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Month: July 2019

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Growth Management Personal Development

Ego of Your Leadership

Is Your Ego Helping or Hurting Your Leadership?

Your ego is a powerful tool and if used right will help you have the level of confidence you need. Ego is a Latin word that means “I myself. All mindsets feed the ego. recognizes how to play to their strengths and identify the gaps to help you close them for greater effectiveness & confidence. Ego refers to a person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance. For the small business owner, a certain amount of ego is good. It’s when the ego gets overinflated that problems occur.

You don’t always have to be right on everything you do and or say. In reality, you need a certain amount of ego as a leader to achieve, to innovate, and to have the courage to try something new. Ego-driven leaders are toxic to the organization you lead. The ego a leader has can bring down business just like when there is a lack of customers. The difference is when the reputation of the business an ego-driven leader leads can have many or most people not applying for a job there. Nothing can be more debilitating in an organization than a leader with an ego. They are entitled and important simply because they want to be. Egotists regard themselves as superior, set apart from everyone else.

Don’t Let Your Ego Hijack Your Leadership Effectiveness

“Always remember: Too much ego will kill your talent.” – Unknown Author

Ego is one of the biggest problems that humanity faces. Being egoless is impossible.

Overactive ego gives people a distorted image of your importance. When this happens, you see yourself as the center of the world around you. You begin to put your own agenda, status, and gratification ahead of anyone else around you.

Characteristics of Ego-Driven Leaders

Ego-driven leaders tend to…

  • Measure success by how much others notice your success.
  • Often feel better about yourself when others around you don’t achieve their goals.
  • Undermine others so you can appear smarter, more competent and more knowledgeable than they.
  • Drive others away over time.
  • Destroy trust and attempt to control others through any way possible.
  • Are always looking for praise to be in the spotlight
  • Does not reflect on personal shortcomings because it would interfere with their need to feel superior. Their blind spots go unaddressed, and eventually people stop bringing them up.
  • Not listen to other points of view.
  • Takes on daunting tasks without preparation or the ability to solve them, because they see them as less threatening than they really are.
  • Be motivated by status, not service (leadership)
  • Have a desire to always be right every single time.
  • Be easily offended and quick to defend yourself sometimes using any excuse you think works for you.
  • Rarely, if at all, admit your fault without rationalizing or blaming others. Using such statements as “It’s my way or the highway”, “I don’t need to adjust to people, they need to adjust to me”, or “No one else can fix this but me”, and or “I know more than anyone else in how to solve the situation.”

You are Losing Business Clients and Customers and Not Knowing Why

“When your ego may be in charge, everything becomes a little bit more about “you” and a little bit less about others.” – Christopher Pinckley

Can you admit to making a bad decision? You make decisions every day about everything you do, yet you have to live with them. You can change them. Typically, people do not like people with huge egos. Knowing that ego-driven people won’t listen to them and thinking you are always right. Clients and customers believe ego-driven people are not customer-focused especially on their needs but on the needs of the ego-driven person.

Blaming others for your decisions does not bode well with your employees. Admitting to making a bad decision is not in the nature of an ego-driven person. Business owners or leaders usually don’t think you need help. The problem is that you may know your business well, yet the way specific things work within your business you may not be totally aware of. This is when asking employees how they see things working help you in generating thoughts and ideas that can re-work the business for up-to-date trends.

You Have a Lot of Employee Turnover

You think you just need to hire the right talent instead of throwing more money at your employees to motivate them or to hire people who question things you do. Employees and prospective employees stay away from your organization because they want to work in an open-culture environment.

You are Never Satisfied with the Work of Others

You have difficulty praising employees or other executives. Putting people down as in blaming them for things you created does not sit well for most people, so they leave. Instead of looking for mistake’s employees make you place blame on them as specific ideas were not yours.

Practice Humility

Recalibrate your ego since humility means recognizing that the work is not all about you. Recognizing how well your employees complete a project can be praised. Few ego-driven leaders will do this as you expect employees to be doing their work and nothing more.

The leader that is acting out of self-doubt looks for reassurance from others in a more powerful position. They rarely make decisions on their own. They are not helpful to turn to in times of need and will generally avoid conflict of any kind.

The leader that is acting out of false pride is afraid to lose control. They tend to micromanage everything and everyone and their ideas are always the right ones. When they are wrong, they are usually the first to lay the blame on others.

