm not just, I speak, you speak, because when I speak, you speak, you might as well not be there. For sure. And then in order to listen better, use their words rather than our words. If you're a manager or you're just working with a function or working in any situation or you're in sales, it doesn't matter. Being able to use their words and language is respectful but powerful. Because otherwise you're not speaking their language and you're missing the chance to connect.

And you can only do that if you're listening properly, right? You can only use the language and the sort of the sentiment that someone else is using if you're listening properly.

Exactly. And what some people would do is they'll translate what they think that person means, and that's actually a miss if you do that.

Yeah, yeah, it's quite insulting, isn't it?

Well, yeah, it can be, but sometimes it's fine, but you've just kind of missed the chance to connect because they'll say wheelbarrow, and you'll say something else.

Bucket on wheels.

Bucket on wheels. And they'll go, what? I don't even know what you're talking about. So, yeah, just in summary, make it a goal to really hear what people are saying and use that as a basis of your next question. That's the best way to be a listener. If you care enough about people, you want to understand it, right? Yeah.

And even if you don't, if you're not an expert in what they're talking about, I suppose that's even more of a reason to ask questions, find out more about them.

And I think some people struggle with that because they think if I ask something, I'll look stupid. Yeah. But you won't, because you could say, I don't think I'm stupid, I'm just generally interested in how that works. Yeah, that makes sense.

It does, it makes perfect sense.

So are you ready for the last topic, George? I'm ready. It's the big one.

Lay it on me.

The last one is making people feel important, and the reason we've kind of got this at the end is it kind of is a strong link from listening. And so I want to cover some tips to make people feel important when they're around you. Including their language, and complimenting them without being awkward or a little bit creepy. Yeah. So here's the secret: there is a human desire to be important and be recognized. That's the foundation. It's the foundation of all of this, actually. There's a human desire to be important and be recognized. Once you get that, then everything else makes sense. All these things are connected, by the way. Yeah, yeah. So everyone wants to be treated as a somebody. Nobody wants to be treated as nobody. If I say that, does that sound obvious?

It does, but it also is worth remembering. It's something which you should definitely keep in mind. And I think that we know that about ourselves, but we forget that that is also true of everybody else.

And that's the thing. So, you know, everybody wants to be treated as somebody, but have you ever been in a situation where someone didn't treat someone like a somebody? You know, sometimes it's by status or job description or how senior you are, but actually Everybody wants to be treated as somebody. No one wants to be a nobody.

No, for sure.

So why do we treat people that way sometimes? Doesn't make sense. So the more important you make people feel, the more they like you and the more they respond.

Yeah, that adds up. And how do you go about doing that?

So, you know, there's a couple of ways of doing this, and there's loads of books written about this. I'm just going to pick up a few because I want people to be able to put this into practice tomorrow. The first one is use people's names, you know. Using people's names creates a connection. It has to be genuine. As I say, don't overuse, yeah, George, yeah, George. But if you use people's names, there's loads of opportunities. I'm always looking at clues for finding out what their names are. If I don't know their name, I'll ask them. Yeah, I remember once actually someone told me their name a few times and I'd forgotten. I wasn't listening and I thought, how am I going to find out this person's name? So I said, tell me how you spell your name. And he said, Ian. I-A-N. So don't do that. So use their names. The second one is use their words and language. We've spoken about it before, but if you want to make someone feel important, use their language. Because if you read back, so what you're saying is blah blah blah blah. Yeah, yeah, exactly. You're listening to me, you get it. And then the third one, and again you have to be careful how you use this, is to compliment them genuinely and talk to them about them. You know, I met someone earlier who's a really good organizer and has so much passion, and I said, I'd really enjoyed talking to you, your passion's amazing. Where'd you get your passion from? You know, where did it come from, your parents, or where did you get it? Yeah, yeah. And so it was genuine because I really felt lifted after speaking to them. But if you can compliment someone genuinely, yeah, and talk to them about them, you're making them feel important and using their names.

Yeah, that's great. And I've seen it in action and obviously you recognise it when someone's doing that to you, but it doesn't matter. I think, you know, some people do it naturally, some people probably do sort of switch it on a little bit, but either way it works. And, you know, having been on the receiving end, it's still nice to be sort of valued and treated as somebody, as you say.

Definitely. And then the final one is kind of connected to what we've spoken about, is pay attention to everyone, especially in a group. So what tends to happen is it's easier to pay attention to people that are louder. So if you're in a group or, you know, someone who's kind of very confident and maybe a bit of an extrovert, and it's easy to mistake introverts as people that can't contribute, and it's absolutely not true. So pay attention to everyone, and if you see someone is struggling to participate, ask them, include them in, in the conversation. Yeah. And definitely when you're saying hello, goodbye, and there's a group of people Always include everybody, and that makes people feel part of whoever they are, wherever their level are, right?

That's great.

How does that sound?

That sounds good. Yeah, I was thinking of an example of using the— because the complimenting one is a bit of a tricky one, isn't it? But I think it can be as simple as, you know, for those that can't see, which again is everyone, Gary's got some artwork hanging behind him, and I could sort of say, I noticed that you have these two pieces of art, you've clearly got great taste. Is art something that you're interested in, or whatever? I suppose like forging those sorts of conversations is just, it's, yeah, it does the trick.

Spot on. But it has to be genuine. That's the key thing. Yeah. So the 3, ready for the 3 takeaways?

Yes, it's 3 takeaways. Is it going to be 3, but perhaps 4?

Well, I did struggle with this because we've got 5 topics and I've only got 3 takeaways, but there was a bit of a common theme between them. So we hopefully give some people ideas they can put into practice tomorrow. Yeah. And then we'll do a part 2 where we've got some other things.

Exactly.

But the first one is, I think the foundation is basically getting people to, to like you, because if you get people to like you, that's the foundation for everything else. I think the second takeaway is about listening, because unless you've got something to listen to and you don't take— you won't take a genuine interest in people, and therefore they won't like you, and you won't get further because you won't understand because sometimes you need to, you know, work further to get to understand, you know, really what's happening. And then probably my third one is alignment, not agreement. I think it's such a big one in corporate life that people spend so much time defending their corner they miss the point. And, you know, if you can do anything to move forward and cooperate, you know, cooperation's the key. Now we're working from home, we're working remotely. Alignment, not agreement, is a game changer.

Try it, you'll love it. Nice. That's my favorite slogan of this episode.

Do you think we can make a t-shirt on that one?

Alignment, not agreement.

Yeah.

I mean, it's not quite as good as, you know, be long-term greedy, but it's still up there. It's still pretty good.

He's getting there. I thought you're supposed to be getting people to like you, George. Oh, yes.

Yeah, I failed. I haven't been listening.

We hope you enjoyed this episode from our ever-growing archive. And feel empowered to go forth and put Gary's 5 killer people skills tips into action. If you want to explore the rest of our archive of episodes, you can visit thecompanydoctor.com, where you will also find episode quotes and show notes and various other Company Doctor-related bits and pieces. Thanks again for joining us, and we'll see you next time.