Are you gifted at reading minds?  I most definitely am not.  Many things can be said about me, but being a Mind Reader is not among them!

As I think back through my career and the businesses that I’ve started, built and led, there’s one person who seemingly possessed that mysterious gift when it came it me.  Jim somehow knew what I was looking for, or thinking, as I launched a new project, and managed to come up with an ideal solution time and time again.  If you saw what he produced, witnessed my pleased reaction, and observed the positive results, you’d think he was indeed a Mind Reader.

In reality, however, Jim must have been the best Consultative Sales Professional that I’ve ever known; more properly, he was the best who ever knew me.  With the benefit of that experience in the rear view mirror of business, I realize that he knew what truly drove me.  Jim understood what I cared and worried about, the values I held, and the mission I was seeking to accomplish.  It’s also true that he was immensely talented and knew the application of his craft better than anyone I’ve ever met.

What may seem like mind reading probably isn’t that at all.  It’s a reflection of deep understanding, coupled with the caring to produce a valuable outcome based upon that understanding.  There’s a major distinction between that and palm reading, which hints at insights without providing answers.

This realization came flooding back to me as I reconnected with another person who worked with Jim years ago and later on with me; she was pretty darn good at understanding me too, but no one topped Jim as a mind reader.  The quality of his questions, the patience to listen, and the all-to-rare ability to process the information and deliver solutions accordingly are what set Jim apart.

Yes, Jim was a Mind Reader.  Would someone you work with describe you as a mind reader?  In the right context, that description is a supreme compliment.