Colin Powell, former United States Secretary of State, lists 15 lessons on handling the media (on pages 132-133 of his book, It worked for me). He shared these Lessons with a person named Cal, whom he was mentoring, in the following manner:
“Cal, with respect to the press:
1. They get to pick the questions. You get to the pick the answers Read more…
Recently a client told me, “All of my days are about influencing other people, often when I don’t have any authority over a person . . . got any ideas to help me with this?” Read more…
“Lunch with the CEO works because employees invited to a discussion with the CEO over lunch are being rewarded in much the same way as an “employee of the month” designation, but in a much more meaningful way.” Read more…
Recently, I was re-reading my professional thoughts journal from 2003 and found an entry entitled ‘Two questions to ask yourself before a meeting’. These ideas came from David Maister’s book, The Trusted Advisor. Read more…
. . . . and strengthen your argument’. Lebanese Proverb.
Tomorrow, 16 April 2013, is World Voice Day*. World Voice Day is a worldwide celebration of the phenomenon of voice. In addition to the opening quotation, below are my other favourite quotations about the voice. Read more…
“Small wins do not combine in neat, linear, serial form, with each step being a demonstrable step closer to some predetermined goal . . . more common is the circumstance where small wins are scattered . . . like miniature experiments Read more…
When you have a short slice of face to face time with a senior executive to tap their wisdom consider what questions you would ask them? Last week I shared how to pitch a 20 minute meeting. When you get a meeting (my hit rate for getting a meeting with last week’s pitch is between 15-20%) below are steps and questions you can ask in the meeting. Read more…
Recently an executive I was coaching in planning and delivering sales presentations wanted to know how to increase his contact with senior executives in other divisions of his organization.
I gave him the below template for an email pitch for the meeting. Read more…
“Few things seem to get CEOs riled up more than lengthy PowerPoint presentations. It’s not the software they dislike: that’s just a tool. What irks them is the unfocused thinking that leads to an overlong slide presentations. There is wide agreement it’s a problem: “death by PowerPoint” has become a cliché.” Read more…
Recently I asked members of my Mastermind Group* to respond to the following question: “How do I fool myself by holding a perception that is lesser or greater than reality?” Read more…
“Words use by corporate heavies or upper management ‘Suits’ to confuse, convince, intimidate, or otherwise baffle an office drone or associate into compliance.” This is the opening sentence defining the term ‘Suit Speak’ from an entry in the Urban Dictionary. The entire definition can be accessed through the following link: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Suit%20Speak. Read more…
Kevin Rudd has been fending off leadership questions this week as he increases his public exposure, such as on the Sunrise programme and in extended interviews with Sky News. My read of Rudd’s presentation is this: ‘It’s still, all about me’. Read more…
“The ones (CEOs) I’m most impressed with do not seem packaged. But they have this sense of peace, this self-awareness, that says, “I understand who I am”. James P. Hackett. Read more…
“There is no expedient to which a man will not resort, to avoid the real labour of thinking.” Sir Joshua Reynolds. Reynold’s quotation underpins why I regularly suggest that you reflect (ie. take time to think) in the ‘How to apply’ section of many of my posts.
Albert Schweitzer echos Reynold’s sentiments with an answer to a question posed to him in 1952. He was asked: “What’s wrong with men today?” he replied: “Men simply don’t think”.
The ‘how to apply’ for this post: Aim in 2013 to regularly take time to reflect and think on the important matters in your business life. Schedule time in your Outlook calendar (eg. send an Invitation to yourself) to reflect and think on a specific matter. Even just 20 minutes of concentrated thinking/reflecting can be valuable.
Craig Thomson was again the victim in his press conference yesterday with his, “I have done no wrong-doing” comment (Below is a link to a Daily Telegraph, Honestly believing that he is a victim article with my body language and speech analysis of Thomson’s May 2012 Federal Parliament address.) Also below is yesterday’s press conference clip. Read more…
