Laid Off? Furloughed? Here Are Some Imperatives!
Covid 19 has decimated an economy that was thriving. Instead of record sales, industries, like airlines, restaurant and hospitality, now wonder if they will survive. Other companies and corporations worry about the loss of sales due to the disruption of production. Almost every industry has had to make tough decisions. Consequently, layoffs and furloughs abound. If you are one of those who have felt the blow of these hard times, know that you are among thousands of people whose lives have been altered, and not just by the threat of catching this debilitating virus. How you handle the disappointing news can have long term effects.
Communicating in the Age of the Pandemic
The year 2020 is like no other. Borders have closed, cities are on lock down and stocks have plummeted to record lows. People are worried and the level of stress is not expected to lessen anytime soon. For those of you who are managers, communication with your teams is critical. The following article offers suggestions for ensuring that your conversations with your teams are effective.
Some Resolutions Executives Wish You Would Make
It’s the New Year. A lot of us make resolutions. “Go to the gym.” “Eliminate sweets.” Have a real lunch, instead of a latte.” Most resolutions that I hear are about people’s waistline- rarely any about one’s professional life. This prompted me to ask the I executives I work with what resolutions they wish people would make about their jobs. Here are their top five:
How to Create Customer Evangelists
The goal of most salespeople is to call on senior-level executives. However, rarely is the sales person’s first point of contact in a large organization with the CEO, CFO or CIO. Usually, salespeople call at a much lower level initially. To short cut the amount of...
How to Influence Decision Makers Right from the Start
When proposing to C level executives, those CEO’s, CIO’s CTO’s, or CFO’s, it is necessary to remember, they are only interested in solving their company’s problems. Obviously, their bonus depends on it. They are not interested in a salesperson who seems to be pushing...
Team Presentations are Not a Series of Solo Acts
High-level customer presentations often involve several people. While teams vary in makeup, typically, they include people who are subject matter experts, as well as the sales executive and the sales manager. The most senior person assumes the role of the team leader....
Tips for Technical Presentations
Many people find it difficult to sit through a technical presentation. One colleague said she would rather have a root canal. How then can technical speakers make people feel they got the point and that their time was well spent? Here are some suggestions for those of you that present technical information.
Think Before You Speak
The uncomfortable truth is that everyone is biased. Stereotypes about groups of people are ubiquitous. Some of these preconceived ideas or feelings operate at a level below consciousness, and these are called implicit or unconscious biases. They are not limited to...
Are You Inadvertently Killing Your Career?
Everyone wants to succeed, to move up the ladder. To ensure success, we strive to attain advanced degrees and multiple certifications. What we don’t think about is how little missteps can sabotage a promising career and ruin one’s reputation to boot. While these...
Failing Can be a Good Thing
Perhaps, there has been something in your work life that you have failed to do successfully. Maybe a project you directed lost money due to poor planning. Maybe you have lost a job because you failed to bring a problem to the attention of your boss. It’s easy for us...
Five Ways to Turbo Charge Your Career
Have you reached a point where you have felt your career is stagnating? There are some ways to move the needle, but they may involve moving you away from your comfort zone. Here are five solid suggestions. Speak Up A lot of people, depending on their position on the...
Handling the Boss from Hell
Bosses are all different. Some are very even-tempered. Nothing seems to throw them. Others lash out, are demeaning and downright hard to bear. If you are one of those people searching for ways to work with a boss from hell, here are some suggestions. First, examine if...
What Inspirational Leaders Do That You Can Do
Are you a leader who inspires, who can move people to action? An IBM survey of 1,700 CEO’s in 64 countries reveals that one of the most important leadership traits is the ability to inspire. So the question is, “What do inspirational leaders do that you should start...
Tips from the Experts on How to Open
The hardest part of any presentation is the opening. Obviously, gaining people’s attention is critical. If you don’t captivate them as you begin, it’s not likely you will get them to listen as you move forward. Plus, seeing people looking at their phones, instead being fully engaged, is highly discombobulating. Here are four surefire suggestions on winning from the start.
Are You Prepared?
The number one reason that presentations fail is a lack of preparation. Whether you are giving an update, making a proposal, suggesting a solution or speaking at a conference, it is critical that you do your homework and understand your listeners and what you want to accomplish. It is not okay to say you were too busy. Think of the time and effort it costs you trying to fix a bad engagement. So what should you consider?
