Look People In The Eye

"A great attitude becomes a great mood, which becomes a great day, which becomes a great year, which becomes a great life."

NEVER FORGET you get to choose your attitude every day. Your is attitude is contagious and affects everyone around you. A poor attitude is very destructive, and in a team environment, it is very difficult to lead. Say what you mean and mean what you say and ALWAYS look people in the eye when you say it. Live, work with honesty, openness, integrity and always keep your word.

The Answer is "No"

"We would accomplish much more if we did not think of them as impossible."

There's a natural tendency to be hesitant when asked to do something outside your comfort zone. If you are asked too often, your initial response becomes "No" and if you always say "No," you will never test your limits. Testing your limits is how you grow as a person and develop into a Leader. If you want something you have never had, you have got to do something you've never done and don’t be afraid to take on the status quo.

You Control Your Own Happiness

If you wake up in the morning and dread the next 8 hours, you have a problem. When did you stop enjoying your job? Life is too short to give up 1/3 of your time hating what you do. It might even be more than a 1/3 of your time if you count how much you think about it. YOU CONTROL what you do on your own time, so make it enjoyable.

Start by never eating at your desk. You cannot enjoy lunch if you are staring at your computer or being constantly interrupted. Take you lunch and leave the office. I can not stress enough that you need to leave the office at least once during the work day. This helps clear your head and gives you a break. 

There are things that you can do to help make your job more enjoyable. Talk to your co-workers because some of them may feel the same way. If this is the case, then plan some activities over breaks or lunch that involve getting away from the office. Bring board games, start a cell phone game group, launch a book club and review a chapter each day or start a walking club. 

Remember you control you own Happiness.

Ethics vs. Job

"If it comes down to your ethics vs. a job, you can always find another job."

Never and I mean ever sacrifice your principles for the sake of your company. Your reputation is so important in today's world, and once it is compromised, you might never get it back. If you think that no one will find out you are naive, we live in a social media world.

Express Yourself Part Deux

Part 2 - Employee POV

Don’t be afraid to be bold and take on the status quo. Just because it has always been done that way does not mean it always has to be. Share your ideas and believe in them. If management ignores you and isn't listening, it might be time to move on. Nothing is more demoralizing than a company that doesn't listen because if you think you are ready for a leadership role and their not giving you an opportunity, ask why then clarify the reasons you are ready. If you do not like the answer or they beat around the bush, get out. This is a red flag that they like status quo. Never forget that Change Favors the Prepared Mind.

Express Yourself - Part 1

"Don’t let old confidence become the new ignorance…you don’t know what you don’t know."

Part 1 - Company POV

The most dangerous phrase in business is "We've always done it that way." If this is your model .......... It's was nice knowing you. It's time to start thinking outside the office. Today's employee is smarter and more educated, so use this to your advantage. You never know where the next great idea will come from and if you're not asking or listening it could walk out your door. Engage your people and encourage them to express themselves.

Show and Tell

"People don’t buy goods and services. They buy relations, stories and magic"

I'm going to take you back a few years, think all the way back to grade 3, what was your favorite subject? Was it math, reading, spelling or show and tell? Did you like reading an essay in front of the class or telling them about your favorite teddy bear. I loved Show and Tell. Fast forward to today, what do you think is a more effective way of selling? Reading points off a 30 minute PowerPoint presentation or finding out what their story is and showing them what they need. Telling stories is the most powerful tools humans have developed.

Are You a Status Quo Leader?

Don’t let fear stop you from being the Leader that challenges the status quo. The most dangerous phrase in business is “We’ve always done it this way”. Step your game up because if you don’t go after what you want; you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. Stop being afraid of what can go wrong and start getting excited about what could go right.

THINK BIG and come up with new ideas. Coming up with ideas is easy, but implementing them is difficult. Once you’ve decided what ideas you’re going to act on, make sure you have the best people in the correct roles to make this possible, and LISTEN to what they have to say. Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say.

Transparency with your employees is very important because conversations are real. Say what you mean and mean what you say, and become that leader that inspires people. Taking on the status quo and engaging your employees will greatly enhance your company’s Culture. When people are happy the company will be more successful.

Listen = Learning

"Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say"

I see so many people act like jackasses once they're promoted into a position of authority. There are too many leaders out there today that act like dictators, it's their way or the highway. Don't get me wrong, this is needed in certain situations, but not many. If you're always telling people what to do, how will you know what they want or need? When your employee is talking, are you listening or just waiting to make your next point? If this is the case, how are you going to help them succeed or get promoted? If they do get promoted what kind of role model are you? Listen once in awhile, you might be shocked what you learn.

