Our Story Time series brings you real, personal examples from business life that shed light on specific ways to lead with trust. Our last story proved that good intentions won’t keep you from screwing up. Today’s story highlights the business value of taking time to see the world from another’s perspective.

I can easily preach to my clients that it’s a disservice not to sell—that it’s part of our professional obligation to be of service. Apparently though, I have a problem practicing what I preach when it comes to selling myself—being assertive about calling attention to who I am and what I contribute. Just the other day I was admonished by a colleague (in a very nice way) for being reluctant to send a promotional email to a list of favorite clients. His exact words were, “Don’t waste another moment on worrying about it being too commercial; it is not too commercial, it is very well stated, and it is a service to all of your readers. So, stop that now!”

It’s an age-old challenge in the consulting industry: how to get your delivery people to develop more business. After all, who’s in a better position to bring in more work than the people who labor side-by-side with the client? But first there are barriers to break through. Read on for four specific strategies that will help your delivery people execute on both project plansand business development plans.

When did financial advisors become telemarketers? Here’s a transcript of a voicemail I received a few weeks ago from a financial advisor named RW—someone I don’t know who represents a major company. It wasn’t technically a cold call, I suppose, because I had a relationship with the company about a decade ago through my former financial advisor. But it certainly wasn’t a warm call. And while RW said nothing whatsoever offensive on her voicemail, it was a perfect example of how the choice to be robotic instead of real kills trust and loses business.