{"id":1373,"date":"2012-08-09T14:36:59","date_gmt":"2012-08-09T21:36:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/berkonomics.com\/?p=1373"},"modified":"2012-08-09T14:38:34","modified_gmt":"2012-08-09T21:38:34","slug":"two-most-powerful-words-help-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/berkonomics.com\/?p=1373","title":{"rendered":"Two most powerful words: \u201cHelp me.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the years I have heard many stories from entrepreneurs, students, news reporters, even my children, all telling me that they could not get someone\u2019s attention they wanted or needed until they used the words, \u201cHelp me.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 The simple request is disarming, enlarging the object of the request to a status of importance in respect to the questioner that is difficult to ignore.<\/p>\n

There is a bit of the teacher in all of us, and a request for help is a natural trigger to bring this out.\u00a0 And there should be an equal – if not stronger – bit of a student in each of us as well, allowing us to drop our egos a notch and actually ask for help when we need it.\u00a0 There is no shame in admitting ignorance in even the most unusual of circumstances.\u00a0 Yes, this is true, even when we may think we know the answer in advance.<\/p>\n

One of the many important tactics in negotiation is the strategic use of the words, \u201cHelp me,\u201d when attempting to understand the position of an adversary.\u00a0 Suddenly that person is in a position to explain the reasons behind a position, or facts that may not have been available to you, all in order to support his or her position.\u00a0 Armed with those new facts, a good negotiator can often craft a solution that addresses those concerns and achieves the goals of both parties.<\/p>\n

[Email readers…continue here.]\u00a0<\/em> <\/span>Reporters and students learn this early when they attempt to get the attention of a busy CEO or politician. \u201cI am a student studying your industry for a term report.\u00a0 Could you help me understand your issues so I can be sure to cover them in my research?\u201d\u00a0 There are an untold number of doors opened and hours spent by very busy people in response to such simple outreaches asking \u201cHelp me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Instead of hiding your ignorance about an issue in a discussion, a term used by someone on the other side of the table, a position taken by an emotional employee, stop and ask \u201cHelp me to understand.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ll bet that nearly every time, the other person will pause and spend time teaching that would have been spent in persuasion.<\/p>\n

How about asking for help when you do not know a process, the kind of help that might take hours or days of training, not just minutes of explanation?\u00a0 A busy person hearing this kind of request may respond with: \u201cI know of a book\u201d or \u201cHere is a resource,\u201d or \u201cSure, you can sit in on our next training class.\u201d\u00a0 I have never heard an \u201cI can\u2019t do that for you\u201d in response to a \u201cHelp me\u201d request.<\/p>\n

And far beyond a simple technique in negotiation or attempt to access a busy executive, these two words are the key to lifelong learning.\u00a0 Who among us can\u2019t use that?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the years I have heard many stories from entrepreneurs, students, news reporters, even my children, all telling me that they could not get someone\u2019s attention they wanted or needed until they used the words, \u201cHelp me.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 The simple request … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-depending-upon-others"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/berkonomics.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/berkonomics.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/berkonomics.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/berkonomics.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/berkonomics.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/berkonomics.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1373\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/berkonomics.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/berkonomics.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/berkonomics.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}