Back To Basics: Deep Dive Part 7

It is not about you

Are you able to wear different hats and view the world from someone else’s angle?

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." - Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Let’s face it, a large part of your success depends on how well and thoroughly your engagements with people are (called project stakeholders). With the right mindset, it becomes more natural and easier to engage with customers, project stakeholders, owners, users and suppliers to get the job done.

Consider the following practical aspects to deal with:

A. Who is the customer

The first very important point to comprehend is this

Your customer is the hero and the focal point, not you and your product or system. -Henkie Maritz

Be very careful not to become arrogant and think too much of yourself. Through humility, learn from your customer, what they do and how they do it.

B. Serve, not be served

Engage with the customers you work with (management, users, technical team) with the attitude of serving them instead of being served.

That kind of attitude tends to open people’s hearts toward you to the point where they want to help you succeed.

C. Your customer must succeed

The day you understand that when your customer succeeds, you succeed is a good day. With that attitude, you will be far more successful as opposed to the attitude to just make your boss happy that you completed the task.

In closing, an important thing to remember, not just for work but life is:

Not everything is about you.

You can download the whitepaper from https://jalia.co.za/services/

Author: Henk Maritz (jalia.co.za)

No part of this publication may be copied or used in any form without prior written permission from the author.