You know what they say about the word “assume,” right? Well, it’s true.
Welcome to another snackable episode with Roland Frasier, where he shares bite-sized actionable strategies to help you take your business and life to the next level.
Two separate events happened to him recently that had one important thing in common: someone made an assumption, and things did not go well. Listen in as Roland tells both stories and what he learned from them.
Assumption Tale #1:
Roland just finished their newest event, Scalable Impact Live, in Austin. He had invited a family member to the event who was there when Roland got off the plane. Apparently he was eight feet away from Roland, but Roland didn’t see him because he was texting/calling his team, trying to get a VIP guest checked in.
He texted the family member the next morning, “I’m at breakfast. Want to join me?” He ended up sending 5-6 texts with no response. Finally Roland texted, “Are you okay? I’m worried about you.”
They responded. “I’m upset with you. I waved at you when you got in, then we were standing a couple people behind you in line, and you turned around and looked, but you didn’t say hi. So we went home the next day.”
He thought Roland was blowing him off, but he wasn’t. He just wasn’t focused on looking for him. He didn’t walk in thinking he would be there. He said Steve Wozniak made him aware of the fact that he has this inability to recognize faces out of context. Between that and actually looking for someone else, he accidentally blew off a member of his family.
They patched it up, but whew. What a mess.
Assumption Tale #2:
The second episode happened earlier, but Roland just found out about it last weekend. At Traffic & Conversion Summit, there’s a private room set up for Roland, Ryan Deiss, and Richard Lindner where they meet with celebrities before they go on stage. It’s called the Founders’ Room. They also have a Mastermind called the Founders’ Board. You’ll see where the confusion comes in.
Roland walked into the Founders’ Room with Chip Wilson, the founder of lululemon, and there were some people in there who weren’t supposed to be in there. He asked if he could help them, and they said, “No, we’re just having a meeting.” He said, “Well, you can’t. This is a private room, so I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” They were very upset with him.
Roland got a text from one of those people this past weekend and he said he was upset. The guy had asked the event team, “Hey, do you have a place where I can do a meeting?” They asked if he was a founder, and he said yes (because he’s part of the Founders’ Board), and they pointed him to that room.
This room is super private, because celebrities have it in their contract that they get a room where no one can bother them while they get ready to go on. But this guy didn’t know that. He was told by the team working the show that he could go in the room. Then Roland came in and kicked him out. He didn’t understand why there would be a lounge for people in the Mastermind, and then he’d get thrown out of it. It didn’t make any sense.
Thankfully that one got straightened as well.
Don’t Make Assumptions
It comes back to one thing. And it’s one of the Four Agreements in the excellent book by Don Miguel Ruiz. Don’t make assumptions.
Roland’s family member shouldn’t have made the assumption that Roland saw him but blew him off. He could have asked himself, what other version of this story could be at play here? Roland shouldn’t have made the assumption that the guy was in the room without permission. And the guy shouldn’t have made the assumption that Roland was a jerk.
Whatever situations we find ourselves in, if something doesn’t seem right, or someone is treating us unfairly, what else might be going on? What important information are we missing? What can we do to make sure there isn’t a misunderstanding?
Roland was lucky that his cousin felt bad about it and texted him. He was lucky that the Founders Board member reached out to him as well. Both situations could have ended badly.
Two takeaways:
- Take the time to think how the situation could be interpreted in another way.
- Communicate with the person to give them the opportunity to clarify any misperceptions.
RESOURCES:
- ethicallyprofit.com
- getepicchallenge.com
- Scalable.Co
- The Ready to Lead podcast
- DigitalMarketer Podcast
- Perpetual Traffic podcast
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Roland’s EPIC Challenge.
You may have heard about Roland’s EPIC challenge, which he moved online when the Pandemic hit. It focuses on Ethical Profits In Times of Crisis and dives into no-money out-of-pocket business acquisition strategies. If you’re interested in finding out more about this strategy, click here.
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