Recognize Your Own Strengths and Limitations.

“When you allow your ego to control your thoughts, everything you believe becomes an illusion.” – Rusty Eric

Your leadership effectiveness is primarily based on how you see yourself. Having high self-esteem or self-confidence is great. Going beyond this to think of yourself as always winning and never seeing yourself failing or losing under any circumstance needs you to come back to earth. Being so high and mighty when things around you are in a crisis, your ego will be in control Lashing out at people and blaming them for things they did not cause can suddenly leave in in the lurch to fill their vacant positions.

Dana Ardi, Ph.D., -“If you ask most people to describe how a great leader looks and acts, you’ll often get answers that refer to generals and military commanders, or presidents and heads of state. In other words, we tend to think of leaders as those who rise to the top of the hierarchical pyramid — those who display charisma, a “take charge” attitude, and the self-confidence to issue commands from above.”

Egotism in Leadership Can Be Countered

It takes a deliberate effort on the part of leaders to refocus and see things from a wider view. A key practice is to recognize the viewpoints of others.  Many time’s one’s weaknesses are just the flip-side of your strengths.

Find a conscious balance between:

  • Strengths and weaknesses
  • Ambition and caution
  • Confidence and doubt
  • Foresight and hindsight
  • Boldness and accountability
  • Inspiration and being grounded
  • Personal needs and the needs of others

“Don’t let your ego get too close to your position so that if your position gets shot down, your ego doesn’t go with it.” – Colin Powell

 

 

Categories
Best Practices Growth Health and Wellness Technology

It’s Official: Spending Time Surrounded by Nature Reduces Stress

We’ve done this for all our lives—when we feel too stressed, we take a break in nature. We even spent our own money, time, and energy on restoring a creek near our home by eliminating waste and invasive species. We invite our clients, students, friends, and neighbors to take a stroll on our “Nature Trail”. Why? Because we know it’s centering, calming, and just plain beneficial for your outlook on life.

But we never had real evidence that nature reduces stress—till now! A study published in Frontiers in Psychology by the University of Michigan has confirmed that a “Nature Pill”, AKA time spent in nature, actually encourages our brains to reduce cortisol, a stress-inducing hormone.

In the study, a group of adults was asked to spend at least 10 minutes surrounded by nature three times a week for eight months. Every other week, the scientists observed cortisol levels in saliva samples to determine how nature experiences affected them.

The study’s lead author, Mary Carol Hunter, said, “[The] participants were free to choose the time of day, duration, and the place of the nature experience, which was defined as anywhere outside that, in the opinion of the participant, made them feel like they’ve interacted with nature.” The participants were also asked to avoid social media, conversations, reading, and phone calls while taking their “nature pill”—any factor that could possibly influence stress. To put it simply, just be present in nature for only 10 minutes!

Our business cards refer to us as “Advisors, Speakers, and Hikers”. We spend as much time as we possibly can in nature. As we hike, we see other people on the trails, but not really being present in nature. They’re texting, talking, or completely engrossed in their smartphones instead of appreciating the beautiful surroundings. We really appreciated that the Michigan team eliminated this clear source of stress from their research.

Hunter also said, “Our study shows that for the greatest payoff, in terms of efficiently lowering levels of the stress hormone, you should spend 20 to 30 minutes sitting or walking in a place that provides you with a sense of nature.” She further adds, “This will allow customized nature pill prescriptions, as well as a deeper insight on how to design cities and wellbeing programs for the public.”

We love the concept of “taking a nature pill”. Think about how many stress-reducing pharmaceutical prescriptions could be eliminated. Maybe we should put our smartphones down for a little bit each day, let Mother Nature do her magic, and reacquaint ourselves with our natural roots on our wonderful planet.

This is only one (scientifically-proven) reason to preserve our environment and make nature a part of our daily lives once again. We’ll see you on the trail—without your smartphone!

For more, read on: http://c-suitenetworkadvisors.com/advisor/michael-houlihan-and-bonnie-harvey/

 

Categories
Growth Health and Wellness Management

Interview by the Game Changer and Tina Greenbaum

 

In this interview, you will discover a five-step system world-class athletes, performers & politicians use to have ultimate confidence, achieve superhuman results and breakthrough their own limiting mindset. At the end of the day do you feel overwhelmed and stressed? Do you keep running into the same old patterns you know hold you back, but you just don’t know how to fix them?

