Inviting a Yes

Making progress often depends on someone else’s ‘Yes’ to unblock what you are trying to accomplish. Check out the ideas in this post for inspiration on how to be intentional and creative to increase the probability of the ‘Yes’ you need.

When I reflect on where I have learned some of the more nuanced lessons I apply in my professional life, I have to give my parents credit. Both of them had remarkable professional careers, and they both have shared lessons with me, both explicitly and through modeling effective strategies.

My father, Bruce Andersen, shared another life lesson story with me. Today I would like to share Bruce’s story with you as it has wonderfully broad application to startups and life in general.

Bruce’s Story: The Challenge of Getting A Vaccine

In my retirement community, SaddleBrooke in Arizona, thousands of seniors are 55 and older. At 78 years old, I am probably in the upper third age-wise. We still have plenty of 80 and 90-year-olds in SaddleBrooke. Most are very concerned about the coronavirus epidemic that is ravaging our country. They are anxiously waiting to receive the vaccines that will grant some immunity from this terrible affliction.  The vaccine companies have done a fantastic job developing their products in record time, yet distributing them to citizens is proving to be quite the challenge.  

Vaccinating our community is being coordinated by the Senior Village at SaddleBrooke, and they are doing the best they can given the limited doses available. On January 9, SaddleBrooke had its first inoculation clinic to administer 500 doses to those over 85 years old.  The second clinic was scheduled for January 23, with another 500 doses for the 1,400 folks who are 80 years and older.  At one time, they talked about prioritizing people with prior medical conditions, but since most of us have some issues, that became irrelevant. I am on the list to be vaccinated, but given my age below the threshold and the limited number of doses, not surprisingly, I was not among the few people selected. My best guess was that sometime later in February might be my chance.

On January 20, a tiny local pharmacy obtained a very limited number of doses and opened up a sign-up schedule on a first-call basis for those at least 75 years old.  I didn’t hear about it soon enough and was shut out when I finally did call to inquire.

Now what?

Early in my professional career, I was in charge of Salaried Employment for the AC Spark Plug Division of General Motors.  In addition to college and military recruiting, I was also in charge of coordinating the written applications for those who wanted to work for the country’s largest company. I reviewed thousands of letters and resumes and learned quite a bit about what makes a good one.

The idea of a good resume is to entice the reader to invite you to the next step: an interview for the desired job. I decided to utilize my dormant professional expertise to make my own mini “resume” for the purpose of getting a COVID-19 vaccine shot. I made it extremely short and included only the salient points. I printed it on some red paper so that it would stand apart from any other bland white pieces of correspondence.  I included some of my recent major underlying medical conditions and put them in bold text to make them stand out. I added essential details about who I am and where I live to make it easier for the reader.  No extraneous stuff.  My purpose was to make it easy for them to say yes if any available slots opened up.

Make It Easy For Them To Say Yes

At 2 pm, I headed for the pharmacy, wearing my Hope College hat and shirt given to me recently by my granddaughter. I definitely was in a positive (hopeful) mood.  I walked in and talked to the lone pharmacist and gatekeeper. I told her that I realized that I did not have an appointment, but I intended to wait to see if anything opened up. I was friendly, businesslike, and serious. I handed her my small packet with my red resume on top of my application, identification, and Medicare card. I noticed no other colored pages in the pile of papers that she deposited it on. I asked if I could sit in the socially spaced chairs, and she nodded affirmatively. I chose the one closest to the counter rather than one further away so that they would have to look right at me whenever anyone gazed around the small room. I did not get on my phone or listen to my music. I was all business!  

As I waited, I noticed that other old folks came up to the counter asking about the chances of getting one of the precious doses. Some did not have the up-to-date application form downloaded from the website. Others had forgotten their Medicare card. Some were not the required age. Nobody supplied the supplemental preexisting conditions.  

It soon became apparent that I was prepared to wait until the clinic closed on the chance that I could be accommodated.  After a while, I noticed that my red resume was on top of the pile of white applications. Then my name was called. I was escorted to the small back room for my highly desired vaccine shot and was given a card for my follow-up appointment for the second dose in February.  

The point to be taken is that I did everything I could to make it easy for them to help me as opposed to the other seniors who came and went when told that they were not on the list.  I would have been just fine if it had not worked out, but I wanted to give it my very best shot (pun definitely intended).

I think that there are many opportunities like this to “think outside of the box” and give yourself the maximum chance to be successful at whatever you are trying to accomplish at any given time.  Think about this as you go about your business.

Broader Applications

As startup leaders, we face the challenges of getting things accomplished constantly. Persuading others to say yes is often part of the process. My father thought carefully about his target audience’s needs and took special care to ensure that those things under his control were handled well. He removed reasons for denial. He was creative about how to make his plea stand out. Throughout, he conveyed respect, care, sincerity, and professionalism, which made it easier for that pharmacist to fit him into the schedule. He did the extra work to be intentional about making it easy for the other side of the transaction to agree. These same ideas can be applied to all aspects of building a startup business, ranging from recruiting co-founders to securing that key investor, to persuading that potential partner, to convincing those initial customers.

Special thanks to my father, Bruce Andersen of Tucson, Arizona, who shared this story with our family and permitted me to adapt it for this blog.