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Month: December 2019

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Growth Human Resources Management Personal Development

5 Truths and a Lie About High-Potential Leadership Programs

Our partners at the Cultivating Leaders Center of Excellence have completed a cross-industry global research effort to uncover the challenges of high-potential leadership programs and explore gaps in identifying, developing, and measuring leadership potential.

Based on the center’s findings, the jury is out regarding the positive business impact of many HIPO programs in place today. Data from other research organizations support this conclusion. A 2018 report from DDI found that 65% of the companies they researched have HIPO programs, but more than two-thirds of them rated their programs as “not very effective.”

In light of these findings, we think you’ll find this new research report insightful and helpful if you have or are considering creating a HIPO leadership development program. Researchers Richard Hodge and Jeannie Taylor organized their findings around 5 truths and a lie they discovered as a result of extensive interviews with talent and leadership executives in some of the most successful organizations around the world.

In summary, here’s what they found:

The 5 truths

  1. Organizations with successful HIPO development programs have defined clear and consistent measurements for determining potential.
  2. The success of HIPO development programs is correlated with the level of ownership and direct participation of senior leadership.
  3. The most successful HIPO development programs are integrated with the business strategy, results, and culture.
  4. Organizations with successful HIPO development programs have implemented processes to identify and engage talent early in their tenure with the organization.
  5. The most successful HIPO development programs help people see how they show up as leaders.

You won’t want to miss their insightful and revealing conclusions, plus you’ll get a wealth of insight and best practices. Access the white paper, and we’ll also provide you with a 3-part webinar series and mini learning journey based on this exciting research.

Established under the leadership of Advantage Performance Group, the Cultivating Leaders Center of Excellence is an independent organization of researchers, developers, and practitioners who have joined together to test new ideas, develop new insights, and leverage new technologies, methods, and practices in an effort to cultivate the next generation of leaders across industries and continents. Special thanks to our participating clients who contributed to the research.

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Growth Human Resources Management Personal Development

3 Critical Skills Behind All Winning Cultures

Winning cultures move beyond mission, vision, and values. Successful leaders realize corporate culture is a tapestry of the beliefs and behaviors of all employees, managers, and leaders. A recent study found that 64% of employees feel they don’t have a strong work culture. The irony of this research is that your employee is the root driver of culture.

We’ve partnered with our thought leader partners at BlueEQ™ to create a complimentary mini learning journey that can help you boost 3 skills most critical to the psychological safety behind all winning cultures.  Sign up for the journey here.

The secret to a winning culture is simply this: Have all your employees, managers and leaders focus on improving the behaviors that drive a high-performing culture. This is where psychological safety  – a factor of emotional intelligence or EQ – enters the process.

A winning culture doesn’t just happen by default. It’s created by design. Don’t take the risk that your culture will somehow grow organically over time.

Here are 3 behavioral skills that are critical to all winning cultures, what they mean, and a quick assessment to check on how you’re doing.

1. Openness

Openness means you are:

  • Willing to listen and receive feedback.
  • Open to differing opinions and points of view.
  • Teachable.
  • Free from bias or prejudice.

2. Relationship Management

High-performing relationship management means you are able to:

  • Build a meaningful attachment between two people
  • Maintain a human connection.
  • Create and sustain a social and emotional bond.
  • Build friendships and interdependence with others.

3. Impulse Control

Having good impulse control means you are able to:

  • Resist or delay an impulse.
  • Avoid rash behaviors and decision-making.
  • Exercise restraint over an abrupt inclination.
  • Think before you act.

Assess your EQ skills with our mini learning journey here.

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Negotiations Sales Women In Business

“What Is The Hidden Value Of More Civility, Pleasure?“ – Negotiation Insight

 

“What Is The Hidden Value Of More Civility, Pleasure?”