What to Remember When Selling Costly Products
Traditional selling strategies do not work as the cost of the product increases. Large tag items, particularly those in the high technology industries, demand a different approach. Length of Selling Cycle Whereas a low-cost sale can be completed in one call, a major...
When Problems Arise with Virtual Teams
With companies spread around the world, virtual teams are now the norm. Obviously, everyone would like these teams to run smoothly and utilize the strengths of their diversity. However, often a group in one location is used to doing things in a particular way, while a...
Trust Isn’t a Given So How Do You Get It
Trust is vital in any lasting business relationship. In fact, the level of trust you establish determines how successful you will be in selling a product or proposing a solution. If the level of trust is strong, managers will feel you are the right person for the...
How to Think on Your Feet
There are times we make extremely important presentations. Perhaps, it is to an unhappy customer to retain the business, or maybe it is to our own management team about a controversial project. When nervous, we tend to freeze. It seems like we can’t think or breathe....
Making Updates Award Winning
Have you ever rolled your eyes at the thought of making another quarterly business review? They take a lot of time to adequately prepare, time you may not have due to other pressing deadlines. Although annoying, these business reviews are essential to providing Executives with information necessary to make critical business decisions. If you want to give an applause-worthy update, here’s how to do just that.
How to Be Unique and Irreplaceable in the Buyer’s Eyes?
“If you want to stand out, don’t be different; be outstanding” —Meredith West, designer Imagine that a potential buyer needs a particular solution, maybe in healthcare or one in Security. However, when the customer does his research, he finds that all the solutions...
The Trick to Making a Winning Presentation
When that great opportunity finally comes along to make a presentation to a potential dream client, you want to be successful with a winning presentation. The question many of us have is “What is the trick?” As simplistic as it sounds, the key is in adding value. The...
Is Unconscious Bias Affecting Your Communication?
Bias — the uncomfortable truth is that everyone biased. Stereotypes about groups of people are ubiquitous. Some of these preconceived ideas or feelings operate at a level below consciousness, and these are called implicit or unconscious biases. They are not limited to...
Has Your Credibility Banana Turned Brown?
Credibility is everything in the influence game. As a salesperson or someone who supports sales, you build your reputation and you have success based on your credibility. It may take a long time to build credibility, but it can be lost in a nano-second if one isn’t careful. There are seven ways you jeopardize being seen as someone who is trustworthy, credible.
Influence Shouldn’t Be a Crapshoot!
As a child, many of us crossed our fingers in the hopes that we could persuade our mothers to allow us to do something, maybe go to a movie, stay up late or come in after curfew. As business people, we can’t afford to go into that all-important meeting “hoping” our...
Reasons Why Top Corporations Benefit from Outsourcing
Outsourcing is the latest trend in the corporate world these days. As businesses become conscious of quality and costs, more companies are turning to hiring remote workers from global destinations to outsource their process. In fact, 35% of U.S. employees work as...
For Women to Swim with the Sharks
It shouldn’t be this way, but in many organizations women are not seen as key players. Study after study shows that women with the same credentials do not get promoted as quickly, nor are they remunerated in the same manner. So the question is what can women do to insure that they be taken seriously. The answer may lie in how they present themselves and in the way they communicate.
Five Mistakes Sales People Routinely Make
It’s the end of the year. If you’re a salesperson, it’s a good time to reflect on how well you did in 2017. Did you make your quota? Could you have done better? While you can’t win them all, perhaps, it’s important to consider whether you made any missteps that cost you big opportunities. There are five mistakes that our organization routinely notices.
How to Keep the Multitasking Listener Attentive
The pros know you can’t bore people into listening to you or buying from you. You have to gain and hold people’s attention with an assortment of approaches. The pros use stories, examples, analogies, references, quotes, visuals, facts and statistics throughout their presentation to insure that people remember key ideas.
There Ought to Be a Law: Communication Competencies
For years, scholars have written about communication skills being the key to your business success. Almost every job lists strong communication skills as a requirement, but exactly what does that mean in the whole scheme of things. Companies need to develop competencies that define what skills are needed so that business professionals can work at acquiring them. We have developed a basic list and encourage you and your organization to add to it.
