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Category: Skills

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Best Practices Health and Wellness Human Resources Management Marketing Skills Women In Business

Use Project Management Principles to Accomplish More

“The project is 10 months behind, you need to deliver it in two months and raise $10 million dollars. Can you do it?” That’s the questions my boss Phil asked me. This was totally outside the scope of my existing role in the oil industry, but I had developed a reputation as someone who could get things done. Oscillating between excitement and terror that I’d been selected for the challenge, of course I said, ‘YES!”

Admittedly, I didn’t sleep for two months but I did deliver the project, on time, and within the budget with 100% compliance from the stakeholders.  It was one of my career highlights and it reminded me project management principles could be applied to every aspect of your life.

Project management has been around for thousands of years. I’m picturing some fabulous Egyptian leaders standing around debating the process for delivering stone blocks for the pyramids. Can’t you just see that?

Let’s take a look at nine project management principles that will help you in business, and in life.

1. Have a project management mindset. Start with that 30,000-foot view. Evaluate what you need by way of budget, time, milestones and deliverables for every project.

2. Be budget smart.How much time and money does your project require?

3. Timing is everything.Put a timeline in place from start to finish.

4. Put it in writing.Outline your milestones and mission plans and write them down.

5. Organize and order. Create the checklist and timeline for the progression of tasks.

6. List the stakeholders. This helps keep you focused and on task.

7. Appoint a project sponsor. This might be your mentor, your boss, or colleague. This person will assist you progress the project, help handle any challenges you might face, and help you be accountable for deliverables

8. Create a folder for every project with the following structure:

  1. Project chassis (overview)
  2. Budget
  3. Communications
  4. Meeting Notes
  5. Miscellaneous

9. Focus on the outcome. Keeping your eye on the prize helps drive personal energy. Especially when you are in the thick of things, tired, and need to be inspired!

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

Do You Know Where to Look to Find Yourself?

“A sense of uncertainty arouses the senses of being lost. Avoid the lost sense of uncertainty by truly knowing yourself.” – Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

As we go through different phases of our life, we seek assurances that we’re within the confines of society’s norms. Then, we use that feedback to adjust our actions and the way we interact with others. At some point, we find the wherewithal within ourselves to venture on a path of life that states, we know what’s best for us. That process may take years and sadly, some never discover it.

Some never discover the fortitude within themselves that states they have something of value that’s needed by others. Some never discover the quality about themselves that states that they possess more insight and knowledge than others give them credit for. Some never discover that they are more of what the world needs more of. The reason they don’t or can’t embrace that reality is that they don’t know where to look to find themselves.

No matter what phase of life you’re in, you have a sense of uniqueness that’s of value to someone. Look deeper into the values of those that need your uniqueness to find more of yourself. No matter what setbacks you may encounter, look deeper into how those setbacks occurred, in order to discover the uniqueness that lies within you. No matter what you encounter, look at those encounters for the value they possess. Look at them as a value-add to your life. Then, and only then, will you find that elusive place where you discover more about who and what you are. That will also be the tipping point when you discover more of what you want to be … and everything will be right with the world.

What does this have to do with negotiations?

In a negotiation, you may be besieged with doubt about the strategy you’re implementing. You may ponder the right course of action to adopt due to unforeseen occurrences in the negotiation. During such times, don’t allow despair to surround you. It will stifle your train of thought. Don’t allow hopelessness to engulf you. It will deter you from moving forward. Don’t let fear deride you, it will make you stop dead in your tracks. Instead, when you find yourself perplexed by the thought of inaction, seek attunement with the inner you. Explore the possibility of why what’s occurring is happening and the meaning of it. Be mindful to give the meaning you assign a positive perspective. That will be the doorway that leads from the disruption of darkness into the light. That will also be the doorway that allows you to find more of yourself.

Remember, you’re always negotiating.

