Always think from others' POV (part 2)

Author

Vincent Xu
October 13, 2024

TalentGeist Newsletter

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Last week, we covered part 1 of ‘always think from others’ POV’.

This week, we cover part 2 — specifically, gauging what REALLY matters for the other person, and tailoring your comms that way. It’s a slightly more sophisticated concept.

Let’s use a life example to illustrate the point.

Suppose you paid a hefty sum to Accounting Firm ABC to do your taxes. As the deadline approaches, you realize your tax still hasn’t been filed, and you grow nervous. You reach out to Accounting Firm ABC and ask what they’ve been doing.

A junior employee at Accounting Firm ABC starts answering:

“hi….yeah so we’re first going over your taxes to examine your statement line by line, and of course we’re starting with your income….we’re going to break up your income into 3 components composed of main job income, side business income, and investment income. Then, we’re going to dig into your expenses and break it up into 5 sections composed of…….etc. etc.”

At this point, you’re probably getting annoyed and respond with “I just want to know — when are you going to file my taxes? Do I need to do anything else?”

Case in point — the junior employee at Accounting Firm ABC failed to understand what was REALLY important for you.

Their response would’ve been more appropriate when talking to their manager, who cares more about ensuring all the steps are performed correctly for clients.

There are TONS of other examples — some more intuitive than others.

For example, most people understand that they should be tailoring their work presentations to account for seniority (e.g., more in-the-weeds details when presenting to low-level managers, while more high-level / strategic when presenting to VPs).

Today, let’s focus a ‘less intuitive’ example — networking 🤝. Making sure you ‘always think from others’ POV’ when networking is an extremely high ROI skill — i.e., low effort to master, with high returns that’ll compound over the rest of your life.

➡️ Have you ever sent a networking message along the lines of “I want to talk to you cuz I want to work at Company X, and I have a few questions for you”?

……I get messages like this ALL the time from students and professionals alike.

Kudos for reaching out, but there’s 2 problems with generic statements like these:

  • I get dozens of these messages daily, and my time is limited. Why would I choose to chat with you, vs. all the other people asking me?

  • The sad truth is, for most things in life, nobody really cares about what you want. You MUST figure out what matters for the other person and position it that way for optimal results.

➡️ Now, what I’ve seen successful networkers do to cut through the noise:

1) Invest the time to do background research — imagine an outreach like “Hi Vincent — I noticed you were president of Club X 5 years ago; I’m the president-elect for next year! I found out through other club members that you were the one who spearheaded the ‘Growth Initiative’ for Club X — wow, I can honestly say this has been one of the biggest drivers of our club’s membership boom in the past 5 years. If you have 20-30 minutes, I’d love to have a chat and hear more about your experiences in school, as well as how you transitioned into your current role at Google!”

**Commentary: This person got to an impressive level of specificity, signaling they clearly invested a lot of time to craft the message. Humans (myself included, haha) are much more likely to give time to someone who I have commonalities with, and favor those who bothered to do background research before they reach out.

2) Offer value — imagine an outreach like “I saw your podcast on Platform X. I found it quite impactful for X, Y, and Z reasons. A quick 2 cents — on your 2-minute intro, I think you can potentially make it even more impactful by redesigning the UI/UX and making it ‘pop’ more to Gen Z. I took a crack at redesigning it — check it out here!”

**Commentary: Wow. The level of initiative and selflessness is unparalleled. How can I ignore someone like this? Of course, tailor the message as relevant — for example, say it’s another professional and he/she wants to gain thought leadership or exposure. In this case, if you happen to be a leader in a 500+ member organization….consider inviting the professional to come speak! Just an example. The possibilities are endless here — put some thought into it 🙂.

3) Empathy — imagine an outreach like “Hi Vincent — I’m currently interviewing for your broader team. I understand you must be busy; I’d highly appreciate just 10-15 minutes of your time to get to know the organization better. If possible, let me know a few time slots you’re available, and I’ll adjust my schedule to fit. Thanks so much in advance.”

**Commentary: Appreciate the maturity. This person clearly understands that professionals are not just sitting around all day answering coffee chat requests. They’re making it as easy for me as possible. Of course, if I do meet this individual, I’d be happy to go beyond the 10-15 minutes that they initially asked for.

Any specific/follow-up questions? Simply hit ‘reply’ to this email and ask away!

💡 KEY TAKEAWAY: ‘always think from the others’ POV’ is paramount when networking.

At its core, networking is an entry into a bespoke relationship, not a cookie-cutter numbers game. Invest the time to do it right, and it will pay dividends for the rest of your career (life). If your response rate jumps by just 1%, that equals DOZENS of potential new friends, mentors, and doors opening for you in the years to come.

💡💡 TAKE ACTION: over the next week, send at least ONE networking message incorporating the insights you learned above.

Subscribe 💪, or forward this to 1 friend/colleague who will totally thank you for helping them level up their game.

Until next time,

Vincent (LinkedIn)

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