Tips from the Top — What One CEO Practices
What do people remember? As a coach, you hope people embrace your suggestions and remember the issues they found challenging after the engagement ends. Periodically, I like to touch base with these business leaders as a double check. I had the pleasure of reconnecting with the CEO of large international company last week after not seeing him for a few years. From the start of our coaching, this executive was very open and willing to try the tools and tips being suggested, even though they were out of his comfort zone. His goal was to be known as a strong, engaging leader with excellent communication skills. He excelled because he practiced a lot and kept the endgame in mind. Every time he got up in front of an audience in his role as CEO, he consciously practiced one or two things. I asked him what he remembers from our work together when he speaks to people, whether one to one or one to 1001. I am sharing his top five because I think they are relevant to all of us.
What do people remember? As a coach, you hope people embrace your suggestions and remember the issues they found challenging after the engagement ends. Periodically, I like to touch base with these business leaders as a double check. I had the pleasure of reconnecting with the CEO of large international company last week after not seeing him for a few years. From the start of our coaching, this executive was very open and willing to try the tools and tips being suggested, even though they were out of his comfort zone. His goal was to be known as a strong, engaging leader with excellent communication skills. He excelled because he practiced a lot and kept the endgame in mind. Every time he got up in front of an audience in his role as CEO, he consciously practiced one or two things. I asked him what he remembers from our work together when he speaks to people, whether one to one or one to 1001. I am sharing his top five because I think they are relevant to all of us.
What Do You Do If You Speak Too Fast
Do you speak too fast? Does everyone tell you to slow down? Do you also have a lot of “filler” or “crutch” words? Inevitably, if you speak quickly, there will be lots of “ums, ahs and you knows.” If this is you, don’t ignore this issue. It is not okay to speak quickly. Listeners want to digest what you say, formulate their questions and maybe even take notes. It is important to speak at a rate people find comfortable.
Managing the Jitters
Presenting your ideas to the boss is a double edged sword. On the one hand, it’s an opportunity to show the boss you know your stuff and you are someone with real potential. On the other hand, if you don’t do a good job or your boss is disappointed with your message, you may forever be sitting on the sidelines. The anticipation of speaking to an executive might make anyone anxious and unable to perform at their best. It is essential that you harness those nervous jitters
How to Standout on the Job
Ensuring that you are conveying these things to your boss takes diligence and staying focused on some simple principles. In fact, they are rules to live by if you want to stand out and be taken seriously. If you overlook them, your boss may overlook you.
What the Boss Wants You to Know about Asking for That Raise
Wouldn’t it be nice if your boss called you into his/her office and offered you a lovely raise? If only, right! The reality in today’s unsettled business environment is raises aren’t automatic. So what should you do? What are your options? You can keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best. You can look for a job elsewhere or you can speak up and do what the boss says and ask. Here is what the bosses we have coached recommend.
Don’t Get Stuck on the Opening
Where most people get hung up is the opening. However, that’s actually the most important part of a conversation. If those first few minutes aren’t rock solid, it is unlikely the audience will listen all the way to the end. People make instantaneous decisions about whether they like or need what you have to say so you need to make it relevant right from the start. A good way to open any presentation is to answer the questions people typically have.
Rarely Make Presentations? It’s No Excuse!
Don’t think because you rarely make formal presentations, your boss or your peers will forgive you for doing a poor or mediocre job. They won’t! Their expectation is that if you asked them to listen, you will make it worthwhile. Their time is too valuable to be bored or to try to make sense out of something that seems disjointed. Although you may think it is impossible to master the art of presenting with limited opportunities, here are some simple suggestions that will help you succeed.
Do You Care Enough
“I was busy” is an excuse many of us use when we don’t do our best. When you carelessly prepare or deliver ideas, your listeners may end up confused, and consequently, your organization may miss opportunities or leave money on the table. You may also jeopardize your brand and future promotions. A bad impression is difficult to erase. Consider the following and ask yourself, “Do you care enough? Are you doing your best? Do you need to change anything?
Tips for Creating Powerful Messages
Regardless of our job, most of us have updates or presentations to give. This can take a big chunk out of our work week. Obviously, we want these presentations to “knock the socks” off our listeners. While that’s the goal, most business professionals spend 22 hours a week building presentations that are not effective and do not connect with their listeners. Shocking isn’t it! Experts say we insure our success if we follow these suggestions.
