Motivating My Staff is Hard Enough, Who's Going to Motivate Me?

Motivating staff is an important function of any team leader or manager. This can sometimes be hard work and with the constant focus on others we can sometimes forget to motivate ourselves. This in turn leads to a problem, if you aren't motivated, then it is likely that others around you will lose motivation and will not strive to take action. Here are the seven simple steps to motivate you to improve your own performance.

Step 1 Mix With Positive People
Spend your time associating with positive people, people who are winners or successful in their chosen field. People with a negative mindset love to see others fail or falter when faced with a challenge. You will learn negative thoughts and behaviours from negative people and positive thoughts and behaviours from positive people. Positive people exude positive energy and a can do attitude.

Step 2 Erase Negative Mindsets
A negative mindset will guarantee you a negative result every time. Focus on the positive and erase negative thoughts and behaviours from your personality. It is highly unlikely that you will complete any project or challenge if you have a negative mindset. Be wary of people who say "We can't do that here, this is the way it we have always done it here". Be positive, focus on a plan of action and implement the plan.

Step 3 Develop Clear Goals
If you set clear goals you will become more motivated. Goals challenge and test your ability to achieve and create success by that achievement. Make sure your goals are challenging enough and still realistically achievable.

Step 4 Write Your Goals Down
There is an old saying that 3% of the population control the wealth and 3% of the population write their goals down! Committing your goals to paper is a very powerful motivator and allows you to focus on what you are striving to achieve. Read your goals at least three times a day, carry them around with you on a card in your pocket and refer to them often to remind yourself what you are working toward.

Step 5 Make a Goal Plan
If you have taken the trouble to commit to paper, the next step is to develop a plan to make the goals happen. Work out what steps you will need to take and by when you will need to take them. Write this plan down also so that you can measure your progress along the way.

Step 6 Network Your Goals
Share your goals with those you trust among your network, that could be peers, superiors or subordinates or better still hire a business coach. Make sure you involve staff who may be directly affected by the outcome of the goal or who will contribute to their success. Making a commitment to a business coach will make your resolve to complete the goals even firmer.

Step 7 Celebrate Your Success
It is important to record your progress and as you reach milestones or the final goal to celebrate your efforts. Celebrations and rewards for effort make the work seem worthwhile and energise you to achieve more. Achieving your goals will guarantee your ongoing motivation!

Motivation, it's Up to You!

Now that you have read the seven simple steps, the rest is up to you. Remember though that you may not be able to do this alone. Hiring the services of an experienced business coach can make the difference between intention and execution. Coaching is about a relationship and a good coach will hold you to account and keep you on track to success


Article Contributed by Lindsay Adams, International Speaker with Training Edge International and President of Global Speakers Federation
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com
Email : Lindsay.adams@trainingedgeasia.com

Get Dumped Early – and Sell More

When I was dating, I hated getting dumped. Even when I knew deep down that she was right in wanting to split, I’d fight it and try to save the relationship...because I hated the rejection. I was also lousy at being the ‘dumper’ which meant I was involved in several fruitless relationships that went on far too long.

A lot of sales relationships are like that.

The trouble starts with the first conversation. If the client voices obstacles – even significant ones – the tendency is to defer them as long as possible in the hope that as the relationship grows the client’s obstacles will disappear. We kid ourselves with the delusional ego-driven belief: “Once they really get to know me (and find out how truly wonderful I am) then these issues will just fade away!”

Most sales processes leave ‘overcoming objections’ as the penultimate step – further entrenching the principle of leaving the difficult stuff until as late as possible. It’s almost as if they are held-over deliberately as a challenge for your brilliant closing skills!

This is wrong. To build a viable client relationship in today’s environment takes more energy and expertise than ever before. This is because:
• There are more people involved in the decision-making process than ever before – exacerbated by the Global Financial Crisis.
• There are more stakeholders for the decision-makers to satisfy than ever before.
• There is more information available to the decision-makers than ever before; which, ironically, often makes decision-making harder

Because it takes so much effort, the attention should be on identifying the obstacles early – so you can make a realistic assessment of your chances of success. You may still decide to take the risk – or to go ahead as part of some broader strategy - but at least you’re doing it with your eyes open. The reality nowadays is that most sales relationships are entered into by the salesperson, if not with their eyes closed, at least with rose-coloured glasses on. You are supposed to qualify new clients, but the temptation to add another to your pipeline means that hope overrides realistic analysis.

Think about how much time you spend on proposals that came to nothing: the ones where you looked back and if you were really honest you’d admit that you didn’t have much of a chance in the first place. Imagine if you could take just part of that time and put it towards prospecting?

What you should be doing is introducing topics in the early part of the relationship that unearth any potential obstacles further down the track. You might ask about:
• The change that this will involve
• What resistance there will be from the staff
• What problems they had last time they installed a new system as complex as this
• How much (staff) time they are willing to commit to the implementation and ongoing training

This will have one of two outcomes:
1. You don’t get the sale – which you probably wouldn’t have got anyway, it just would have taken a lot longer.
2. You win the sale – and it happens in a faster time because you have advanced the process.
Either way, you impress the client with your integrity and initiative. By doing the unexpected, you will create a positive memorable experience for the client which means that although you might not win this project, you’ll certainly be one of the first asked for the next one.

This is just another application of the ‘fail fast’ principle. Many smart businesspeople are forgoing long-term planning because they believe that markets change so fast nowadays that long-term marketing planning is becoming irrelevant in some industries. Some markets move so fast that by the time that market data is analysed and provided, the market has changed. So, these suppliers work on a ‘fail fast’ principle: experiment constantly, take new offers to market, keep the ones that work and dump those that don’t. The secret to this formula is to identify early those that aren’t working – to fail fast.

