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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Investing Management Marketing Negotiations Sales Skills Women In Business

“This Is How To Use Doubt To Win More Negotiations” – Negotiation Tip of the Week

“Doubt can be a mental strangler that leads some people to become less than who they are.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (Click to Tweet)

Click here to get the book!

 

“This Is How To Use Doubt To Win More Negotiations”

 

People don’t realize; they’re always negotiating.

“I’m not sure. If we use that in our negotiations, our real intent might create doubt about our seriousness. That could cause the other negotiators to act unpredictably. You’re right. That’s something we have to consider and plan for, but by having them doubtful about our intent, we’ll keep them off balance. Then, when the time is right, we can be more definitive about our actions.” You’ve just been privy to a conversation that occurred between two negotiators about the use of doubt in their negotiation.

Doubt creates uncertainty. It’s a tactical tool that every smart negotiator uses in negotiations. Thus, good negotiators use it deliberately to motivate the opposing negotiator mentally. Doubt is also the tool that’s used in everyday life to encourage people to adopt one action versus another.

Click here to continue, and you’ll discover how you can become a more persuasive negotiator by injecting doubt into your negotiations.

 

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://c-suitenetwork.com/radio/shows/greg-williams-the-master-negotiator-and-body-language-expert-podcast/

 

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 “Negotiation Insight” click here https://themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

 

Categories
Entrepreneurship Marketing Sales Skills

11 Questions to Spark Your Success

Ready for some major motivation to kick butt, take names, and chew gum?

Here are the 11 questions you need to answer:

  1. There’s no good time. Now is the time. What are you waiting for?
  2. Put out your best material. For free. Do you want to be SHARED or SCARED? 
  3. YOU may be your biggest obstacle. What would happen if you got out of the way? 
  4. Stop STARTING things and get more into DOING. What can you DO today – right now?
  5. A few may wish to see you fail. A lot more are rooting for your success. Where is your attention?
  6. Forget the word vision. Better: What do you SEE in your future?
  7. You’re aiming too low. How can you elevate your sights, your fees, and your value?
  8. Stop blaming others. It’s ALL your fault. Move on – what’s next?
  9. A bend in the road is never the end – unless you fail to turn. Where do you need to turn? 
  10. It’s not what you think it is. And it’s bigger than you think it is. Why not embrace that?
  11.  There are no silver bullets, secret sauces, or magic beans. Now, what’s your plan? 

What you need is a healthy dose of reality from those 11 answers – and we’re here to help.

So let us help you launch – or grow – your expertise-based business as a consultant, trainer, coach, speaker, information marketer, or course creator: https://www.expertprofitformula.com/

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Personal Development

You Would Benefit From a Book: Do You Have to Write it Yourself?

Did you grow a business from scratch to point of needing employees? Or you may have risen through the ranks to become responsible for the work of others. In either case, you’ve had to learn to delegate responsibility.

You might be thinking about writing a book. It would boost your company’s credibility and be an effective form of marketing your business. Should you write it?

Here’s another possibility. As you’ve delegated many critical responsibilities to your employees, you can also delegate the responsibility of writing a book. Why may this technique be the best solution?

How Good Are Your Writing Abilities?

I once dropped a ring in the sink. My husband took apart the little S-shaped pipe under the sink and couldn’t put it back together. We hired a plumber to fix the problem I created and my husband made worse. I learned that using an expert instead of getting involved in an area where I have no expertise saves time and money.

I thought about that incident this year when I interviewed an author who said, “If you think it’s expensive to hire an expert, think about how expensive it is to hire an amateur.”

When it comes to writing a book, the amateur you hire may be you. The ghostwriter is the expert.

How Much Time Do You Have?

Some people who love statistics have figured out the time involved in writing a 120-page book, which is a common length in these times of diminishing attention spans. If you’re a good writer, it will probably take you an hour per page, or 120 hours. Do you have 120 free hours in your schedule?

You may think that 120 hours isn’t such a problem. Ask yourself, though, how you could use that time to build your business, market your products, and implement new and cutting-edge procedures. How can you best spend your time?

Is It Cheating?

