Day: October 1, 2018

Business Introductions Made Easy

Post author By Sheila Anderson
Post date October 1, 2018
No Comments on Business Introductions Made Easy

Many details come together to create an impression. Of great importance is the first time an individual meets another person face-to-face. In business settings, we often find ourselves in situations of having to make an introduction. Not only will you present yourself to others, but very often you may be the one introducing two people to each other. Here are a few tips to help you through both scenarios.

MAKING AN INTRODUCTION

Whom you introduce first matters

Decide who the senior most person is between the two you are introducing. Ask yourself who is the VIP in this situation. Turn to the higher rank person first to start the introduction. You say the senior most person’s name first. However, please know that a client/customer always outranks anyone in your organization, yes, even the CEO.

Here are some examples:

How to introduce a new employee to the CEO of the company. Turn to the CEO first and say, “Jane Smith (CEO), I would like to introduce you to Tom Johnson (employee), a new employee. Tom Johnson, this is Jane Smith, the CEO of XX.”
How to introduce a CEO to a client. Turn to the client first and say “Adam Jones (client), I would like to introduce you to Sarah Thomas, the CEO of ABC Company. Sarah Thomas, this is Adam Jones, a client of ABC Company.”
How to handle age rank. If you know the age of each person, you introduce the younger person to the older person.
How to handle gender. Gender doesn’t matter. You always consider rank.

Add an Interest Point

It is nice to be able to give the two people you are introducing a common interest point that may help them continue their conversation. “Jane Smith, I would like to introduce you to Sally Hanson, the president of XYZ Company. Sally Hanson, Jane Smith is a sales consultant for ABC Company. You both have an interest in XX (hobby, sports team, attended the same university).”

SELF-INTRODUCTION

With a genuine smile and looking into their eyes, say, “Hello, my name is Sheila Anderson (say your name slowly – more on this in a bit!). I am a personal brand strategist with Image Power Play.” Shake hands after the introduction is made to ensure you focus on listening to the introduction.

INSTANCES WHEN YOU CANNOT RECALL A NAME

We have all been there when you see someone you met, and you cannot recall their name. Do not be embarrassed. It’s a common occurrence, and the other person has likely experienced it themselves. Here is what you can say in this situation: “Hello, my name is Sheila Anderson. I met you a few months ago at the Chamber of Commerce mixer. It’s nice to see you again. Please tell me your name again.”

Repeat the other person’s name a couple of times during the conversation to ensure you remember it. Moreover, do not be afraid to ask them to, so you make sure you pronounce it correctly. The sound of our name is one of the most precious words we ever hear. We all like our names to be pronounced correctly.

I help executives create a powerful image and brand so they look and feel confident wherever they are. Contact me at sheila@imagepowerplay.com to schedule a 20-minute call to discuss how we can work together to grow your visibility through my return on image® services.

Tags personal branding

Best Practices Entrepreneurship Management Marketing Negotiations Sales Skills Women In Business

How to Prevent Your Nerves From Getting the Better of You

Post author By C-Suite Network
Post date October 1, 2018
No Comments on How to Prevent Your Nerves From Getting the Better of You

“Nervousness is a part of life. When it serves you, embrace it. When it dis-serves you, shun it.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

“I started verbally stumbling. I don’t know what came over me. I heard senseless words coming out of my mouth; they made no sense. It was like my brain had disconnected from my mouth. My nerves were definitely getting the better of me.” Those were the words of an overly exasperated woman recalling a conversation she had with a senior member of her organization. Do you have such moments? We all do. Have you ever stopped to question why that occurs and how you can prevent it?

Continue reading to discover how you can recognize the pending onset of such moments and how to thwart them when they occur.

Stress

First, recognize that stress is usually the culprit behind your brain-freeze moments. Stress is promoted by several factors (i.e. lack of rest, the perception of your social position related to others, preparedness deficiency, sleep deprivation, physiology, etc.). Identifying the cause and when your nervousness occurs will allow you to better address it.

Triggers

Psychologically, actions are evoked by triggers that serve as stimuli for those actions. Note and recognize the source(s) and cause(s) behind the triggers that move you to react. Specifically, observe the stimuli that cause you to act a certain way in certain environments. In some cases, the source behind the trigger may be an unsettled action that occurred earlier in your life. Then, when confronted by a similar environment or circumstance, subliminally, you react the way you did years ago. Address that source and you stand a greater chance of controlling the trigger.