– Negotiation Insight

“What a time to be alive”, he thought. “I’m their leader, and they love me!” And yet, he had just defamed someone – a person that had recently died who’d given much of his adult life to serving others. The leader had a problem with civility. The problem was, he didn’t see the value in being civil. Nor did he understand that it transmits a sense of induced pleasure.

Do you know the value of civility? Are you aware of when and how to use it to induce the improvement you seek in others? If you think you’re not in search of some form of enhancement when you’re civil, this article may be eye-opening for you.

People tend to be more civil during certain times of the year or when they’re in particular environments. As an example, the public, in general, inclines to be more courteous and are in a state of merriment during the end-of-year holidays. They wish one another a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Feliz Navidad, and a host of other greetings to display their civility and good wishes to humankind. What happens to that civility during the rest of the year, and why does it seem to wain after the end-of-year holidays? Here are some helpful thoughts to ponder when thinking about the value of civility and how you can use it to improve situations.

Know when civility might work, and when it might not work

In general, it’s nice to be kind to others. Because in return, they’ll be helpful to you. And there’s a psychological sense of pleasure instilled in a continuing exchange of civility. But some people take civility as a sign that others won’t fight back. We saw that manifest itself in Europe in the 1930s when one world leader sought to appease another. The appeaser thought he’d avoided future conflict. Later, the world discovered that those actions only fed the fervent fever of a man that would take the world to war.

When you seek to improve any situation, weigh the value that civility will have on the outcome. You might also assess what the lack of civility will cast. To enhance your assessment, know the character of the person with whom you’re evaluating. While some will respond favorably, others won’t. For those that won’t, let your lack of civility be your guide.

What causes one to dismiss civility’s value?

Some individuals possess a bullying mindset. They’re the ones that have gotten their gains by lying, cheating, and browbeating others. Thus, they’re accustomed to using the same bullying tactics that have gotten them to where they are. Because their value perspective is to belittle others to make them submit to their will, as alluded to earlier, they use the strategies that have worked for them in the past. That mindset and actions make such individuals easier to spot. Thus, they expose their future actions by the deeds they’ve engaged in in the past, along with how they engaged in those deeds. So, be mindful of someone’s track record when assessing the probability of using civility to induce a pleasant action. That means, when a person shows you his true self, believe him. Otherwise stated, what you see is what you’ll get.

Timing

As stated earlier, people are more amenable to being civil, depending on the environment and on certain occasions. And that’s where your opportunity may lie to influence them. If you’re aware of a person’s personality type and the times they’re open to being civil, choose a time and environment that’ll aid your efforts the most. The converse is true too. Meaning, if a situation is unconducive for civility and it serves your purpose, use that as an opportunity to influence your subject. As with most things in life, timing is everything. Thus, it impacts the probability of success or failure. So, use timing and the environments you’re in wisely.

Reflection:

There’re hidden pleasures in being civil. It’s shown through the dispositions displayed by those whose moods are enhanced as they engage with others. You can also see it displayed in the demeanor of those impacted by it when it’s absent. If you seek improvement in your environments, weigh the factor that civility might have to assist your efforts. It could be the extra weight that enhances your improvement efforts. And be mindful of how you apply civility based on your subject’s mindset. While it works to put some individuals in a more pleasant state, some will see it as an opening to mock or demean you. So, know when to be civil, in what situations to apply it, and with whom to extend it. Once you cover those bases, you’ll have a heightened chance of making others and yourself become improved. 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 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/

#Value #Pleasure #Civility #Bully #Bullying #Negotiate #Business #SmallBusiness #Negotiation #Negotiator #NegotiatingWithABully #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #BodyLanguageExpert #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions #GregWilliams #success #negotiationexamples #Negotiationstrategies #negotiationprocess #negotiationskillstraining #negotiationtypes #negotiationpsychology #Howtowinmore #self-improvement #howtodealwithdifficultpeople #Self-development #TheMasterNegotiator #Howtocontrolanegotiation #howtobesuccessful #HowToImproveyourself

 

Categories
Best Practices Culture Entrepreneurship Industries Management Personal Development Technology

Combat Unpredictable Change with Anticipation

It is often assumed that people don’t like change, when in reality humans are born to instinctively love change. It’s why we take vacations and crave travel, because we want and need change. We must get out of our usual surroundings and witness something new in order to regain focus and refresh our perspectives. In this case, change is a choice, so we like it.