You will learn:

  • What to focus on when you want to be efficient and productive
  • How to initiate the relaxation response in an instant so you can be in control of your stress level
  • What mindfulness is and how to use it to improve your life
  • How to change negative self-talk into Productive Thinking so you can achieve positive results
  • How to use fear as a teacher, so you can overcome them and reach your goals
  • How to create powerful visualizations to elevate your performance
Categories
Growth Leadership Personal Development

Building Personal Persistence

Persistence can be a leader’s most invaluable asset

It happens to us all, everything is all set, our plans are laid out, and we set out on a new project. Then, something comes out of the blue, blindsides us, and for a reason that is entirely out of our control, we fall short of our goals.
This situation is where our persistence comes into play. There are several steps for us to take to make sure that we can effectively move onwards from such a shortfall.

We have to remember that our accomplishments do not define us. We are defined by the challenges we overcame to get there.

First, we have to remember that everything is relative, especially when we fall short of our own (or other’s) expectations. Right away, we are our own worst enemies, and once we start doing down that downward spiral of self-defeat, it continually becomes harder to get out of it. Keeping things in perspective allows us to see our missteps as just that, missteps. Everyone makes mistakes, and this one happens to be one of ours.

Second, we take ownership. Passing the buck, or playing the blame game gets us nowhere but hurt feelings. Moreover, misery loves company, but miserable people rarely get things done. By taking ownership, we retain control over the situation and give ourselves the change to make things right. Ownership is a powerful force. By reining in it, we help ourselves to ensure that the effects of our mistakes go no further than they have to and that we can immediately begin working on a solution.

Lastly, we have to get back to work. Proactively finding a solution helps us do two things: solve the problems we’ve created, and learn how not to make a mistake again. Sweeping things under the carpet, and trying to move on as nothing happened only allows for the error to happen again, often with more severe consequences. Proactively finding a solution by getting to the root cause of the problem helps us analyze how it happened and creates an iterative solution that helps to make sure that the same mistake is not made twice.

We all make mistakes, it is a natural part of being human. In making mistakes, we often become our own worst enemy, either by trying to ignore them or passing the blame onto someone else. In doing this, the attitude we display matter most. We have to keep our heads up and not allow our missteps to back us up more than they have to. We have to remember that this project is our responsibility, and we will see it through to success. Our determination, perseverance, and positivity help this like nothing else. No-one likes a complainer; no-one wants to hear what a problem is because it forces them to think that it is becoming their responsibly to fix. By keeping a proactive, solutions-orientated, mindset, we can ask for advice and assistance, without coming across as trying to rope someone into a lost cause. It comes down to HOW we face our challenges. When we adopt the right mindset, we’re good to go. Failing to do so is a chief cause of further failures.

We all want to be successful after all our successes give us a much higher feeling of satisfaction than the frustration of coming up short. We have to remember that our accomplishments do not define us. We are defined by the challenges we overcame to get there.

Categories
Best Practices Culture Entrepreneurship Industries Management News and Politics Skills Technology

Apollo 11 Moon Landing – Doing the Impossible

As I travel around the world as a strategic advisor and keynote speaker, I have the privilege of meeting many amazing people, including presidents, prime ministers, and Fortune 500 CEOs, just to name a few.

Several years ago, I was speaking in Jordan at a leadership summit when I had the pleasure of meeting Neil Armstrong. Of all the people I’ve met, I must admit that this meeting was the one I was most looking forward to. Given that fact and Mr. Armstrong’s incredible legacy, myself and millions, if not billions, of others around the world were saddened by his passing. In his memory, and in lieu of the 50th anniversary of the successful Apollo 11 moon landing, I wanted to share a story he shared that I believe has a profound message for our time.

Impossible Roadblocks

He said that in the years of research, innovation, and testing that led up to his first footsteps on the moon, there were many times that NASA engineers and scientists would reach an impossible roadblock. During these times, they would say, “We will have to halt the mission. There is no scientific solution to this problem.” Or, “We have tried everything imaginable to solve this problem, and we can’t solve it.”

He went on to say that every time NASA’s best thinkers and scientists reached an impossible roadblock, they were told, “We are going to the moon.” And every time, they would look at each other and say, “OK, got it,” and then they would try again and again. Soon, they would have a solution that worked. He said this happened many times, and each time, the impossible turned out to be possible once they were reminded of the impossible mission they were on.

