Trading on Target: How to Cultivate a Winner's State of Mind

NOT LISTENING

A friend who sits on the board of directors of a private organization had a serious problem with a consultant that had been hired to manage its public relations. When the members of the board tried to tell the consultant what they wanted, she always took a defensive posture. Frustrated and angry, the board eventually elected to fire her. Their chief complaint was that she spent all of her time defending her position and not listening to their concerns. What they wanted her to do was to acknowledge their concerns. Instead, she simply defended the status quo so that nothing could be done to correct the problems presented by the board.

As a defensive trader, you will soon find yourself in a position comparable to the defensive manager and the public relations consultant. If you are not listening and are unable to acknowledge a problem, you can expect the following consequences in your professional and personal life:

• Your most important relationships will suffer. The people you work and live with need to be able to tell you when something is wrong or if something is bothering them. If they cannot get you to hear them because you are defending the status quo, they will eventually stop trying. When they stop trying, they will shut you out. For a trader, the vital lines of communication and support will wither and die. When you admit that you have made a mistake or that you need to improve a situation, the people who brought you the problem will immediately stop their criticism, ...