But there is also a negative side to change: when the change affects you personally, unpleasantly, and unknowingly. However, most of the changes that come “out of nowhere” are actually very visible months or even years before they officially hit. For example, people get burglar alarms usually after being robbed. We all tend to react to change and put out fires more than we anticipate what will happen based on the direction in which change is heading.

It’s time to become more anticipatory so you can see change coming and pre-solve problems associated with it before they occur. Only after becoming anticipatory will you be able to use change as an opportunity for growth rather than a crisis to be managed.

How to Be Anticipatory

There are two types of change that you can use to see the future accurately: cyclical change and linear change.

You’re in the midst of cyclical change every day: weather cycles, biological cycles, and even business cycles. In the United States, you know exactly when the next presidential election will be, when the next full moon will be, plus many other key things that cycle with time. You know that if the stock market goes up, it will eventually go down. Cycles are everywhere, and to be aware of them is to be anticipatory.

The second is linear change, and once this type of change hits, things will never go back to the way they once were. For example, once you get a smartphone, you’re never going back to a flip phone. Once the people in China park their bicycles and get a car, they will not go back to the bicycle as their primary form of transportation. Linear change is a one-way street with many predictable consequences.

When you look around and determine what cycles you experience in your business as well as what linear changes have been happening, you can turn the predictable changes into an advantage, which is the key to becoming anticipatory, turning much of today’s uncertainty into certainty.

These certainties fall into two methodologies I’ve discussed at length in the past: Hard Trends and Soft Trends. A Hard Trend is a projection based on measurable, tangible, and fully predictable facts. A Soft Trend is a trend that “might” happen, meaning that you can change or influence a Soft Trend.

The fact that Baby Boomers will age is a Hard Trend: it will happen, and is a future fact. However, the fact that over the past ten years fewer people have been becoming doctors, resulting in a shortage of doctors to treat aging Baby Boomers, is a Soft Trend: it’s something we can choose to address or ignore. It’s a future maybe. The ability to differentiate between the two will enable your organization to transform its culture into one that profits from change, uncertainty, and burgeoning trends.

Change the View

To get your employees at all levels to embrace change, you have to give them the confidence that certainty brings by having them identify the Hard Trends that will happen. Start by encouraging them to do the following:

  • Make a list of all the Hard Trends that are taking place in your industry, so you know what you can be certain about.
  • Make a list of all the Soft Trends taking place in your industry, so you can see what you can change or influence.
  • Have them answer this question: What do I know will happen in the next few weeks, months, and years, and how can I innovate to take advantage of what I now know for certain about the future?

Also, let your employees know this certainty: their roles will change over the next five years. Tell them, “You can either allow yourself to become less relevant or even obsolete, or you can see where your career is going and get the training and tools you need to become increasingly relevant and thrive.”

Finally, realize that how you view the future shapes how you act today, and how you act today shapes your future. Anticipation based on the Hard Trends and the certainties that are before you is key to seeing the predictable future and pre-solving problems before they ever occur. This allows your employees to embrace the changes before them. Remember, the good old days are not behind us. They’re ahead of us, and it’s up to you to make them happen.

Categories
Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Marketing Negotiations Sales Skills Women In Business

“Powerful Persuasion How To Boost And Increase Negotiations” – Negotiation Tip of the Week

“To increase your negotiation outcomes, increase your skills of persuasion.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert.

 

“Powerful Persuasion How To Boost And Increase Negotiations”

 

No matter her persuasion efforts, nothing seemed to increase her negotiation position. And the negotiations had extended over numerous sessions. She thought, if we don’t close this deal, we could be out of business. The negotiation was that dire! It had to bear fruit.

