So I was in a meeting, talking to a client, when they said,
“You said something I found quite interesting …”
Before he could finish what he was going to say, I responded:
“You only found one thing that I said interesting and then it was only ‘quite’ interesting?”
He laughed.
OK so I was being an ass – and maybe I had only said one thing that was mildly of value – however it occurred to me how often we say, or hear, little things that have the potential to undermine the confidence of others.
Of course in the main we don’t really mean them to come across that way – they’re just figures of speech – however without wishing to sound all Oprahesque, we have to be mindful of these incidental slurs, because they can act as ‘confidence vampires’ and the last thing we need are our colleagues – and clients – believing they can’t think, dream or explore big.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting giving false feedback, far from it – that is absolutely essential – but we need to be mindful we’re not accidently contributing to our industries obsolescence to business because quite frankly, they need a great version of us as much as we need a great version of them.