Toddler consulting skills

My kiddo is three years old and now at the age where she is challenging me and becoming more emotionally volatile.

One of the modern parenting techniques the internet parents teach is to try to name the feeling the toddler is experience.

"Oh you're feeling frustrated because I didn't let you eat the batteries?"

"Are you sad because I didn't let you eat a bag of M&Ms?"

Once they feel you understand their position they sort of start calming down.

Clients are like that too. If they feel you don't understand them, they'll be frustrated.

So if a client is being a bit ornery, try to figure out what the context is.

Usually it's something like...

• They're getting pressure from their boss to deliver something they don't know how to
• They don't have a sense of the work that's going on
• The work products they are getting don't match up with the vision they had in their head but they don't know how to communicate the issue

Once the client senses you "get" them, they'll value you more which leads to more leverage and opportunities down the line.

Want the full playbook? Check out Going 1099.