Deconstructing What Charismatic Speakers Do
A lot of speakers wish they could be seen as charismatic. Martin Luther King, John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Steve Jobs come to mind as people who were magnetic speakers. When they spoke, people listened and remembered. Obviously, no one is born charismatic, but how do you go from being just “ok” to being charismatic. Let’s deconstruct what those compelling speakers do routinely, and perhaps, you can follow their path.
What’s the End Game?
Every major corporation with a global presence relies on virtual teams to launch products quickly and gain a competitive edge. For any one launch, many teams are often involved. For example, a typical launch team may include marketing, sales, engineering, packaging, manufacturing, etc. Each of those groups may have their own teams working fast and furiously to complete their pieces. It is easy for the sub-teams to lose sight of how their work fits into the big picture since they may have different goals and objectives. When the end game is different for each functional team, collaboration suffers.
How to Make It Stick
We speak to be understood, yet as Robert Greenleaf once said, “Many attempts to communicate are nullified by saying too much.” When asked about information overload in the House of Congress, Representative John Brockmann responded: “Most houseplants in the U.S. are...
Listen like your job depends on it because it just might!
Listening is the number one skill for success in business today. Poor listening skills make people angry and make them feel you don’t value them. They affect all relationships, especially business relationships. Most people think they are good listeners. In reality,...
Making Collaboration between Virtual Teams Succeed
Most mid-size and large corporations not only have a global presence, but now rely on virtual teams to help them accomplish mission critical objectives. It is not uncommon for people in Raleigh to work with team members in Toronto, Mexico City, Shanghai and Bangalore. While on the surface, these teams work, collaboration could and should be a lot better. How? A critical ingredient to any team’s success is strong relationships.
Speaking to Direct Reports Requires Forethought
So often when leaders speak downwardly to their direct reports, they don’t think about it. They just do it without much thought. To the person on the other side of the table or on the other side of the line, the meeting is important. Speaking to one’s direct reports requires thinking ahead. When executives shoot from the hip, they may seem attacking and downright insensitive. The behaviors modeled are anything but exemplary. This article includes important tips.
Who Needs Executive Presence? You Do!
Your boss tells you that you need to work on Executive Presence. However, you are swamped, doing the job of three people and attending one meeting after another. In theory, you agree that it would be great to develop Executive Presence, but yet, you don’t really know what you should be doing differently. Additionally, you don’t have time to address this now. You will tackle this when and if you ever have some “downtime.” Does any of this sound familiar?
What Executives Wish You Would Do When Using PowerPoint
Executives tolerate slide shows. No Executive goes into a meeting hoping that you will open your laptop and begin showing slides. They prefer to have a conversation around an issue and utilize slides only when it is necessary to aid comprehension. In querying Decisions Makers, here are some tips.
Key Lessons for Success with a Remote Workforce
Thirty to fifty percent of our labor force works remotely today. That’s an increase of about 300 percent in the past twenty years. With a remote workforce, companies feel they can attract smarter people, increase productivity and reduce their carbon footprint. What we...
The Top Three Complaints about Managers
Does this sound like your life as a manager? If it does, be cautious of making the work take precedence over your people skills. Subordinates will notice. In fact, they look to their managers as role models. When you don’t emulate the behaviors they think are critical, they complain and do it loudly. Here are the top three communication complaints our organization hears regularly.
See Yourself as Tour Guide of Your Ideas
I just returned from a month long tour of the Asian Pacific rim, visiting Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. In each country, I had a different tour guide. What struck me as impressive were their extraordinary communication skills. It occurs to me that we need to function as tour guides of our messages to ensure our ideas are heard. Here are the things I noticed our great tour guides did that are worth immolating.
The Five Things Intentional Listeners Must Master
If you think you are a good listener, think again. Study after study confirms that most people listen effectively only 25% of the time. Instead of listening, they are focused on responding. What is often overlooked is that there are three levels of listening. At the...
Trust Is a Leader’s X Factor
Trust is a leader’s X factor to accomplishing things faster, better and with fewer resources. However, trust must be earned. It cannot be taken for granted. A lot of leaders give lip service to wanting to build a trusting environment, but yet they do very little to actually promote it. Establishing a culture of trust takes a top down initiative.