As explained earlier, the logic behind this is irrefutable. So, if it makes so much sense why do we do it? Why do we hang on to customers long after we should have parted ways, keep chasing deals that we know we have less and less chance of winning? Is it just to give us a larger client portfolio and something to talk about at Monday’s sales meeting? Well, partly, yes; but the real reason is lack of confidence in our pipeline. The fear that if you lose this one, you might not be able to replace them. If this applies to you, be honest with yourself and put aside time to fill your pipeline. And what will force you to do something about it is to lose a few deals.

So, get dumped early. It’s good for the relationship…and it will be good for your overall sales results.

Article Contributed by Kevin Ryan, an international speaker , workshop leader and author with Training Edge International. He is a business communication expert specialising in the areas of employee and client engagement, sales, humour intelligence and presentation skills.
Email : kevin.ryan@trainingedgeasia.com
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com

Keep Your Customers For Life

How much time do you spend trying to entice new customers to your business? Did you realise that it is actually much cheaper to retain an existing customer than to attract a new one, and trying to regain a lost customer is even more expensive. Simply, the best process is once you have a customer, initiate customer management systems to keep them for life.

The marketplace today is crowded and changing rapidly with new technologies emerging, new competitors and customers are even more demanding. It is important to be able to stand out from the crowd and create a lasting and genuine differentiation between you and your competitors. Today customer focus is high on most business owners agendas supported by ample evidence that customer satisfaction equals high profits. If customer satisfaction equals high profits, should all customers be treated the same?

This is where most business owners fall off the rails. A little customer differentiation at this point makes all the difference in building business profits. If you focus your resources on your high value, high potential customers you will reap the greatest rewards. This does not mean that you ignore your lower value customers, rather treat them in a manner, which is appropriate for the level of support they give you in your business. If you follow the Pareto Principle you will find that roughly 20% of your customers provide 80% of your business. The key is to focus in on this 20%.

Once you have identified your “A” List customers ensure that you delight them throughout the service experience to ensure a firm relationship. Key elements to do this include:

1. Encouraging and rewarding customer loyalty
Chase the ongoing loyalty of targeted customers, aim to have these customers repurchase, encourage bigger and better purchases and recognise these people by providing added value. This might be a formal loyalty scheme.

My local coffee shop has a frequent buyer program. They reward my frequent purchases with a free coffee after ten purchases.

2. Build and manage special customer relationships
Make sure the commitment is a two-way thing. There has to be something in it for both of you. You will cement the relationship by learning more about the customer and creating a value exchange. This could take the form of “key account management”.

A client of mine owns and runs a stationery supply business. They have fostered relationships with schools and now handle the ordering, packaging and delivery of back to school supplies for the students. This service saves heartache for the school and has created a lucrative business opportunity for the business owner.

3. Business wide focus on relationship development
Moving from a sales focus to a long-term relationship focus has exciting implications for you and your whole business. It’s important though that everyone involved in your business understands and embraces the relationship development strategy. The development of long-term relationships must be put ahead of short-term revenue or profits.

A small consulting firm I support set out to build a long-term relationship with a large Government Sector Agency. Their approach was to target the Agency with a tailored product at a very competitive price in return for a long-term contract to implement their product. Previous players in their market had gone in to the same agency with high priced short-term plans. Their strategy to build a relationship paid off in terms of consistent demand and cash flow

Most business owners already acknowledge the importance of their customers, through investments in marketing, customer service and loyalty programs. Their pace of change in implementing these programs though is sometimes too slow or their knowledge of their customers is not deep enough. The key elements to customer understanding are:

1. Understand the priorities and preferences of customers
Identify your customers preferred service level for current and potential future experiences. Be clear about what is most important and what is least important to the customer.

2. Compare customer’s perceptions to reality

Understand why customer perceptions may fall short and others go beyond actual performance. Identify your businesses perceived and actual performance, especially in priority areas for your customer.

3. Compare perceptions of you and your competitors
Undertake a “gap analysis” to understand your weaknesses and your advantage and get clear on what action you will have to take to gain the advantage.

Customer focused business owners know that the loyalty of their best customers is only achieved by delivering outstanding value to them and by delighting them at every interaction. Creating loyal and profitable customers is the foundation for value creation within the business. This simple formula can provide you with a strong and sustainable opportunity to increase the profits in your business.

Article Contributed by Lindsay Adams, International Speaker with Training Edge International and President of Global Speakers Federation
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com
Email : Lindsay.adams@trainingedgeasia.com

Four Things You Must Do to Sell to Today’s Consumer

Consumers have changed – the change started ten years ago and has accelerated over the past five. Anyone who doesn’t realise that has not been near the internet for a long time or is in denial. It’s a buyer’s market and it’s likely to stay that way because the amount of information and connectivity available to consumers will only increase.

Selling to this type of consumer is different. It is not necessarily more difficult – unless you try to sell to them using the old process which assumed that the buying cycle and selling cycle were in sync. Nowadays, the buying cycle has started a long time before the salesperson knows there is a cycle. To sell effectively in this ’age of the buyer’, four skills must be mastered.

1. Create a Great Trust Impression
While trustworthiness has always been an important factor in the buying choice, factors that emerged during the Global Financial Crisis made it front of mind. Pictures of Bernard Madoff being taken off to prison have made trust front of mind for consumers; and while corporate trust may be ‘on the nose’ consumers have sown that they want to trust – even complete strangers. Think of Ebay. An entire model based on sending your money in advance to buy from complete strangers based on references of...complete strangers. Yet it works – over $8billion worth in 2009.