Do you think you’re cheating if you don’t write it yourself? Celebrities and national and world leaders don’t share this belief. Some of the most significant and bestselling books were ghostwritten. A skilled ghostwriter can write your book in your voice. You might think of one as an actor who, instead of delivering the words of a playwright or scriptwriter, delivers your thoughts, experiences, and message.

What About Ego Gratification?

No matter who writes your story, it’s still your story. You will tell that story to the ghostwriter, probably in a series of recorded interviews. She will come to know and understand you. The ghostwriter will take your words and organize and write them in a way that makes them flow and have a greater impact on the reader.

And that’s what you want. Let’s return to the why of your book. You want to create positive publicity for your business and/or for your ideas about business in general. In these times, when change is taking place on all levels of society, you want your ideas to help cause positive change.

Your book can help to do that, and given the rapid nature of change today, the sooner it gets out there, the better. Unless you love writing and are proficient at it, and unless you have lots of free writing time, hire a ghostwriter. You’ll have the gratification of seeing your book in print and knowing that it’s a fluent and cohesive expression of what you know.

Pat serves business leaders as a ghostwriter. Connect with her at patiyer.com.

Categories
Entrepreneurship Marketing Personal Development Sales

Let’s Not Talk About This

Negativity.

Pessimism.

Sadness.

Cynicism.

Enough already.

Acknowledge the current hard reality and uncertain conditions we’re all working under?

Sure – yes – please.

It’s important.

We’re not delusional and we’re not in denial.

Things are bad.

AND they’re going to get better.

And they’ll get a whole lot better, a whole lot sooner if you…

Refocus on your gratitude.

Reboot your enthusiasm.

Reimagine your future.

Redraw your plans.

Reinvent your business.

Reignite your team.

Restart your entrepreneurial engines.

Reconnect with family and friends

Rekindle your joy.

Rediscover why you started this crazy, wonderful, amazing business to begin with.

And then…

Begin again.

Be radically generous and radically helpful.

With purpose, heart, and the spirit of serving others.

Go, go, go!!!

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Personal Development

Building a Team of Innovators to Conquer COVID-19

This week a Phase 3 clinical trial of the very promising COVID-19 vaccine known as mRNA-1273 began.

The vaccine, which was co-developed by the U.S. biotechnology company Moderna, Inc., and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), will involve approximately 30,000 adult volunteers who do not have COVID-19.

The “mRNA” stands for “messenger RNA,” and RNA is short for Ribonucleic acid, which is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation, and expression of genes. Both RNA and DNA are nucleic acids.

The mRNA-1273 vaccine signals the body’s cells to create a virus protein that hopefully will elicit an effective immune response in the patient.

Coronaviruses like COVID-19 are spherical and have spikes protruding from their surface, giving the particles a crown-like appearance. Kind of like how “stick tight” weeds adhere to your clothing, these spikes bind to human cells, allowing the virus to gain entry. Therefore, the vaccine was developed to target the spikes.

Lightning Quick Timeline

Knowledge gained from prior studies of viruses related to COVID-19 [which cause severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)] allowed both Moderna, Inc., and NIAID to fast track the development of the vaccine – as is shown by the below lightning-quick timeline:

1/11/2020 – Chinese authorities published the genetic sequence of COVID-19

1/13/2020 – Moderna’s and the NIH/ NIAID infectious disease research team finalized the sequence for mRNA-1273, and Moderna began to mobilize for production

2/7/2020 – The first clinical vaccine batch was completed and underwent analytical testing

2/24/2020 – The vaccine was shipped to NIH/ NIAID

3/16/2020 – Phase 1 trial of mRNA-1273 begins

5/29/2020 – Phase 2 trial of mRNA-1273 begins

7/27/2020 – Phase 3 trial of mRNA-1273 begins

There are three keys that enabled this unprecedented innovation development timeframe.

Key # 1 to the Development of the mRNA-1273 Vaccine – Expertise

Moderna used and built upon their expertise in advanced messenger RNA (mRNA) science to create a medication that was designed to elicit the body’s own cells to produce proteins that can result in the arresting of the COVID-19 virus.

Tal Zaks, Moderna’s chief medical officer stated that if the Phase 3 trial is successful the company will continue to use its knowledge in mRNA science, delivery technology, and manufacturing to provide the vaccine to the public on a large scale.

