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Category: Personal Development

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Best Practices Growth Leadership Personal Development

The Power of Perspective

Why Perspective Matters

Today’s business environment, markets, and industries are nothing if not complex and multi-faceted. Apple owning Amazon $30million a month despite competing across multiple verticles attests to the complexities of the relationships that business leaders face daily. However, with every new relationship, with every new facet that we see in business and organizations, the complexity is only compounded by the fact that every one of us views these differently. This matters in working on customer and employee experience, product design and customization, marketing and sales outreach, financial and investor relations, every single aspect of business that involves people. Moreover, that is every part of our companies.

Putting Different Viewpoints Together

Being able to see other’s viewpoints, and putting yourself in someone else’s shoes can become one of the most challenging pieces in creating better relationships. After all, we all know our customers and what they want, but have we taken the time to truly understand what the customer goes through when interacting with our business.

One of my favorite stories is from Expereince Enterprises is how they had a call center manager call into his system and the (almost predictable) results that came about.

Taking the time, asking genuine—open-ended—questions, and reminding ourselves that our businesses are not one-sided, makes a difference in how we can grow and differentiate our organizations.

Omnipotence and Adaptability

None of us knows everything, and fewer of us can see the complex picture of today’s business ecosystems. Every strategic framework that I have seen and used presents an intriguing structure, but most leave more questions than answers.
Filling the gaps in our knowledge is essential, but to truly grasp, interpret, and act on this information we need people. We need different viewpoints, experiences, ideas, and motivations to become successful.

Moreover, this allows for increased adaptability and resilience in our organizations. The ability to critically think around problems, solve issues by using old ideas in new ways provides for far-reaching implications in our practices. It is not about re-inventing the wheel when anything goes awry but finding ways to reimplement and adapt old knowledge in new ways. Being mindful of the various perspectives, ideas, and abilities within an organization allow for this to happen. The greatest mistake in business is often saying, “We have always done it that way” and allowing no further room for additional input.

Ed Brzychcy is former U.S. Army Infantry Staff-Sergeant with service across three combat deployments to Iraq. After his time in the military, he received his MBA from Babson College and now coaches organizational leadership and growth through his consultancy, Blue Cord Management.

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

His Body Language Screamed “Alert: Gullible Liar!”

“Reading body language is like seeing someone’s thoughts. Reading body language accurately gives you the ability to know what those thoughts are.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

Something about his body language caught my attention. It screamed, liar!

A man entered my car on the train and announced to everyone that he needed $15 for a train ticket to get to his 13-year old daughter. He said she was at a location where the train ended. He went on to say that someone had already given him $2.

One person gave the requester $5. From there, the requester walked through the rest of our car seeking more contributions. One gentleman said to him, ‘sit beside me – I’ll buy you a ticket.’ The requester said, okay, I’ll be right back and kept walking – he made his way out of our car and into the next one on the train. The gentleman that offered to buy the ticket and I looked at one another and smiled. We knew the requester would not be returning, and he didn’t return.

 

What body language gestures do you think the requester might have displayed? The man that gave our train friend $5 was taken in by his story. On the other hand, the man that offered to purchase a ticket suspected the requester’s story was illegitimate.

When reading body language, be observant of your intuition and a person’s gestures. Your intuition is very attuned to detecting lies.

Intuition:

Intuition is a nonverbal silent signal that secretly conveys information. If the signal was audible, you’d liken it to a knock at the door, the ringing of the phone, or a loud noise. In all cases, it attempts to attract your attention – it seeks your higher sense of awareness.

When you have an emotional sensation whose source you can’t identify, don’t discard it. Instead, raise your sense of awareness to become more attuned to the message that’s seeking your attention.

Body Language:

For a perspective of someone’s intent, observe their eyes, head, hands, feet movements.

Eyes – The requester on the train searched people with his eyes to detect easy marks. He was looking for those that smiled and made eye contact. People that lie will go to the extreme of displaying too much or too little eye contact. They may display too much because they’ve heard that people who lie avoid eye contact. In the latter case, they’re not aware of that. So, since they know they’re lying, they attempt to avoid eye contact to conceal it.