What are you thinking? I’d really like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

To receive Greg’s free 5-minute video on reading body language or to sign up for the “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Sunday Negotiation Insight” click here http://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

#HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions #Psychology #Truth #Perception #rejection #leadership

Categories
Best Practices Growth Leadership Skills

Three High-Performance Listening Skills Great Leaders Embrace

It was a Friday evening and I was out with a small group of my friends at a Happy Hour. We were all seated around a table sharing stories over drinks and appetizers. Throughout most of the evening, one of the guys in our party was on his cellphone working a real-estate deal and talking to one of his team members who was sitting across the table. Andrew was so involved in his business that he didn’t even lift his head up from the phone but would randomly interject a word in here and there, claiming he was totally present and listening.  Of course until he realized that wasn’t 100% true when his wife had to call his name a couple of times to get his attention for a group picture…

How often have you found yourself in a similar situation?

You were engaged in a conversation and the technology had become a distraction during the conversation especially when attempting to establish rapport with another human being.

“Listening is fundamental in building rapport with others.  We all have bad habits that can cause us to break rapport and lose the connection with the other person.”  (From Power Conversations Tip #3 I know You Hear Me)

Let’s look at three common habits that cause us to break rapport and find out what to do instead in order to fix them and become more powerful communicators

  • Interrupting the speaker
  • Making up your mind before all the info is presented
  • Showing Impatience when a person speaks at length

Interrupting the speaker

How many times have you found yourself in a conversation where you, or someone else really, really needed to say something right then, right there and it just couldn’t wait until the speaker was done? Most of us were brought up knowing that it’s important to let others finish their thoughts.                   An interruption is saying “what I have to say is more important than what you have to say.” Ultimately saying “I’m more important than you”.  I would venture to say you probably don’t really think that.

If you have something that you have to say and think you might forget, write it down or politely ask the other person to have them remind you to bring up the topic once they are done speaking.  If you or someone you know happens to be a chronic interrupter, have them busy themselves by doing something else instead in order to break the habit.
I once had a client in a training that was a chronic interrupter. Since she was very high energy like a cheerleader, she decided to drink water every time she felt the need to interrupt. Needless to say while she reported to me that the solution worked, she had become very well hydrated…

Making up your mind before all the info is presented

Somewhere along the line you tuned out the speaker and dove into your own thoughts. That’s what we call an internal distraction.  When that happens, you risk missing out on important information and only hearing parts of a discussion which could lead you down the path of wrong conclusions and assumptions. As a result you could end up in conflict and that does not an example of good leadership.

Instead, be sure to remain present the entire time, focus on the speaker, and ask questions to clarify any points that you are unsure about. Whether you are a quick thinker or a slow processor remain engaged, showing the speaker that they are being heard and valued.

Showing Impatience when a person speaks at length

Let’s face it, different people communicate differently.  While some are story tellers who share every little detail, others might be direct, factual and brief.  Often people who are high-performers want the big idea and quick facts and will show impatience when the speaker goes on and on. That might entail looking at your watch, gesturing someone to hurry with hand motions or even at time flat out saying something like “get to the point”.  Those are all rapport breakers that are offensive to the speaker, yet at times we truly want someone to get to the point. How do we convey that without being rude?

Back when I was in private practice and had to take a medical history on all new patients, I would come across the long story tellers. It was common with those who experienced traumatic injuries like a fall or a car accident and were more of the emotional type. While it was important as a doctor to have empathy and understand their emotional and physical distress, all I needed in order to treat them properly were the facts of the accident like speed, directions, and point of impact.

My solution and was to find the right opening, state their name, repeat something they had said and check for accuracy with a yes/no question. I then moved to the next question. Ex. “Harvey, I want to make sure that I got this correctly, you were making a left at the light and a car came from across the intersection and hit your back passenger side? Is that correct? OK. What happened next?”

By using that technique not only will you able to manage the pace of the conversation but you will be actively engaged in listening to the details making the speaker feel heard and valued, which is the goal.

As an active listener you will use different skills to show interest in the speaker and build rapport with them. As a High-Performer leader you will spend more of your time engaged in Active listening.

While Andrew is clearly a hard working individual he could benefit from improved High-Performance Communication skills, specifically Active Listening to make him an even more powerful leader.
What about you??  Are you ready to uplevel your game and improve your communication skills?