You need to be able to create a great impression of trustworthiness – which is different to actual trustworthiness. Some people are very trustworthy, but they create a poor first impression. The trouble is, they often don’t get a second chance.

Often, nowadays, your first impression is not made by your business attire, smile or handshake, but by your social networking presence. This can be either a good or a bad thing depending on what they see. If they see nothing, you will appear out of touch; if they see albums of you leering drunkenly at a camera, it may compromise your professional image.

Here are two hints for creating trust quickly.

Firstly, people trust those that they have the most connections with. Try to find out how many points of connection you can identify in the first meeting. If you can leave the impression with them that they have more connections with you than your competitors – all other factors being equal – you will get the sale. This is where your social networking can be an advantage. Even before you meet, check them out on Linked-In or Facebook to see if you share any connections – and, of course, the more connections you have, the more likely this is to happen.

Secondly, build trust by demonstrating it. Find non-threatening ways to show your customer or potential customer that you trust them – and they will be inclined to trust you.

2. Put Yourself in a Position of Influence
In business, you are either in a position of influence or inferiority. The buyer –dominant process - where the customer is able to progress through all the steps without a salesperson, only involving him or her at the last step to haggle price – certainly puts the salesperson in a position of inferiority.

To be seen differently by the consumer, you need to provide information or understanding beyond what they can access on a Google search. You need to be seen, not just as a product expert, but as an industry expert. Your opinion of a competitor’s product carries as much credibility in the client’s mind as what the competitor says about it. Then you have a chance to influence their buying criteria.

3. Create Leverage
Always be on the look-out for opportunities to create leverage. Here are two suggestions: (1) find ways to make them look good. Be their ‘inside contact’ who sends them information before they can get it elsewhere. (2) Help them by understanding their systems (both formal and informal) enough to make sure that your proposal is the best fit with their systems. This might involve giving your clients the tools they need to convince the others influencing this decision (some of whom you may never meet).

4. Trigger the Buying Decision
This is no longer about ‘selling’ or ‘closing’. Clients don’t want to be sold to – they want to buy with confidence. It’s not the ‘close’ of the relationship – it’s a sign that it’s going well. Where you can help the client is in recognising that they are in a state of information overload and facilitating them through it. The salesperson who can recognise what a client needs to confidently decide about this will probably get the sale.

With the ability to take a customer through these steps, a salesperson can be confident that they are adding value to the sales process and truly satisfying the post-internet consumer.

Article Contributed by Kevin Ryan, an international speaker , workshop leader and author with Training Edge International. He is a business communication expert specialising in the areas of employee and client engagement, sales, humour intelligence and presentation skills.
Email : kevin.ryan@trainingedgeasia.com
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com

Why Team Building is Out and Team Growing is In

The old model of “building” a great team is outdated.

The concept of growing a team instead of building a team has been around a long time. It seems to have started with Frederick P Brooks in his book “The mythical man-month” written over 30 years ago. He believed that the “building metaphor has outlived its usefulness” and that “the conceptual structures we construct today are too complicated to be accurately specified in advance and too complex to be built faultlessly, then we must take a radically different approach”.

So why do we persist with the term “team building”? I believe it’s because it’s easier for many technical managers to deal with inanimate objects than it is to deal with people. Building involves taking materials and logically turning them into something productive. You can determine in advance what you want to achieve and, with the right skills and equipment, reproduce an exact replica of a blueprint.

People aren’t like that. Just because someone has the skills to perform a role doesn’t mean they will perform it. Just because a reporting structure should work doesn’t mean it will. Just because you give someone the title of manager doesn’t mean they can manage. Things get in the way. Things like personalities, past experiences and perceptions.

We have moved on from the industrial age and are now in the information age. People are at the heart of most organisations. They are certainly at the heart of any successful property management business: you need good property managers, good landlords and good tenants to grow a thriving rent roll. Today’s successful property management business is about intellectual capital not capital works. So stop treating people like pieces of wood you can build into a structure and start treating them like living beings that will naturally grow if given the right conditions.

Like a good garden, what makes a good team comes down to intangibles and most technical managers aren’t good at dealing with them. They want the black and white, right and wrong, one size fits all solution. Gardeners know that doesn’t work. They know you can put five plants in the same garden bed, four will thrive and one will die. Often there is no logic to it, just like with people. You can do all the right things . . . give them good soil, water them, give them regular fertiliser and protect them from pests and they will still die! That’s nature. Just like you can’t command a plant to grow faster, you can’t command a person to work harder.

So let’s stop talking about team building and start talking about team growing. Let’s look at what we can do to let people naturally develop rather than force them to fit neatly into a predetermined size and shape.

As a keen gardener and someone who advises managers on employee engagement, I can see that there are many similarities between creating a thriving garden and creating a thriving organisation. Whether you have one pot plant sitting on your desk (one employee) or a plot of land that would rival the botanic gardens (many employees) the basic rules are the same. Get it right and your plants will thrive (your people will grow). Get it wrong and you will be left with a dead and dying garden (high turnover or, even worse, high disenagement). Gardening can be a rewarding pursuit. There is nothing better than seeing plants grow and it’s the same with people. It can also be hard work and involve a long gap between effort and result. The similarities to managing people are obvious.

So learn some lessons about leadership from mother nature. Here are my top 10 to get you started.

