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If you think about the perceptual positions (which we discuss in Chapter 7)
and remember to create communication from the perspective of the person
you’re addressing, you find that carrying people along with you is much
easier. This process is where you need to understand at least some of the
values of the people involved in the change process. (Turn to Chapter 3 to
discover more about values.)Knowing your own values is important in choosing a job or a partner, be it a
business or life partner. You need to understand other people’s values when
trying to succeed in achieving a common goal. You can make an assumption
about common values in a company if you’re careful in choosing who you
employ. If the corporate values are repeated time and again, the people who
stay and flourish understand these values and are in tune with them. As a
manager or an individual wanting to build a long-lasting relationship, knowing
the values of the person you want to motivate is very useful; sometimes, you
simply need to ask, ‘What’s important to you about x?’, where ‘x’ can be,
‘working for this company’, ‘a relationship’, or ‘working together’. Having
everyone working to fulfil common values makes change so much easier than
if individuals work to their own agendas dictated by their individual values.Using visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic (VAK) language allows your audience
to more easily understand your message. Chapter 6 tells you more about
these aspects.Like values, the meta programs (which we describe in Chapter 8) are some
of the most abstract filters that you use to filter the data your senses pick up
about your world. Because of their abstractions, using the meta programs
with a person shows a preference, and helps you to build rapport more
easily. We suggest you start with the ‘towards/away from’ and ‘big picture/
detail’ meta programs’.When creating any communication, keep a cheat sheet to hand with points for
remembering how to write. It may look something like this:✓ Values
✓ VAK
✓ Towards/away from
✓ Global/detail
Leave space to insert anything that you think may be a good addition to your
aide mémoire.