When was the last time you found yourself in a dire negotiation – one where everything was on the line? If you’re past your teenage years, more than likely, you’ve had such experiences. During such times, did you consider the impact that persuasion had on the negotiation and its outcome? Did you even think of the persuasion techniques you’d use before, during, and after your exchange of positions with others? You should have – because doing that would have altered the course and outcome of the negotiation.

The following are better ways to use persuasive techniques and how to implement them to enhance your negotiation efforts.

 

Shape The Mind – Mold The Perception:

Most people are persuaded to conformity by group thinking, acting, and adherence to what they listen to, and by those that they view as authority figures. Thus, to shape the mind of those that you wish to become your followers, you must mold their perception. The stimulation of that source may occur from figures seen on TV, heard on the radio or podcasts. They may even arise from those whose writing they observe in magazines and articles that they deem as possessing relevant content about insights that interest them. And that’s where your opportunity to mold their perception lies. You must be seen and heard in the mediums through which your targets have their perspectives molded.

The point is, to increase your chances of influencing the thoughts and actions of others, they must perceive you as someone with authority. They must view you as a person that possesses respected dominance in a domain that’s relevant to them. That perception will allow the recipient of your actions to become swayed by your suggestions, demands, or edicts.

So, what steps should you consider to shape the mind and mold the perception of those you wish to persuade?

  1. Casting Friend/Foe – Before your initial encounter with your target, determine if they should fear or like you. The cliché that comes to mind is, “It’s better to be feared than loved.” And that’s true in some cases.
  2. Once you’ve determined the demeanor to cast, assess the leaders in your target’s spectrum that will be most influenced by it, and gear your efforts at controlling those leaders. The linking of your persona to those already known as influencers by your target will eventually convey a sense of, they’re on board, and I’m just like them – so I should be too.
  3. Project and play your role in the venues in which your actions influence others. The goal is to allow them to ingrain in their minds who you are and what you’re willing to do to acquire the outcome you seek.

 

Reward – Congruency:

Consistency is the glue that holds your persona together. Thus, you must be mindful of projecting a consistent character, no matter the environment. If you’re generally amenable in some situations on some days and more demure during others, you’ll be sending an incongruent message. Even if you extend an agreeable attitude to those that accept your influence and chastise those that don’t, you’ll emit the signal of rewarding those that adhere to your wishes and punishing those that dismiss it.

The point is, you should reward those that accept your leadership and seek ways to disfavor those that challenge it. The amount of discord you allow is something you’ll have to address based on the degree of tolerance you have for non-conformity. And, the overarching message is, you’ll become rewarded by being consistent. So, be consistent in how you present yourself.

 

Conformity – Using Social Pressure:

Social pressure influences people. The factor that you should consider is, what form of social pressure you’ll use to control those that you wish to curry favor with, and what elements you’ll use to dissuade those that oppose you. You might:

  1. Praise those that seek recognition in forums that would allow your target to experience the highest degree of pride.
  2. Demean and denigrate those that oppose you in mediums that will have the most effect. To enhance this process, seek some from their clan to use as examples. If admonished forcefully, it’ll set a precedent that others will not want to incur.
  3. Leave an open path that dissenters can use to move towards you. And create a pit of hell for those that would continuously defy you. The more you can control the impact that others experience from social pressure, the more control you’ll have over them.
  4. Use your target influencers as your unwitting allies. Do that by exploiting their weaknesses as leverage points to entice or dissuade your target from adopting positions based on those that they see their influencers taking.

 

Nurture Continuing Compliance:

Once your target acquiesces to your demands, concessions, and desires, inspire them to continue their allegiance. You can accomplish that by doling out favors or granting requests that are slightly outside of what’s normal (do this with allies to display the extension of your generosity for those that follow your edicts). The fact is, once you’ve sought and acquired someone’s adherence to your demands, seduce them to promote their continued loyalty. It’s easier for them to meet your future requests – the more they meet your current ones. Because psychologically speaking, people naturally seek consistency. And that’s the reason you must encourage continuing compliance with your requests.