Just like Moderna understood and applied their expertise to try to solve the COVID-19 challenge, any company needs to assess its strengths with regards to innovation and play to those.

To be successful with innovation a company should perform an assessment to determine its core competencies. This includes identifying the unique capabilities of the business that could be leveraged to advantage in other markets, applications, and sectors. The goal is to work from an organization’s strengths and base of knowledge instead of starting from zero in an entirely new market about which nothing is known.

This is exactly what Corning did when it leveraged its knowledge in glass and related materials to create a product used for flat LCD displays (for cell phones initially, then laptops and desktop monitors, and lastly for LCD TVs and larger displays). This type of thinking led to major innovations that were developed in each of Corning’s business sectors, including the creation of four new product lines. These efforts turned the company around from having loses to huge profits.

Key # 2 to the Development of the mRNA-1273 Vaccine – Collaboration

Obviously, the development of the mRNA-1273 vaccine was a huge project that required collaboration between Moderna, Inc., the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, clinical trial resources, and many others.

If the Phase 3 trial is successful, cooperation and coordination with regulators, policymakers, investors, public health organizations, and governmental organization will be required for the commercialization of the vaccine. All of these are outside Moderna, so a collaboration mindset needed to be present throughout the project.

Likewise, keep in mind that for large innovation projects, you may need to collaborate with people, resources, and organizations outside your company.

Key # 3 to the Development of the mRNA-1273 Vaccine – Innovation Teams

Our company, Fountainhead Consulting Group, Inc., has several clients in the pharmaceutical industry and in discussing the development of the mRNA-1273 vaccine with them they shared it would have required expertise from the following areas:

  • Infectious disease specialists
  • Chemists
  • Biologists
  • DNA Experts
  • Virologists
  • Epidemiologists
  • Pathologists
  • Physicians
  • Geneticists
  • Statisticians
  • Data scientists
  • Quality Assurance personnel
  • Regulatory authorities
  • Production specialists

This means a true team approach would have been used by Moderna in executing this project. This concept is described as the creation of an Innovation Team.

But How Do You Create an Effective Innovation Team?

Numerous studies have shown that for innovation to be successful, it is imperative to utilize teams comprised of individuals with diverse backgrounds. What’s more, noted innovation experts like Clayton Christensen stress that the 21st-century approach to innovation necessitates working in teams.

The utilization of cross functional/cross-departmental teams is an absolute key to bringing ideas to market, but how does one go about selecting the best team members for effectively developing innovations?

A study by Mills and Cameron found that curiosity and persistent interest are two of the best attributes to look for in choosing creative team members.

Other studies have revealed that team participants should also be selected on expertise, knowledge acquired through work activities, creative traits, and the ability to develop original and novel solutions to problems.

Research by Shalley and Oldham indicated that creating competition among groups that were comprised of skilled team members can enhance creativity, motivation, and innovation. Therefore, giving the same innovation assignment to two or more groups may be advantageous.

Applying This to Your Company or Organization

To ensure a successful outcome from any large innovation project, make sure to put in place the following three foundations.

First, perform an assessment to determine your core competencies and unique capabilities that can be leveraged to advantage in other markets, applications, and sectors. The goal is to work from an organization’s strengths and base of knowledge instead of starting from zero in an entirely new market about which nothing is known.

Second, keep in mind that for large innovation projects you may need to collaborate with people, resources, and organizations outside your company. So plan accordingly and establish those relationships.

Third, utilize cross functional/cross-departmental Innovation Teams comprised of members with diverse backgrounds. Choose individuals based upon their expertise, knowledge, curiosity, and mindset.

If you could use assistance with effectively applying these three innovation foundations in your company or organization, please contact us using the information below so we can be a resource to you in this crucial area.

Fountainhead Consulting Group, Inc. is an Innovation and Business Planning firm. During the past 17, years we have shown over 1,200 companies how to achieve their goals by using our unique, comprehensive, and systematic FastTrak Innovation Program™, Innovation Academy™, and  Structure of Success™ methodologies. Using the components in these methodologies, each month we examine an aspect of how to transform your business or organization into a true 21st Century enterprise.