1. You can’t have engaged leaders in a poor culture . . . you can’t grow plants in bad soil

2. We pick people for leadership roles for the wrong reasons . . . wrong plant in wrong location simply because we like the look of it

3. New leaders need assistance and support . . . plants need help to get established too

4. A leader in the wrong position can do damage . . . the wrong plant can potentially become a weed

5. Bad habits from leaders rub off on their people . . . like pests and disease moving from plant to plant

6. The right leaders provide staff with shelter from the organisational elements . . . like a tree shading smaller plants

7. You need to remove the barriers to help leaders grow . . . plants grow better when you give them space

8. Sometimes leaders outgrow their role and need to move on . . . sometimes plants need to be relocated to thrive

9. You always need to be cultivating new leaders . . . you need plants in all stages of development to keep your garden healthy

10. If leaders aren’t growing they are dying . . . the law of nature, especially when it comes to

to plants

I believe that those organisations that will thrive into the future are the ones that embrace the concept of helping their people grow rather than sticking with the outdated model of trying to build a team. Are you going to be one of those organisations who are forging ahead or are you going to be left behind as others around you learn the secrets to thriving in changing times? Make an investment now in the future of your people. Become a workplace gardener and watch your organisation bloom!

Article Contributed by Karen Schmidt ,an award winning speaker, workshop leader and facilitator and a re-engagement expert with Training Edge International .
Email : karen.schmidt@trainingedgeasia.com,
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com

Are You Dressed For Success ?

How fast does it take for someone to form a good or bad first impression of you? Research has shown that your first impression is formed within ten to thirty seconds, whether good or bad. It is imperative that you project a professional, polished and assured image within this window of opportunity for people to decide whether you are suitable for that job vacancy, project or promotion.

Take some time to evaluate your style. Does your dressing say, "I am the appropriate candidate" or "I am incompetent"? Let's check some of the fashion mistakes or disasters people make at work, some of which they do not even realize at all.

You show up for a job interview in jeans, T-shirt and sport shoes.
What your style says about you: I can't be bothered to dress professionally for the position and it does not matter whether I get the job or not.

For job interviews, make sure that you are overdressed rather undressed. For ladies, a jacket suit will never go wrong. For gentlemen, a long sleeve shirt and tie is sufficient unless you are going for a top management position where it is good to throw in a jacket. Again it is preferable to be on the conservative side when it comes to the colour and style for the job interview. Engage a Personal Branding Coach if you are not sure what cutting, colour, fitting and style suit your particular body shape and size.

You like to wear ultra mini skirts, low cut revealing tops or cropped tops with hipsters pants or skirts to work.. What your style says about you: I am not serious about my work and if I face any problems, I can easily get help from my male colleagues by using feminine charm.

Chances are yes, you may be "popular" with some of your male colleagues but you may also be the target for juicy gossip during teabreak or lunch hour. If you want to be taken seriously at work, dress professionally with a touch of class. Flip through magazines to get inspiration or get expert help.

You think that it is alright to maintain your own individuality by colouring your hair with streaks of blue, pink or green etc so that you will stand out from your other colleagues. What your style says about you: I don't care about my company's culture because I think it is nonsense.

People make judgement on you based on your appearance. To you, you may think that doing something different makes you look special but be careful of what it is. Follow the office culture rather than going against it as it shows that you are not a team player. If you want to stand out, excel in your work instead. That is better in the long run.

You have visible body piercing and tattoos which you feel that it is very cool to show them off at work. What your style says about you: I can't be bothered how clients and colleagues think of me. I just want to do things that I like.

Again the management may feel that you are projecting a wrong image to the clients and it may be detrimental to the business.

As you are meeting your friends to go clubbing after work, you think that it is ok to show up at work wearing club wear. What your style says about you: I like to dress provocatively as I have a choice of what to wear and the company should not bother about my dressing as long as I come to work.

If you want to be taken seriously, do not mix your personal life with business. Management won't consider such people for promotion as they feel that these people are not projecting a good image of the company.

You go to work with crumpled shirt or worn out clothes, thinking that no one would bother. What your style says about you: I don't put in effort in my dressing so I won't put in effort in any assignment that the company assigns to me. I may even mess things up.

You won't instill much confidence and trust from your employer since you can't take good care of yourself. Your clients may also feel this way and it can be damaging to your career in the long run.

Your work attire wardrobe screams "retro retro retro!" and looks like they come from the 70s. What your style says about you: I am out of style because I rarely come out of my cubicle and interact with my colleagues or clients. I do not want a promotion and expect to retire from this position, years down the road.

Nowadays, you do not need a lot of money to build up a professional, neat and current wardrobe. Check with a Personal Branding Coach on how to build up a capsule wardrobe, with a few staple attires, that will give you mileage in the long run.

You haphazardly match the clothes, without taking into consideration the colours, designs and patterns. What your style says you: I am lazy to coordinate my clothes properly, so please don't count on me to do a good presentation or project.

Knowing how colours harmonise with one another is one step to matching your clothes well. Do not mix and match too many designs and patterns unless you are an expert in this field. The size of the designs and patterns should be in proportion to your frame.

Go for a makeover with a Style Consultant/Image Trainer if you are in any of the situations mentioned above. Even if you are not, it is still advisable to approach one so that he/she will be able to advise if you are adopting the right style and if not, how to change accordingly. A Style Consultant will be able to teach you how to dress according to your body shape, camouflage figure flaws, occasions, appropriate makeup, hairstyling, deportment, social, business and dining etiquette. Usually after going though sessions with a Style Consultant, a person will emerge out as a more confident and happier person.

Article Contributed by Ms Elaine Heng, Senior Consultant, Training Edge International

The Psychology of Buying and Selling

Reasons for Purchase
People purchase products and services for both logical and psychological reasons. We purchase some products and services because they make life easier for us as they save us time and effort. Other products and services can save us money or can even make us money. The reasons for purchasing these types of products are logical as these purchases are arguably rational in that people buy, for example, a dishwasher primarily because it saves them time and effort.

