In my previous post, I wrote about the value of empathy in business. To be clear, empathy is not agreement. It is an understanding of another’s position. It is also a form of caring which carries with it a responsibility to be strong about your own position. Sometimes this requires courage. The combination of empathy, caring and courage is a form of respect.
You cannot respect someone if you agree with his or her position on the surface, but secretly disagree. I see this behavior frequently in hierarchical organizations. The boss says ‘this’ and everyone nods his or her head in agreement, but thinks ‘something else’.
I also see this in the gap between sales and marketing when an organization allows marketing to report to sales management, especially if sales management has no real marketing experience. Too many marketers simply nod in this case because they see things differently but may not have the freedom to act independently. The best balance is achieved when sales and marketing are on equal footing. But that requires these aspects of empathy and respect from both.
The worst type of sales or marketing person you can be is a head nodder. Head nodding is not empathy, it is agreement and false unless you really do agree. The worst type of head nodding is silence because it conveys agreement. It’s passive aggressive. I’d rather have a healthy discussion and be persuaded by good thinking. Then we have the common interests of sales and marketing at heart.