Your Biggest Problem

This concept is a variation of my strategy of taking a problem and skipping it. Take into consideration your organization’s biggest problem, and you will come to realize that it is likely not the real problem; it is merely a roadblock, much like NASA’s several roadblocks on its way to the moon.

In your organization, “going to the moon” is likely a metaphor for accomplishing something that no other organization has accomplished before. Perhaps your organization is implementing my Hard Trend Methodology, through which you pay close attention to the Hard Trends shaping your industry and pre-solve your customers’ problems with a new product or service they never knew they needed. From an outsider’s perspective, that new product or service initially sounds outlandish; however, the organization acted in an anticipatory manner in realizing what a customer needed before it existed.

NASA going to the moon, solving problems to get to the moon, and piloting our country far ahead in the space race was NASA anticipating. Having a compelling vision for where you want to go or what you want to do—something that is bigger than any one person, something that might even seem impossible—is the kind of vision that can cause people to want to do more, want to reach higher, and want to keep trying.

Remember, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did not stand up in front of all those people in Washington, DC, and say, “I have a plan.” Rather, he said, “I have a dream.” And his dream was not to get elected or make vast sums of money. His dream was to better mankind. Putting a man on the moon was similar. It was a dream we could all share—a vision that would not have us question the cost—so we did it.

When Neil Armstrong was about to take that first step off the ladder and onto the moon’s surface, he did not say, “One small step for a NASA astronaut, one giant leap for the United States.” He knew that going to the moon was a human achievement for all of humankind.

Whether you are the leader of a country, a company, a business, or a school, when you find yourself faced with something that seems impossible, remember how we put a man on the moon—by keeping a dream, an articulated vision of what we want to do, as a picture in our mind’s eye. You can take your organization’s biggest problem and simply skip it, propelling the organization to new heights and accomplishing things for the greater good of humankind. Human history has taught us that nothing is impossible when we have a big dream that can be converted into a shared vision.

Learn more with my latest book The Anticipatory Organization– get your copy here.

Categories
Growth Leadership Personal Development

The Many Benefits of Welcoming Younger Employees to Your Business

In today’s article, I would like to direct your attention to the many benefits and assets that younger employees will bring to your enterprise.

Let’s consider them, one at a time.

Younger Generations Bring Beautiful Diversity and Varied Perspectives

Today’s millennial workforce is comprised of smart young professionals who come from every part of North America, and from other countries that are located just about everywhere. Taken in sum, Younger Generations are a wonderfully varied group.

You could hire a consulting firm to help you decode how all members of all those groups are thinking. But if you hire Younger Generations, you don’t have to. Their valuable perspectives are right there under the same roof as you.

Younger Generations Have Marketplace Knowledge You Need to Succeed

Whatever services or products you sell, most Younger Generations can provide you with the latest intelligence about what is taking place in your industry . . .

  • What do consumers think about your products and your brand?
  • How does your company compare to your competitors?
  • What are the biggest trends in your industry today?
  • What companies are the leaders in your sector, and why?
  • How do Younger Generations make buying decisions?
  • How and when do Younger Generations become loyal customers?
  • Do Younger Generations still want to purchase homes and cars, go to college, and engage in other activities that were “givens” among members of older generations? Or have they changed?
  • What lessons can you learn and apply from cutting-edge companies like Uber, Amazon.com, and Google? Many Younger Generations can give you critical insights that you need.

Viewed from those perspectives, it becomes obvious your Younger Generation workers are one of your company’s most valuable assets. Are you treating them that way? 

Younger Generations Create a Culture of Learning in Your Organization 

You probably think that Younger Generations are the “tech generation.” That might be true, but even more so, they are the generation that learns. One reason is that many of them were in college not that long ago, and learning is part of their DNA. Another is that they are part of a generation that has needed to adapt and adjust to major – and at times cataclysmic – change. Over just the last few decades, that change has included the arrival of dramatic new technologies like the Internet, new social outlooks, the changing demographics of the American population, as well as the time in office of America’s first African-American president.

That is a lot of change for one cohort to absorb. Doing so has uniquely prepared Younger Generations to adapt to change. Clearly, a workforce that learns in that way can equip any organization for success. Hopefully, that success will be yours.