In today’s social environment, many of the products and services that we purchase can be regarded as “unnecessary” in that they satisfy various psychological needs rather than physical needs. Take the mobile phone for example. Many people possess a mobile phone because not to have one goes against social norms and thus those who do not have a mobile phone take the risk of being seen as “backward” or eccentric by others. Other psychological reasons for purchasing products and services are that they give us pleasure (e.g., entertainment system) or make us feel that we stand out from the crowd (e.g., five-star hotels) and thus enhance our self-esteem. Effective salespeople are aware of the different reasons why people make a purchase and can use these reasons as levers to make a sale.

Persuasion
Successful salespeople have mastered the art of persuasion. There are two main ways in which people can be persuaded: One is referred to as ‘Direct’ and the other is referred to as ‘Indirect’. Direct persuasion is straightforward as it involves behaviours such as emphasising the advantages of and disadvantages of not purchasing your product or service. Indirect persuasion is more difficult than direct persuasion as it involves establishing your credibility and getting the customer to both like and trust you.


Build Good Relationships with Your Customers
Caring for the customer is of utmost importance when it comes to sales. People are unlikely to care about your product or service if they feel that you do not care about them. Effective salespeople know this and that is why they focus on building relationships with their customers rather than on what they stand to gain from making the sale. There is an old saying in the sales business: “Customers don’t care about what you know until they know that you care”. It is not surprising that developing good relationships with customers is one of the cornerstones of being successful at sales.

How can we build good relationships with our customers? The first thing is to be trusted and liked by your customers. People will trust you when they believe that you are credible and concerned about their self-interests. Being open with customers and keeping your word are also crucial if customers are to trust you. We all like people who are the same as us so it is always useful to connect with your customers by showing them that you have similar interests, views and values.

How can I learn about the interests, views and values of my customers? You can learn a lot about your customers simply by listening to them and by asking open-ended questions such as “What is it that you really want from this product/service?” Too often, salespeople want to talk rather than listen because they are focused on what they stand to gain from the sale rather on what the customer stands to gain from the purchase. By listening carefully to your customers you can learn a lot about what they need and want.

Listening
Listening is a gift that we give to others. When we listen actively and deeply we suspend judgement and pay attention not only to what the customer is saying but also to the non-verbal cues given by the customer. It is well known that non-verbal cues are more important than what is actually said. Successful salespeople can identify the often unstated needs and concerns of their customers via non-verbal cues and then match these needs and concerns to products or services.

Self-Talk
One of the barriers to being both an effective listener and a successful salesperson is inappropriate self-talk, which refers to the things we say to ourselves. Effective listening and self-motivation depend on being able to control one’s self-talk. It is easy to be distracted by self-talk (e.g., “this customer is very demanding” or “I have not had lunch as yet”) when a customer is talking and the trouble is that people notice when you are not truly listening. When this happens, you appear as insincere or disinterested and the relationship is damaged. Being a salesperson is tough because salespeople have to deal with rejection on a regular basis. Self-talk is the major way of motivating yourself. Successful salespeople know how to use self-talk to stay motivated and avoid self-defeating thoughts. Keep in mind that what you say to yourself colours how you see the world.


Article Contributed by Dr. Gian Casimir, Honorary Academic Advisor of Training Edge International and was a lecturer with Wharton School in the University of Pennsylvania. He currently lectures at the University of Newcastle in Singapore.

Email : Gian.Casimir@trainingedgeasia.com;
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com

Identify Your Target Market… The Secret Ingredient for Referral Success

Identify Your Target Market, The Secret Ingredient for Referral Success

Good marketing starts with a clear definition of your target market. In fact any good marketing text will tell you that it is crucial to identify your target market if you want to be successful in business. You must know who your target is so that you can craft the best marketing message to adequately convey the value you offer to any potential buyer. Understanding your target market enables you to design the features or services that you will take to market. This could include things like price, packaging, distribution and a range of other issues that impact on market share.

Put simply it comes down to three basic facts:

• Who wants my product or service?
• Where will they find them?
• How will I reach these potential buyers with such a compelling message that they will buy what I have to offer?

Doing business by referral revolves around generating referrals that result in closed sales. In referral marketing the marketing message is always the same. It all starts with a clearly defined target market.

Why is target market so important?

There are many reasons why target market is so important. A clearly defined market will enable you to create word of mouth marketing within a specific buying group so that business comes to you. How do you become known and get people to refer to you?

You could join a business group, trade Association or Club and build relationships with people within that target market. You could write articles for that target market or offer to serve in a leadership capacity within the Association or Club. As people in that target market begin to get to know you either personally or by your reputation and they hear good things about the services you provide, they may seek you out and buy from you.

OK, so you understand the power of word of mouth advertising, how do you use that to generate more business? If you have the luxury of a small target market you can simply create a positive referral based business by doing a great job and relying on the satisfied customers you have to spread the word about you among the rest of that target market. Sadly we don’t always have small and concentrated target markets like this.

Two very different people attended one of my sessions on referral marketing recently, both wanted to learn how to get more business by referral. Both worked in the financial planning industry and understood the importance of doing business by referral. We’ll call them Planner A and Planner B. We focussed in on target market. It was easy to identify which financial planner was going to be more successful.

Planner A said their target market was anyone with money to invest and wanted a secure financial future. Planner B had a very different perspective. Planner B said they wanted to work with young professionals between the ages of 25 and 35 years of age, preferably couples with no children and clear financial goals.

