Author: Jay Wren

Some people are great lists makers.  Whether shopping, going to a business meeting, planning an event, tracking their expenses, setting priorities for the day, these people are intuitively organized about the way they live their lives through lists making.

Other people, myself included, are less likely to structure their lives around lists, but go along through the day as things come up.  I want to be more of a list maker.

I believe that lists makers are more productive, experience less stress, have a more clear mind, and work shorter days than those of us who just take care of things as these things pop in front of us.  At least, I seem to have a more productive, less stressful day, and can focus better on my work when I have a plan laid out for the things I need to do.

I remember reading a book called The Book of Lists.  I really enjoyed the book and as it turns out, according to Wikipedia.org/The Books of Lists, authors Irving Wallace, David Wallechinsky, and Amy Wallace, collaborating and working separately, produced a series of books of lists on odd and curiously interesting topics: world’s greatest libel suits, worst places to hitchhike, people suspected of being Jack the Ripper, and so forth

So some of you may want to save your daily activity lists.  You may find they produce a book  someday.

I sometimes find that if I make a list, I am more likely to actually use it when it is a short list of things of genuine importance.  I might have a list of the three most important people for me to call today.  I might have a list that only has one thing on it, such as a long tedious task that will take several hours and may involve taking breaks and returning to for the entire day.

I also find that lists can become outlines with categories and subcategories.  For example, I may have on my list three people to call and under each person’s name, I may have a list of things to cover with that person.

Common sense seems to be to limit your lists to things that you really need to get done.  With this approach you are more likely to actually use your list and more likely to get to the things done that have genuine importance.

To me, the really important lists are those lists that involve things I want to discuss in meetings or on the phone.   Putting these lists together may take a little preparation and review and can become really  important in getting cooperation.  In these cases, I write down what I want to cover.  I may need to review or research my activities with the people who will be in this meeting so that I am be mentally fresh on the material to be covered.

I may try to anticipate questions that a person might have so that I can do some research in preparation for answering those questions.   This preparation can create a list of material in itself.

Conventional practice and advice is that discussing compensation on the first interview is in bad form and can cost an applicant future interviews.

If you are a hiring manager and make it your practice not to discuss income at all on the first interview or if you are an applicant and plan not to bring up the subject of compensation on the first interview, my experience has been that you are making a mistake.

If a hiring manager makes an offer to a candidate, the hiring manager is now only halfway to making a hire.  For the first time, the applicant has the 100% power over yes or no in the process.  Also, from my experience, if an interview process goes to the point of that an offer is extended and the offer is rejected, it is intuitively obvious why the offer is turned down:  compensation.
Think about it.  The applicant is very likely sold on the company, the people, and the responsibilities.  Why else would the applicant have invested so much time to prepare for the interviews and make the trips to interviews if everything is not positive, and then turn down the offer when it is extended?  The answer is compensation.

Do you need to discuss the details of an offer on a first interview?  I do not think so.

However, I think that both the hiring manager and the applicant need to get some framework around the subject of compensation (salary, bonus, benefits) from both what the hiring company pays and what the applicant is making to know that the two are at least in the same range of expectation.  So save yourself some time.

If you are a hiring manager, save yourself some time and let the applicant know that if he or she is chosen for the role, the person can expect the position to pay approximately a certain amount.

Have you ever had someone toss a ball your way and let you know it was inbound after the person had thrown it?

If you have good reflections and a clear mind, a surprise ball toss can be easy to handle.   Personally, I need to know the ball is coming and preferably have a bucket to catch it in.

I have found that thinking on my feet in business can  be similar.  In my basic training at Procter & Gamble, the instruction booklet on persuasive selling included the recommendation of anticipating objections and preparing for these objections before entering for my presentation.

The Sacramento Kings  had a point guard named Jason Williams, who was a real gym rat, street ball, highly gifted athlete.   He was a lot of fun to watch and so unorthodox that the other players on the team had to maintain total mental presence lest they catch one of Williams’ no-look passes on the nose.  Obviously, the players on the Kings team had an advantage in knowing what was coming next from Williams.  They spent hours practicing with him and playing on the same team.

Giving a persuasive presentation in any situation, whether it is a job interview, a sales call, a meeting with peers, I find that I am more comfortable if I take a minute, write a few notes, research material I think might come up even if I believe that I know the answer, and try to think of information that might add value to the presentation and offer solutions where needed.

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Another thing that I have learned to do is position material so I show I am interested in the point of view of the other person or people in the meeting.  For example, without even agreeing with another person’s position, I have found that it sometimes helps to say something such as if I were in your shoes I am sure that I would feel the same way.  I also try to make sure that the other person or people in the meeting have an opportunity to speaking through to the conclusion of what they have on their mind.

Some people find it helpful to call other people before a meeting and in that call, present what they plan to share in meeting, especially when the stakes are high or on occasions where there might be a lot of resistance to his or her position.

In closing, I am reminded of the famous statement regarding directions:  “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? The answer:  practice, practice, practice. ”

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