Challenging your clients’ belief system

When practised as a professional service, Organization Development challenges clients’ belief systems in the everyday course of work.

Every OD practitioner develops skills on how to do this ghastly task effectively, unless he/she has morphed into a moronic mode of “how to merge a company in 3 easy steps”.

This post relates to several aspects about how to go about challenging a clients’ belief system more effectively.

     1 Build a caring relationship with your client.

I am not an easy person with whom to work.  I “speak truth to power”, I am very direct and as I come armed with lots of miles/kilometres on the road, it is hard to push aside my arguments. I challenge my clients all the time.

But my clients know I care. I am not talking about social media caring.  I am talking about really being compassionate. And each of my client feel justly feel that I truly care about them personally and their success.

All this serves as a safety net, so when I challenge their beliefs, they know I with them, on their side.

     2 Understand the view point of your client, as he sees things.

Harping on one’s exclusive narrative leads to narrow-mindedness and righteousness and the inability to have impact on another’s’ belief system. Look at reality as your client does.

When I began my career, I worked for in the hotel industry. In each hotel and department, I would work with the staff and managers on all the shortcomings that need to be corrected. Staff and managers taught me that many problems disappear when certain guests/nationalities leave the hotel.  At the beginning, I labelled that as “defensive behaviour”. I was dead wrong. Until I understood that point of view and internalized it, I did not understand that industry, and they knew it.

The key is empathizing, not merely listening and yes-but consulting behaviour. Once you empathize with the others’ belief system, there is more intimate discussion and fewer pissing contests, which often characterize the  ineffective challenging of a belief system.

     3 There are some things that are best left unsaid.

There are plenty of incorrect client belief systems that are not going to be changed. Because of human nature, or the nature of each specific industry or whatever.

So pick your battles; leave things unsaid when change is impossible. If you focus on something that is very important but unchangeable, you spread the change effort too thin. Focus only on what can be changed.

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Allon  אלון

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7 thoughts on “Challenging your clients’ belief system

  1. Allon, I really resonated with your first point about sincerely caring. I, too, hope I have learned to “speak truth to power.” My efforts to do so compassionately, I have concluded, are directly a function of my continuing efforts to “speak the truth to my self about myself”…with compassion and caring…to learn to love myself, warts [of which there are many] and all:-) As Frans Roseblau put it: Honesty without compassion and understanding is not honesty at all. It is veiled hostility.”

  2. Great points, Allon! For me, in particular the third one: “leave things unsaid when change is impossible”! As for the first one, paradoxically, I often have an impression that I actually care MORE about the business than my client. What am I doing wrong?

  3. When I read the phrase “truth to power”, I want to be sure I understand your thinking. How is “truth” defined? Whose “truth”?, etc.
    Can you elaborate? Thanks.

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