Action Step: Step back and consider whether your organization is one that supports curiosity and learning. If not, what can you do about it?

Younger Generations Bring an Entrepreneurial Outlook to Your Company

Members of older generations generally waited before trying new things. In contrast, Younger Generations like to take risks, act independently, move ahead, take ownership of their work, and get things done. To unlock the benefits of those outlooks, try to lead them in these ways . . .

  • Have the courage to let them take risks.
  • Cut rules and restrictive red tape that cripple ingenuity and ambition.
  • Instead of using traditional reporting relationships. create multifunctional task forces of people from different parts of your organization – teams of energetic young Younger Generations.
  • Reward Younger Generations, thank them, and let them move right on to new challenges. In general, Younger Generations want to keep moving forward instead of looking back at what they have accomplished in the past.

Action Step: Consider whether your organization encourages entrepreneurial thinking. If you are stifling or discouraging it, what improvements can you make?

Younger Generations Encourage Good Succession Planning

Who is going to run your company in 10, 20 or 25 years? You could hire a management consulting firm to help you create a succession plan. But if you hire, retain and promote a superior younger workforce, you won’t need to.

A thriving workforce made up of Younger Generation employees can act like a living, growing succession plan – possibly one that you never need to write down.

Are you welcoming Younger Generations to your organization and embracing all the good they bring? Or are you letting flawed misconceptions and prejudices stand in your way?

Ultimately, the decision is up to you. But if you would like your organization to succeed, I hope you will make the right one.

Action Step: Take an objective look at your succession plan. What role could your Younger Generation employees play in strengthening it?

Categories
Investing Management Marketing Negotiations Sales

Is Discounting That Deal Suicidal? Five Ways to Tell

It’s often tempting to discount your way out of a stressful situation, but sometimes you’re doing more harm than good.  Discounting is sometimes necessary…but often, it’s the biggest mistake you can make.  How do you know when you’re in that situation?

Full disclosure here:  I’m highly biased against discounting. My regular readers have gathered that I’m a pricing hawk, and my clients engage me because of it.  Within the Miller Heiman Group network, value-based pricing was my differentiation.  I’ve managed too many P&Ls to be comfortable with knee-jerk discounting behaviors I often see.

Just because discounting throws away profit dollars, is that any reason to call it suicidal?  Maybe. Maybe not. There are good reasons to discount.  We can go through those in another article if you want, but many times, dropping your price hurts more than this month’s/quarter’s/year’s financials. The pain of discount-trained customers lasts far beyond today’s closed deal celebration.  Or, as mom used to say: “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should”.

So, what are the signals that discounting is simply a crutch for poor selling/marketing?  Here’s a checklist:

The Value is Already High Enough

Many customers think it’s good business practice to push back on price, no matter how satisfactory.  For instance, sales professionals operating in Latin America tell me that aggressive price negotiation is standard business culture there. These negotiators aren’t looking for any particular number, they’re looking for capitulation. Convince them that there’s no money left on the table for them to win, and they’re done.

Another approach is to walk them through the value justification you’ve been building all through the discovery and proposal-building process. You know, the one you’ve validated with them and their co-workers.  Yeah, the one that builds a value case using the customer’s own monetary estimates.  This is the one your sales methodology helps you build in detail.  You have one of those, right?  If not, consider the value of adopting one.  How many discount dollars (remember, discount dollars = profit dollars) did you give up last year?  Compare that amount to the cost of implementing a methodology which would have captured those profit dollars.  How many more digits in the first number?  So…why are we not talking?

You Don’t Know Your Value

I once worked for a company whose culture practiced “if Sales can’t articulate value, Product can’t discuss pricing”.  This company had enshrined value-based pricing as a pillar of the company culture. Nothing moved for an opportunity until everyone knew what value the customer perceived from our offer.  Once value was known, nothing stood in our way when delivering that value.

In contrast, I recently worked with a company in the middle of a company-driven sales force turnover. The outgoing salesforce was known for building value and never discounting.  Clients would routinely recoup the entire investment in under two months (some as slow as six – still a 200% 1st year ROI). Once clients believed such results were achievable for them, price was unimportant.  The incoming salespeople and weren’t equipped to articulate and validate customer value.  As a result, neither buyer nor seller knew the value of the offer.  Discounting became rampant and steep, and EBIDTA shrank to “shameful”.