Head – When the requester thought someone was empathetic to his plight, he locked onto that suspect and nodded his head in that direction. The head nodding was a subliminal message stating, you and I understand one another.

Hands – Always watch someone’s hands when they’re talking. In the case of the requester, I noted that his hands moved away from him when he professed the desire to get to his daughter. And they stayed there. Had he gestured in the distance where she was supposed to be and then drew his hands back to his heart or chest as he professed his desire to get to her, he would have been more believable. As it was, his gestures said, there is no daughter at the end of the line. He just wants everyone to think there is.

Feet – When it came to the requester’s plea, once he detected that those close to him would not assist, he made quick movements to get away from that area. When someone is lying, they’ll display feet movements that attempt to put distance between themselves and the lying environment they’re in.

Being able to read body language gives you an advantage in any environment – that’s especially true when negotiating. If you’d like to have x-ray type vision that allows you to see inside of someone’s mind, enhance your ability to read body language … and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

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

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

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

#BodyLanguage #Liar #Beware #Negotiate #Process #Power #Powerful #Emotion #Business #Progress #SmallBusiness #Negotiation #NegotiatingWithABully #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions #BodyLanguageSecrets

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Marketing Personal Development

Here’s Why Stock Photography Can Hurt Your Brand

Fan of stock photos? Here are my two cents on it…

Why spend money on stale, stock photos when you could spend money on juicy, branded lifestyle portraits?

I’ve come across a TON of speakers who use stock photography for not only their social posts but their websites, digital ads, and printed materials.

WHY?

Actually, the better words to use here is STOP THAT NONSENSE RIGHT NOW!

How come?

Because stock photography is not you. It’s not who you are, who you serve, and why you do what you do.

And everyone who sees them recognizes that they are not uniquely you.

It’s sending a generic message through generic photos that are available to everyone who is willing to pay for them.

You Are Not Generic

You have a personality and illustrate emotions through your facial expressions and body language in a unique way, which are all visual cues to those who view these images.

They paint a broad and vivid picture of how you operate.

NYC Branded Lifestyle Portraits SPeaker Coach Pia Silva podcasting NYC Branded Lifestyle Portraits SPeaker Coach Jez Cartwright on computer NYC Branded Lifestyle Portraits Speaker Coach Author Michael OBrien playing with yoyo NYC Branded Lifestyle Portraits Speaker Coach Tricia Brouk brainstorming

If you are in the business of transformation, the last thing you want to do is leverage stock images as the visual punctuations to the sentiments of the insightful and inspiring stories ABOUT YOU that REPRESENT YOU to your audience.

Your Expertise is Special

you have a gift in some shape or form. Don’t water it down with visual imagery that was created without you specifically in mind.

Give yourself the best opportunity to present yourself powerfully and purposefully by creating an image content library of photos that are unique and special to your life and business.

Unlike stock photos, these types of images break the fourth wall between you and those you serve because they illustrate aspects of your process, how you brainstorm, work with clients, and spend your free time.

They create rapport and connection, and give the audience an opportunity to visualize how it would be to work with you. And, if they can envision working with you, that’s one step closer to converting them into a paying client.  

Remember one important point – you are in the business of building relationships, so every touchpoint – social post, blog article, website, etc. – counts. Make them count more with images that clearly have you, your brand and business front and center.

Does that mean you need to post lifestyle portraits of yourself every single day?

Absolutely not.

There is other image content that you can incorporate into your portfolio. Add in a wide variety of image content that has personal and special meaning to you.

Start with the way you work – what does that look like? Branded photos of your desk space, the technology you leverage and the way in which you work throughout the day will help you become more relatable to those you serve.

But, that’s all a warmup.

You can also create image content with books, mementos, photos of your family, kids, hobbies, and other fun activities that help serve you in your quest to show up in the world the way you want, especially when it comes to how you serve your clients.

Own your expertise.

Own your business.

Own your brand by sharing visual imagery that is uniquely aligned to you and those you serve. This will create a much more impactful relationship between you and them.

Take a pass on the stock stuff – your community will appreciate you for it, 🙂

 

John DeMato is a NYC branded lifestyle portrait photographer and content creation expert who serves speakers, authors, coaches and high-level entrepreneurs across the country. His 50+ e-book, S.H.A.R.E. M.A.G.I.C.A.L. I.D.E.A.S., lays out the how, what and why behind creating a memorable and referable online presence – sign up to get your FREE copy today.