Lack of Preparedness

I know what might occur in the upcoming situation. So, I’ll just wing it. A lack of preparedness can be stress inducing. Since no one truly knows what might occur in the future, we speculate. The better we can tap-down the assumptions of what we think may occur, the better we can control the variables that feed uncertainty. Considering the possible scenarios that we could encounter prepares us for those engagements while lowering the mental threat that might otherwise stem from fear of not being in control.

Physiology

Where physiology is concerned, some people start to mentally shut down. “I don’t want to hear about how a lack of rest, exercise, depleted hydration, and/or the lack of a proper diet can hamper me from reaching peak performance”, are the thoughts of some individuals. But, when your body is physically misaligned, as the result of missing the ingredients mentioned, you become mentally deprived of a coherent thought process. Don’t overlook the value that physiology plays in your overall wellbeing. To do so is to psychologically rob your thought and presentation process of greater consistency.

What does this have to do with negotiations?

Every negotiation is fraught with situations that claims fear as an ingredient of its process. That fear may stem from being uncertain about how to act or react in situations, or being fearful of what might occur if one finds oneself in a no-deal position. Command control over your emotions when contemplating such thoughts. Do so by controlling the thoughts that might lead you down a path laden with nervousness.

By addressing and preventing the nervous tensions that could hamper your negotiation, you’ll enhance your negotiation efforts. You’ll be preventing such nervousness from getting the better of you … and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d really like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

To receive Greg’s free “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Sunday Negotiation Insight” click here http://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

#PreventNervousness #prevention # Nerves #Success #Emotion #Business #Progress #SmallBusiness #Negotiation #NegotiatingWithABully #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #liars #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions

Growth Management Personal Development

An Optimum Leader Must Exercise the Empathy Muscle

Post author By Wally Hauck, PhD, CSP
Post date October 1, 2018
No Comments on An Optimum Leader Must Exercise the Empathy Muscle

One morning I stopped at a Dunkin Donuts for coffee. While leaving the parking lot, I was rushing and accidently backed up into a 3-day old $25,000 VW Passat. The driver was livid and told me so in words and body language I choose not to repeat here. I was already late for an appointment which was one of the factors that caused me to rush and cause the accident. I needed to act and yet not rush. I needed to influence the man and the situation. I needed to be a leader. The owner was too emotional, understandably so, to lead the situation to an effective conclusion.

A leader is not a leader without voluntary followers. Followers are not really followers unless they are volunteers. Those who are compelled to comply to follow orders from a leader are not voluntary followers. A key factor in developing voluntary followers is the ability to develop a relationship and to build trust. A key factor in developing a relationship is the ability to express empathy. I needed empathy to lead the situation with my VW friend.

Empathy is a valued element in building trust and relationships. Empathy is an acknowledgement of emotion. It’s an expression that you understand how important a situation is to someone and you appreciate how they are feeling about it. The ability to show empathy is a crucial skill for all leaders. Effective leaders must be able to influence the mood of others. By doing so they create a positive context for an organization or team and that context leads to performance.

Empathy makes it safe to feel emotion, feel understood, feel acknowledged and feel cared for. A lack of empathy is indifference. Indifference suggests a lack of connection and lack of relationship. Indifference creates anxiety, dissonance, dis-engagement and often deselection.

“…empathy means taking employee’s feelings into thoughtful consideration and then making intelligent decisions that work those feelings into the response.” (Daniel Goleman, 2002)

Empathic listening is the grease that keeps relationships running with minimal friction. In studies by Dr. Antonio Damasio medical patients who had brain damage to a certain part of the brain, and were therefore unable to express empathy, had diminished relationship building skills. Their logic remained intact but their ability to build trust was clearly missing. (Damasio, 2005)

There is a great deal of research that connects empathy to business results. Studies that correlate empathy with the emotional state of front-line employees show a direct connection to customer satisfaction and employee retention. Poor morale among those who “touch” the customer (the front-line worker) can predict turnover of customers and employees up to three years in advance. (Daniel Goleman, 2002)

Empathy; the ability to show that you care because you can imagine yourself in their situation and acknowledge what they are feeling and how intense that emotion must be.

How did I turn around the accident situation? I immediately expressed empathy with my friend the VW Passat owner. I admitted my mistake and told him how I could certainly understand how upsetting it must be for someone to hit his brand-new automobile. “I too would be upset”, I said.

