Stephen H Baum Leadership

In my radio interview with Jim Blasingame (Small Business Advocate), I gave him three questions to ask when you are eager to get someone to change their mind and take action accordingly. I failed to give credit to the source, a speaker at the January worldwide Vistage International Conference: Daniel Pink.

Pink spoke of getting his daughter to clean up her room when prior direct attempts had produced only negative reactions. He asked:

– On a scale of 1 to 10, how ready are you to clean up your room? (She answered “2.”)
– What would it take to move to a 4 or 5? (She began to think of how she might benefit from a clean room)
– What could I do to help you go from 2 to 4 or 5 (She asked for his help and asked if she could bring a friend over to see it).

In the context of getting small business owners to behave more like CEOs than checkbook managers and micromanagers, Blasingame morphed these questions into a self-examination for the business owner:

– On a scale of 1 to 10, how ready am I to make a change (something I suspect will greatly improve things but have been reluctant to consider)?
– What would have to happen or what what I have to find out that would move me to a higher point on the scale?
– What help do I need to make such a move?

As always, Jim has great instincts.

See earlier posts for the full interview on Forbes.com. And to view Dan Pink’s books and blog which deal with selling ideas, go to:

Dan Pink