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Industries Skills Technology

Smart Construction: How AI and Machine Learning Will Change the Construction Industry

These days, seemingly everyone is applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning. I have written about disruptions in the manufacturing industry, such as Industry 4.0, while illustrating the Hard Trends that indicate where improvements will be made in the future.

The construction industry, which makes up 7% of the global workforce, should already have applied these technologies to improve productivity and revolutionize the industry. However, it has actually progressed quite slowly.

Growth in the construction industry has only been 1% over a few decades while manufacturing is growing at a rate of 3.6%. With the total worker output in construction at a standstill, it is no surprise that the areas where machine learning and AI could improve such statistics were minimal. Yet, those technologies are finally starting to emerge in the industry.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is when a computer mimics specific attributes of human cognitive function, while machine learning gives the computer the ability to learn from data, as opposed to being specifically programmed by a human. Here are ten ways that AI and machine learning will transform the construction and engineering industries into what we’ll call “smart construction.”

  1. Cost Overrun Prevention and Improvement

Even efficient construction teams are plagued by cost overruns on larger-scale projects. AI can utilize machine learning to better schedule realistic timelines from the start, learning from data such as project or contract type, and implement elements of real-time training in order to enhance skills and improve team leadership.

  1. Generative Design for Better Design

When a building is constructed, the sequence of architectural, engineering, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing tasks must be accounted for in order to prevent these specific teams from stepping out of sequence or clashing. Generative design is accomplished through a process called “building information modeling.” Construction companies can utilize generative design to plot out alternative designs and processes, preventing rework.

  1. Risk Mitigation

The construction process involves risk, including quality and safety risks. AI machine learning programs process large amounts of data, including the size of the project, to identify the size of each risk and help the project team pay closer attention to bigger risk factors.

  1. More Productive Project Planning

A recent startup utilized 3D scanning, AI and neural networks to scan a project site and determine the progress of specific sub-projects in order to prevent late and over-budget work. This approach allowed management to jump in and solve problems before they got out of control. Similarly, “reinforcement learning” (machine learning based on trial and error) can help to collate small issues and improve the preparation phase of project planning.

  1. More Productive Job Sites

Professionals often fear machines will replace them. While intelligent machines will take over first repetitive and eventually more cognitively complex positions, this does not mean a lack of jobs for people. Instead, workers will transition to new, more fulfilling and highly productive roles to save time and stay on budget, and AI will monitor human productivity on job sites to provide real-time guidance on improving each operation.

  1. Safety First

Manual labor not only has the potential to be taxing on the body, but also to be incredibly dangerous. Presently, a general contractor is developing an algorithm that analyzes safety hazards seen in imagery taken from a job site, making it possible to hold safety briefings to eliminate elevated danger and improve overall safety on construction sites.

  1. Addressing Job Shortages

AI and machine learning have the capacity to plot out accurate distribution of labor and machinery across different job sites, again preventing budget overruns. One evaluation might reveal where a construction site has adequate coverage while another reveals where it is short staffed, thereby allowing for an efficient and cost-effective repositioning of workers.

  1. Remote Construction

When structures can be partially assembled off-site and then completed on-site, construction goes faster. The concept of using advanced robots and AI to accomplish this remote assembly is new. Assembly line production of something like a wall can be completed while the human workforce focuses on the finish work.

  1. Construction Sites as Data Sources

The data gathered from construction sites and the digital lessons learned by AI and advanced machines are all tools for improving the productivity of the next project. In this way, each construction site can contribute to a virtual textbook of information helpful to the entire industry.

  1. The Finishing Touches

Structures are always settling and shifting slightly. It would be beneficial to be able to dive back into data collated by a computer to track in real time the changes and potential problems faced by a structure — and AI and machine learning make this possible.

Given the inevitable changes on the horizon, and the potential for costs to drop up to 20% or more with increased productivity, professionals in the construction industry must pay attention to Hard Trends, become more anticipatory, and ultimately learn to turn disruption and change into opportunity and advantage.