If your salespeople can’t validate value monetarily with a customer, they aren’t equipped to have a price discussion.  When they are thus disadvantaged, they’ll want to discount their way out of trouble. This outcome is only partially the sales person’s fault.  Leadership holds majority responsibility in providing tools to prevent it.

You’ve Sold Too Narrowly

Has your sales strategy engaged all affected personas? Chances are that they have not.  Even sales methodologies who teach engaging “all” personas, ignore out-of-normal-scope “optional” personas–who could yield additional value. We intuitively shun the decision complexity of adding personas, without strategically adding personas who are natural allies.  Sometimes adding people amounts to “packing the court in your favor”.

I regularly engage with clients who engage too narrowly.  Customers build a group buying decision dynamic around the organizational silo/department who has a budget.  Too often, salespeople follow this definition of “buying team”, ignoring all of the other silos who benefit from their offer.  Business acumen would guide sellers to expand the buying ecosystem advantageously.

If a sales strategy hasn’t built value broadly in a prospect organization, there may not be enough value to support desired pricing.  Look at it another way.  Your company invested resources in producing customer value, but your sales approach failed to leverage all available value into pricing.  If you can’t charge for the value you produce, how sustainable is your business?

You’ve Sold Too Shallowly

Building some value with a buying persona is good. Building more value is better.  I have yet to encounter a methodology that doesn’t allow sellers to add more value drivers into the mix.  I have also yet to encounter a methodology that equip salespeople all of the value drivers to add.

Your sellers are probably able to sell more value to existing personas. They often don’t have the business acumen, product training, or selling tools to sell full value.  If your customer hasn’t built full value in their own mind, the internal math doesn’t check out.  They might think “the value is too low”, but say “your price is too high”. Those two are the same thing.

You’ve Crippled Your Offer

I once had a client who loved to pare down first opportunities into net-new clients.  The idea was to win a low-risk first engagement, then grow from proven results. This is the familiar “land and expand” strategy. Unfortunately, these first engagements were so narrowed that compelling results were almost impossible to achieve.

Designing the value out of an offer to make it easier to swallow traps the seller into discounting a low-value offer. Worse, it establishes low value for all future “expand” opportunities.  This could easily be “suicide by discounting”.

If your business involves follow-on sales, discounting the entry offer is extremely dangerous; you need a convincing “trial basis, then full price” story.  You also need the initial offer to prove “full price value”; think “full value delivery at small scale”, not “low sticker price”.  Predefined criteria for success should also be part of the equation; force a customer to measure value.

The Road to Failure is Paved with Discounted Sales

I love building profitable businesses. Not opportunistic gouging profits, but real, win-win, value-based profits.  I love helping clients do the same thing.

Please share if you liked this article…or comment…or like.  Contact me if you’d like to discuss in more detail.

To your success!

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Management Marketing Negotiations Skills Women In Business

“How Forgiving Is Your Mind – This Is What Matters” – Negotiation Insight

“To free your mind, release what’s captured it.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (Click to Tweet)

 


Click here to get the book!

“How Forgiving Is Your Mind – This Is What Matters”

 

How long do you allow negativity to grip you in the jaws of despair – hold you mind hostage to situations that make you cling to slights that others thrust upon you? If you hold negative thoughts for an extended time, it might be to your detriment?

Anytime you allow lingering negative thoughts to affect your mood, your mannerisms, or your actions, you allow others to control you. Thus, at times, you must exercise forgiveness to release such anxieties – at other times, you must take aggressive actions.

The following are thoughts to help you assess when to engage in forgiveness and when not to.

 

Let it go:

Everything that’s perceived as being negative, isn’t. Thus, you must assess what is real versus perceived negativity – that perception will, in part, be based on your current state of mind. That’s why it’s important to mend your mind by not allowing too much of the past to cloud your current judgment – it matters to your wellbeing.

Release thoughts that debilitate your mind (e.g. they’ll never let me move into a higher position – they don’t like people like me – I remember the outcome the last time something like this occurred). Some thoughts don’t serve you. Even if such things bring past indiscretions to mind, don’t conflate them with your current situation – that was then and this is now.

By separating the past and present, you insulate your current thoughts from the past – that disallows your past thoughts from afflicting your current thinking. It also frees you to release thoughts that don’t serve you and replace them with those that are more uplifting. In turn, that will take you to a higher mental sanctuary, which will allow you to have a more positive perspective.