Planner B wanted to work with people who were clear about their future and because they were in the same age bracket understood the issues and challenges they faced. Not only that they knew that young professionals often had a habit of spending up big and not saving for the future. This planner had lived a very basic upbringing and wanted to secure a sound financial future for themselves and was passionate about spreading the word to other young professionals in the same age bracket. They were very clear on their target market.

Both financial planners were competent however Planner B had targeted young professionals, was more passionate and it literally oozed out of their pores. Combine that with a clear target market and it was obvious that Planner B was destined for success. This planner only had to work with a few young professional couples and I predict word would spread fast among the target market, bringing more and more referrals and of course closed business.

Planner A would have to pitch their services to clients everywhere hoping to find someone who will work with them. They will not have the ability to get referrals from a clearly refined target market like Planner B. Other than being competent they have little extra to offer to potential clients other than they are a generalist, rather than a specialist financial planner.

The message for business owners and sales people is clear, if you don’t have a clearly defined target market, you must spend time defining one. With a clearly defined target market you will create a steady stream of referral business.

Article Contributed by Lindsay Adams, International Speaker with Training Edge International and President of Global Speakers Federation
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com
Email : Lindsay.adams@trainingedgeasia.com

Employee Engagement for Leaders - The ‘R’ Word

For so long we all avoided saying the ‘R’ word. It was almost as if we were hoping that if we ignored it, it would go away. Yet don’t we all feel better now that we’ve moved out of
denial? You can now talk about the recession without others gasping in horror or moving
away from you.

Now, for many people, one ‘R’ word begets another. And for CEOs and HR managers this word is ‘redundancy’. It seems like a logical solution: staff are underutilised or, even, idle; and it’s easy to see them as an underperforming resource which still demands the same wages and management time as they did in the boom times. So, why shouldn’t you treat this resource the same as any other which is failing to produce a satisfactory return on investment?

Dr Sean Sands, research fellow from the Australian Centre for Retail Studies suggests that this is wrong. “While redundancies may seem like a good way to cut costs in the short-term, the direct and indirect costs of downsizing can paralyse you company’s long-term revenue generating streams,” he said recently.

Are all redundancies bad? Of course not. The one discipline that tough times give us is focus. And sometimes this focus allows us to see those who are underperforming and not making any effort to improve, or those who are just the ‘wrong fit’; whereas in busier times we might have missed them. Should these be let go? Probably. And, if handled correctly, it will have the impact of increasing the confidence in your management; because, while you may have missed those people in the past, their workmates certainly haven’t. Who knows how long they have resented these individuals who have produced less for similar remuneration – benefiting from their efforts.

But, no matter how much they deserve to go, the way it is done is extremely important
because of the effect it has on those who remain. To go back to Dr Sands: ‘If redundancies are required, leaders must become transparent, accept responsibility, over-communicate and express compassion and empathy.”

However, before any redundancy, I urge you to consider these two questions:
1. Is there anything you (or others in the organisation) have done that could have
resulted in this poor attitude and/or underperformance? And, if so, is there anything
you could do to change that?

2. Are you considering redundancy purely because of lack of work in their area – and
there is nothing wrong with their attitude or effort?
If this is the case, I’d ask you two further questions:
1. How much have you invested in this person in the time they have worked for you?
2. When the recovery happens, how would you like them to be working for your
competitor (with all this knowledge, experience and willingness to apply it?)
If these are relevant questions, have you considered the alternatives of unpaid leave (perhaps to up-skill), reduced pay or hours, less benefits or job-sharing? In fact, anything to save you losing that person in whom you have invested so much of your time, money, knowledge,expertise, wisdom and encouragement.


Examples of this are all around us. Here are two examples from the accountancy industry:
1. CEO of PriceWaterhouseCoopers CEO, Mark Johnson is asking all staff to consider
10-15 days of unpaid leave before the end of January, 2010. This is voluntary for
staff, with no penalty if they don’t; and part-time staff.

2. KPMG accountants are increasing flexibility with some staff moving to four-day
weeks. In these tough times, trust is one of the most highly valued attributes. Demonstrating trustworthy behaviour is one of the surest ways to build loyalty and staff retention. ‘Overcommunicate is a relatively new term – but such an important strategy in times like these. Don’t just tell them once what the organisation’s goals are and what role they play in reaching these – tell them every week – every day, put it up on the wall, have it as a diary note for the start of every day. This way they feel informed and involved.

They contribute more effectively and are less likely to leave.
And why not try demonstrating trust by offering your underutilised staff lower pay or fewer hours during this downturn with a guarantee that they will return to their current rate or better when the recovery happens. They might just surprise you with their willingness to cooperate because you have taken them into your confidence; and they will have the incentive to make the recovery happen sooner in your organisation.

Your decision making – especially when making tough decisions – has to be transparent to build trust. This takes extra effort, but you will reap the benefits. Some final words from Dr Sands: “A climate of trust works both ways – employees appreciate and respond toempowerment and opportunities to learn and contribute, particularly in hard times.”

These are just a few hints about how you can be best prepared to benefit when we come to the final ‘R’word that we’re all looking forward to...the Recovery!

Article Contributed by Kevin Ryan, an international speaker , workshop leader and author with Training Edge International. He is a business communication expert specialising in the areas of employee and client engagement, sales, humour intelligence and presentation skills.
Email : kevin.ryan@trainingedgeasia.com
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com

Leading a Young Team

Leading a young team is different to leading an older team or even a mixed age team. Not only are younger generations looking for different qualities in their leaders, they also require a different set of skills from leaders. Here’s why . . .

