CHAPTER 8

YOU’RE THE COACH

Listening, Learning, and Giving Feedback

 

Ryan is distracted by his manager, Chuck, who is sitting only a few inches away furiously scribbling post-it notes with one hand and holding his tuna sandwich in the other. He takes a bite and passes Ryan a handful of notes—suggestions about what Ryan should say, questions he should ask, and products to pitch.

When Ryan gets off the phone, Chuck asks, “How do you think you did on that call?”

“Pretty good,” replies Ryan. Then he adds, emphatically, “I got an appointment out of it.”

“Yes you did. And your tone was good on the call. But—”

“What?” Ryan’s tone is defensive, and he can feel himself tensing up for the attack.

“Well, I felt that you could have done a lot more. You ...

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