In a recent training on Creating Customer Intimacy, I tabled the idea that all the communication tactics in the world would never enhance your ability to have customer intimacy. Most of us live in a world where we think we have no customers. But as long as you have to work with at least one human being in the world, that person is considered a ‘customer’. It could be a team member, your family, a boss, a friend. At the end of it all, we have to be very clear that in order for customers to want us, we need to make a special change to the way we do things.
Personal Development: Empowerment For Inner Transformation
I just completed delivering a training program on transformational leadership, my usual training set and came away with a few reflections myself. The first question I had to ask myself was: will people be able to grasp the concept of “transformation”.
Personal Development: High Expectations vs Perfectionism
I was recently texting a friend and she told me that she wanted lots of things, and wanted them all to be perfect. I guess that’s the first thing I want to talk about today, followed by the idea regarding our expectations.
In many instances, it is a little difficult to put a finger on perfectionism. Not everyone can say it’s a good thing, but we all know for sure that it can’t be a bad thing in most cases. When it comes to making things happen, though perfectionism has a few drawbacks.
Executive Coaching and Leadership: The Craftsman
In my lifetime, I’ve walked around different night markets and handicraft stores to see very intricate items that are on sale. Surprisingly, things like these items are not very expensive. I believe that the reason why they were created were not because they want to be wealthy, but simply because they had a passion for doing the craft. And for people like this, the craft comes naturally. They are makers and creators.
One of the Five Tasks of Leadership is to be a maker and creator. Here are some of the things you have to create:
Executive Coaching and Leadership: Maximizing Performance And Profit
I have met lots of great leaders in business. But it really isn’t just about the skills they hunt for in their HR strategy that makes then great. As far as I can tell, they know how to maximize their profits. This isn’t so hard you might think. Of course it will be easy to look at the way they do it and assume it was an overnight thing. However, to be able to do this requires more than just common sense. It takes clarity of thought and persistence of direction.
Leadership Skills: Being a competent leader
So I’ve been training leadership programs for the last few years and looked at my participants. Firstly, not all of them are leader material to begin with. Why do we develop them? Secondly, not all of them need leadership because they already have it. I’ve also been working with, as some of you might know, the Army in various capacities. What strikes me is that the motivated workforce in a reservist camp carries much different energy than leadership in an average MNC. I believe it is all about leadership competence.
Here’s what I’ve discovered in leadership competency development.
Career Development: Understanding Difficult People
You’re in the workplace and you encounter a really nasty person.
Wow! What did you do to deserve such a person, you think! Almost immediately, you might have vindictive thoughts or possibly think of a therapist (such as me haha) to refer him or her to for anger management therapy!
Actually, wouldn’t you be jumping the gun if you did that? You won’t know what’s happening in the mind of the other person, and maybe what’s worse is that you don’t really care. Perhaps, when you want to learn to deal with difficult people, you need to first understand them first. That would be, in my mind, the best first step.
Career Development: The Psychology Of Leadership 3
I’m not sure if you’ve heard about rapport building. In the context of NLP, rapport building is a great way to initiate and maintain positive interaction with others. Which brings me to the point on why leaders need to understand it in the first place.
photo credit: DaveBleasdale
Problem #3: Inability to read other people’s intent
Have you ever had a time where you wish someone could see your point? Where they seem defensive and speak as though you intended to offend them? Well, welcome to the inner world of individual differences. Everyone has a different mental model.
Career Development: The Psychology Of Leadership 2
Here I continue from by previous post on the psychology of leadership. We delved into Problem #1 – The inability to listen.
Another major issue we have to explore in leadership is the ability for a person in power to be a people person.
Problem #2 – Not Being a People Person.
It doesn’t surprise me that a lot of leadership really is about building interpersonal skills and communication capabilities. Nor should it surprise you. Yet, most people think good leaders are those who are articulate.
Career Development: The Psychology Of Leadership
Leadership development is one of the most important skills a working individual should build on if they intend to improve their standing in the working world. I believe that leadership is really the ability to convince and win people over.
photo credit: The U.S. Army
I was in my reservist training recently and a senior commander commented that once he went into the higher echelons of leadership, it was no longer about rank, but about the ability to persuade people, including your superiors about the merits of your plans and ideas.