Think back for a moment to when you first started working. You probably found the workplace a foreign environment, not unlike a country where you don’t speak the language or understand the local customs. It can feel quite frustrating to figure out what is going on, particularly if you didn’t read the guide book before you left home. Well, that’s exactly what it feels like for young people starting work today. There are going from a school or university environment with one set of rules, to a workplace that often has a completely different set.

As a leader of younger people it is up to you to help them make that transition to the workplace. Whilst many of your standard leadership duties will remain the same, it is how you go about them that may need to change. So here are some of the pitfalls to avoid when leading a young team.

Developing a parent/child relationship

When your staff are nearly the same age as your children there can be a tendency to treat them that way. Whether the result is they feel “talked down to” or that you let them get away with behaviour you wouldn’t accept from an older worker, it is not the type of relationship that is going to help either of you achieve your goals. As a manger, you need to establish the kind of relationship that will not only assist the younger employee to learn but also show other employees that there is fairness and consistency.

Not providing enough direction
If left to their own devices, younger employees can feel like they are floating without a clear direction. Particularly when it comes to work environments that are in constant change, you need to be the stabilising influence that helps them see what direction the organisation is headed in and where they fit into that bigger picture. In the absence of a clear direction, they will make it up for themselves!


Assuming they know the unwritten rules of work Over time older workers have tapped into the unwritten rules of work and learnt how to follow them. So they know how to dress, how to deal with senior staff and how to act in meetings. The rules that apply to each of these situations are often not the same as the rules that apply outside of work. The results can be that younger employees break the unwritten rules without even knowing they existed! Your role is to help them understand these rules so their transition into the workplace culture is as smooth as possible. A word of warning . . . be prepared for them to question the validity of any or all of the unwritten rules and be ready with a real answer!


Failing to deal with the personal issues
Unlike past generations, younger generations do not see that work and life are separate. In fact for many of them, work provides a pseudo family and is certainly at the centre of their social life. This means that their personal issues can easily become workplace issues that managers need to get involved with. Younger employees may also turn to their leader looking for guidance in areas that were traditionally handled by their parents. This is where you need to walk a fine line between being a substitute parent and creating a parent-child relationship mentioned earlier.


Focussing on the past instead of the present or the future

The pace of change is so fast now that last quarter, not last year, is considered the past! Using examples from the past will not win over the younger generation and will in fact create distance between you and them. Keep your references current and keep up to date with what is happening now and in the near future whether it is in IT, marketing or human resources practices. If a younger staff member comes to you with some edgy idea that’s just hit the market don’t dismiss it out of hand. Instead, show them you are willing to look ahead by giving them the opportunity to explore it further and report to you on it’s viability for your organisation.

Article Contributed by Karen Schmidt ,an award winning speaker, workshop leader and facilitator and a re-engagement expert with Training Edge International .
Email : karen.schmidt@trainingedgeasia.com,
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com
 

The Magic of Being Creative

What is creativity? Why is it important today?

Simply put, creativity is about coming out with something new. Some of the greatest artists and scientists in history have done this and made themselves immortal, such as Michelangelo and Galileo. However, being creative may not make you another Michelangelo, but new ideas are certainly necessary for today’s fast changing world. Just look at Singapore and notice how many changes we have made in the last several years.

Edward de Bono said: “As competitions intensify, so does the need for creative thinking. It is no longer enough to do the same thing better. It is no longer enough to be efficient and solve problems… Businesses need creativity …. to make the shift from administration to true entrepreneurship.”

You can also apply creativity in your daily life. You can look at what you are doing and find alternative ways to improve them. Problems will no longer be set-backs to you. Rather, they become opportunities for you to use your creative thinking.


Critical vs creative thinking. We can be creative!
Scientists and psychologists tell us that there are two hemispheres of our brain. Our left hemisphere is all about logical, rational, and sequential thinking. Our right brain hemisphere is concerned with intuitive, random and subjective thinking.

Schools tend to concentrate on boosting the students’ left brain in “scholastic” subjects. Right brain activities such as creativity and aesthetics tend to be downplayed in traditional academic environments. As a result, for many people, the left side of the brain is more active than the right side. We end up being more critical than creative.

It is in our interest to stimulate the right side of our brain. This can be done by attempting tasks that require imagination and a fresh approach. Our brain has the ability to create an infinite amount of ideas. Unfortunately, we use only 2% to 3% of our brain capacity. There is therefore plenty of room for creative thinking. Each of us is capable of an enormous amount of creative output.


Techniques for generating ideas
Marcel Proust said: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but in seeking with new eyes.” It is the ability to see the same thing as everybody, but thinking of something different.

There are many techniques for generating ideas. Here we take a look at a classical method called SCAMPER.

It is a method for manipulating an existing item into a new idea. It is actually a collection of seven techniques, arranged according to the acronym of the word S-C-A-M-P-E-R:
S = substitute
C = combine
A = adapt
M = modify
P = put to other uses
E = eliminate
R = rearrange

Take an existing item, ask S-C-A-M-P-E-R questions about it, and you may get a new idea. There are success stories for each of these techniques:

Substitute – The Russians failed to market vodka in the USA in the 1930s because clear alcohol was not popular. Heublein took the rights, and looked for other ingredients (substitute) to colour the drink. Moscow Mule, Screwdriver and Bloody Mary were born and caused vodka sales to rise from 6,000 cases a year to 38 million in 1988.

Combine – Customers of American gas ARCO asked whether after they have pumped their gas, they could walk over to the adjacent convenience store to pick up a hamburger and a quart of milk. Now you can have your petrol pumped, dinner eaten and shopping done (combine) in minutes all at the same petrol kiosk.

Adapt – William Durant, the founder of General Motors, had great ideas but could not run the company profitably. He was replaced by Alfred Sloan, who was able to take many of Durant’s ideas and turn them (adapt) into orderly reality.