Know What’s Next

Discover proven strategies to accelerate innovation with my latest book The Anticipatory Organization. Follow this link for a special offer.

Shape the Future–Before Someone Else Does It For You!

Categories
Best Practices Growth Personal Development

7 Rules That Will Make Your Emails Rule

Is your mailbox full? Ours sure is—every day! Do you read each and every email? We don’t. Because there are simply too many! Most messages are spam, and as a result, we miss quite a few important things. We’re sure you’ve discovered a few quick scanning methods, like looking for senders you recognize, subject lines that sound familiar, and replies to your latest email chains.

In a business world driven by email, how do you write effective messages that will actually be read? We don’t mean marketing emails either. There are far too many courses and books on that subject. (And frankly, we wish they’d stop.) But how can you write effective correspondence that will sort through the distraction, confusion, and noise in your recipients’ inbox?

We’ve used email since the days of “You’ve got mail!” And here’s what we have learned:

  1. Protect the Subject

Create a subject line that’s easy for you and your recipients to spot among the crowd. Make sure it’s pertinent to the topic and no more than three words in length. If the sender has looped in to another email to start a new conversation, change the subject to reflect the new topic. Change it back if the subject shifts again. Your recipient will appreciate the consistency.

  1. Keep the String Going

Once in a while, your recipient might send a reply message from a different mailbox. This could possibly change the subject line and the sender’s name. And more importantly, this can disturb the ongoing trail of emails on the same subject. If this happens, find the trail on the previously used email address, and paste it into the bottom of your response. This way, both of you will able to see the conversation’s path more clearly.

  1. Who’s Watching?

One of the biggest mistakes we’ve all made before is to “reply all” when we didn’t intend to. Double-check who’s CC’d on the message before you hit Send. A new recipient could’ve been added or someone else could’ve been removed. This is especially important when emailing larger organizations. They’re trained to move CCs around depending on who they want on the message. Sometimes letting their boss go from the chain removes a bit of pressure.

  1. Get On Your Phone!

If there’s a disagreement, misunderstanding, or miscommunication via email, pick up your phone and figure it out verbally. You’ll be surprised at what can be done during a personal and friendly phone call instead of a contentious and lifeless email. And NEVER fight through email. It’s emotionally draining, time-consuming, and both sides feel like they have to get the final word in. A lot of these arguments can be solved in just five minutes on the phone.

  1. Obtaining the Evidence

Email memorializes everything that has been said. Unless you want it to come back at you later, keep conversations away from email and on the phone instead, or even better, in person. But for this same reason, email is a great way to document what was agreed upon. We like to discuss verbally, whether on the phone or at a meeting, and then summarize the points, action items, or consensus in a memo that lets others know, “This is our understanding of what we’ve agreed to. If you have any additions, corrections, or comments, please respond by tomorrow at 5pm or we will assume that this is our understanding.”

  1. Only One Thing

Have you noticed that when you send someone an email with a few instructions or tasks, only the last one is acknowledged or completed? People only remember the highway entrance ramp, and the highway exit ramp. Everything else is all meshed together. So, keep things simple! Ask for one thing per email. If you have several requests, create a separate email chain for each, or even better, send a new email each time they complete a request. This way, you can keep it all on the same trail.

  1. Keep Things Friendly

Say something nice about your recipient in the message’s first line and the PS, and sandwich your message right in between. Break paragraphs up into two or three-sentence smaller paragraphs. If they can see the end, they’ll more likely read it. Let them know you’re open to a phone call if clarification is needed. And don’t forget to thank them for their completion or previous response. If their boss is CC’d, you should note how effective they are, even if they really aren’t. They’ll be more likely to live up to a compliment that makes them look good in front of their bosses. Once your business with them is finished, be sure to thank them publicly, with their boss copied on the message. They will both look forward to working with you again!

We could go on forever about email best practices and etiquette, but these are the general rules of thumb that will make your emails “rule!”

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

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Best Practices Investing Management Personal Development Sales

Selling Value: It’s No Longer Enough

Selling value is great, but it isn’t the solution it used to be.  The world – and customers — have changed around static solutions, and now we need to rethink the whole idea of selling value.  Selling Value can no longer be the responsibility of any single corporate function.  It needs to become a company-wide culture.  Specifically, we need value-focused culture, or simply Value Culture.

