Turn Merchants of Fear into Agents of Hope

As you've seen from the examples in this book, basing your problem-solving approach on shared hopes supplies you with extraordinary power to resolve tough issues and achieve the results you are seeking. The steps outlined in this book, as well as the principles behind them, can also help you see situations in a new light and make even good things better.

For example, the leaders of a select group of highly successful law firms around the country wanted to enhance their practices. "We'd like to find out how to take our firms to the next level," they explained. "We have excellent clients and good incomes. How can we do even better and enjoy it more?"

A barrier to building a stronger practice is the way people regard attorneys—frequently with wariness. As a friend says, "Attorneys have a PR problem. People need them for certain things, but basically they don't want to use them any more than necessary." Perhaps unwittingly, some attorneys function as merchants of fear, who continually issue warnings about everything that might go wrong.

Fear is an effective hook for capturing people's attention and sometimes even for selling them something. Most marketers' toolkits pander to fear, greed, and envy, no matter what they sell. The trouble with fear as a tool or motivator is that once the threat subsides, people flee because the energy generated by fear isn't self-sustaining. Someone has to keep whipping up the frenzy of potentially dire consequences to keep it going. Without that constant churning, people eventually grow weary of fear tactics and withdraw without having addressed their problems.

Given this preexisting dynamic, what could these law firms do to enhance and sustain their relationships with clients? They found their solution when they examined the dynamics of hope and fear. They performed the exercise at the end of Part 1 of this book and wrote out their descriptions of what they thought, how they felt, how they acted, and what their relationships with others were like when they operated from a position of hope. They contrasted these responses with their reactions when they operated out of fear.

Having acquired insight into their own behavior, the leaders of this group of law firms turned to considering experiences from their clients' perspectives. In what state of mind did clients show up at their offices? Fearful. In what state should they leave in order to maintain a self-sustaining client-firm relationship? Hopeful.

These lawyers went back to their firms and involved everyone from receptionists to attorneys in an examination of their interactions with clients both in person and through written materials. They targeted how they could help each client shift from fear to hope. As a result, they revised their marketing materials, reoriented their client interviews, and established new objectives. As one lawyer remarked, "This perspective gives us a whole new way to look at our work and serve our clients. It's a positive approach for us to grow our practice and our profitability and know that we are responding to our clients' deepest needs and aspirations."

Likewise, you can apply these hopes-based principles and practices to bring new life to your own business or organization. Locate the areas where fears are undermining your efforts. Then pursue your hopes and those of your customers, coworkers, and community members to attract ideas, energy, and support for effective decision making and the productive future that can result.