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Best Practices Growth Health and Wellness Human Resources Management Skills Women In Business

Managing Reverse Culture Shock

We’re all familiar with the principle of “culture shock,” reflecting the surprises and challenges of living and working abroad. Comparatively, you’d think it would be easy to move back home after the assignment is complete. Surprisingly, however, readjusting to the home culture and office is often harder than going abroad in the first place, a phenomenon known as “reverse culture shock,” or “reentry adjustment.” I certainly encountered this personally upon returning to the US after spending a couple of years in Japan. Here are some reasons why, and strategies to help ease that transition so that, contrary to the popular expression, you can go home again.

First, whether you’re abroad for a year or a decade, the fact is that, whether or not you realize it, you have changed as a result of your experiences, and your home (and home office) environment has evolved over time as well… but not on the same trajectory. Yet you will both expect the other to be the same as when you left at minimum, or even subconsciously expect them to have changed in the same way that you did – whether or not you recognize exactly how.

Plus, once you’ve adapted to the new language and cultural expectations, there’s a good chance that a lot of those new behaviors and expectations will have become second nature, often because you have learned to appreciate the principles that those behaviors reflect. For me, I was always a very direct speaker, but learned to appreciate and comfortably use the comparatively subtle approach in Japanese, which is the Japanese norm, based on promoting respect and harmony. Unfortunately, when using similar strategies in English back home, I sounded wishy-washy to my American peers.

When you return to your home office, others may respond to these new habits with resistance and skepticism. If you start to recognize this pattern, have a heartfelt conversation with your team, explaining what’s behind the new behaviors. Don’t go into tons of detail, and don’t present it in a way that seems like you’re bragging about your experience abroad. Smile, and let them know that you understand their reaction because it’s exactly how you reacted when you first encountered those patterns when you first arrived overseas. Depending on what the change is, you may just need some time shift back to the original style. Alternatively, once they understand the change, they may decide they appreciate the rationale for it and want to adopt it too.

Another key cause of reentry adjustment is that you expect to be surprised in one way or another when you go to a foreign country, but not when you return home. You know that the new language, culture, and norms abroad – from foods and table manners to what it means to show respect – will probably differ unpredictably from what you’re used to, for better or worse. But you also assume that it should be easy to return home because – in theory – you already know all the rules of the game.

On the contrary, this isn’t always the case. When I went to live and work in Japan, and studied the language and culture, I was very explicitly instructed how to do everything from gift exchange rituals to protocols for conducting meetings. I learned the rules consciously. Then when I moved back to the US, I committed a variety of little faux pas because I realized I didn’t know how to shift back! So many of my original American practices had been learned unconsciously; I had done things a certain way because it’s the way everyone did them, so I was just going with the flow, as it were. I never thought about why I used certain English words, American gestures, or routines. Without being equally able to articulate the “rules,” there was occasionally an awkward feeling of uncertainty.

Part of the solution, simply put, is to expect similar surprises – likely on mundane little things – upon completing an extended stay overseas. More importantly, when they happen, be patient and forgiving with yourself. Don’t beat yourself up for making mistakes, and when you do, remind yourself that this is normal. If necessary, apologize, but again, share the cause: you were simply on “auto pilot” from living abroad. The best remedy is to have a sense of humor about it and laugh at yourself, which is also an invitation to others to laugh with you. This builds mutual empathy, educates others, and promotes support to help you make the rest of the transition to your new life in the old country.

********

Are you or is someone you know struggling with reverse culture shock? Email me at laura@vocalimpactproductions.com or click here to set up a 20-minute focus call to discuss it with me personally.

Categories
Growth Human Resources Management Skills

6 Steps to Deliver Effective Feedback When You Dislike Conflict

As a consultant providing insights to leaders who value employee engagement, I often receive calls to address performance issues that could have been prevented by simply giving frequent and effective feedback.  If you see an engine light appear on your dashboard don’t you want to address it immediately? If you wait, don’t you risk additional expensive repairs and expensive inconvenience?  Performance issues are no less urgent than an obvious engine light.