There are four reasons why selling value is no longer good enough.

Sales Have Lost the Handle on Full Value

For many years, companies have delivered sales training to sales organizations, and salespeople have improved how they sell. The sales training industry has established “world class sales” is something that exists inside of the sales silo. Now, we have extensive research on what “World class sales performance” looks like…but only viewed within the arena of sales, sales ops, and sales enablement.

The business world has shifted around the sales performance industry, though.  For the past few decades, though, companies have splintered their customer interface into many specialized roles:

Sales (hunters), account management (farmers), business development, inside sales, technical sales, demo specialists, sales development (appointment setters), installation, customer success, tech support, customer support, operations, finance, underwriting…

Salespeople don’t contact — much less have credibility with – all of the customer personas these specialist roles work with constantly.  “Sophisticated” companies train their specialists to deliver a great “customer experience”: customer interactions which promote the brand promise— or at least, eliminate weak links in the customer arc.  That’s not remotely what’s needed. Customer experience training doesn’t equip anyone to discover any of the value gaps from their unique vantage point.

Any company not training every customer-facing role to uncover potential value is failing to leverage potential competitive advantages.

Selling Value Has Come To Mean Less and Less

Even for Selling organizations who haven’t splintered, selling value has become less and less effective.

Customers have splintered and siloed themselves as well.  Your product or service touches more customer specialties than it used to…even if it didn’t become more sophisticated and capable.  Dividing your total value proposition into narrower and narrower customer slivers can reduce the total value your salespeople sell.  Every specialty your sales people fail to bring into the buying decision represents less value offered.  Selling value doesn’t have the same impact it used to.

Sales organizations need to navigate more complex customer organizations.  Meeting this challenge means raising the level of business acumen in your selling organization to find more “value leverage points”.  Sellers need to combine business acumen with customer acumen to find those leverage points in each organization they encounter.

Value Selling Seldom Leads to Value-Based Pricing…

 Frankly, I’m not very impressed with many current “value selling” methodologies.  Average sales training teaches reps to apply benefits to each single persona. The best value selling methodologies only teach reps to sell beyond benefits, to customer outcomes…which is value. I haven’t run across any (OK, anyone else’s) value selling methodology which influences a customer to build their own cost impact statement of those outcomes.

Current value selling helps win sales, but is only short putt away from selling at a profitable price. I love winning a deal as much as the next guy, but I’ve help P&L responsibility: what’s the point of winning a barely-profitable deal?  Your company lives on profits:  a profit stream – not a revenue stream – is what funds innovation, investment, all of your fixed costs…and yes, commission checks.

Pricing is Profit.

If your value selling initiative doesn’t draw a clear, bright line to selling at a value-based price, you’re dropping out of the race with the lead…in the home stretch.

Hoarding Value Insights Cripples Your Company

Value uncovered by the sales organization …used to win sales…even at a value-based price…can represent a few open loops in a company.  An organization-wide value culture closes these loops.

Value insights gathered via value discovery need to inform many other organizations in your company:

  • Marketing. First, content can be tightly focused on the value your company is uniquely positioned to offer.  Clicks and opens relating to those value points are worth infinitely more than those on more generic click-bait content.  Leads that germinate from outcome-based content are gold.  Crap content generates crap leads.  Second, you have persona-focused value insights which can drive tightly targeted, highly relevant sales support content. Collaterals that focus on specific “buying journey sticking points” are deal-movers.
  • Product Management and product training. Product training that describes persona-specific outcomes is the gold standard that few organizations practice.  Roadmaps and product strategies informed by a rich database of value insights are also far too uncommon.
  • Innovation. The virtual call center, a staple of today’s world, was invented at a cost of zero (OK, we had to develop a few new powerpoint slides), simply by combining two products together.  The key to this innovation was a value insight.  When product developers have a deep well of value insights to draw from, inventions and innovation are radically improved.

Your World has Changed. How Will You Respond?

To combat these evolving challenges, you must establish a value-oriented corporate culture.  Culture crosses silo boundaries, countering the unintended consequences of specialization.  There are techniques, tools and technologies that can help.