Why Your Career May Stagnate
Don’t think because you have an MBA or Advanced Certifications that you will automatically rise in an organization. We all know people who move up quickly without the credentials you have. When someone fails to move up, we notice the following problems. Small...
How to Win People’s Cooperation: The Art of Influencing Others
Regardless of your role in an organization, you need to persuade others to your point of view. Being able to influencing others is a critical skill for any business professional. In fact, some say leadership means influence. The good news is that this is a skill that can be learned. It requires paying attention to seven all important principles
What’s Your Intention?
Communication ranges from building a relationship or gaining consensus to controlling an outcome. According to Susan Campbell, author of Saying What’s Real, almost 90% of all communication comes from the intent to control. She cautions that the more we aim to control, the more out of control we feel. When we feel unsure or fearful of the outcome, the need to control gets magnified. As a leader, it is important to recognize that we get things done faster when others feel respected and their opinions valued. As you think about your next meeting or critical conversation, consider your intent. If it is to protect the relationship, pay attention to any telltale signs that you are moving in the wrong direction.
The Big 5: Why Executives Table an Issue
Most people get what they deserve! If they do a good job of presenting their idea, they get what they deserve. If they do a poor job, they also get what they deserve. This is what one COO I have coached said. My question to you is did you get what you felt you deserved when you left a meeting with a senior leader. If not, perhaps you were doomed because of the Big Five, the top five reasons Executives say “No” or table an issue.
Check Your Brand
I always buy the same toothpaste, yogurt and mayonnaise because I like the brand. Maybe you also have favorite brands. My friend is on her third Honda. My husband only drinks Miller Lite. People are loyal to particular brands because of things like their effectiveness, taste, price point and durability. According to Wikipedia, a brand is a name, term, design, or other feature that differentiates one seller’s product from those of others. What distinguishes YOU from other colleagues is your brand. Obviously, you want to present yourself in the best light, but there are some things that chip away at your brand. Protecting your brand means requires constant monitoring. The points listed below will strengthen and ensure brand loyalty.
Is Anybody Really Listening Out There?
How many times have you wondered if anybody was really listening or cared about what you were saying when giving a presentation? Obviously, the goal is to be heard by your listeners, yet, are there ways you can be sure? Yes and here is how and what the experts do!
How to Get C Level Executives Interested
When making a proposal to C level Executives, those CEO’s, CIO’s, CTO’s or CFO’s, it is necessary to remember their focus is on solving problems and making the company successful. They are not interested in how an issue was resolved, but that it is no longer a...
Turn Tough Questions into Opportunities
Sales have been lost, projects stalled and promotions given to someone else all because of the way questions were answered. Your ability to handle tough questions is critical. Since questions can make or break you, consider the following suggestions. They will help...
- Acknowledging the Inside Scoop
When a customer, whether internal or external, has an issue, the good listener acknowledges it. By empathizing, the person feels you understand him and becomes more receptive to hearing what you have to say. He or she becomes less hostile. You build rapport. Do not worry that this will lengthen the call. It will actually […]
- What’s Your Objective?
Just as competitive athletes visualize the outcome of their performance before the game begins, it makes a lot of sense for you to do the same thing. Never go into a meeting with only a vague idea of what you want to accomplish. Know ahead what you want people to think or do differently after your meeting. Being unfocused wastes time and leads to disappointing results. With clarity about your objective, you can align your goals and discussion points with what is important to them.
- Learn the Secrets of the Pros
The key thing to adding value is know your audience and to show the link between your solution and the needs of the individuals. Listeners don’t like to work at understanding, and they don’t like to feel their issues were unnoticed. The more clearly you show value right from the get-go by reiterating known and unknown issues and by providing examples and stories to prove that your product or service solves these problems, the more likely you are to being successful.
- Rarely Make Presentations? It’s No Excuse!
Don’t think because you rarely make formal presentations, your boss or your peers will forgive you for doing a poor or mediocre job. They won’t! Their expectation is that if you asked them to listen, you will make it worthwhile. Their time is too valuable to be bored or to try to make sense out of something that seems disjointed. Although you may think it is impossible to master the art of presenting with limited opportunities, here are some simple suggestions that will help you succeed.
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