A Lesson on Exampling from the book Process II
Often we hear the concept of exampling in relation to leadership. Everyone is familiar with the idea of “leading by example.”
In this instance I am not speaking of the importance of exampling from a leadership perspective, but from a day-to-day life perspective. Think of it in this way: anytime you are communicating your opinion of something to another person, they are subconsciously thinking “why should I listen to you?” In essence they are assessing your credibility in the area of your opinion.
Your credibility is not simply determined at that moment by how well you can articulate your views, although that will have a role, rather it is the accumulation of all the experiences this person has in relation to you. It is true that who you are speaks much louder than what you say. Your business will have multiple corners in it.
It is true that who you are speaks much louder than what you say.
For example, the organization I am blessed to serve provides tremendous value in three areas of life: health, finances, and community. Credibility in each area is derived separately; you will be viewed in every area you present to someone, so you should be making sure that you are practicing what you are preaching. Once you are sitting with someone to talk about your offer, it is too late to create a new example. You need to already be working on these things so that you can be authentic in your communication.
But what if you are not a great example of these things? Can you still build a business? Yes. What is important is that you have begun the journey, so you can share what you are doing and how it is having a positive impact. If the person you are speaking to says “not yet,” realize that they will be watching you to see how authentic you were in what you said. Over time as you continue to journey on your path you will become more and more of an example and make your offer more attractive in the future through your modeling.
Let’s look at this in terms of community. This area has many aspects from treating people well, being a positive force in the community around you, being connected to the high quality people our business attracts, and learning to build better relationships in general with those we care about. Using our example concept as it relates to “The Process” we know that the underlying behaviors that help us succeed in the process are kindness, honesty, and respect.
If we are sitting with someone and talking about our business and how these are foundational concepts, the other person will be assessing you as to whether or not they think you are this way. From this point forward they will observe your behavior. The more you exhibit these qualities, the more attractive your business will become to them. Another example is the financial piece. It is not important how far into your financial success you are, it is only important that you have found a path and that you are working diligently every day. You are modeling this just by doing. The biggest credibility factor here for a prospect is do they believe you are truly following through with your words about growing your business. For this very reason some of the people you approach the first time about the business opportunity will be “not yets.” They want to see if you are truly committed to building your business. When you re-contact them in six months you will be much more credible in this area in their eyes.
