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The Power of Framing
Frames are a powerful tool that allow you to define how a situation, event or occurrence can be viewed. If you set the frame, you control the conversation; if you control the conversation, you can control the relationship; and if you control the relationship, you control the business opportunity. A frame works in the same way as the frame around a picture. A good picture frame draws you into the picture so you can focus on it, and enhances the
The Power of Three
When we work with others such as employees or customers we often use a binary approach – yes or no, A or B, take it or leave it, ‘my way or the highway ‘. I am sure you can think of many other examples. But is this the best approach to use if you want to engage and persuade other people? Let’s look at the power of three. The brain finds it relatively easy to grasp threes. As a child,
Addressing a Lack of Trust
Often a lack of trust, within teams or the business overall, is not always well addressed. Creating trust creates "dividends" for the business, and a lack of trust creates "taxes" for the business. When you encounter a situation where there is a lack of trust, how can you deal with it? There are four ways you can do so including: Frame it in economic terms - the issues of trust, or rather the lack of it, needs to be framed in
Trust “Taxes”, the Costs of a Lack of Trust
Trust taxes are costs that you incur when there is little or no trust. When trust goes down, speed also goes down and cost goes up. This is a “tax” – and this tax can double the cost of doing business. There are 7 types of “trust taxes”: Redundancy & duplication with smaller spans of control – if there is less trust, then you will find that tighter control develops over smaller areas, and that there is unnecessary duplication of resources to
Your Circle of Concern and Circle of Influence
You have limited time, resources and energy to expend on getting work done, projects completed and achieving the results you are looking for. As such you need to be able to use these limited and finite resources effectively. To do this you need to be able to distinguish between what lies within your Circle of Concern and your Circle of Influence as shown in the picture below: The Circle of Concern – this larger circle encompasses everything that you are concerned
Take a Breath
When you get stressed you need to be able to take a moment out to gather your thoughts and regroup. A good sign that you need to do this is when you find that your mind is busy “chattering”. You are often physically, mentally and emotionally overloaded. You need to have a break but you may lack the time before your next meeting or appointment. A good way to do this is through controlled breathing. The old advice of “take
Reduce the Fear
People often experience fear and concern over what is happening or not happening as they perceive it. As a leader, how do you manage fear? A good piece of advice from Olivia Blanchard chief economist of the IMF was: “first and foremost, reduce uncertainty….Above all, adopt clear policies and act decisively”. When people have a clear mission then they can transform anxiety into action and productivity. People need the opportunity, a warning as it were, so they can put themselves
Are You in Control?
There is a simple, but useful tool that helps you to understand how people respond to situations, and to anticipate their likely behaviour. It can also help you identify those who are likely to be winners and losers. This tool is called the Locus of Control. Everyone wants to know what separates winners from losers. One of the significant factors limiting the attainment of your vision is the degree to which you believe you are in control of your destiny.
How Starbucks Helped Its Employees and Customers Through the Recent Sharemarket Chaos
Millions of people and businesses have been impacted, directly or indirectly, by the recent stockmarket drops in China and elsewhere. It is a cause of concern with over $1 trillion being wiped from Asian markets recently, the Dow Jones Industrial Average being sent plunging, as well as in other markets. Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz decided to do something about it. He proceeded to address some major concerns - not directly to customers, but rather, to his employees (these are known as