More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Read between
September 28 - October 1, 2020
Without the willingness to be vulnerable, we will not build deep and lasting relationships in life.
It's just that they're so focused on saying and doing whatever is in the best interests of those clients that they stop worrying about the repercussions. They make themselves completely vulnerable, or naked, and don't try to protect themselves.”
“What they mean is that you shouldn't try to sell to a client by telling them what you would do for them if they hire you. You should just start consulting right then and there.”
in reality, clients want someone who not only has good ideas, but who also will help them implement them.
“It's all about standing there naked in front of the client. It's about building trust. And in the end, that means the client trusts them and takes care of them.”
“In consulting, entering the danger comes into play in those moments when you're in a meeting and someone says something that is either strange or politically sensitive, and you know that the level of anxiety and discomfort in the room is high. What you're tempted to do is just be quiet and let the moment pass, but what great consultants do, at least according to Lighthouse, is walk right into the middle of the situation and call it out.”
“So you have to be confident enough to do something that is potentially client-threatening.
“There is something so powerful about a person who in one moment can be confident enough to confront a client about a sensitive personal issue, and then in the next moment humble themselves and take a position of servitude. It's the paradoxical nature of it all that makes it work.”
At its core, naked service boils down to the ability of a service provider to be vulnerable—to embrace uncommon levels of humility, selflessness, and transparency for the good of a client.
#1: FEAR OF LOSING THE BUSINESS
What clients want more than anything is to know that we're more interested in helping them than we are in maintaining our revenue source.
#2: FEAR OF BEING EMBARRASSED
Naked service providers are so concerned about helping a client that they are willing to ask questions and make suggestions even if those questions and suggestions could turn out to be laughably wrong.
Clients come to trust naked service providers because they know that they will not hold back their ideas, hide their mistakes, or edit themselves in order to save face.
#3: FEAR OF FEELING INFERIOR
Fear of feeling inferior is not about our intellectual pride, but rather about preserving our sense of importance and social standing relative to a client.
ALWAYS CONSULT INSTEAD OF SELL
GIVE AWAY THE BUSINESS
TELL THE KIND TRUTH
ENTER THE DANGER
ASK DUMB QUESTIONS
MAKE DUMB SUGGESTIONS
for every seemingly dumb suggestion that turns out to be insightful, there are plenty that are in fact dumb. But without taking the risk of putting an idea out there, the good ideas will never see the light of day.
CELEBRATE YOUR MISTAKES
TAKE A BULLET FOR THE CLIENT
MAKE EVERYTHING ABOUT THE CLIENT
HONOR THE CLIENT'S WORK
DO THE DIRTY WORK
ADMIT YOUR WEAKNESSES AND LIMITATIONS