Are You Still Standing?

"If you don’t go after what you want; you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place"

How many of you set goals? Do you write them down or tell anyone? If you don't, you should. Having something to strive for is an effective driving force. The goal doesn't have to be huge, just a little one that not difficult to achieve. Everyone needs a little push forward once in awhile and having someone to talk to about achieving your goals only helps. Sharing your experiences with a mentor gives you feedback you might never expect. Listen to this feedback and use it to move improve yourself.

What's Your Great Idea

"If you have a idea, you have to believe it yourself of no one else will"

How many times did you have a idea and didn'f share it? Not sharing an idea with your team, boss or someone who can help you make it happen is a huge mistake. The idea is a starting point, it only gets better with the input of others. Ideas are easy, the implementation is hard. Not many companies have one founder and even the greatest minds in history had a team to help them.

Listen To Lead

"I’ve never aspired to be a leader; I have only focused on doing things that I felt were important"

Leaders are not born, they're inspired by someone or an event. The most effective leaders think of themselves second. By listening to others you soak ideas in and focus on what important to them. It's easy to inspire others when you know what drives them because if you're not inspiring you're not leading.

How Good is Your Storytelling

People buy from People. Yes, you can buy things online but how many of you go to a store and check out what you buying before ordering it? My guess would be most of you, I do.

When it comes to business, there aren’t many clients that buy  without having you show it to them first. To be the best sales rep, put yourself in the shoes of the person you’re selling to. Don’t sell your product, solve their problems. The key to figuring out their problems is LISTENING. Do your homework before the call and ask open-ended questions? It’s amazing what you’ll learn from a client once they start talking. Take notes and don’t be afraid to ask them to repeat something, this shows you’re listening. If there’s a lull in the conversation because you are still taking notes, don’t worry about it, finish your notes because 9 times out of 10 they’ll start talking again. Most people love to hear themselves talk.

People buy from people they like, trust and respect. Trust doesn’t come from a 45-minute PowerPoint or 30-minute demo. When it’s your turn to talk, tell a story because stories are one of the most powerful technologies humans have devised. You can even go as far as saying that people don’t buy goods and services, they buy relations, stories, and magic.

The only person writing your book and telling stories is you, so make it count.

This is my last blog before Christmas, I wish everyone a safe and Merry Christmas. HAPPY HOLIDAYS

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What's Your Logo?

Your smile is your logo, your personality is your business card, how you leave others feeling after an experience with you becomes your trademark.

You get to Choose Your Attitude Every Day

"The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude"

Remember to keep your thoughts positive, for your thoughts become your words; remember to keep your words positive, for your words become your actions; remember to keep your actions positive, for your actions become your habits; and remember to keep your habits positive because your habits become your destiny.

Never Be Defeated

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is to try one more time"

You may encounter many defeats but you must never be defeated. Don't be a person that lets his fear of failing limit their activities. Failure is the opportunity to begin again. Nothing is impossible, the word itself says “I’m Possible” 

Stay Strong

"It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get back up"

This expands on my last blog Do You Believe in Second Chances. If you get a second chance, show them what your made of. The two things that will help you through this are determination and positive attitude. Believe in yourself and be strong, because you never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have. Take a step back, relax, breathe and prepare yourself for the whatever the future holds.

How Do You Strike Up a Conversation?

The introduction is a simple process, so don’t complicate it. Say your first and last name clearly and if they get it wrong, correct them. The last thing you want is them to leave the conversation not knowing who you are. After you shake their hand, what do you do? Do you panic? Do you wait for them to say something? Don’t wait for a lull, tell them who you work for, your title and give them your elevator pitch. The elevator pitch should be simple, to the point and refrain from using big words. For more tips on the Elevator pitch check out this article - www.mindtools.com/pages/article/elevator-pitch.htm

Now it’s time to get them talking. Ask them what they do and once they finish, follow up with a few simple yes or no questions. This will keep them talking and the conversation flowing. Listen intently to what they’re saying and don’t force the conversation to benefit you, there will be time for this later.

Stay away from meaningless filler like how’s the weather or did you see the game last night. Never forget that you’re trying to make an impression and nobody remembers conversations about the weather.

In conclusion say their name, what a pleasure it was to meet them shake their hand again and exchange business cards.

The most important part is the FOLLOW UP. Send them an email the next morning but never in the evening. They might value their family time or not look at emails until the morning and if that’s the case it will be way down the email train. If you had a great chinwag, send them a link to an article related to your conversation.

