Stakeholder Whispering

Learn to uncover what your managers, clients, customers and other stakeholders need before doing what they ask

People don't know what they need. The wants we communicate to others are shaped by our subconscious and the familiar, and limited by what we think is possible. But they don't always reflect our actual needs.

In Stakeholder Whispering: Uncover What People Need Before Doing What They Ask, author Bill Shander demonstrates how to get from your stakeholders' "order"—what they're asking for—to what they really need. You'll learn how to uncover the needs and desires of your clients, colleagues, bosses, customers, and other stakeholders based on what they ask for and how they ask for it, and how to deliver products and services that meet those needs.

Inside the book:

• Help your stakeholders accomplish their goals and make the best decisions possible by helping them see what they really need
• Shift from executing on tactics driven by others' commands, to strategic action driven by underlying needs
• Transform your organization from one filled with "order-takers" into one where people work collaboratively to meet goal-oriented requirements

Perfect for managers, executives, and other business leaders, Stakeholder Whispering will also earn a place on the bookshelves of entrepreneurs, founders, designers, product and project managers, UX experts, data and business analysts, and anyone else hoping to better meet the expectations of their coworkers, managers, clients, and customers.

Preface vii

Acknowledgements xi

Whisper While You Work xiii

Part I: What & Why 1

Chapter 1: Nothing Is As It Seems 3

Chapter 2: More Rolling Stones, Less Coldplay 14

Chapter 3: Everything Is UX 21

Chapter 4: Who Are You? 31

Part II: How Ideas 35

Chapter 5: You Belong 37

Chapter 6: Just Asking Questions 47

Chapter 7: Useful Paranoia 54

Chapter 8: Kill the Cat 59

Chapter 9: Can You Hear Me Now? 65

Chapter 10: A Rigid and Flexible Process 72

Chapter 11: Peeling the Stakeholder Onion 81

Part III: How Hands-on 89

Chapter 12: How to Run a Therapy Session 91

Chapter 13: I Feel You 99

Chapter 14: Starting Broad, Digging Deep 107

Chapter 15: Chunky Segmentation 120

Chapter 16: Gained in Translation 126

Chapter 17: The Art of the (Im)Possible 131

Chapter 18: Bobbing for Apples 139

Chapter 19: Silence Is Golden 144

Chapter 20: Good Questions 151

Chapter 21: Turn It Around 157

Chapter 22: Whispering En Masse 163

Chapter 23: Let's Talk About Bias, Baby 173

Chapter 24: What It's Really All About 179

Chapter 25: Trouble 181

Chapter 26: When You Know You're Done 191

Part IV: Now What 199

Chapter 27: Prequalifying Whisperability 201

Chapter 28: Influence Without Authority 207

Chapter 29: Final Thoughts, Including Some Love for the Stakeholders 218

Index 223

BILL SHANDER is an information designer. For over 30 years, he has been helping clients turn their data into compelling visual (and often interactive) experiences. Clients include the World Bank, United Nations, Starbucks, PwC, MIT, multiple U.S. government agencies, and many more. He’s also spent the past 10 years as an educator teaching these skills.

People don’t know what they need. Our desires and demands are shaped by what we’re familiar with and what we think is possible, but they don’t always reflect what we could actually use to accomplish our goals. This is why innovation is so often associated with products and services that seemed to anticipate the needs of the public before the public was even aware of them: the smartphone, the automobile, the printing press.

In Stakeholder Whispering: Uncover What People Need Before Doing What They Ask, author Bill Shander walks you through a powerful new approach to giving people what they actually need. He explains how you can collaborate with your stakeholders to help them discover what they actually need to deliver a product or service that meets those needs.

The book discusses how you can transform yourself from a mere “order-taker” to someone who anticipates the needs of your stakeholders before they even realize them themselves. You’ll learn how to help your customers, bosses, colleagues, clients, and the public accomplish their goals and make the best decisions possible by delivering exactly what they need.

An essential resource for managers, executives, and other business leaders, Stakeholder Whispering is also a must-read guide for product development teams, software engineers, UX professionals, business analysts, data experts, and anyone else who wants to deliver a product or service that meets the needs of their clientele even when that clientele doesn’t yet know what it needs.

Praise for Stakeholder WHISPERING

"Stakeholder Whispering is a masterclass in navigating the complex world of stakeholder management. Shander's approach emphasizes empathy, strategic inquiry, and real engagement, providing readers with practical tools to navigate complex dynamics and build trust-based connections. A must-read for leaders seeking impactful, long-lasting relationships in any organization."
—Dr. MARSHALL GOLDSMITH, Thinkers50 #1 Executive Coach, New York Times bestselling author of The Earned Life, Triggers, and What Got You Here Won't Get You There

"Stop wasting time and resources solving the wrong problems! Bill Shander can show you how in Stakeholder Whispering: Uncover What People Need Before Doing What They Ask. Bill takes us on a highly readable and even entertaining journey with practical advice. I highly recommend it."
—SARA CANADAY, Leadership Strategist, Speaker, Author

"The best leaders are great listeners. In fact, they lead by listening in a way that also helps them be more fully heard by all stakeholders; it's a virtuous circle. So how do we become better listeners? Bill Shander's Stakeholder Whispering: Uncover What People Need Before Doing What They Ask is a practical guide to help leaders and aspiring leaders hone their ability to hear what really matters to the people they lead. I highly recommend it."
—DOUG CONANT, Founder and CEO of ConantLeadership and former CEO of Campbell Soup Company

"Organizations can spend a lot of time and resources solving the wrong problems. Author Bill Shander's new book, Stakeholder Whispering: Uncover What People Need Before Doing What They Ask, can help you and your teams find a better focus on what really matters. This should be a key handbook for every organization of any size."
—ANGELA WATSON, FAIA, LEED AP, President and CEO of Shepley Bulfinch