Being or Doing the Best We Can – In That Moment

Being or Doing the Best We Can – In That Moment 

Consider the levels of stress we, our clients and the overall world are experiencing.

Spoken and Unspoken.

The changes due to the pandemic and its ripple effect.

How we are confronted with or hiding from the changes we weren’t expecting?

How does this affect our behaviour and others behaviour?  Especially our clients.

What are the underlying things we aren’t aware of that are affecting us all?

It’s pervasive yet invisible.

How we manage ourselves and our clients professionally is our job in Client Service. It allows us to maintain a balance and stay true to our purpose:

1. Build great long lasting relationships
2. Do great work for our clients
3. Make money for the agency

The tools we from our Craft of Client Service course guidelines, and the muscles we are building every day in skilfully handling each situation is what serves us to be the best we can in that moment.

From a tools perspective we know that PAUSING, ACTIVELY LISTENING, ATTENTION TO DETAIL and CLARIFYING with a CONFIDENT ATTITUDE are some of our main tools in our daily toolbox as client service professionals.

Sometimes though, things still don’t go as well as we’d like.  The client’s response is out of our control. OR in internal situations we might feel sensitive or not supported. OR our self-critic rears its head and we find ourselves feeling lost, uncomfortable, unconfident or possibly acting out (angry, blaming).

Many scenarios can occur when any of these things happen.

Let’s take a look at ‘being or doing the best we can – in that moment’ 

Ask yourself – What does it look like to you, to allow yourself to own you did the best you could in that moment?

Do you do this regularly?  Do you positively acknowledge yourself?

OR

Do you feel often you weren’t ‘good enough’ in whatever happened and self-criticise, therefore resulting in feeling bad?

Let’s break this down.  Here is a way you can process and assist yourself:

1.  Did you do the best you could in that moment/situation?
   1. If yes – what do you say to yourself?
   1. If no – what do you say to yourself?
2. What are the lessons from above for you?
3. How do you apply these to next time?

How can you set yourself up further for success, especially in anticipation of challenging situations?

Here is an abbreviated framework I created for challenging situations that you can apply:

1. Prepare – your content…, and yourself (just before breathe, body prep etc.). Depersonalise!
2. Deliver – clear, succinct, depersonalised, solution if appropriate, no apologies.
3. End – you own the delivery, the meeting and the end.  Be casual, clear and firm if needed.  Seek confirmation of comprehension. Clarity of next steps if needed.  Confident and casual in your closure.

REMEMBER, it’s not a big deal except for in the moment perhaps, and this too shall pass.

Looking ahead exercise:

It’s two years from now, and you are reflecting back on that big presentation you did two years ago or on a tough conversation you had:

– What do you say to yourself about it?

– Could you have done any different than you did at the time with the skills and resources you had then?

Acknowledging MINDFULLY to ourselves that WE DID THE BEST WE COULD IN THAT MOMENT is the best gift we can give ourselves. 

I think you all deserve this gift, don’t you? 🙂

– Laura