How to Be a Connoisseur

If you’re looking for a way to elevate your performance to a new level, strive to become a connoisseur. No, not wine and cigars a connoisseur of your company’s products and services. "Connoisseurs leak passion and knowledge," says Jackie Freiberg, author, speaker, and an expert in helping business leaders create cultures where impassioned people come to work fully engaged. These days, it’s easy to get so caught up in the day-to-day struggle to make the numbers that professional growth stalls. Seek to become a connoisseur, says Freiberg, and you’ll find you bust out of that rut.

So how do you become a connoisseur of your products and services? Knowledge. Becoming a connoisseur is largely about becoming a passionate, lifelong learner. Here are some things you can do to help you and your team get there:

1. Set focal points. Each week or two weeks, or month give your team "focal points" to challenge and stretch them. For instance, ask your reps to learn something new about your company’s products that no one has thought about a unique way it can be used, an application in a new industry, or an unexpected way in which it saves customers money. Or assign them to obtain a competitor’s product and compare it to yours in more rigorous detail than has ever been done before. Or ask them to visit a customer and learn something new about that customer and the way they’re using your product or service.

   You can either assign your entire team the same focal point or you can break your team into three groups top-, mid- and low-performing reps and choose focal points that will help drive each group to the next level. At the end of the assigned time, bring everyone together to debrief and share his or her knowledge.

2. Inquire, don’t advocate. Most peoples communication style is either one of advocacy or one of inquiry, says Freiberg. Advocates, she explains, are people whose natural inclination is" to actively support or defend an idea or position." Inquirers, on the other hand, tend to "probe and explore issues." They suspend assumptions, ask a lot of questions, and try to understand issues by understanding all the different points of view. Not surprisingly, growth and learning flourish in an environment of inquiry.

   What’s your communication style? What about your reps? Chances are, most of it is advocacy. Freiberg says when Herman Miller, Inc. studied its’ business meetings, it discovered 89 percent of communication was advocacy, not inquiry. Recognizing that advocacy doesn’t promote the kind of learning environment Herman Miller executives wanted, they focused on this area and today they facilitate and foster an environment of inquiry.

3. Check yourself. Take time periodically to ask yourself these important questions: What new skills or knowledge have I acquired in the last month (or week or quarter) that adds new value to my organization and makes it more competitive? What new skills or knowledge am I going to add in the next six months to make my organization more competitive? What can I do to foster an environment of inquiry in my organization?

   It is so easy to get into a rut, especially when you’ve been doing your job for a while and are performing well. But "just because you’re good doesn’t mean you’re great, and just because you’re great doesn’t mean you’ve arrived," says Freiberg. "Don’t get comfortable. Be constantly diligent about learning." When you do, you’ll find youre more enthusiastic about your work and more sought out by others customers included as the go-to person in your organization.

For more ideas and resources, visit www.freibergs.com.