A quick riff based on yesterday’s Seth Godin’s pitching vs. asking blog.
According to Godin:
We are pitching when we have a goal in mind and we are working from a script of some sort.
We are asking when we are willing to learn (and potentially change our perspective) from the interaction. Godin says this is rare.
Combining these two concepts, though, suggests an altogether new approach: the approach of inviting.
We are inviting when we have in mind a goal for the common good (for example: “let’s graduate more students without crippling loan debt”), and we are willing to learn from others how best to involve them as partners in pursuit of that goal.
Unlike pitching or asking, inviting isn’t solely about how we approach the other, although our authentic curiosity and openness clearly matter.
Inviting, however, is first based on the “bigger than our personal interests” cause. The mission.
And that makes all the difference.