Recently, two managers from one of my clients called complaining about the new employee who often withheld valuable information and didn’t always cooperate with the managers or the team members. This behavior was damaging the performance of the team.  The employee was attempting to hide some of his negative performance for fear he would be either criticized or disciplined.  Neither manager wanted to confront him with these truths because they both disliked conflict and feared making things worse.  This avoidance by managers is common.

The managers called me because they knew they needed an expert in delivering feedback.  At one point during our conversations they encouraged me to deliver the feedback to the troubled employee to avoid their responsibility.  “I can’t do that.” I explained.  “I don’t have any data or observations.  You have the data.  And, you need to be the ones to give the feedback.  Let me help you!”  

Their intentions were good.  They feared making the situation worse.  They just needed the proper methods and skills, the encouragement, and the proper context to deliver the feedback.  They knew they needed help.  The good news is, they asked for help.

Managers often avoid delivering negative feedback to avoid conflict and unintended negative emotional reactions.  Poorly delivered feedback can damage the trust in a relationship and lead to even more performance issues.  Effective feedback requires a high level of confidence, emotional intelligence, and excellent communication skills.  This is especially true during challenging performance discussions.

To make it even more stressful, an environment or industry with labor shortages (like the one they were in), managers will naturally hesitate to deliver challenging performance feedback out of fear the employee will quit.  Unexpected turnover increases costs for the company and drama for the managers.

To add to these challenges, there are also certain communication styles which tend to avoid conflict and the key manager in this situation (the one directly responsible for the troubled employee) was a “poster child” for one of these communication styles.

What can one do to deliver challenging performance feedback when we know the discussion will become an emotional conflict?  I provided six steps to the managers.  They acted.

A Behavioral Standard

We need a standard set of behaviors that the employees are willing and able to embrace.  This standard must include observable behaviors and is useful when it’s connected to the organizational values.  If you don’t have one, co-create it with a team of employees.  The managers already had one.

Reinforce Agreement on the Standard

If there is a standard of behavior, take time to remind the employee(s) how important the standard is and how it creates benefits for everyone including the organization, the employee and especially customers.

During a challenging performance discussion, a manager who references a standard of behavior can make the discussion about the standard and avoid criticism of the employee or their personality.  The presence of a standard allows the manager to stay calm during the performance feedback discussion.  The manager’s opinion is no longer needed. It’s about the standard of behaviors.

Acknowledge your possible contribution

Because managers (and especially Sr. Managers) are the most responsible for the working environment of an organization, it’s always useful for them to take partial responsibility for poor performance of a team or team member.  Taking some responsibility for the situation will reduce the tension, minimize negative emotions, and increase the cooperation during the performance discussion.  From the employee perspective, the manager could have easily contributed to the poor performance unknowingly.

If the employee believes the manager has contributed to the poor performance, and they aren’t given opportunity to release it, there will likely be a negative emotional reaction when the manager attempts to deliver their feedback.

Facilitate agreement to hear the feedback

Avoid giving the feedback without asking for permission first.  This gives the manager control of the interaction and concurrently, it gives the employee a sense of autonomy. This technique optimizes respect.  Increased respect leads to increased openness.  Once you ask permission to ask questions, you are able to lead the conversation by asking questions.

Adopt a process and practice

There is a difference between a script and a process.  A script can be restrictive and create an insincere impression.  A process includes specific recommended steps.  If the manager follows the steps and uses their own choice of words, the feedback will likely be sincere and will increase the probability of acceptance.  More importantly, if the manager practices the process steps, this increases confidence and sincerity which leads to acceptance.

Make the conversation about learning

Make the conversation about the learning and not about the flaws in the person.  Both the manager and the employee will learn from a valuable feedback conversation.  Avoiding criticism of the employee can be accomplished if the manager follows the previous steps and then focuses on process and methods that the employee uses to achieve goals.

The manager and employee can brainstorm options for changing methods.  The discussion is NOT about the employee and/or their personality.  It’s about “What can we learn, and how can we improve our methods?”

The managers followed these recommendations and the result was very positive.  Furthermore, their success has led to improved courage in providing feedback in other situations.

Anyone concerned about delivering negative feedback can learn from my two client managers.