If this resonated, or spurred some thoughts, like, comment or share. If you’d like to talk further, contact me.

To your success!

Categories
Growth Management Personal Development

Einstein’s Window of Opportunity

Develop Your Open-Mindedness as a Leader

Let’s take a few minutes and think about opportunities. How many opportunities come your way and you take advantage of them? On the opposite side of the spectrum, how many opportunities pass in front of you and you either miss them or decide to wait for a better one to take advantage of? If you wait for the right opportunity, you may have a long wait. Many entrepreneurs and professionals that don’t get the results they deserve often suffer from a poor opportunity mindset. Do you?

Most people don’t like to take risks, yet leading an organization is a risk as you choose which direction to take the company and what decisions you make to grow the company. Moving forward is taking a risk. In order to take advantage of any window of opportunity, you are taking a risk.

“Risk is all around us. Life is a series of calculated risks. Everything you decide to do has a margin of risk. No outcome is ever 100 percent certain but it pays to calculated risks.”

– Thomas  Oppong

Opportunity Insights

 “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein

Crisis vs. Opportunity sometimes weighs the difference and yet a crisis can turn into an opportunity as you become more aware of what happened to make things into a crisis. Putting your attention onto what lies in front of you is a telling tale of how you can shift things into an opportunity to move your company forward. Problem-solving is concerned with what is going on now, or in the very near future.

Expand Your Unique Leadership Patterns

What you need is to think about your differentiators with regard to choosing the specific opportunity that will help you move forward? Your leadership style needs to expand to look beyond where you’ve been. With creative and innovative as today’s business trend, leaders need to take advantage of what you have and what’s needed to thrive from where you were. If you don’t take advantage of these you may find yourself either being passed by losing clients and customers, or a competitor may take you over.

As you learn new things, develop different perspectives about yourself and the world around you. Look for new and fresh experiences to discover new strategies for coping with stress at work and problem-solving.

Embrace the Opportunity Mindset

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” – Milton Berle

Where others see problems, you see potential. When others are bogged down in endless details, you see the big picture. Be open to looking at different perspective to determine what you can take advantage of. Being open to what’s out there to grow your company requires you to be aware of everything and anything whether you take advantage of it or not.

Leadership Opportunity to Grow

“If a window of opportunity appears, don’t pull down the shade.” -Tom Peters

One of the most important opportunities leaders have is to grow personally and professionally. Here are a few ways you can grow within your company as a leader.

  • By changing your habits you need to put the time and effort into implementing them. Like everyone else you have certain habits that you do Monday through Friday that differ from your weekend habits.
  • Motivating your disengaged employees needs you to get them interested in the work your company is involved in. If you first find out what these employees are interested in giving them the opportunity to be creative and innovative instead of the traditional work they have been doing. This can turn them around as they may have been great employees who need something different to work on.
  • Watch for a trend that can help you move your company forward.

People often wait for opportunities, but is it worth waiting for opportunities? Many people say “No”. The reasons are noted above, plus the fact that many executives don’t want to change what you are currently doing. What makes you comfortable can ruin you. What makes you uncomfortable allows you to grow.

“There is a window of opportunity. Whether we, I mean all of us, use it or not, well it’s another question.” –Andrei Denisov

Opportunities are out there. Too many leaders prefer to stick with what you know that are similar to what you already do. In order to thrive, you need to take chances on new ideas that can help you move forward beyond your current expectation.

“If you cannot find the distinctive opportunities you want, you can create the distinctive opportunities you want but you can’t find!” ― Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

Categories
Growth Management Personal Development

The Fire Hose Effect

How the Power of Influence Can Keep You From Drowning 

I’ll be the first to admit that leaders have a tough gig. You wear hundreds of different hats, you shoulder an immense amount of responsibility, and it seems to never end. It can feel like you’re facing the fire hose every day! In my business, I meet leaders from all over the country, from different industries, and they all have the same challenges. I hear things like:

“Mona, even though the economy is great, and my industry is thriving, I’m still expected to do more with less.” Or,

“My customers have more buying power today than ever before making it harder and harder to secure customer loyalty.” Or,

“I’m struggling to keep employees engaged, and other companies are stealing my best talent, leaving me with open positions that are hard to fill.”

