Why aren’t they listening?

It’s one of the things we hear a lot from Technical Experts. It’s usually not asked in an introspective way, by the way. It’s usually asked from the perspective that the other person is wrong for not listening to the Technical Expert.

“Why aren’t they listening?” Is usually followed up by “They should be listening to me because I’m ….”

• I’m the expert
• I’m certified on the product
• I’m the manager
• I’m the director
• I’m the architect

If you’ve found yourself in that position, then there’s a good chance you’re not going to like what you read next, but there are 2 things you need to know.

1. If people aren’t listening to you, then it’s because you haven’t figured out how to say things that they find value in
2. You need to know there is a mindset shift you need to make if you want to be heard

The mindset shift supports everything else you need to work on.

Technologists and Technical Experts tend to gravitate towards predictable systems, defined roles, logical progression. Anomalous behavior and intermittent symptoms are the bane of planning and troubleshooting.

As a Technical Expert, you learn about your subject, and in some cases get qualified or certified on it. Those qualifications and certifications are the ‘’why” that underpins the believe that others should listen to your input, especially when you also have a defined role. Whether it’s Lead Interface Developer, Backups and Disaster Recovery Architect or Chief Information Officer, your role also plays in to your perception of why people might listen. It’s natural sense or feeling since the qualifications and role speak to your credibility.

That’s where some of the problems start. The problems are compounded by the other things that look like order, structure and logical design: the concept of hierarchy and authority. The concept that encompasses all of those things and the power that goes with them is referred to as Positional Authority.

Positional Authority is one form of power. It’s not the only one and if you only have Positional Authority to rely on, you probably won’t have your voice heard or be able to make positive changes in your organization.  

Positional Authority is the form of power that comes with having a role, or a title. The authority conferred by that role only lasts as long as you fill that role. When Technical Experts (and Technical Experts in leadership positions) rely on their expertise and position to answer the question ‘Why should they listen to me’, they’ve missed several points. The first one is that your technical credentials, your technical credibility, only extends to those people in the technology field who understand and value those credentials. Your technical certifications have no value for your non-technical stakeholders.  

Hierarchy and positional authority make sense as a power model, but the mistake is when that’s the only power model that is understood or applied. The part that’s missing is Personal Power.

The problem with positional authority is that you can’t order people to listen. You can use positional authority to do things, like sit in your meeting, but you can’t force them to think the way you want. That includes what they listen to and what they agree with.

What you need instead, is to be able to answer the question, “How can I convince them that they want to listen?” That is scratching the surface of Personal Power and that’s the direction you need to move.

The deeper question is, “What do my stakeholders need to hear from me to accomplish their business objectives?” Once you're here, you've started the mindset shift you need.

There are a lot more questions that will come up, and some of them will be covered here in the blog. If you can't wait, all the answers are in the course.

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