It’s Not You, It’s Me

By Joe Hungler on February 16th, 2008

No, this isn’t about breaking up, aside from the role that communication plays in most relationships going downhill. Seth Godin talks about The Posture of a Communicator. A communicator thinks: “If you buy my product but don’t read the instructions, that’s not your fault, it’s mine.
If you read a blog post and misinterpret what I said, that’s my choice, not your error.
If you attend my presentation and you’re bored, that’s my failure.
If you are a student in my class and you don’t learn what I’m teaching, I’ve let you down.” This is a great attitude and really the only way to look at getting things accomplished. Listening to our clients and stakeholders is a critical part of the process. If people aren’t responding to our message, we either need to change the message or change how we are communicating it. Of course, we still need to stay true to our mission when doing so. We should think about this when dealing with boards, donors, teens and community partners.