Check out the interview on C-Suite Best Seller TV to learn more about how to stop leadership malpractice and replace the typical performance review: https://www.c-suitetv.com/video/best-seller-tv-wally-hauck-stop-the-leadership-malpractice/

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

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Health and Wellness Human Resources Industries Management Marketing Skills Women In Business

Take the 5 Step Attention Challenge

You think you’re paying attention – you’re not. We live in an attention deficit society. Technology distracts us. Social Media overwhelms us.  Daily to-do lists leave us feeling exhausted. We are constantly being asked to do more with less, to the point we have lost sight of what is important as we race each day to cross off another meaningless task or chore.

I believe in order to be influential in the world, and make a true impact on it; we must give our undivided attention to people and things that matter most in our lives. Instead, we are allowing those that are most important to compete with all of our daily distractions. It’s time to commit to change.

Attention isn’t a little thing. It’s everything. What you focus on grows. What you don’t, goes. When you decide what gets your attention, that becomes your future. I challenge you to start turning your life into one of attention abundance instead of distractions in five steps. Are you up for the challenge? It won’t be easy. It will bring to light the aspects in your life that are worthy of your focus, your time and your undivided attention.

Step 1: Identify What Matters Most

Grab a piece of paper and write down three priorities that come to mind at home, at work and in your community. Perhaps it’s the name of people, or high-profile goals. Maybe it’s a charitable cause or public service. Either way, be specific in each of the three categories and limit yourself to no more than three priorities for each. This step is going to help you identify what matters most to you, the core of you. These are the priorities that get you out of bed each morning, and give you a sense of purpose. When we attempt to define too many priorities, we dilute the meaning of those that matter most.

Step 2: Be Accountable to the Calendar

With your limited priority list now identified, it’s time to get selective with your calendar of commitments. We only get 365 days each year to reach our goals and objectives. That’s a pretty tight calendar budget if it’s not managed wisely. Consider this, if you only had $365 dollars in the bank and were forced to choose between food and jewelry – you’d choose food, right? That’s easy. So why do we think of the days in a year any differently? We are all working from the same limited budget of days, yet some are too quick to spend their days on what doesn’t matter. It’s time to be accountable to our calendar.

First, go through your work calendar and identify two meetings this week that are not necessary. If you feel the objective of the meeting can be accomplished in a simple phone call or email, choose those options instead. If you have the meetings scheduled merely out of routine and habit, they aren’t needed. If you are attending meetings and feel they are not a valuable use of your time, decline them.

Second, for those meetings you choose to keep on your work calendar, email the host and request an agenda. Take a few moments to be certain your time will be respected and used wisely. If you are the host, give respects to the attendees by creating an agenda that you commit to using and sticking to. If you want others to respect your time, you must first start by respecting theirs.

Third, at home, review your personal commitments and obligations. Have you accepted a dinner invite you didn’t really desire to attend? Perhaps you have requests for lunch, parties and gatherings that you aren’t certain how you’ll fit into your already tight calendar of events. If any of these scenarios sound familiar, it’s time to employ the power of one simple word: “No.” That’s right, “no.” “No” is a complete sentence and doesn’t require explanation. Your time is your time, and only is gifted to others when their requests of it fall in line with the priorities you listed in step one. When you say “no” to some, you’re saying “yes” to whom and what matters most. Consider this – if there is a dinner invitation you’ve received that you’re not thrilled to attend, and you would rather stay home and watch a movie with your family, who is going to benefit the most from you saying “yes” to the dinner invite? You? Your family? No – the person with the invitation is the one that benefits. If they are not in your list of priorities, then you are allowing them to take time away from those truly deserving of your time.

Step 3: Be Accountable to the Clock

There are only 1,440 minutes in each day. Considering we sleep approximately 440 of those, we are left with only 1,000 minutes to accomplish what truly needs to be done each day. We are all gifted with the same amount of time in a day; how we choose to use it and prioritize it is solely up to us.

Have you ever stopped to consider the amount of time you spend each day on social media? What about watching television? How about checking email? Now, consider how much time you spend building relationships with family, friends, colleagues and clients? Who is winning your attention and what is stealing your time.

