Habits can be Changed

The past couple of weeks, I’ve been talking about habits that may no longer be serving you. Here’s a case study where my client changed his habit with great success.

I had an amazing client that had the habit of going into long stories during his meetings with his manager. With some, his stories were well received but, in this relationship, he didn’t feel that way. He felt his manager wasn’t listening and would become irritated. He didn’t realize it was his long stories that were helping with the disconnect until I asked him what his manager’s learning style is. My client didn’t know. His homework was to find out, which he did.

It turns out his manager is a bullet point, visual learner. So, my client’s automatic habit of long story telling didn’t resonate with his manager. Once my client learned his manager’s learning style, he began to tailor his approach. It turns out his manager valued my client a great deal but simply could not follow the stories. Once my client changed this habit with his manager, their relationship excelled. He also realized that people have different learning styles and began paying attention to that, especially with his staff. He noticed that a couple of relationships with his staff improved. They were visual learners too.

He still tells stories, good ones in fact, but now selective on when and with whom he shares them with.