 

When not to let it go:

If someone or something is preventing you from achieving your desired goal, challenge them! Fear not for fear’s sake. If you subscribe to attaining an objective, you must do what’s necessary to advance forward. To the degree that it’s important, when others block your path out of spite or unrighteousness, don’t be forgiving – be persistent in moving them aside. There is a time for forgiveness – this is not it!

When it comes to your success and security if you let threats go unabated, you’ll only be postponing future dread. By not addressing situations that outright pose potential harm, you emboldened the source of that threat. If left unaddressed, it may swell to become the cause of your demise.

When something was too threatening, something that caused you to summon more courage, you did so. In so doing you realized, without struggle, you had no advancement. Don’t stop now when confronted by a daunting roadblock – that’s nothing more than a test to encourage you to display more courage – move on, go higher!

By controlling your mind, you control your thoughts, which allows you to control your actions. Control will keep you in a better mental place. You’re the master-of-your-fate. Knowing when to forgive and when not to will help you maintain that domain … and everything will be right with the world.

 

What does this have to do with negotiations?

 

During a negotiation, you can become overwhelmed by emotions – emotions that lead to thoughts of retribution. Unless there’s a sincere need for such, don’t let negative thoughts lead to emotions that cloud your judgment. They’ll saddle you with unneeded consternation as you go deeper into the negotiation.

Being able to forgive perceived slights can be a gift in a negotiation – it can free your mind to think more freely. Knowing when to move against such slights can also be beneficial. Thus, knowing when to adopt the right action is paramount. Therefore, when weighing a conflicting negative thought that might debilitate your mind ask yourself, does this matter? If it doesn’t, be forgiving – let it go.

 

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://anchor.fm/themasternegotiator

 

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/

 

# Mind #Matters #Negotiate #Business #Progress #SmallBusiness #Negotiation #NegotiatingWithABully #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions

 

 

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“Do You Know How To Be A Powerful Negotiator” – Negotiation Tip of the Week

 “Power – something that others grant you, even if you momentarily take it from them.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (Click to Tweet)

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“Do You Know How To Be A Powerful Negotiator”

 

He was pompous, screamed at others while demeaning them, and not well-liked – most of his associates detested him! Some wondered if that was why he’d been stuck in the same management position for over a decade. Plus, he was not a good negotiator – he lacked insight on how to use power. He used bullying tactics with his subordinates (i.e. you’d better do this or else), and veiled threats to delude his peers to get what he wanted. Everyone collectively swore they’d get even with him. And one day they did.

Do you know how to be a powerful negotiator?

 

Sources of Power and How To Use It:

Voice inflection – There’s power, or lack of, in the way you speak. You can make a statement that sounds like a question or a question that sounds like a statement simply by the inflection in your voice. To sound more powerfully, apply a deeper tone to your voice when emphasizing words of greater importance. This is especially true when negotiating. A deeper tone on, that’s my best price, conveys more conviction to your statement.

Positioning – Whether it’s your physical proximity to others or the proximity of your words, what proceeds your words impacts their perception. Therefore, be mindful of when you speak. If you speak after someone has delivered a rousing proposal, your words may be received with less enthusiasm. The same is true of your physical proximity to others. If you’re physically close to someone with power, your words will carry greater weight simply because of that proximity. Others will assume that there’s a sense of power bestowed upon you from the power person in the environment.

When negotiating, consider the order of your offers and their alignment with people of power. You can also make a prior offer appear to be better by downgrading the one that follows it – in that case, your message states that the trajectory of the offers to follow will become progressively worse.

Manipulation – A negotiator can gain momentary power through manipulation (for this purpose, the word manipulation is neutral – it’s not good or bad). One can use it to feed the other negotiator’s desires by embellishing the item he seeks from you. By doing that, you heighten his sense to acquire it.

To embellish an item, highlight how the other negotiator will feel, and/or appear to others once he’s acquired it. Take note of his body language as you make your summation. If he slips into a dream-like state while smiling and becoming dreamy-eyed, he’s also imagining the great sensation he’ll experience once he’s acquired your offer – you got him! Continue down that path and extract whatever he’s willing to forgo to acquire the offer. Be careful not to turn embellishment into a lie. That might come back to haunt you.