Sound familiar?

I get it, I used to be the consummate go-getter, can-doer, workhorse manager I thought my employer and my people needed… and sure, that got me results. But something was missing. I wasn’t getting the results I wanted or knew I could get!

Then someone told me that I just needed to shift my focus.

One of the biggest mistakes that leaders make today is that they overlook the vast amount of untapped wealth that’s right in front of them every day. We get so busy focusing on the projects, and customers right in front of us – above the surface – that we miss what we don’t see under the surface of the people we serve. And what lies beneath could potentially be a wealth of greatness!

So how do you tap into this greatness? The good news is, it’s not about working harder. And it’s definitely not about working smarter. I’m quite sure you do both very well. It’s merely about shifting your focus. Shifting from a traditional leadership model to an influential leadership model.

Let me ask you this: Do you believe talented leaders are born or made?

I think the answer is both.  Sure, there are some people with a raw talent they seem to be born with. But even the rest of us can learn the same skills – work the same muscles – and reach the same level of impact. While there are thousands of books on leadership, we tend to overcomplicate it.  Effectively guiding people to your common vision with excellence, really comes down to your ability to do one thing:

Influence.

This is where the rubber meets the road. So, what does it mean to influence? Or even more important – what does it take? Money? Prestige? Connections? A Best Seller? If those were true, how do you explain Mother Teresa, or Gandhi – who influenced the world with so little to their name?

Or how Abraham Lincoln was able to influence the world with a speech consisting of less than 300 words scribbled on a piece of paper?

Or how Martin Luther Kind drew over 200,000 to Washington, DC with no email or social media?

These people knew how to do one thing – influence.

Influence starts by building a connection. When we truly understand that connection and relationships are the ultimate fundamentals for us as leaders, we’re able to increase our influence, our effectiveness grows, and we become better leaders.

There’s power in influence, and this same power can be yours – right where you are – with the people you serve today. You HAVE the power to stop the fire hose. Not only could you be sitting on untapped wealth – it is your role as a leader, to bring out the strengths in you and your people.

In every person, just below the surface of what we think we know and what we think we’ve seen, lies untapped greatness.

What are you doing to tap into yours and that of the people you serve?

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

Are You a Pleasant Experience Easily Forgotten?

“To be someone’s pleasant experience, you must evoke pleasure in them. Its longevity depends on how you extend it.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

“What was his name – you know, that guy that made me laugh so much? He was very pleasant. I wish I could remember his name.”

How many times has someone said that about you? If you don’t know, it’s probably because the person that made the statement never reached out to you. You were easily forgotten. No one wants to think they’re easily forgotten – especially after they’ve bestowed pleasant experiences upon someone.

I offer the following suggestions to become more memorable.

  1. Take the time to understand how individuals experience pleasure – Everyone doesn’t have the same sensations and thus, people experience pleasure differently. To put someone in a pleasant state of mind, you must understand their perspective (i.e. what’s funny, what’s sad, what they are seeking, what moves them). Once you have that insight, you’ll have a better idea of how to inflame their pleasure. And they’ll be more likely to remember you as the source that provided it.

 

  1. When someone is in a festive mood, say your name several times during the conversation. As an example, say, “I know you might think, oh Greg your self-effacing humor is hilarious – but Greg says, for me, it’s not hilarious, it’s my life!” (Do that with a shrug of exasperation to add more meaning and humor to your words. Also, using the ‘third person’ (i.e. “Greg says …”) can add a sense of comedy to your statements.). They’ll remember you easier if you repeat your name because your name will become more infused in their mind. And they’ll associate your name with the occurrence.

 

  1. Be engaging to the degree that your demeanor ignites emotions. People become moved to action via the emotions they experience and feel. To be more memorable, seek to arouse pleasant emotions that make people light up – you can detect this in the smile they display. Once they’re in such a state, keep them there through your actions as long as possible.

 

  1. To connect better, match the body language of those you’re connecting with. You may be familiar with the phrase, people like people that are like themselves. There’s truth in that statement because, psychologically, if you’re like someone, they see a reflection of themselves in you. You can enhance the connection when someone’s experiencing pleasure by getting closer to them physically, making the same body gestures they make (i.e. hand movements, facial expressions, reactions), and speaking at the same pace and rhythm. You’ll influence their subliminal perspective by doing that. And that’ll make you more memorable.