I want you to consider your day in 15 minute increments. Discipline yourself to limiting time on non-essential tasks for 15 minutes only. Dedicate at least 15 minutes of time to those that haven’t been getting it.

First, upon waking in the morning, take 15 minutes to check social media and read the news – then log off. Do not give into temptation to check it again until your next scheduled 15 minute window – either later that night or the next morning. Utilize apps that block alerts and notifications on your phone to avoid distractions they cause.

Second, review your daily calendar and challenge yourself and your team to cut back meetings to 15 minutes only. Require agendas and don’t permit devices that cause distractions. When you limit meetings to 15 minutes, you’ll reach agreements more quickly and be less likely to get lost on non-related topics.

Third, schedule 3 – 15 minutes increments time for checking email throughout your workday. When your 15 minutes is up, turn off your email and turn your attention to accomplishing projects, tasks and priorities. Move away from allowing email to run your day and dictate how your time is to be spent. Emails are just another person’s request for your time to do what they need to accomplish their tasks.

Fourth, dedicate 15 minutes each night to having one-on-one conversations with each person in your household. Give them a minimum of 15 minutes of your time without technology, tv or distractions. You’d be surprised how your relationships grow when you invest your undivided attention into them.

Fifth, allow yourself 15 minutes each day for decompression and quiet time. Give your body and your mind an opportunity to quiet and rest. Go for a walk. Take a hot bath. Get a stretch. Meditate. Either way, permit your mind to quiet down so it has an opportunity to recharge for the following day.

Step 4: Put Technology in its Place

By silencing distractions, such as smartphones, people begin to excel at their jobs, relationships and tasks. A cell phone is a crutch. It fools us into believing everything is an emergency, even when the situation is far from it. When people let go of the need to connect, they get better at sleeping, they come to work refreshed, they learn to trust their instincts, and they begin to rely on their skills and knowledge. In short, they become better leaders, better middle managers, and better employees. They also become better spouses, better parents and their quality of life grows.

First, use your Do Not Disturb function on your phone. Schedule it to turn on from 8pm to 8am each morning. This will ensure time each night is spent focused and dedicated on your personal well-being. In this time period, you can exercise, spend time in uninterrupted conversation with friends and family, sleeping and resting up for a more productive day following.

Second, do not permit technology in meetings. If you are hosting a meeting, make it known on the invite and in the agenda that your meeting is a no-phone zone. If you’re going to be cutting down meetings to 15-minute increments, every minute requires each participant’s undivided attention.

Third, make your dinner table a no-phone zone. If you are out to dinner with friends, make a deal that the first person to look at their phone has to buy dinner. If you are at dinner with your family, put all devices away and keep them off the table. Use that time to make genuine connections with those you are dining with.

Fourth, use smartphone apps to silence your phone throughout the day when you are otherwise committed to scheduled activities such as checking email, focusing on projects or accomplishing tasks. You will maximize your productivity when you keep your focus exclusively on one task as a time instead of allowing yourself to be distracted every few minutes.

Step 5: Gift Your Time

Our society depends on each of us to give the gift of our time to charitable causes and be purposeful in how we contribute to our community. Choose how you will contribute to causes that matter to you and your community. Be intentional in scheduling time to volunteer, donate and help others. Reflect back on Step 1 and what you listed as your priorities. Decide how you will contribute to aiding those causes and make the commitment to follow through.

Remember, Attention isn’t a little thing. It’s everything. What you focus on grows. What you don’t, goes. Decide what gets your attention, and allow that to become your future. Are you up to the challenge?

Categories
Best Practices Body Language Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Marketing Skills Women In Business

Is Rejection Leading You?

“Don’t fear rejection. Use it as a springboard to greater growth.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

If no one follows you, will you still lead?

Sometimes, leaders will not be accepted. That can occur even if the leader is good and have positive contributions to make to the rejecter. What do you do, or what have you done, when you’ve been such situations? That’s really the time when you have the greatest opportunity for self-growth. That’s really the time when you stand to learn the most about yourself.

