There's a lot involved in talking to senior people about their "currency". When they talk to peers and leaders to learn from them, I teach my clients to solidify trust—identifying shared stories and building on them—before probing for their targets or strategies. For instance, you might need to understand that the new head of marketing is telling a story about moving into new countries first, and only then can you ask her about whether tech or finance or problem-solving is her way of attacking that problem. How do you build trust Ethan?
Finding common ground and clearly knowing the other person's goals (incentives) is critical. Re: Ethan and trust, he has a few popular phrases:
1) "Results are the currency of credibility."
2) "If you want to be trusted, be clear and reliable."
3) "Disagreements are more easily resolved when we treat those who oppose us as people to be persuaded, not as enemies to be vilified"
For those who want to go deeper and learn how to build a win/win relationship with their manager, read Ethan's The Magic Loop (5th most popular post in Lenny's Newsletter). Ethan used this framework as a Senior Manager, Director, VP at Amazon himself and with his teams — https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-magic-loop
There's a lot involved in talking to senior people about their "currency". When they talk to peers and leaders to learn from them, I teach my clients to solidify trust—identifying shared stories and building on them—before probing for their targets or strategies. For instance, you might need to understand that the new head of marketing is telling a story about moving into new countries first, and only then can you ask her about whether tech or finance or problem-solving is her way of attacking that problem. How do you build trust Ethan?
Finding common ground and clearly knowing the other person's goals (incentives) is critical. Re: Ethan and trust, he has a few popular phrases:
1) "Results are the currency of credibility."
2) "If you want to be trusted, be clear and reliable."
3) "Disagreements are more easily resolved when we treat those who oppose us as people to be persuaded, not as enemies to be vilified"
For those who want to go deeper and learn how to build a win/win relationship with their manager, read Ethan's The Magic Loop (5th most popular post in Lenny's Newsletter). Ethan used this framework as a Senior Manager, Director, VP at Amazon himself and with his teams — https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-magic-loop