He remained angry but shifted to cooperation from confrontation. This cooperation allowed me to exchange insurance information with him more quickly and more accurately. My ability to express empathy gave me the influence I needed to minimize the wasted time and to keep my client appointment with minimal delay.

Empathy, then, is an ability that every leader must add to their toolkit. My VW friend was willing to cooperate quickly only because I expressed sincere empathy. He was willing to voluntarily follow my lead to exchange information quickly and efficiently while avoiding the negative emotion that could have become a barrier.

Emotion cannot be avoided in the workplace nor anywhere else. It must be managed. It must be acknowledged. Empathy is like a muscle that need exercise to be most effective. Make it a daily habit. It’s costs nothing and it saves relationships, trust, and time.

Wally Hauck, PhD has a cure for the “deadly disease” known as the typical performance appraisal. Wally holds a doctorate in organizational leadership from Warren National University, a Master of Business Administration in finance from Iona College, and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania. Wally is a Certified Speaking Professional or CSP. Wally has a passion for helping leaders let go of the old and embrace new thinking to improve leadership skills, employee engagement, and performance. See other resources here.

Damasio, A. R. (2005). Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. New York: Penguin Publishing Group.

Daniel Goleman, R. B. (2002). Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing.

For more, read on: https://c-suitenetwork.com/advisors/advisor/wally-hauck/

Growth Management Personal Development

Executive Leaders: Are You Showing Your Team the Coastal Erosion?

Post author By Jennifer Ledet
Post date October 1, 2018
No Comments on Executive Leaders: Are You Showing Your Team the Coastal Erosion?

As a business professional, a team member, a CEO, or senior level executive, do you know clearly what the big picture is for your team? What are the long-term goals and objectives? If you don’t know, why not ask? Being clued into the big picture is crucial in business.

On a recent helicopter ride, I was able to see my neighborhood and familiar sites from a completely different perspective. In fact, things looked so different from this vantage point that I had trouble figuring out where we were. (Never mind that I am directionally challenged anyway!) Thankfully, the pilot pointed out some landmarks to help me out.

I was able to clearly see how coastal erosion has affected my state of Louisiana from this vantage point. I was able to see the big picture and why efforts to preserve our coast are so important. When you are living in the coastal erosion, you cannot see it, but from above, it was quite a shock.

As an executive leader, do you keep your staff and colleagues “in the loop” as to where you want the team to go? Do you show them the bird’s eye view and let them in on maybe even the not so great happenings? Or are your employees simply living within the coastal erosion, blind to the daily degradation?

A number of studies have shown that one of the biggest sources of employee satisfaction is knowing where their contributions fit into the big picture or the overall success of the organization. Employees like to know that they are making a difference! If employees don’t feel they’re contributing or don’t know how their work makes a difference, then they will be more likely to become disengaged.

For instance, my client, Stanley, accepted a promotion to oversee a new division of his company. Shortly after taking over, he scheduled a staff meeting, bringing in to his office all of the people who now reported to him. He gave them an overview of the current status of the company, where they were heading, and, most importantly, what his expectations were. With this “aerial view” of the company, he explained how each could best contribute to the achievement of the company’s goals. He did not sugarcoat the hard facts, either. He told them where some serious work needed to be done.

Stanley announced that these meetings would be held twice monthly and each person would be expected to provide status reports, updating everyone on their area of responsibility. He encouraged the sharing of information amongst team members so that suggestions and advice might be offered to help each other out.

Stanley later reported to me after that first meeting that team members were floored by this new practice. He received feedback and numerous emails from staff, telling him how much they appreciated this method. He didn’t think much of it, but apparently, these team members had never really felt “in” on things before. They felt valued when their leader took the time to clue them into where they were and where they were heading.

Whatever your job entails, never underestimate the value of stepping back to look at the big picture. And leaders, don’t forget to let your people in on the overall plan and scheme. Even when the outlook may not be great, people would still prefer to know the reality of the situation than to be left in the dark. Plug employees in to the power of the big picture!

What will you:

Start doing?
Stop doing?
Continue doing?

to show your team the aerial view? Share your action steps by posting here. Your colleagues can benefit from your plan to be a better leader.

For more resources on leadership and employee engagement, be sure to sign up for our monthly Ezine and you will receive our report: “7 of Your Biggest People Problems…Solved.”

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