Office: (770) 642-4220

www.FountainheadConsultingGroup.com

George.Horrigan@FountainheadConsultingGroup.com

Categories
Entrepreneurship Marketing Skills

7 WTFs for You

What does my focused mind like to do?

Five things:

1. Sell stuff

2. Help our clients sell stuff

3. Record videos about selling stuff

4. Talk to my smart friends about how THEY sell stuff 

5. Make up funny titles for your enjoyment :o) 

Here’s what made me think of this:

WTF = Wants To Fail. 

Who in the world wants to fail?

Here’s what I mean…

Are you already successful? Good!

By all accounts, including your bank account, you may be ‘successful.’

But it’s very possible that the brand of success that you created has a price which can best be described with the saying, “Nothing fails like Success!”

Imagine yourself after your initial success…

Speaking 50+ dates a year at good fees; coaching dozens of senior executives a month; selling 10-15,000 books under your own steam; consulting and running seminars for your roster of Fortune 500 clients…

BUT today…

You are working way too hard…

And there’s no time to market your services, develop new products, write more books, or live your life!

After reaching your initial success, you’re now trapped by it!

If you see that, but don’t DO something about it – well then you Want To Fail

That’s one flavor of WTF…

Here are 6 more… 

But before we even get to that, for those of you that this particular article resonates with – let’s help you reboot, reignite, and reimagine your business for its next level of success. 

1. Won’t Try Failing – if you’re not willing to try new things (and fail at some of them), you’ll never dial in your success ingredients or get different results

2. Whines Too Frequently – self-explanatory (I hope!)

3. Will Too Flaccid – you need an iron will and a crystal clear vision of where you’d like your business to GO in order to get there via the shortest, surest, quickest path

4. Worse Than Failure – the only thing worse than failure is giving up on your dream before you ever get the chance to succeed

5. Wait Til Friday – procrastination, delay, and denial are not the path that will get you to ANY worthwhile destination. No more waiting. Now is your time!

6. Whatever That’s Fine – settling for whatever business falls in your lap or whatever referrals you occasionally get isn’t a survival nor a growth plan – it’s an abdication of your entrepreneurial dream.

Don’t settle.

Don’t wait.

Our time is shorter than we think.

It’s game time – you’re primed – you’re pumped – you’re ready.

Let’s DO THIS.

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

“How To Deal With Potential Killer Problems In Negotiations” – Negotiation Tip of the Week

As the screeching train whistle continuously shrilled in the distance, the people that heard it knew it was a warning about a problem. As the train grew closer, one individual that caught the sounds of the howling whistle said to another, this sounds like it might be a killer situation.

In negotiations, the train could be a symbol of a powerful force coming at you. The whistle could be the warning of imminent danger in the negotiation. And both could be signals that alert you to a killer situation looming close by. Do you pay attention to such signs when you’re negotiating? And if you do, do you prepare ahead of time for how you’ll address them? If not, how quick are you to switch to either a defensive position or one that might require you to go to a more potent offense? Those are vital questions that you must either have answers for or be prepared to address. Because, if you’re unable to do either, a killer problem could quickly kill your negotiation.

Many #problems can #kill your #negotiations, and they can hide in plain sight. But you can avoid them. Discover how you can prevent killer situations from wrecking your negotiations. Click here to continue —>>> https://bit.ly/3gCBKQP

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://c-suitenetwork.com/radio/shows/greg-williams-the-master-negotiator-and-body-language-expert-podcast/

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 “Negotiation Insight” click here https://themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

 

Categories
Entrepreneurship Marketing Sales Skills

Think vs. Doing for Your Marketing Success

As a marketing mentor for consultants, speakers, and experts, I’m often asked some variation of the following questions:

  • What’s more important – a focused marketing plan or consistent marketing activity?
  • Do I need to change my marketing strategy?
  • What should I be doing more of – and less of – to get more clients?
  • How do I know the kind of marketing that will work for what I offer?
  • How can I stop spinning my wheels and do a FEW simple things consistently to generate leads, prospects and sales?

Here’s my answer in very sophisticated and technical marketing lingo:

“Wow… I dunno.”

Now before you dismiss me as a complete marketing moron, let me put that insightful statement into some context for you.

