We come into this world with our own unique nature, pattern of behaviour and natural reactions to people. The following shows how you can use these differences for the benefit of all.

The CEO of an emerging company wanted his executive management group of four to attend a presentation very relevant to their stage of development. Even though the event was on a Saturday evening, the CEO, with good reason, could have simply required them to attend, but understanding their personalities, he chose to do the following.

He spoke with them individually and appealed to their personalities. To each one in turn, he explained the benefits to be gained and that the company would obviously cover the costs. He asked the first manager if she would like to organize a dinner prior to the event. She felt excited about this and enthusiastically said she knew just the place and would immediately make the bookings. To his second manager, he promoted the qualifications, background experience and credibility of the speaker, commenting that as a key executive manager, he knew he would not want to miss out on the information being presented. The manager agreed absolutely!

Next in line was the financial controller. He told him the speaker would address many of the detailed questions he had been asking, and in addition, if he could keep notes for the group, it would be really appreciated. The financial controller agreed he definitely was the person to take notes, so he felt important and was eagerly looking forward to the event. Finally the CEO located the fairly laid-back manager, explained the situation and said he would receive the tickets next week.

Some might think what a lot of fuss that was, thinking they wouldn’t have the time to mess around like that. Can you imagine the difference in attitude if the CEO had sent them an email requiring their attendance on Saturday evening when they may have had social engagements? With this personal approach, appealing to their personalities strengths, I am sure they would have looked forward to the evening with anticipation and thus have gained much more from it.