I’m closing in on 5 years since starting Adam Piandes International.
Pretty cool stuff as the company has evolved and grown in ways that I never would have imagined from the onset.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about the road that I’ve traveled to get to this point, and the various jobs, bosses and colleagues that I’ve encountered along the way.
One relationship, in particular, sticks out for me.
When I think about it, it’s definitely the most challenging work relationship that I’ve ever experienced and probably the biggest learning opportunity in my career as well.
At the time, I had a boss who I didn’t jive with and for me, it was really difficult feeling at odds with someone I worked with daily.
We had very different philosophies on how to conduct business and on many occasions, I really struggled with our differences.
The company we worked for was successful and I was doing pretty well; however, I would often ruminate over my unhappiness, and displeasure.
I remember seeking advice from my friends and family on how I should best handle the situation. (and if you recall last week’s newsletter, seeking advice isn’t always the best course of action)
I remember leaving each discussion feeling somewhat lost and hopeless and continuing to go back to my ruminating ways.
It wasn’t until I had a game changing conversation with a friend that something inside of me shifted and my perspective on the situation changed dramatically.
He listened, let me talk, and then simply said, “how long have you been feeling this way?”
It was the first time someone asked me this question and forced me to think about my situation from a different perspective.
Rather than focusing on the problem itself, he encouraged me to consider the amount of time I’d been focused on the problem.
I answered, “probably 3 or 4 months”.
He said, “that’s kind of a long time. From a scale of 1-10, how willing are you to make a change?”
BOOM!
Another powerful question that forced me to think about my situation in a different way, AND, in a matter of minutes, he got me thinking about finding solutions for my problem.
“I’m about a 7”, I shared with him.
He then asked, “what do you need to do to get to a 10?”
ANOTHER great question!
Prior to his questions, my mind was stuck and I was stuck. My friend helped me get unstuck.
He helped me shift my focus towards solutions and I was able to make changes in my career pretty quickly as a result.
In this week’s video, I talk more about solution based questions and how you can use these questions to shift another person’s mindset and start to create more efficient ways of collaborating with others at work.
Think about those situations and some solution based questions you can potentially bring to the table.
Some cool things to consider for the rest of the week.