Likeability – Never underestimate the hidden value of likeability. It’s a factor that has swayed many negotiators. I’ve seen lower offers accepted because of it. It’s easy to be likable with most people – just be pleasant. Warning – with some bully types, you’ll have to meet power with power. Thus, the likeability factor may be a detriment. Instead, seek to become respected – respect will be the source that cedes greater power to you.

 

You’re always negotiating:

In the situation with the manager, mentioned at the beginning of this article, others did exact their toll on him. It occurred when subordinates and his peers combined forces – they informed senior management that they’d no longer work with him. The manager didn’t realize that he’d been negotiating with those folks during his tenure with the company. He used his power recklessly. And now their power was coming to bear against him – senior management fired him.

I love to observe people with power. To be specific, I note how they use it, to whom they extend it, and how they’re altered by it. It’s said that power doesn’t change you – it amplifies who you really are. To that point, always keep in mind, the way you treat people impacts their perception of you. Thus, if they perceive you as an ogre, they’ll be less inclined to assist you in achieving your goals. Therefore, use the sources of power as partners in your negotiations – they’ll increase the perception of you being a powerful person. That will lead to more powerful negotiation outcomes … and everything will be right with the world.

 

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://anchor.fm/themasternegotiator

 

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/

 

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Leadership Personal Development

In Some Cultures, Soft Skills Are Signs of Weakness

We like to invite Entrepreneurship Masters students from around the world to the wine country—our home. We enjoy giving them a break from the concrete jungle and campuses they visit in Silicon Valley. These students come from all over to pay tribute to the Technopreneurship success stories of our time. After being wowed by tech, lectured by VCs, and dazzled by Google, Twitter, and Facebook tours, they have a chance to put their feet on the ground again—literally. We bring them to “Your Outdoor Classroom in the Wine Country.”

We offer creeks, redwoods, and grassy meadows next to a Russian River Valley vineyard, instead of glass, steel, and concrete. Rather than talking about engineering, VCs, unicorns, and tech, we like to discuss soft-skill approaches to the three essential relationships in business: Employees, Buyers, and Vendors. We choose a natural setting and engage these students in a conversation about using soft skills to earn hard cash. After all, it’s through soft skills that we can attract, train, and retain the best staff. It’s through these essential skills that we can extend our credit and terms. It’s also through soft skills that we can make sales and keep loyal customers.

But some students’ cultures look down on soft skills as if they are indications of weakness or “softness”.

Their cultures might be new to entrepreneurship. For example, these students themselves might have great reasons not to trust their governments or corporations. They might think that strength, wealth, monopoly, and coercion are the best tools with which to achieve success.

The biggest problem with that mindset is that it lessens the opportunities for entrepreneurship unless you are already in a wealthier class. You can easily suffer from high turnover, lack of staff engagement, and overspending because nobody trusts you.

This brings us to these students’ fascination with the West. Our business culture is based on a foundation of trust! And trust is based on empathy. “Does the person I’m doing business with understand, care, and acknowledge my challenges? Do they communicate with me in ways that make me feel comfortable taking a risk with them?” If answered in the affirmative by your vendors, employees, and buyers, these questions can slash your need for capital and thereby increase your bottom line.

Building culture on a foundation of trust is NOT weak!

A business’s strength relies on the creation of entrepreneurship and mutual benefit—not just “old money”.  This creation leads to more breakthroughs that will bring costs down and the standard of living up. Most US jobs today are with small entrepreneurs.

On one hand, we have engineering, which is based on physics and science. On the other hand, we have a negotiation, which is based on mutual benefit and soft skills. A great negotiator will find efficient solutions that benefit both parties—this is anything but weak. On the contrary, it shows a unique strength that transforms competition into collaboration.

Cultures that are new to entrepreneurship send their students to America to learn why our type of entrepreneurship works as well as it does. We hope to share these foundations of soft skills and how they impact trust to promote loyalty, terms, and credit, reducing the need for cash. We want to get across the fact that soft skills earn hard cash!

Maybe these students will sow these soft skill seeds in their own backyards. And maybe they’ll bloom into many opportunities for their own people! Soft skills are not weak—they’re strong!

For more, read on: http://c-suitenetworkadvisors.com/advisor/michael-houlihan-and-bonnie-harvey/

 

 

 

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