 

Reflection:

In all of your negotiations, there’s a power factor that sways the entities involved to move in one direction versus another. To be more powerful, you must increase your abilities of persuasion. Consider implementing the thoughts mentioned, how you’ll apply them, along with when you’ll achieve them. That will give you an increase in your advantage. 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 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 https://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

 

 

#Persuasion #Increase #csuitenetwork #thoughtcouncil #Bodylanguage #readingbodylanguage #Negotiations #Control #Conversations #NegotiationStrategies #NegotiationProcess #NegotiationSkillsTraining #NegotiationExamples #NegotiationTypes #ReadingBodyLanguage #BodyLanguage #Nonverbal #Negotiate #Business #SmallBusiness #Negotiation #Negotiator #NegotiatingWithABully #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #BodyLanguageExpert #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions #GregWilliams #success #negotiation examples #Negotiation strategies #negotiation process #negotiation skills training #negotiation types #negotiation psychology #Howtowinmore #self-improvement #howtodealwithdifficultpeople #Self-development #Howtocontrolanegotiation #howtobesuccessful #HowToImproveyourself

 

Categories
Entrepreneurship Leadership Personal Development

5 No-Nonsense Action Steps to Help You Achieve Success

What you may have learned about success when you were growing up was probably wrong if it was taught by someone who had never actually achieved any real success of their own. The fact is, you often have to fail your way into learning to be successful.

Limiting beliefs around success can get in your way for far too long. It’s time to take 100 percent responsibility for your success and make a strong commitment to making things happen in a big way.

You can choose winning over losing. You can choose to succeed even when you fail by learning from the experience. You can choose to learn from your mistakes and move on. You can choose to win by grabbing hold of success from this day forward and never letting go. We should always be true to the best within ourselves!

Success Is Easy Affirmation (say it, believe it, and own it): “Success comes easy to me because I have a new reality around success to believe in from this day forward.”

Now take these five steps to start wrapping your mind around the idea of success:

Study the strengths and habits of other highly successful peo­ple, and learn how to create a success-driven, ambitious mind­set. Successful people are simply those who have successful habits. Whether we like it or not, a big part of what we do in life is governed by habits. They can lead us to think and feel in certain patterns; they can also make us feel ambitious and motivated to succeed. Successful people know nothing can take the place of persistence and determination, so they make a habit of never quitting until they get results. The world’s greatest achievers are those who have the willpower to stay focused on their goals and consistent in their efforts.

Learn how to create a new reality — that success is easy for you to achieve. A dream without action is a world of make-believe. Success can be easy unless you choose to make it hard. Don’t believe the myth that success comes from hard work alone. After all, without motivation, you can’t get anything done. And even if you have all the motivation in the world, you need the ambition to achieve a worthy goal.

Repeat the word “success” frequently with complete faith and conviction; believe it to be true. What you learned about success growing up probably wasn’t true if it was taught by someone who never actually achieved it. Limiting beliefs and words around success can get in our way for far too long. It’s time to take 100 percent responsibility for your success and make a strong commitment to making things happen in a big way!

Pay close attention to the words you speak every day, and choose empowering words from this day forward. Not only do your words affect your success opportunities, but they impact how others perceive and relate to you as well. Instead of framing your words into limiting “can-nots,” turn them into non-limiting words to empower more success.

Get off your ASS and really go for it! You can choose winning over losing. You can choose to succeed even when you fail. You can choose to learn from your mistakes and move on. You can choose to win by grabbing hold of success from this day forward and never letting go. You should always be true to the best within yourself. Don’t ever give up on the shameless pursuit of success. Period!

Categories
Growth Personal Development

Do You Have These 7 Powerful Success-Building Characteristics?

Many successful people have similar personality traits. If you don’t have these seven, start cultivating them now.

