In a career that from the outside appears to zig and zag across journalism, law and philanthropy, Laura Fredricks saw a through line : asking questions and listening, really listening, to the answers. Laura went on to develop the ‘ask’ framework and has written seven books about it, with her latest - Hard Asks Made Easy - already a bestseller.
Laura has an amazing approach to hard asks, from the secret sauce of specificity to reframing an ask as giving someone an opportunity to help. In this conversation she shares her five laws of hard asks plus a simple formula for the moment of the ‘ask’ Hearing them is like a light suddenly turning on in that dark corner of our brain where we file away asking for help, a pay rise or promotion - anything at all! So, if you want to take the fear and embarrassment out of asking for things, I’m asking you to listen to this episode, right now…
Shownotes
See more at http://www.zoerouth.com/podcast/leadership-asks-laura-fredricks
Key Moments
Planet Human: The rebranding of Twitter [00:00:04]
Elon’s latest move and its potential implications for his business ventures.
Planet Zoë: Terra Blanca is back from the typesetter, so it's going to be put through its final proofreading process and then it will be available for pre-orders - pretty exciting! [00:01:15]
The importance of asking for help [00:02:19]
Introducing guest Laura Fredericks and her book "Hard Asks Made Easy," focusing on the challenges and benefits of asking for help.
The importance of asking for help [00:21:12]
Laura discusses the power of asking for help and shares examples of how asking for help can lead to positive outcomes.
The motivation behind writing the book [00:22:29]
Laura explains why she wrote the book and how it was inspired by the challenges people faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The formula for effective asking [00:25:09]
Laura shares the formula for making effective asks, which involves using two sentences and one question at the moment of asking.
The importance of asking for a promotion [00:31:07]
Laura discusses the steps to ask for a promotion, including finding the right time, giving reasons, and stating the desired title and salary increase.
Dealing with disappointment and revisiting the request [00:33:28]
Laura advises acknowledging disappointment, suggesting revisiting the request in three months, and not waiting a year for budget changes.
Responding to requests as leaders [00:34:53]
Leaders have three options: more information, yes, or no…
Fast Five: Quick Fire Question Round [00:36:39]
Using archetypes to gain confidence [00:43:05]
Zoë reads a section from People Stuff about using archetypes to gain confidence in asking for help.
