I was recently reminded of an old ritual we used to engage in from my consulting days – prior to entering a client site, we would prep and then “armor up” by putting on our suit jackets / sport coats. This was a symbolic process to ready us for the engagement and a reminder to not take anything too personal. I had a different perspective on it as I had come from the US Marines, and “Armor up” had a bit of a different connotation to me initially. The idea stays consistent though, in that the phrase is an indicator that it is time to shift your mindset, and ready for engagement, whatever that may be. We need to be conscious when presenting ourselves in our working environments, to think both tactically and strategically.
What are the outcomes we are after? What is our conversation partner looking for and what barriers might we need to address. What can we give and what MUST we get in this tactical engagement, to further our strategic goals?