If you don’t know who you’re marketing to, what they want, what they’re willing to pay for, and how to position yourself as the “Ah – at last!!” solution they’ve been looking for, then these questions will merely:

  • Confuse you
  • Scare you
  • Piss you off

And it’s hard to be a successful entrepreneur when you’re running around confused, scared and pissed off all the time.

So stop it.

The first thing you need to decide is – which do YOU need more of?

A new master plan (more THINKING)?

Or some healthy ass-kicking to IMPLEMENT (more DOING) what you ALREADY know you need to do?

My advice?

Follow the Teddy Roosevelt principle:

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” 

If you want some strategic help with that then check out https://www.expertprofitformula.com/

If you need a little more DOING, then…

GO ALREADY – start doing the work!

But that means you need to STOP procrastinating and “getting ready to get ready” until…

  • You get your next professional certification…
  • You finish writing your book…
  • Your kids are a little older…
  • You build your updated website…
  • You have a few more clients…
  • You start making more money…

Hello?

Can you SMELL the stinky pile of rotten excuses suffocating you with their disgusting stench?

Do you need a rock-solid marketing/business STRATEGY?

The short answer is screaming YES with racing stripes and flames coming out the tailpipes.

Do you need a 60-page marketing/business plan with charts and graphs and financial projections for the next 5 years?

NO, you do not.

Do you want some help in seeing what ingredients you might be missing – and how to start closing those gaps and improving those aspects of your business that will bring more and bigger checks in the door?

Now is the time. More thinking. More doing.

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

“Would You Like To Be A More Powerful Negotiator” – Negotiation Tip of the Week

“To be seen as being powerful, you must first see the power within yourself.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (Click to Tweet)

Click here to get the book!

“Would You Like To Be A More Powerful Negotiator”



People don’t realize; they’re always negotiating.

In every aspect of your life, you’re negotiating. The vast majority of people don’t realize that. Thus, to become more successful, you must become a more powerful negotiator! Why? Because the better your negotiation skills become, the more successful you’ll be as a negotiator. And that will allow you to obtain more in your daily activities. So, would you like to be a more powerful negotiator? If the answer is yes, observe the following.

 

Getting Better Answers

Asking questions as a negotiator is a way you gather information during the negotiation. But the questions you ask, and the way you ask them is what’ll determine the quality of information you receive. To get better answers, listen carefully. Be attentive to how people speak and what they say, so you know what questions to ask that’ll get them to give you better answers.

When people speak, they give insight into what’s important. A negotiator does that by the emphasis he places on certain words or phrases, the gestures he emits as he’s talking, and the reflections displayed when he pauses while speaking. That’s what you can observe to determine the questions to ask.

As an example, if a negotiator talks whimsically about a time he obtained a significant achievement, most likely, he’s speaking from a position of pride. Thus, during the negotiation, ask questions that put him back into that mindset. And imply that he can experience that sensation again. That will give you momentary power. And with it, he’ll be more inclined to accept your offer at that time.

 

Control Emotions

How did you feel mentally, the last time you engaged in an activity that required alertness, and you were emotionally distraught? If you’re like most people, you experienced sluggishness in your thinking and responses. You weren’t firing on all cylinders. That’s what occurs when you enter a negotiation, and you’re depressed. You don’t perform at your optimum level, which means you’re less likely to perform at your peak.

As a negotiator, emotions can be daunting to deal with during a negotiation. You have natural highs and lows, depending on what’s occurring as your bargaining. While it can be easy to say control your emotions when you negotiate, in reality, it can become a more challenging task to accomplish.

So, what might you do to control the destruction that taut emotions can bring to a negotiation? You can role-play, before the talks, to get a sense of the feelings you might experience during the proceedings. You could also consider having another negotiator, as a teammate, to deflect and combat negative emotions that might occur. And you can establish walkaway points, marked by a heightened state of emotions, that signals your departure from the hagglings.

The point is, you must control your emotions to negotiate effectively. Thus, the better you manage your feelings, the more significant will be the probability of you having a successful outcome. And since you know the role and value that emotions have on your negotiation, plan how you’ll control them before you engage in your next one.

