What Does it Mean to “Earn the Right?”

How many of us know what earning the right actually means? Today, my son asked me if he could go to a friend’s house, and I shared a story with him instead of saying yes or no. I told him that when I want to hike all day on a Saturday with friends, I am certain to find out what I can do around the house on Friday night prior to my fun. His response was a perplexing one; he did not think that he needed to prove himself to anyone to get what he wanted. He simply wanted what he wanted. This may work with a teenager on occasion (especially when his parents get worn down from the barrage of constant requests), but it rarely works in business. The challenge here is that successful staff members figure out how earning the right works, while unsuccessful ones run out of here while the rest of the staff might just help them leave! Earning the right is one of the values that we have at the Outside-In® Companies. To be successful no matter how you define success? This is a prerequisite.

I was recently in a discussion with a colleague who had a meaningful, strategic dialogue with a long time customer of the Outside-In Companies® about how we could help them solve their workforce challenges. This is our wheel house. This is what we live for. This is what we want to do as workforce consultants all day long, every day. Unfortunately, we don’t spend all day doing this. Not all of our relationships challenge us to be our best and I sense that earning the right has 100% to do with it!

Earning the right is when you do the right things in a relationship to earn the privilege to ask for or expect something from someone else. This is relevant on your team. This applies if you work with other teams in the company and it certainly applies if your role is customer facing. Customer facing roles are based on relationships with existing customers, suppliers, new inquiring ones, and anyone that your business comes in close contact with.

In the world of business development and sales, the notion of earning the right is often a source of conflict for sales and service associates. Salespeople have to sell things, they need to ask for next steps and commitments and they must show forward progress. If you’re serving a customer the same is true. You must ask for commitments, information, time and calendar space, and you must be taken seriously to do the job.

Maybe you’re in a company and you need the assistance of others that are not in your team or division to help you get a project done. Although you are passionate and the project is urgent, why should anyone else care or help you? You will have to do more then plead and beg for a lending hand, that is for sure. The work starts well before your need arrives.

To earn the right, you must first understand that earning the right is on you, your cubicle mate, your leader, the founder, and even the janitor. It is critical to understand that we are always in the process of earning the right. Our actions and decisions can knock us down a few rungs on The Relational Ladder. This is a fluid and ongoing process. One that everyone uses (formal or informal) on whether we are going to say yes to anything.

This is why it can take months, years, even decades, to establish what is right with each other, prospects, and customers. Next week, we’ll be talking about the Top Eight Ways to Earn the Right!