“This all comes down to how well they do in the final interview.” We were preparing to conduct three interviews, auditions of consultants seeking to provide service, finalists in a process that had included several other firms.

We’d developed selection criteria, briefed the consultants, issued an RFI, reviewed their written responses, and interviewed each of the consultants for an hour. On the basis of those conversations, we asked the final three to reconfigure and requote the work and scheduled a second interview. At this point, I think it would be fair to say that the Committee members were evenly split, two mostly in favor of each of the three consultants, possibly hoping the other two would misfire.

Imagining where my head would be if I were in their shoes, selling, I wondered, where would my head be as a buyer during these three presentations?

Taking a break during the day before the first presentation, I was scrolling through Instagram for a short break, as one does, and I rolled past a shot of a distinctive-looking bald guy (we share a hair style, so why not): Patrick Stewart, the British actor who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard in StarTrek: The Next Generation and its subsequent films, recipient of two Lawrence Olivier Awards and a Grammy and nominations for a Tony, three Golden Globe Awards, four Emmy Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.

He was speaking to a group of actors about auditions.

“The absolutely vital thing that you have to remember when you’re going into an audition, whoever you are or whatever age you are… You must remember that all the people sitting behind that table WANT YOU to be the best thing that ever walked through the door. They WANT YOU to be great. They are ALREADY on your side. They want to be BLOWN AWAY by what you do.”

“So, cast aside the timidity, the unease, the fear, the insecurity, all the things that can wipe you out in an audition. You will never have as great an audience as you have in an audition because they WANT you to be brilliant.”

“And, the next thing is, which is linked to that: You must be fearless. Take risks. Be dangerous if you have to be… because, when actors dig into that boldness and bravery which we all possess and we can all let loose in different ways, then interesting, unusual, even fascinating things can happen and that’s when someone will say THAT’s who we want.”

Perfect.

Nick Miller is President of Clarity Advantage based in Concord, MA. He assists banks and credit unions to generate more and more profitable relationships, faster, with business clients, their owners, and their employees through better sales strategies and execution. Additional articles on Clarity’s web site.