 

Empathy’s Role

He doesn’t care about me. He’s the negotiator type that only wants the best outcome for himself. Have you ever heard someone say that about a person with whom they’d be negotiating? A lack of empathy can wreak havoc in a negotiation because it has an enormous role per how negotiators perceive one another. I’ve witnessed some negotiators improve the deal for their counterpart because the other negotiator displayed an interest in that person’s wellbeing. That’s the added value that empathy can have.

During a negotiation, when possible, let your counterpart sense the emotional care you have about his plight. Display through your actions that you have a sincere desire to be fair. With a negotiator that’s like-minded, he’ll appreciate your gesture and reward you with an easier going negotiation. You will have exercised a peaceful power that ignited the desire for him to reciprocate.

 

Accept Reality

If you wish to become a more powerful negotiator, you must learn to deal with reality. Some negotiators engage in negotiations too long. That causes them to become more emotionally involved, which pulls them deeper into staying engaged. They do so because psychologically, they want to see the outcome. In some cases, it’s like watching a movie that’s so bad; you can’t tear yourself away from it. Don’t allow this to happen to you!

When you first sense the minimum goals for the negotiation may be too far out of reach, begin to consider how you’ll exit. The sooner you withdraw from a situation that’s not getting better, the faster you can address one that may produce a more significant benefit. And that’s the value of accepting reality.

 

Positioning

Everything mentioned thus far, getting better answers, controlling emotions, the role of empathy, and accepting reality, can be enhanced through your positioning. Positioning is the tool that sets the stage per how others will perceive you. Thus, if you’re situated correctly before engaging in a negotiation, you’ll have a more significant opportunity to impact those activities.

You can position yourself by understanding the mindset of the person with whom you’ll be negotiating. That means you must know that person’s preferences, likes, and dislikes. Once you have those insights, display those characteristics when you’re in her presence. You can have others project your persona that she views as influencers. That will assist your attempts exponentially. It will also be the leverage that allows you to be a more powerful negotiator during your interactions.

 

Reflection

I started by suggesting you heighten the sense that you negotiate in every aspect of your life. And I suggested, to acquire more in life, you must become a better negotiator. By employing the insider-thoughts presented, you can increase your negotiation abilities. That will make you a more powerful negotiator. And everything will be right with the world.

 

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://c-suitenetwork.com/radio/shows/greg-williams-the-master-negotiator-and-body-language-expert-podcast/

 

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 “Negotiation Insight” click here https://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

 

 

#Powerful #BodyLanguageSecrets #csuitenetwork #thoughtcouncil #Negotiator #NegotiatingWithABully #Bodylanguage #readingbodylanguage #Negotiation #NegotiationStrategies #NegotiationProcess #NegotiationSkillsTraining #NegotiationExamples #NegotiationTypes #negotiationPsychology #HowToNegotiateBetter #ReadingBodyLanguage #BodyLanguage #Nonverbal #Negotiate #Business #SmallBusiness #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #BodyLanguageExpert #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions #GregWilliams #success #Howtowinmore #self-improvement #howtodealwithdifficultpeople #Self-development #Control #Conversations #Howtocontrolanegotiation #howtobesuccessful #HowToImproveyourself

 

 

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

“Do You Want To Know How To Make Better Decisions” – Negotiation Insight

“The best decision you’ll ever make is the one you corrected when it hurt the most.” –Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (Click to Tweet)

 

“Do You Want To Know How To Make Better Decisions”

 

People don’t realize; they’re always negotiating.

Are you aware of the number of decisions you make every day in your life? The answer is, probably not. A lot of your choices are automatic. And yet some decisions are more critical than others because they have a significant impact on your life. You can make better decisions, which will allow you to achieve better outcomes in your life. And here’s how you can improve your decision-making abilities.

 

Ask The Right Questions

Asking questions will always garner additional information. But the wrong queries can take you down an unwanted path. That can cause rebound difficulties. And, once you rebound, you’ll be back where you started. Which means you will have wasted time.

First, you must know your core values. That will assist in leading you to ask better questions, which in turn will lead to better decisions. If your choices don’t align with your core values, you could find yourself seesawing between preferences that don’t serve your goals. Meaning, you’ll make decisions like a rudderless boat in the middle of a stormy ocean, wondering why it’s challenging to reconcile adverse conditions.

