A warm smile is the universal language of kindness. – William Arthur Ward An entry in Reader’s Digest relates the story of an individual calling for information about one of his credit cards. He stated, “I got the following prompt: ’Please enter your account number as it appears on your statement.’ Then the system said,…
DetailsThat’s it! If it’s that simple, why aren’t more people successful in sales? Once again, the answer is relatively simple: They either don’t fully understand or know how to apply the basic fundamentals. So, just what are these mystical basic fundamentals of selling that seem to elude so many people? Well, before we explore some…
DetailsLet me start by saying that I am not an extrovert, and yet I’ve built my career on networking. It’s opened doors for me, given me critical advice, and when I became an entrepreneur, developed millions of dollars in business for my company. There’s a common assumption that to be a good networker you need…
DetailsAlways render more and better service than is expected of you, no matter what your task may be.” – Og Mandino In the book, “It’s Not About the Coffee”, Howard Behar, the former president of Starbucks International, relates an observation during a store visit. A customer approached a barista and explained that he didn’t like…
DetailsOften the individuals that we professionals work with, report a previous experience with an online assessment that gave a different 4-letter Type code. Much like free medical advice, the results can be harmful for similar reasons. Getting information, typological or medical, is an interesting personal exercise. The simple process of learning something about ourselves and…
DetailsBoston Consulting Group, in conjunction with an association of people management associations worldwide, completed a comprehensive on-line + live interviews study on how they are approaching strategic human capital development for the next decade. It’s called “Creating People Advantage 2010” and worth downloading if you are concerned with the strategic element of human resources in…
DetailsIt’s been an interesting week in the world of NFL free agency. Peyton Manning was excused by his former employer prompting a recruiting frenzy for one of the industry’s top professionals. In the attempt to court this top performer to their organization the San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos were forced to look at…
DetailsI have written before about the “First Five Percent.” That’s my approach to strategic change management that says the quality of the first five percent determines what happens in the rest of the process. I was in Los Angeles last week, working with a large association, on a strategic plan for their organization. It was…
DetailsBy John H. Zenger & Joseph Folkman McGraw Hill, 2002 ISBN #0-07-138747-1 Reviewed by Ian Cook “Good leaders…neither they nor their leaders appear to recognize the substantial contribution they could make by moving from being merely good to great”
DetailsA few weeks back Greg Smith published his letter of resignation from Goldman Sachs in the New York Times. There were those who applauded Mr. Smith’s call for human dignity in a professional world turned shark tank. Most of the reaction I encountered, however, spoke of sour grapes. Mr. Smith’s detractors cast him away as…
DetailsBy James M. Citrin Rodale, 2007 ISBN #978-1-59486-358-5 Reviewed by Ian Cook Ground-breaking tennis great Billie Jean King won 20 Wimbledon titles, 13 US Opens, the French and Australian Opens, and was ranked the world’s No. 1 woman tennis player seven times. She went on to do pioneering work on Title IX legislation for women’s…
DetailsIf you haven’t noticed, I have a thing for dominos. And it makes perfect sense when you look at my passion. You see, when it comes to perfecting your connecting, it’s all about the domino effect. The domino effect refers to a small change that will cause a similar change nearby, which then will cause…
Details“Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now.” – Denis Waitley I read with interest not long ago how a person on railroad tracks hears a train approaching, looks behind him, sees the train and then freezes…
DetailsWhy do we use social media, be it personally or professionaly? To be heard. This was my takeaway from the recent Edison Research survey, which indicated that 25% of Facebook users visit the network five times or more a day. And when they visit, they pay more attention to interactions with their posts than the…
DetailsThe winds of change are impacting the sales profession. These changes are being brought about, for the most part, by the changes that are occurring in the buying arena. Unlike selling which is a full-contact sport, buying has moved to being a non-contact sport for many things. The Internet and other media have replaced the…
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