The One Skill Every Professional Needs
It doesn’t matter whether you’re launching a new product line, interviewing for a job, selling real estate or designing concept cars: when you’re explaining the benefits of a decision, persuading teams to incorporate new processes or showing stakeholders how a project...
Connect with Someone New Today – in Person
READING TIME: 80 SECONDS Connecting with other people brings infinite rewards. And whether it’s landing the job, winning the promotion, gaining the sale, charming a new partner, electrifying your audience or passing inspection by future in-laws, if people like you,...
Different, Desperate and First Past the Post
Two years ago we made a study. What we observed was extraordinary. After studying more than seven hundred leaders from all walks of life, from financiers to industrialists, movie stars to celebrity chefs, Nobel Prize winning scientists to entrepreneurial...
Keynote Speaker – The Different Types!
Once upon a time, a keynote speaker was a smartly dressed person in a suit who stepped up onto the stage at the beginning of an event or convention or after a dinner. The job of the chosen keynote speaker was make a strong emotional and rational connection with the...
Motivational Speaker vs. Inspirational Speaker
“Why do you think there are so many motivational speakers around?" Could it be that hiring a motivational speaker doesn't work? Oh sure, the message a motivational speaker delivers works for a day or two, or maybe even a few weeks but, sooner or later, the happy...
If You Risk Nothing You Risk Everything
READING TIME: 90 SECONDS As a means to an end risks can quantum leap you towards your goals and dreams and jump you out of your daily drudge. As an end in themselves they are often no more than gambling with fate. We are pre-conditioned to avoid risks even though we...
This is how long you should live
To calculate how long you should live, divide your age by 4 and subtract it from 105. Read the whole piece and find out why
How to “Click Quick” with all Kinds of People
Burst into life
There's not a single Fortune 500 company, billionaire, nobel prize winner or celebrity that will refute that: 1. we are more talented, creative, resourceful and confident than we ever dreamed possible – once we make up our minds to do something 2. unpredictable...
I just had this crazy idea!
Reading time: 90 Seconds RISK AND REWARD In 1762, John Montagu, the Earl of Sandwich, had a crazy idea. He was a big-time gambler who didn’t like to leave the gaming table. When he got hungry he told his servants, “Bring me a slice of meat between two slices of...
The UPS Store’s passion starts at the top
In my mailbox this morning was a hand-addressed envelope containing a hand-written note. It was from the president of the UPS Stores in San Diego, thanking me for the speech I gave last week to wrap-up their three-day convention in Dallas. This man oversees almost...
Want to be happy and lucky? That can be arranged.
In 2004, Professor Richard Wiseman, at the University of Hertfordshire in England, studied the beliefs and experiences of 4,500 lucky and unlucky people. He concluded that good fortune is not due to talent, hard work, good looks or intelligence - it’s a state of mind....
There’s No Such Thing as Shy
READING TIME: 80 SECONDS: I am consistently asked, "but what if I'm shy by nature?" Here's the good news. Nobody was born shy - it's not a human attribute. So-called shy people were more than likely born "Cautious" or Reserved." These are excellent human attributes. I...
Does Public Speaking Turn Your World Upside Down?
READING TIME: 100 SECONDS. A lot of people are afraid of public speaking, so much so that fear of public speaking outranks fear of death. And according to a recent article, the only greater fears than public speaking are acrophobia (fear of heights) and ophidiophobia...
Nothing beats face-to-face
Sure we're in the electronic age but nothing beats the impact, speed and results of a face-to-face encounter. When more than 90% of your communication comes from non-verbal signals nothing beats the personal touch. Here are my top ten reasons why face-to-face beats...
It Takes Crazy Courage to Make Great Things Happen
Researchers out of the University of British Columbia asked the question, “What makes extreme athletes take risks?” It’s a good question, especially in light of watching the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Why do people do crazy things? According to their research,...
Humbility – the winning combo
Reading time: 150 seconds. Ever wonder what's the best way to open people up and make them feel good? Try a little "Humbility" in your conversations. Humbility is simply a big ego cloaked in a slightly bigger humility. You can use Humbility to cement the foundations...
The Value of Personal Information When Negotiating
READING TIME: 50 SECONDS. Never underestimate the value of personal information and common ground when negotiating online, on the phone or face-to-face. In a series of studies carried out between several groups of MBA students from well-known business schools, half...
Easy Public Speaking
READING TIME: 90 SECONDS. It’s always puzzled me why public speaking is higher on America's list of fears than death or the economy. What's the big deal? The catch-22 of public speaking is that the more you do it the easier it becomes. The problem is that most of us...
Flirting your way to the top!
Reading time: 90 seconds + 30 Ever wonder why some people get promoted even though they don't deserve it? Success doesn't just depend on how well you do your job, it depends on how people feel about you. And plenty of people know how to flirt their way to the top. I'm...
The 10-Second Risk-Taker
You're either growing or you're going - there is no middle ground. So, do one thing different every day that scares you. On the other side of that fear, life is waiting for you. Same goes for businesses, communities and loving relationships.
8 Good Reasons to Make Small Talk
READING TIME: 90 SECONDS. WHAT is small talk? On the surface small talk is casual chitchat about nothing in particular. WHAT is the purpose of small talk? In spite of seeming to have little useful purpose, small talk is a bonding ritual and a strategy for quickly...
Float Like a Butterfly: Sting Like a Bee
READING TIME: 180 SECONDS. Want some inspiration? Listen to Dylan (like a rolling stone), Jagger (I'm a king bee), Paul Simon (a bridge over troubled water) or your favourite band. Virtually every song written is full of i-kolas. And what about the greatest of them...
#1 success factor
Reading time: 100 seconds.Professor Thomas Harrell at the Stanford Business School spent 20 years examining Stanford MBAs looking for the success factor. He concluded the only identifiable predictor of success is something he called "social extroversion" -...
The Power of Because
READING TIME: 110 SECONDS. Telling people the reason why you are doing something has a major influence on how they react to you because, more often than not, people willingly comply with requests when given reasons why they should. Ellen Langer, a social psychologist...
Be Brave. Take Risks. The 3rd Risk-Takers Advantage
A true story from my next book Be Brave. Take Risks. “I’d steadily climbed the career ladder as a Chartered Accountant for the last 20 years. I had an amazing job on paper (good pay, good security, prestigious, well respected) but I couldn’t imagine doing it for 20...
Be Brave. Take Risks – The 2nd Risk-Taker’s Advantage
Stuck in a rut going nowhere Reading time: 90 seconds. “I was going down the rut route,” Jason told me. “For eleven years I’d get up at the same time every day, look in the same mirror, drive the same route, see the same faces, park in the same spot. One day it dawned...
“A ship is always safe at the shore but that’s not what it’s built for.”
"A ship is always safe at the shore but that's not what it's built for." Albert Einstein. The #1 risk-takers advantage The British have a wonderful tradition called a “Gap Year.” It’s a year taken off by a student between secondary school and higher education....
2-steps for getting job interviews
Reading time: 3 minutes. Say you’re ready to make a move from your current work. How do you approach finding your next job? According to MSNBC, job seekers who use the want ads are successful only 5 percent of the time, while the success rate jumps to two-thirds for...
Mindset Trumps Skillset – Big Time
READING TIME: 70 SECONDS - What does it take to get, and keep, the job you want? Ninety-six percent of employers argue it's not just about having the right skills for the position - it's all about the right mindset. And now there’s statistical proof. For 20 years I’ve...