Your People Need This From You

This needs to happen more often.  

Recently, Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau made the news. At a press conference a reporter asked him about his thoughts on our President's call for military action against protesters.  For 21 seconds, he stood there silent....thinking....about his response.  

In 2001, when President George Bush was reading to a class of 2nd graders and his chief of staff interrupted him and whispered into his ear "a second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack"....the president sat there for 7 minutes...silent...thinking...about his response.  

Now, you may or may not think that 7 minutes or even 21 seconds is too long to pause, but it raises an important discussion about thinking before we speak. 

As leaders, it is harmful to those around us when we react, instead of respond.  Damage is caused when we speak or make choices that are hasty or impulsive or emotionally driven.  

Leadership requires discernment. Time and thought are required for discernment.  Leaders come across urgent and uncomfortable situations daily.  As leaders, do you find yourself jumping to address those situations, or do you take a pause to consider the best course of action for those around you?  

I encourage all of us to practice pausing and giving ourselves the opportunity to respond wisely and in turn, protecting those around us.  

Build Rapport Like a Boss

We get it, you're very important...and your mom thinks you hang the moon.  But, one of the greatest hindrances to building rapport with other people is that we talk too much about ourselves.  

We don't even realize how much we do it.  Next time someone comes to you to talk about an experience they've had, check your response.  Was it something like, "me too!” or “I had that happen once” or “I think you should..." 

Whoa - that's a lot about you.  Next time you have a networking opportunity and someone asks what you do, how long is your answer before you turn it around on them? If it's more than one sentence, you've gone too far. 

A good friend of ours, Brad Jones calls it the "me monster." Don't let the "me monster" get the best of you.  

Dale Carnegie, the King of Human Relations tells the story of one night when he was at a dinner party given by a New York publisher.  He sat next to a botanist who he found most intriguing.  

He couldn't stop asking him questions about exotic plants, indoor gardening and so on.  Dale didn't say one thing about himself, he only asked questions about the botanist. At the end of the evening as the botanist was leaving, he turned to the host of the party and said that Dale was "most stimulating" and “the most interesting conversationalist."  

As Dale says, to be interesting, be interested.  People just want to talk about themselves...give them the opportunity to do that and you'll have more than just your mom talking about how special you are.

For more tips on how to build professional relationships, head over to the Business Lab podcast with Laine Schmidt and check out episode 22 with Travis Chappell. 

Scientific Way to Get More Sales

You are being brainwashed. Not really, but advertising agencies everywhere are manipulating your psyche. 

That soda can in your favorite movie, the Christmas song playing over the loudspeaker in the mall, the very calculated posts you see from your favorite instagrammer....they are all occurring for a very specific reason. 

It's called the Mere Exposure Effect. It's used by the CIA and FBI when recruiting new agents, it's used to market products and services and it's even inadvertently affecting decisions such as which college you attend, or which stocks are traded.  

The Mere Exposure Effect is a psychological phenomenon by which people tend to develop a preference for things merely because they are familiar with them. 

We are all wired to like that which is familiar. Gustav Fetchner began his research on this in the 1870s and documented what he called the “glow of warmth effect”....that feeling we experience when in the presence of something familiar. 

If you want people to have positive feelings toward your brand, or be more likely to buy what you are offering, make it a point to be in front of them more frequently, and then let science do the rest.  

How can your company get creative with this approach?  To workshop some ideas and put a plan in place, send us a message today. 

Get More Buy-In

In my previous life, I was a History teacher.  I had one student named Gavin.  Gavin was a turd. Every teacher struggled with how to motivate him.  One day I was sitting with his mom and I said "tell me, what makes Gavin tick?" She said "praise him in front of others and you'll own him."  

The next day, he walked into class and I asked him to help me rearrange some desks.  As soon as everyone was seated I said, "I want to thank Gavin... he really showed leadership today and stepped up. What a rockstar! We are able to do this fun activity today, because he got it ready."  

From them on, Gavin was my best friend...had A's in my class, always asked how he could help.  It was one of those pivotal moments in life when I realized, you have to ask the expert.

It's no different in sales and leadership. I work every single day with sales professionals  and leaders who are stressed and I'll ask them, "what makes your buyer, or what makes your team member tick?" 

Knowing what motivates people is the most powerful way to inspire them.  We have to inspire based on their desires, not just our own.  

Learn the desires of your people and you'll have a better chance of getting the buy in that you need.