Successful people have many of the same characteristics in common. The following are seven characteristics that highly successful people have that are critical in both business and life.

The disrupter mindset Successful people passionately seek out opportunities for change or ways to disrupt their industry altogether. So, learn how to break the rules to stand out in your industry. Always look for the chance to profit from change and/or an innovative way to adjust how business is done so you can stand out and succeed. Don’t get me wrong — you need to start with a useful idea. But when you think you have one, don’t hold back. Take the core concept and turn up the disruption dial to the highest volume.

For example, Sean and Thora Dowdell are the owners and founders of Club Tattoo, a chain of tattoo studios in Arizona and Nevada. They turned the tattoo business model on its head by avoiding the unapproachable atmosphere of typical tattoo parlors. Instead, they took a high-end, modern, customer service-focused approach to the studios and retail stores, which brought the tattoo business into the mainstream and built a multimillion-dollar business for them in the process.

2. A vision for opportunity

Successful people seek out opportunities everywhere. But finding good business opportunities isn’t going to mean anything if you can’t recognize them. Recognizing good opportunities takes talent — you have to know what to look for and you need to be able to envision the future of that opportunity.

Understanding the type of opportunity you’re looking for and having a few goals in mind is crucial and will help determine which factors make it a good opportunity for you. The first step is to remain on high alert to spot opportunities while remaining ruthlessly disciplined about limiting the number of projects you pursue. Go after a tightly controlled portfolio of opportunities in different stages of business development. Link your strategy with your choice of projects rather than diluting your efforts in many areas. Make quick decisions instead of over-analyzing new ideas, and execute a plan of action.

3. Shared belief system

Successful people build a great support team. One characteristic of a strong supportive team is a shared belief in the same set of values, which helps create a bond so the team works and supports one another. Shared values serve to connect team members at a core level, and this, in turn, serves to validate and strengthen their support for you as their leader. Their support continues to level up your success.

Begin to engage the energies of everyone inside and outside your organization in the pursuit of good opportunities. Successful people create and sustain powerful networks and business relationships rather than go it alone. You know how to best leverage the wisdom of experts and other resources to help achieve your goals. Business associates and joint venture partnerships can help move you miles ahead of your competitors.

Common business sense Successful people have good common business sense and are always looking for ways to continue educating themselves. Developing good business sense is about continually seeking to understand the ever-changing business environment. It’s not a skill you can learn from a book. It’s something you acquire through hands-on experience and trial and error, but it can also be fostered through the wisdom of others. Brainstorming with seasoned business professionals can give you insight into how successful people with good business sense think and make decisions.

5. Motivation to learn

Successful people continue to learn throughout their lives with great enthusiasm and motivation. When you learn more about your business and successfully implement the strategies you discover, you become enthusiastic about learning even more.

Successful people become sponges to absorb anything that can help take their business to the next level. It’s almost as if they can’t get enough! Call them engaged, devoted, enthusiastic, or even obsessed — successful people believe in their mission so much that it’s contagious to everyone around them, who marvel at their commitment and dedication. This energy can fuel you to remain focused on your mission and help you persist through difficulties.

6. Ability to adapt

Successful people keep moving forward and adapt as needed. They’ve learned to change and reinvent their business often as the world and their industry change around them. If you fail to adapt, you’ll simply get left behind.

To keep growing, you must continuously think of ways to improve. Allow time in your busy schedule to learn new things and come up with new ideas. Successful people remain in constant motion by investing in learning because they’re eager to pursue knowledge. They understand the world is always changing, so they need to adapt to avoid getting stuck in a rut. Successful people keep moving forward and reinvent themselves when required.

7. Observant communicators

Successful people are observant communicators who pay close attention to how other people react. Communication is an activity, skill, and art that incorporates lessons across a wide spectrum of human knowledge.

One of the most likable characteristics of successful people is how observant they are. They give their full, undivided attention to others. Those who’ve mastered this are great communicators who go far in business. 