Consider this, if you never experienced rejection how would you recognize it? How would you know how to deal with it?

Dealing with rejection allows you to test your thought process. It allows you to test your resolve. It allows you to give rejection a name and a face. That name and face can serve as a positive or negative motivator; your perspective determines how your perception of rejection is perceived.

Understanding that you give life to ‘rejection’ by the way you define it means, you can give it any meaning that you desire. Give it a positive meaning (e.g. “That’s not rejection. It’s an opportunity to make me better!”)

It’s very important to identify how you react to the perception of rejection because in order to be a leader you have to be able to lead yourself. The only way you can lead yourself is to know what leads you (temps you), why it leads you (it’s allure), and what you should do about it if anything at all. Thus, the feeling of rejection will allow you to lead yourself to despair or exhilaration.

Identifying the reasoning behind your perceptions, where rejection is concerned, will give you a new look into how you motivate yourself, how you keep moving forward, how you stay alive. Once you experience that deeper sense of awareness, you’ll be able to use the perception of rejection as a tool for greater expectation … and everything will be right with the world.

What does this have to do with negotiations?

Negotiations are 100% focused on the perception of rejection. That’s proven when you misperceive a gesture or offer that you think is against you. Even in that moment, the way you process information may cause you to experience the feeling of rejection.

The next time you sense rejection, slow down. Become reflective and consider what’s happening. Consider to what degree your perception is leading you to a place that won’t serve you. Consider how you can mentally turn your perception of rejection to a thought that serves you better. That will be the beginning of the shift that leads you to be more in touch with yourself. After your perception shift, you’ll be able to alter your perspective and the perception of the other negotiator.

 

What are you thinking? I’d really like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

To receive Greg’s free 5-minute video on reading body language or to sign up for the “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Sunday Negotiation Insight” click here http://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

Remember, you’re always negotiating.

#HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions #Psychology #Truth #Perception #rejection #leadership

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Skills Women In Business

4 Action Steps to Protect Your Reputation Monday to Monday®

Click here to watch 4 Action Steps to Protect Your Reputation Monday to Monday® 

Your reputation – good or bad – precedes you. Your reputation enters the room, your clients’ offices, your meetings and your one-on-one conversations before you ever get there. Your reputation enters your readers inbox before you hit send on that email.

You’re always on display, and your reputation is always on the line. The big question is, are you okay with the reputation you’ve created?

Categories
Accounting Best Practices Body Language Economics Entrepreneurship Investing Management Marketing Negotiations News and Politics Skills Women In Business

8 Words That Will Make You a Better Negotiator – Part 2

“Words have an impact! Choose impactful words carefully when negotiating, they’ll determine your degree of effectiveness.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

This article is part 2 of a two-part article. It contains an explanation of the second group of 4 words that complete the 8 words you can use to become a better negotiator. Here’s the link to part 1 of this 2 part article  http://www.themasternegotiator.com/8-words-will-make-better-negotiator-part-1-2-negotiation-tip-week/

Now imagine the new you, not limited, because you are instantly free.

There are 4 words contained in the sentence above that will make you a better negotiator. Do you know which words they are, how to use them, and why they’ll give you an advantage when negotiating? After reading this article, you’ll know why those 4 words have such power, and how to use them in your negotiations.

Communications can be challenging when negotiating. That’s one reason why you should always be mindful of the words you use, the impact they’ll have, and how such words will position you in a negotiation.

The 4 words are, now, imagine, limited, and instantly.

4. Now – The word, ‘now’, implies in the moment. You’re not in the past or future, you’re in the present moment. That’s the power of ‘now’. It makes you focus on the situation at hand while clearing the cloudiness that other aspects of the negotiation might present.

Use the word, ‘now’, to focus the other negotiator’s attention on what’s being discussed in that moment. The word can also be used to distract from items that may attempt to conflate matters that may or may not have relevance to the negotiation.

6. Imagine – ‘Imagine’ is a wonderful word to use in a negotiation. It can take the negotiation from the here-and-now to a place where happiness or dread awaits.