To decrease the chances of being rudderless, be mindful of the questions you ask, and where the answers may lead. If you don’t like where they may lead, ask better questions. And don’t stop asking questions until you’re satisfied that you have the right answers.

 

Know Your Biases

Everyone possesses preferences, which are their biases. And your preferences will color your perspective when you make decisions. Thus, you must guard them during your evaluation process when determining the course of action you’ll adopt. It would help if you were mindful of four particular kinds of biases when making decisions.

  • Sunk Cost Fallacy

How many times have you said to yourself, well, I’ve gone this far – I might as well go further? And then, later, you kicked yourself for not getting out of a situation sooner. When you went through that experience, sunk cost fallacy afflicted your thought process.

To make better decisions, understand how you arrived at your present destination. In particular, assess where you thought you’d be versus where you are. It would have behooved you to have installed points of measurement for that purpose.

The point is, don’t allow a decision that turns bad to pull you deeper into worse decisions. Have a cutoff point. And don’t worry about what you’ve invested thus far. Just be aware that what’s gone is gone. Don’t lose more by chasing what you’ve lost. By cutting your losses at a predetermined point, you’ll save more resources going forward. And that will enhance your decision-making abilities.

 

  • Self-Serving

Some decisions you’ll evaluate will appear more pleasing because they cast you as the person of success in the outcome. You may think, and what’s wrong with that? After all, you’re attempting to make decisions that improve your plight in life.

The problem with seeing yourself in that role is, it could blot out alternatives that might offer better choices. And, since you see yourself as the heroic character, you may become inclined to accepting more thoughts that lead to making more decisions along that path. Then, you’d be stuck if that was the wrong path. Thus, your challenge becomes, seek answers that lead to improving your decision-making abilities. But don’t pursue solutions for the sake of merely confirming your biases. That would be self-serving.

  • Cognitive Fluency

Cognitive fluency entails how you perceive something based on its appearance or ease of consumption. Thus, if something is more pleasing to you, you’ll have a higher propensity to look upon it favorably. Accordingly, as you seek to make decisions, you’ll accept data that are more aligned with what you think it should represent.

Again, your biases will be an underlining force that’s guiding your decision-making process. That’s not to say that it’s wrong. It’s to say, if it sounds too right, be aware of how you’re coming to the conclusions you’re making when reaching your decisions.

  • Confirmation Bias

Most people have a sense of pleasure knowing that they’re right about a matter. Thus, they seek information from sources that confirm their position. And that can become a problem when making decisions.

If you only seek data that supports your current position, you’ll tend to ignore data that opposes it. And that will leave your decisions wanting for input that might have led to a better outcome. To thwart the exclusion of insights that may oppose your position, keep an open mind, and be willing to hear opposing opinions. Doing so will allow you to make more decisive and better decisions.

 

Intuition

Everyone is intuitive – but everyone doesn’t observe their intuition. When you ‘have a feeling about something,’ that’s your intuition signaling. When making decisions, they must become finely tuned to your intuition – because intuition is the messenger delivering signals from your subconscious mind to your state of consciousness.

Every day you’re bombarded with thousands of sensory perceptions. As your brain assesses what’s vital for your wellbeing, it determines what to pass to your consciousness. Things that it deems as less critical don’t make that trip. But you do sense some of them lightly. And that’s intuition, which is why it’s essential to pay attention to it when making decisions.

 

Cabals

When weighing decisions, consider conspirators that may be waiting to thwart your efforts because those efforts would threaten their goals. Being aware of secret forces that are against you will help you make better decisions. In some situations, that insight will sway you from engaging in choices that may have put you on a collision course, which could be a colossal waste of time. Just be mindful that every decision you make impacts someone. The more powerful that entity is, and the degree they’re opposed to your choices, the more careful you should be about making such decisions.

 

Reflection

Since your decisions rule many aspects of your life, the sooner you begin making better decisions, the more significant will be the outcomes. That will also enhance your opportunities and growth. If that’s what you seek, I suggest you embrace the thoughts that I presented. And everything will be right with the world.

 

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://c-suitenetwork.com/radio/shows/greg-williams-the-master-negotiator-and-body-language-expert-podcast/

 

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 “Negotiation Insight” click here https://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

 

 

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