Successful people learn this skill by being more self-aware. Being observant requires practice to perfect.

These seven key characteristics will move you forward every day, keeping you in constant pursuit of a creative purpose that inspires you. You’re more likely to get three to 10 times more accomplished in a day than the average person because you’ll stay focused on what empowers you the most.

Categories
Growth Personal Development

The 7 Strengths and Habits That Successful People Possess

There’s no secret recipe that will make you a successful person, but these seven strengths and habits can greatly increase your chances of success.

Finding and developing success within yourself can come easily when you look at the strengths and habits of other successful people. The attributes of successful people don’t develop overnight and didn’t just happen by accident — although they may make it look effortless.

Successful people continue to work on their success habits as part of a daily routine so that success becomes a way of life. Let’s walk through seven of the most important strengths and habits of successful people.

1. They have a success-driven mindset and the passion to achieve

Successful people have a strong will to succeed and achieve in life. They look forward to growth and have a deeply rooted desire to do much more than the average person. These people take action to make positive changes and move outside their comfort zone. Even when their attempts fail, they can quickly see opportunities that surround them, adjust when things go wrong and move in a new direction.

Unsuccessful people, on the other hand, feel defeated, throw their hands up in the air and give up way too soon.

2. They are self-aware and have self-confidence

Successful people face challenges with confidence and trust their skills and knowledge. Even when they don’t have the right skills or knowledge to begin with, they move forward with enthusiasm and commitment to succeed despite the odds. Successful people have a strong sense of self, which allows them to make stronger commitments. They are comfortable speaking their minds. Successful people stand up, speak out and enjoy sharing ideas and opinions.

Unsuccessful people who lack confidence are often unwilling to open up and speak up, which holds them back and causes missed opportunities.

3. They are vision-focused and achievement-oriented

Successful people create a clear vision for goals and take action toward achieving that vision, which doesn’t allow anything to stand in their way. A strong vision serves as a guideline to keep them motivated and on track to achieving their goals. They set and conquer smaller goals first and then move on to bigger and bolder benchmarks so they can hit larger targets.

Unsuccessful people are frequently unclear, unfocused and misguided, so they often waste time and money getting to their goals or even missing the targets altogether.

4. They value time wisely

Successful people are extremely productive. They value and use their time wisely and don’t allow others to take advantage of or waste their time. They create barriers around their time by adding structure and systems into their businesses, which are respected by clients and peers. They clearly understand that time is their most valuable asset.

Unsuccessful people waste time doing unproductive things that don’t allow for effective growth and give away their time too freely to others. Therefore, they create fewer income-generating opportunities.

5. They own it!

Successful people build a solid business and brand foundation that sets them apart from the competition. They are known as experts and authorities within their respective industries. They own their business and their brand, which allows them to easily maximize their avenues to success.

Unsuccessful competitors either do things like everyone else, lack a success plan to build on, or do just enough to survive.

6. They think differently than the average person

Successful people think differently. They look one step — or more — into the future and see opportunities everywhere. They think outside the box and come up with creative and innovative ways of doing business.

Unsuccessful people follow the crowd or wait to copy other people’s ideas, so they usually remain one step behind the competition.

7. They love what they do

Successful people don’t think of work as work. They take pleasure in their business and love what they do for a living. This gives them a sense of achievement and happiness that fulfills their definition of success.

Unsuccessful people see work as survival, and they work simply to earn a living. Most don’t enjoy what they do for a living and consider what they do to be a J-O-B.

Categories
Best Practices Growth Personal Development

It’s Time to Speak Up! The Power of Public Speaking

Public speaking is one of the most powerful tools of mass communication, and business leaders today are taking full advantage of the ROI on speaking to large groups of people.

The rise of public speaking continues to increase. Currently, there are over 40,000 profiles of executives on LinkedIn with speaker listed as a job title.

This shift is a massive increase in self-identified public speakers.  For example, I attended a National Speakers Association event eight years ago that served over 3,000 professional speakers in the US and another 1,500 in Europe.

