“You must be able to communicate that attitude of selflessness.”

A thought by John C. Maxwell from his book, Everyone Communicates, Few Connect. (p. 37). HarpersCollins Leadership Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

So how do you do that?

John says, “I believe you do it by answering three questions that people always ask themselves when interacting with others, whether as a client, customer, guest, audience member, friend, colleague, or employee.

“1. ‘DO YOU CARE FOR ME?’

“Mutual concern creates connection between people. Aren’t there certain friends and family members you simply want to spend time with? That desire comes from your connection with them. What’s wonderful is that you can broaden your ability to care about others beyond your personal social circle. If you can learn to care about others, you can connect with them. You can help them. And you can make both your life and their lives better. It doesn’t matter what your profession is.”

He goes on, “Whenever you can help other people to understand that you genuinely care about them, you open the door to connection, communication, and interaction. You begin to create a relationship. And from that moment on, you have the potential to create something beneficial for both you and them, because good relationships usually lead to good things: ideas, growth, partnerships, and more. People live better when they care about one another.

“2. ‘CAN YOU HELP ME?’”

John says, “There’s an old saying in sales: nobody wants to be sold, but everyone wants to be helped. Successful people who connect with others always keep in mind that others are always asking themselves, ‘Can this person help me?’ One of the ways they answer that question is to focus on what benefits they can offer someone.”

He continues, “In our current world, people are bombarded with information daily about the features of this product or that gadget. They tend to tune it out. If you want to get someone’s attention, show you can help.”

Then, “3. ‘CAN I TRUST YOU?’

“Have you ever bought a car? If so, how was the experience? For many people it’s terrible because they don’t trust the person who is trying to sell them the car. Much of the industry seems to be designed to keep its customers off balance, skeptical, and suspicious.

“Trust is vital to any business. In fact, it’s vital to life itself. Author and speaker Jeffrey Gitomer told me that trust is even more important than love!”

Later he says, “Whenever people take action, they do so for their reasons, not yours or mine. That’s why we have to get on their agenda and try to see things from their point of view. If we don’t, we’re just wasting their time and ours.”

And so many times we are wasting each other’s time, aren’t we? Let’s start showing people that they matter, okay? 

Yes, yes!