You can use the word, ‘imagine’ when you want to transform the other negotiator’s perspective from a more or less agreeable point to one that is more aligned with what you seek from the negotiation. Use the word, ‘imagine’, to allow him to become transfixed in an emotional state where harm does not exist or where it looms voluminously.

7. Limited – This word implies that there’s not a lot of what you’re discussing; “if you don’t grab this soon, it’ll be gone and you’ll miss out.” That’s what, ‘limited’ implies.

Good negotiators will test you when you state that something is limited. Still, if your boast is proven to be true, you’ll move the other negotiator to action by using this word as a call to action. Just be mindful of how and when you use it. If its use is proven to be untrue, you might cause irreversible harm to the negotiation.

8. Instantly – Everyone seeks gratification. For some, the need for such acquisition is greater than others. The word, ‘instantly’, implies that you can have what you seek, right now.

You can enhance a negotiation by giving the other negotiator a sample of what he seeks from the negotiation; make sure it’s something that he really wants. By doing that, you’ll be instantly giving him a taste of what he can acquire if he adopts your position. If this tactic works with him, you will have also uncovered his need for gratification, and to what degree he’s willing to control it to obtain what he wants from the negotiation.

You now have new insights into how the above words can instantly increase your negotiation abilities, and just imagine, you acquired these words for free because you read this article. Imagine what this new knowledge will do for you. Don’t let yourself be limited, use these words in your negotiations … and everything will be right with the world.

 

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

To receive Greg’s free 5-minute video on reading body language or to sign up for the “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Sunday Negotiation Insight” click here http://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

Remember, you’re always negotiating.

#HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #psychology

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Too Much of A Good Thing? New Strategies to Enjoy Real Work-Life Harmony in the C-Suite

Early morning board meetings, late evening client dinners, conference calls, international travel, a jam-packed family and personal schedule. It’s all good, but it may seem like constant non-stop busyness all the time. Are you doing more, but feeling less satisfied and more frustrated?

Fortunately, there are strategies to increase the real goodness and harmony in your life. Your ability to prioritize and optimize all the abundance you enjoy comes from making the right decisions about what is “important to do” rather than what is simply “nice to do.”

Evaluate and set your criteria. Determine the key professional and personal priorities, causes and activities that are truly aligned with your core values and highest intentions for the short and longer term. Turn inward and evaluate where you are accomplishing the most good and receiving the most personal satisfaction. Are you saying “Yes” more often and “No” less frequently because you are afraid of being left out? Learn to say “No” to the ordinary to be able to say “Yes” to the outstanding. Take a stand for what you really want!

Plan and prioritize. Look at your week and month and list your intentions and commitments. Sort the important from the merely workable. Think of your life in three pillars: career/business, health/family, faith/education/renewal and consider adopting the 8-8-8 model for your daily schedule. Designate eight hours for work and business, eight hours for yourself and your family priorities and eight hours for rest.

Make time for yourself every day. Part of your personal pillar should include some “me time” for peace, quiet, reflection and rejuvenation. Consider rising thirty minutes earlier and starting the day off with some movement, stretching, meditation, self-hypnosis or quiet contemplation. You will feel more successful and grounded versus feeling scattered and off balance.

Be consistent. Make regular deposits into your body’s energy savings and reserves account by eating whole, real food and engaging in regular physical activity and prioritizing restorative sleep. Inevitably you will need to make energy withdrawals when you are involved in challenging projects or are working long hours. With enough reserves, you have enough goodness to draw upon and your energy account will be charged and healthy!

Real work-life harmony takes courage and awareness. Model these traits for yourself, your family and your organization. Your life will be better for it!

Kathleen Caldwell, is CEO of Caldwell Consulting Group, an Advanced Clinical Hypnotherapist, a C-Suite Network Advisor, Women Who Dare Council Member and the founder of the WHEE Leadership Institute ® (Wealthy, Healthy, Energetic Edge) of Woodstock, Illinois. She works with leaders and teams to energetically and enjoyably produce record breaking results. For more information, Caldwell can be reached at www.caldwellconsulting.biz, Kathleen@caldwellconsulting.biz or by phone at 773-562-1061.

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