Top Tweets for #PRongrowth

Signs of maturity: 1. You don't seek perfection. You seek progress. 2. You don't avoid challenges. You embrace growth. 3. You don't resist change. You welcome opportunity. 4. You don't chase success. You pursue fulfillment. 5. You don't escape difficulties. You confront resilience. 6. You don't dread solitude. You appreciate self-discovery. 7. You don't evade criticism. You value constructive feedback. 8. You don't reject differences. You celebrate diversity. 9. You don't shun vulnerability. You cultivate authenticity. 10. You don't suppress emotions. You harness emotional intelligence.

A skill that changed my consulting life: Pitching. I used to raise ideas that would go nowhere. Now I regularly launch ideas that transform organizations. My secret? Learning these 7 soft skills. Here's my step-by-step process for pitching ideas: 1) Create a vision If you want to launch an idea, you need to convey your ideas in a way that generates excitement. You'll need a 15-30 second "elevator pitch" that: • Is easy enough for people to catch on to and share. • Is simple enough to be understood in hallway conversations. • Paints a picture of a future that fixes a current pain or creates an amazing benefit. Write up your pitch and practice sharing it with buddies till you get comfortable. 2) Identify Stakeholders Ideas grow fastest in communities. To pitch your idea, first figure out who needs to know. Ask yourself these 5 stakeholder questions: • Who is impacted? • Who set and controls project $$? • Who can support you and help sponsor? • Which shared service teams are impacted? • Who are the deciders, influencers and advisers? When you're done you'll have your draft stakeholder list. 3) Sequence and coordinate information sharing The fastest way for new ideas to die is for them to get out into the wild without the right context and framing. Rumors create worry and worry poisons the best of ideas. Instead take your stakeholder list and: • Get smart on how information flows in the organization • Map out the influencers and decision makers and their "go to" trusted advisors • Design an information sharing strategy to get buy in and control messaging Grab your calendar and build a schedule to talk to the right people in the right order to test your vision, pitch and idea. 4) Set context Once you are meeting with folks, you want to start by setting context. If you don't describe a scenario to set context, people imagine something totally different. 4 ways to set context: • Raise a familiar pain point • Share background information • Tell a story to highlight a common scenario • Compare a problematic "as is" situation to a future sunny "to be" positive outcome E.g If you are pitching a product, it might include information about the market and needs the product addresses. Test out different scenarios and stories for setting context as you talk to key folks. Take note of all questions, suggestions and concerns. 5) Frame ideas Once people are warmed up to the context, framing solves the "how" and amplifies the benefits of your idea. 4 ways to help frame ideas: • Explain how the idea will work • Share critical timing assumptions • Set constraints about where the idea won't apply • Share a story of how things will work with the new idea in place and the "wow" impact 6) Explain why it matters For ideas to launch, they need to both resonate and be important enough to get funded. You need to crisply explain, carefully listen and record comments. Explain: My favorite way to explain why it matters is to explain the cost of not implementing. People will pay to avoid a bad outcome, so craft your "why" as more "pain reliever" and less "vitamin." To be successful explaining you need to: • Consider their perspective • How not doing it impact things today and the future? • What will doing this project prevent, enable, or unblock? Listen To be successful listening you need to: • Welcome feedback • Know your audience • Know what's important to them • Be prepared to answer questions Record • Have someone with you to listen and watch for cues. • Arrange for notes to be taken and takeaways noted. • Summarize takeaways at the end of the conversation. 7) Close loops After you've talked to your stakeholders and pitched your ideas, it's time to regroup. Did you: Address next steps? Implement feedback? Answer open questions? Roadblocks? If you ran into questions or roadblocks, go back through the process and refine the next version to respond to feedback. No worries if it takes a couple of cycles to work through concerns. It's all part of the process. All loops closed? If all has gone well it's time to lock things down. Have approval? Not yet? Set up follow ups to line up formal approvals. Yes? Celebrate!! TL;DR Want to pitch ideas that sell? Use this checklist? 1) Vision created? 2) Stakeholders identified? 3) Information sharing sequenced and coordinated? 4) Context set? 5) Ideas framed? 6) Why it matters, understood? 7) Loops closed?