All successful people create positive personal impact. Positive personal impact is like charisma, only more so. People gravitate towards people with positive personal impact. When you create positive personal impact other people want to be around you. They want to work with you. They want to be your friend and colleague
People with positive personal impact develop and nurture their personal brand. They are impeccable in their presentation of self. They know and follow the basic rules of etiquette. If you master these three keys, you’ll be able to create positive personal impact.
I have a model of customer service that I use with my consulting clients. It begins from the premise that after any interaction your customers R.A.T.E. you. The people in your life R.A.T.E. you too. You can use your R.A.T.E.ing to build positive personal impact. It works like this…
- R stands for Responsiveness;
- A stands for Assurance;
- T stands for Tangibles; and
- E stands for Empathy.
If you notice, only one of the four points in the model – tangibles – is what you actually do for, or deliver to, the people in your life. The other three are the emotional measures by which people judge you. These emotional measures are at least as important as the tangibles you deliver, especially when it comes to creating positive personal impact.
You have to deliver the tangibles. You must produce results. That’s the cost of a ticket to the career success sweepstakes.
However, you have to pay attention to the other three factors – responsiveness, assurance, and empathy – if you’re going to make a positive personal impact while you’re performing. Let’s look at each of these three in detail.
Responsiveness. You have to ensure that the people in your life see you as someone who is willing to help, someone who understands what needs to be done and is willing to do it. Other people need to think that you will give them what they want, when they want it, and in a manner that they can use it.
Assurance. You have to be able to convey trust and confidence. People need to feel that you are going to deliver. To do this, you must be very knowledgeable about the people in your life and their needs and wants. You need to be clear on what you can offer them to help them meet their goals. You need to ensure that they are confident that you will do what you say you will do.
Tangibles. No matter what kind of job you have, you are expected to produce some tangible results. It can be sales. It can be paid invoices. It can be a new software installation. It can be the manufacture or delivery of a product. Your tangibles are the most visible of your ratings. Make sure you deliver the goods – on tie ad within budget. But don’t get caught in the trap of thinking that tangibles are the only criterion by which people R.A.T.E. you.
Empathy. The people in your life must perceive you as an individual who understands, cares about, and pays attention to their needs. To do this, you need to be willing to walk a mile in other people’s shoes. You have to demonstrate to them that you are aware of and sensitive to their unique and individual needs.
The common sense point here is simple. To create positive personal impact, you must do more than deliver results, look good, and act graciously. You have to be seen by others as a person who is responsive to their needs and requests. You have to build trust with these individuals, and you need to demonstrate that you understand their needs and issues.
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