 

  1. When people experience pleasure, they associate whoever is around them with that experience. To be more memorable during such occasions, touch people in a manner that will make them feel good about you being with them – I’m not suggesting anything that’s inappropriate. The more sensations you ignite in them, the more memorable you’ll be.

What does this have to do with negotiations?

Not only do you shape a negotiation by what you say, and how you say it, you also shape it through the emotional arousal you awaken in the other negotiator. Thus, to endear yourself, make people remember the pleasant moments they have as you’re negotiating. When you reach a rough patch in the negotiation, you can attempt to put them back into a more pleasurable state by invoking the happier moments they’ve experienced with you. Doing that will help ease the tension in the negotiation and make it a more pleasurable experience. That will also cause others to remember you more fondly … and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

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

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

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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Augmented Reality Defined with Opportunities

Several years ago, I started using an augmented reality (AR) app for my smartphone whenever I ventured into the mountains. It was quite useful; I could point my device at any mountain to see information overlaid on the image. When I moved my device around, the information changed to correspond with what I saw.

Google Glass was an early example of AR glasses. However, the Three Digital Accelerators(computing power, digital storage, and bandwidth) I first identified in 1983 as the drivers of predictable exponential change were not advanced enough when this product emerged, and miniaturization of components had not reached the level needed to make the glasses look like regular glasses.

While few consumers tried them, Google Glass opened the eyes of entrepreneurs to see future possibilities. Surgeons used Google Glass to watch a patient’s vitals without taking their eyes off the surgical area, warehouse workers used them to locate products needing boxing, and universities used them to enhance student engagement in science lab classes.

The Future of AR

Now that the Three Digital Accelerators have improved enough to enhance smart glasses, consumer use will increase. Imagine walking down a busy street in New York City searching for the perfect slice of pizza. It would benefit you to be wearing AR glasses that can quickly scan the area for a highly recommended restaurant per consumer reviews. Wearing the technology rather than having your eyes divert to your phone is faster and safer.

I envision that the earpiece of your AR glasses will act as a rheostat, allowing you to fade the information in or out. As a keynote speaker, wearing a pair of AR glasses that allow me to see the names of audience members would be helpful, and by adjusting the fade control, turning off the information as needed will be helpful. This does not exist – yet. One of the principles I teach is “If it can be done, it will be done, and if you don’t do it, someone else will.”

It’s clear that practical uses for AR are ripe with opportunity. After acquiring smart glasses lens manufacturer Akonia Holographics in August 2018, Apple has been working on AR products. This positions the company to positively disrupt the industry, along with Microsoft and Facebook, which are working on AR glasses of their own.

Outside the US, Chinese technology giant Huawei is creating its own version of smart glasses. Its latest device, the Mate 20 Pro smartphone, already utilizes augmented reality apps predominately, but the company suggests that AR glasses are definitely in the works.

The company will bring more AR experiences to the Mate 20 Pro so its customers can use AR more widely before releasing its smart glasses. By better perfecting the user experience, they are pre-solving predictable problems, following one of my core principles.

Outside of AR, Huawei is a serious player in consumer electronics. It recently displaced Apple as being the world’s second-largest smartphone maker, expanded its digital products and even ventured into the world of smart speakers.

In comparison with virtual reality (VR), AR is developing faster for several reasons.

1)   VR requires the user to be cut off from the real world in order to be fully immersed in a virtual world, while AR allows the user to see the real world simultaneously.

2)   VR requires time-intensive graphics programming in order to create a photo-realistic 3D world, limiting the ability to attract the talent needed to grow as fast as AR.

3)   VR headsets are cumbersome compared to AR glasses.

Augmented reality represents a new platform for launching game-changing products and services. If you want to profit from this fast-growing industry, focus on being anticipatory by identifying the Hard Trends that are shaping the future and their related opportunities to lead change.

If you would like to learn how to become more anticipatory in the new world of augmented reality, be sure to pick up my latest book The Anticipatory Organization today!