In my career I have learned that sometimes it helps to know the person you are communicating. For example, I wanted to try something that had the potential to save money regarding overtime with employees. However, I needed the acceptance and approval from an individual who was the head of the largest number of employees to make it work. In first approaching the department head I quickly learned that he was certainly in charge of his area and did not take kindly to someone trying something different on his turf. In backing off for about two weeks, my approach was entirely different when meeting with the department head once more. I first met with him to ask him some questions, which I already knew the answers, to get his expertise and advice. He was very friendly and open and we discussed many things. A week later, I approached him in the same way on the subject of overtime. By this time, we got to know each other and had some measure of trust and I received his approval. It was my approach that I had to change to match the personality to get the best results. Linda