Granted, most executives aren’t speaking for a profession, but they definitely are positioning themselves as experts to speak in front of rooms full of potential customers.

And the captive audiences to speak in front of are nearly endless.

While it’s difficult to determine the total number of conferences held in the US each year, it’s safe to say that there’s a lot.

For example, there are over 92,000 professional associations alone in the US responsible for hosting monthly events, regional meetups, and annual conferences.

And that’s just association events.

This list doesn’t include the wide array of public industry conferences, corporate sales meetings, annual company gatherings, product launch events, expos, summits, retreats, and galas.

Public speaking is a serious source of mass communication for anyone targeting events and conferences if you are in the process of building your marketing plan.

It’s also time to add more speaking engagements to your strategy to show off your expertise to potential new customers to set yourself up as a leader in your field, increase awareness, and add more sales to your bottom line.

 

For more information visit tylerhayzlett.com

Categories
Growth Skills

Have You Developed Your Speaking Style?

In the conference industry, where everyone tries to fit in, most in-demand speakers are the ones who don’t.

Conference speakers range from coaches, trainers, keynote speakers, entertainers, to consultants that offer informative talks on niche subject expertise ranging from 15-minute TED-style talks, 1-hour keynote presentations, half-day training programs, to multi-day dedicated retreats. 

While the industry lumps all speakers into the same pool of professionals, there are, in fact, many different types of public speakers with many different styles of communication.

Varying speaking styles:

Event presenters naturally find their own method of delivery to match their energy and panache.

While every speaker has natural tendencies for the way they deliver their talk, there is an art to choosing your style of speaking to compliment the audience and message.

Take Gary Vaynerchuck, for example. To say he is confrontational is putting it lightly.

Gary spoke at a conference we hosted a few years back and dropped no less than 30 F-bombs while delivering a marketing talk to our group of CEOs and founders.

He’s naturally and deliberately brasher on stage than his podcast, for example.

For some, this tact is considered taboo and uncouth in a corporate setting, naturally upsetting to a few.

But for him, it works. And it’s all for a point. Gary’s message is disrupting and upturning old ways of doing things. His message is purposely confrontational. That’s his style. But it isn’t for everyone or every group dynamic.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have speakers like Tricia Benn, VP of the C-Suite Network and General Manager of the Hero Club. She is incredibly poised, a natural team builder who champions diversity and inclusion and focuses on a futuristic, inspirational message and delivery style.

There are many styles of speakers, and it’s important to be intentional to match the style to the audience and message:

Choose a style that works for you and fits your voice:

  • Mentor: Robert Kiyosaki
  • Humble Giant: Jocko Willink
  • Motivator: Eric Thomas
  • TrailBlazer: Barbara Corcoran
  • Futurist: Steve Jobs
  • Technical: Terry Brock
  • Philosopher: Simon Sinek
  • Tough Love: Mel Robbins

The point is that there are endless styles and characteristics.

Being a unique voice to your audience is where the magic happens to make your voice stand out above others with a similar message. It’s more of an art than a science.

Similarly, there are many ways to approach an audience.

Different Approaches:

For example, some speakers open their talks energetically, pacing the entire stage, putting the whole room on notice.

Others speak quietly as if you are the only person in the room, pulling you into a warm conversational tone.

Here are a few tips for nailing your approach:

  1. Pre-determine your energy and tone of voice
  2. Tell a relatable story
  3. Provide a shocking statistic
  4. Use a powerful quote
  5. Make eye contact
  6. Confront the industry elephant in the room!
  7. Get people to do something
  8. Tell a joke!
  9. Timing is everything. Speed up and slow down when appropriate
  10. Provide action items
  11. Remember! Tell people how to find you!

Speaking can be a game-changer for any business. There is no better way to engage potential customers than providing exceptional insights and value from the stage at events.

Speak now, or forever hold your peace.

For more information visit tylerhayzlett.com