Do You Believe in Second Chances

"When someone does something wrong, don’t forget about all the things they did right"

Everyone makes mistakes and when you do, own it, learn from it, and make sure it never happens again. Before you rip an employee for a mistake put yourself in their shoes because it might give you a different perspective. Everyone deserves a second chance and a second chance could be exactly what they need. Believe in them.

How Do You Strike Up a Conversation?

The introduction is a simple process, so don’t complicate it. Say your first and last name clearly and if they get it wrong, correct them. The last thing you want is them to leave the conversation not knowing who you are. After you shake their hand, what do you do? Do you panic? Do you wait for them to say something? Don’t wait for a lull, tell them who you work for, your title and give them your elevator pitch. The elevator pitch should be simple, to the point and refrain from using big words. For more tips on the Elevator pitch check out this article - www.mindtools.com/pages/article/elevator-pitch.htm

Now it’s time to get them talking. Ask them what they do and once they finish, follow up with a few simple yes or no questions. This will keep them talking and the conversation flowing. Listen intently to what they’re saying and don’t force the conversation to benefit you, there will be time for this later.

Stay away from meaningless filler like how’s the weather or did you see the game last night. Never forget that you’re trying to make an impression and nobody remembers conversations about the weather.

In conclusion say their name, what a pleasure it was to meet them shake their hand again and exchange business cards.

The most important part is the FOLLOW UP. Send them an email the next morning but never in the evening. They might value their family time or not look at emails until the morning and if that’s the case it will be way down the email train. If you had a great chinwag, send them a link to an article related to your conversation.

Email v Phone

It’s the age old question should I email or call? Both are important ways to communicate and have their pros and cons.

The pros to emailing are it’s not as time consuming, you can send the same message to multiple people, document sharing, industry related updates and sharing positive wins or information. The cons to emailing are the message is not understood, they mistake the tone, they ignore the email and time wasted responding multiple times.

Email is a great tool when you already have a relationship with the person, it’s very difficult to build a relationship via email. You should always call the person if it’s the first time you’re meeting them. There are a few exceptions, for example if someone introduces you via email. Once you thank the person who introduced you, say hello and set up a phone call. If you are in the same city as the person set up a face to face meeting. Nothing builds a relationship faster than a cup of coffee. You should look at email as a platform to improve your efficiency.

The pros to the phone call are you establish a better relationship; you clearly describe what you want and the conversation ends with both parties having a clear understanding. The cons are it quickly shows if you’re not prepared, takes more time, effort and the dreaded call display sending you to voicemail.

The phone call is the most efficient way to strengthen your business relationship and improve your communication skills. The phone call also requires more prep work because you have to be ready to answer any question. Prepare the same way you would for a face to face meeting. You quickly lose creditability if you’re unprepared. The phone call is by far the best form of communication when you need a quick answer. On a side note, I consider skyping a phone call. Send a GoTo Meeting invite and talk to the person live. Make sure you know what’s on the wall behind you before the call.

People always tell me they hate it when the call goes to voicemail. I tell them that during your prep work have your voicemail message ready. Say your name, company and phone number clearly. Your message should be quick and to the point, DO NOT drag out your message. Leave a date that you’ll follow up with and tell them you’ll send an email confirming what you’d like to talk about. Sometimes people don’t pick up because they have no idea what you want. At the end repeat your name and phone number

In conclusion, ask the person how they like to communicate, they’re answer may surprise you. They might say text, snap chat or FB Messenger just to name a few. This also shows that you care about their time

No "I" in Team

"I always wondered why somebody didn’t do something about that, then I realized that I am somebody"

You never want to be the "ME" person of the team, this doesn't fly in business or life. You'll gain a lot of knowledge by listening to others and offering to help on projects. It doesn't matter what your work is, dignify it with your best thought and effort.

Lead By Example

"The first great gift we can bestow on others is a good example"

The phrase leading by example gets thrown around, but to people really follow through? If you don't you should, because if your not leading, your not inspiring anyone. Don't be a leader sitting the the top of the pyramid dictating what your employees do, be by their side listening, guiding, encouraging and inspiring them. Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say and what kind of workplace is that.

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

"Ability has nothing to do with opportunity"

If you want something you’ve never had, you’ve got to do something you’ve never done. Don’t practice until you get it right, practice until you can’t get it wrong. When I coached hockey, I preached that practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. This also pertains to sales because if you don't prepare and just wing it for meetings or calls, the results will show.

Jade Alberts Consulting Video

Check out my Jade Alberts Consulting Video

https://vimeo.com/170543163