“I have learned that trying to guess what the boss or the client wants is the most debilitating of all influences in the creation of good advertising.”
Leo Burnett

Have you ever walked out of a meeting with a client, boss, peer, associate or employee and unconfidently uttered the words, “I think that meeting went well.” Of course you have…we all have. But if we are making guessing a habit, it is one we need to break quickly. Every time we guess what somebody important to us is thinking and feeling, we are rolling the dice and taking chances we shouldn’t be taking.

So this week, go into every meeting with specific objectives and walk out knowing exactly what others are thinking…even if it isn’t the answer you wanted to hear. And how are you going to do that? ASK! Questions like, “How can I better serve you? How was my presentation? What can we do to improve our relationship? Why to you hate me and my company?” Whatever! Because the quicker you ask, the quicker you will learn what it will take to improve that relationship and improve your performance.