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…
“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…
“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…
At a recent sales presentation workshop I coached a participant to use a paperclip to help her make a firm, hand gesture, in order to support her spoken messages. 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…
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…
As you may know Stephen Covey passed on this year. Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (The Business Library 1990) made a big impact on me when it was first released. Particularly at this time the Seventh Habit in the book – Sharpen the Saw – is relevant in my business. It might be relevant in your business/work too. Read more…
“You start by sketching, then you do a drawing, then you make a model, and then you go to reality – you go to the site – and then you go back to drawing . . .you do it . . . you redo it . . . you redo it again.” (Architect, Renzo Piano describing his working procedure, as quoted on p. 40 of The Craftsman, by Richard Sennett, Allen Lane 2008). Read more…
1. Allow the customer to speak 70% (or more) of the total interaction time. To begin using this technique, at the end of an upcoming sales interaction, rate your listening versus speaking percentage. For example, 40% listening/60% speaking. Read more…
