Soft Skills for Tough Times
Of all the Soft Skills, I’ve always felt that Negotiation is the least soft. Partly, it’s because of the meticulous planning and almost forensic preparation which negotiations receive from teams locked away in war rooms, pouring over plans and scheming how to position...
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP THOUGHT
It’s No.13 so that could be the reason for being late this week but in fact, its my last minute discovery of the fascinating ‘2020 Thought Leadership Report’ from Survey Monkey.com Thought Leadership as a Social Media strategy wasn’t entirely new to me but I hadn’t...
STORYTELLING WITH THE 5C’S
Explaining a complex process or illustrating an abstract idea is easier when we take a picture of it. I expect the first travellers to the Egyptian Pyramids were met by itinerant sales people waiving paintings of the desert spectacle because they knew that the...
MANAGING UP
Derek’s latest promotion was a step up to the top. After working as a Product Specialist and then Country Key Accounts Manager, his next step was to take on a top management role with regional responsibility. Six months into his new role, Derek had learned a lot,...
Internal Vacancy: Champion for Critical Thinking (CT)
Dear Executive, What’s your view about Critical Thinking? Would it be correct to say that internal criticism of your company would only be acceptable if it were initiated by management. It’s difficult to imagine a situation where an employee would proactively aim a...
Meet Yourself
Dear Reader, I want you to meet someone you already know but I’m not sure if you’ve been formally introduced to. You may allow yourself a nod and a smile occasionally but you’ve never sat down and properly got to know…yourself. I’m talking about...
The Listening Muscle
When it comes to Communication Skills…’Listening’ is underrated. It’s considered to be passive. Our attention is focussed on what we’re saying. With Presentations, a lot of value gets missed because if the audience are listening it probably means the Presenter is...
Emotional Resilience: A 5 Minute Take
Life doesn’t always go as we expect, have you noticed!? The unexpected can be major and have widespread consequences or it can be personal and affect only us. To complicate things, the way we humans communicate with each other about what’s going on isn’t...
An Enquiring Mind: have you got one?
The application of the human brain drives us to seek knowledge. It’s a mindset that leads us through an enquiry process something like this… 1. we notice that we’re interested in something (‘hello…what’s that going around in my mind?) 2. we register that enquiring in...
Shiny, Happy People … Engaging!
‘If we end up working from home for, say, half the week, the fall in commuting would slash emissions, pollution and rush-hour traffic while boosting … happiness’ Simon Kuper, FT Weekend How will we work after Covid? It’s a question being asked now by the...