Modify – The marketing people of 3M relied on advertisements to sell its Post-It pads, but sales did not pick up. It’s General Sales Manager, Joe Ramey, noticed people who write on pads could not stop. He convinced the company to modify its marketing approach to give away free samples. The Post-It became one of 3M’s all-time champion products.

Put to other uses – A toilet tissue manufacturer discovered a carload of paper that was too thick to be made into tissue. Unable to return it, he asked “What else could be done with this paper?” (put to other use), and the paper towels were born.


Eliminate – Before 1836, mail had been paid by the addressee, with fee computed according to distance and weight. This made correspondences expensive and slow. Rowland Hill proposed that postage be uniform regardless of distance (eliminate), and that this fee be prepaid by buying and affixing a stamp. Overnight, mail became convenient.

Rearrange – Xerox’s first copier sold for $4,000. Few companies were willing to make such a capital investment as it meant seeking approval from the board of directors. Xerox understood this and began selling what they produce: copies. At 5¢ a copy, the company staff could pay for them out of petty cash (rearrange).


Magic as a hobby, and creativity
A hobby is a good place to start being creative. One hobby that requires a lot of creative input is magic. Magic transports us to a world of make-believe where the impossible becomes possible! Since many of us know that magic is not real, it takes a lot of creative effort to make something that is not real appear believable.

Pick up a book on magic and learn how to perform a magic trick. You will find that the process of how a magical idea is conceived, to communicating it to the audience through a performance is a creative process. You will discover the magic of being creative!


Contributed by John Teo, Senior Consultant, Training Edge International
Email : john.teo@trainingedgeasia.com
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com

A New Leadership Litmus Test for Human Resource Professionals

If you are a human resources professional, which of the following belief statements belong in your brain?

1) Diversity can and should be celebrated to the maximum extent possible.
2) It is not only possible for diversity and organizational effectiveness to co-exist, but also to be a win-win (i.e., for both employers and employees).
3) Rewards for performance are essential to creating a high-performance organization.

Are these trick questions? No. Would it not be blasphemous for any HR professional, or any leader, for that matter, to not agree with these belief statements? Of course! But ironically, while the HR profession has bemoaned the lack of a seat at the strategic table for decades, we continue to preach one thing, and practice another.

How so? What really brought this home for me is the reaction to my newest book, “Weirdos in the Workplace! The New Normal…Thriving in the Age of the Individual” (Financial Times Prentice Hall). On the one hand, CEO’s, entrepreneurs, business owners and non-HR executives love and embrace the message, while many HR professionals pull back and gasp. How insensitive! We can’t call people weirdos?

We’re HR professionals!
Before you have an HR hernia, please understand the basic premise that “a weirdo is anyone not like you.” It’s hard to believe that we are approaching the 42nd anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was the genesis of equal opportunity, and all the laws that followed. As a former EEO Compliance Officer for a Fortune 100 manufacturer during the decade of discrimination laws, I speak with both knowledge and experience. I even agreed philosophically with the need for these laws, given the bad behavior of our society and its organizations.

However, in The Age of the Individual, it is not only simplistic and naïve to continue defining diversity in terms of government mandated protected classes, i.e., race, sex, religion, national origin, sexual preference, et. al., but it actually runs contrary to a purist philosophy of diversity. True diversity is individuality.

For a truly liberated, progressive HR professional, it is downright insulting and even somewhat bigoted to operate from an implied assumption that all women think and act alike, or that all blacks think and act alike, and so on. Granted, there is the need to be able to categorize people for the purposes of legal compliance, reporting, etc., but isn’t it high time we transcended these artificially defined barriers for the purposes of real organizational effectiveness, progress and true celebration of the individual? If so, then you are ready for a few weirdisms from the book:

Weirdism #1:
“All workers are not created equal!”

Again, at first blush, many political correctites may hesitate to jump on this bandwagon. However, if we are in agreement with the logic thus far, one has to concur that to celebrate individuality, and to grant the rights and privileges that come with it, comes the responsibility to recognize that there is no “one-size-fits-all” model for creating a performance-driven organization; or a meritocracy.

HR professionals who continue to cry for a seat at the strategic table, must also learn to recognize when the expression and manifestation of individuality is in alignment with organizational strategies and objectives, and when it is not. Not all individuality is worthy of being celebrated. Some may be tolerated, but some may even need to be terminated. There are limits of behavior to earn the rights and privileges to live in a free society, and the workplace is a microcosm of society. I call that the “Weird:Worth Ratio.” The more you are worth, the more you can be weird (or high-maintenance, eccentric, difficult to manage, etc.).

If we accept the new definition of diversity as individuality, we have no choice but to be responsible to our organizations, and to the individuals within them, to recognize their differences (in behavior, performance, value) and to respond accordingly, which brings us to:

Weirdism #2:

“Discrimination is good; Discrimination is right; Discrimination is necessary!”
This is the real litmus test. Had we started with this principle at the beginning, many would never have made it this far. Take a breath. With the advent of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 came the Age of Acronyms and it’s resultant EEO, OFCCP, AAP’s, ERISA, ADA, ADEA, and all the other brands of “discrimination.” As a result, many organizations, and especially their HR Departments, have misguidedly evolved into a “fair is equal” mindset.

In other words, to avoid the risk of being accused of “discrimination” we have become victims of the law of unintended consequences. Treating everyone the same can only result in institutionalized mediocrity. Giving everyone a 3% merit raise not only punishes the performers (regardless of race, sex, etc.) but also rewards the slugs, and wastes valuable organizational resources. That’s a lose-lose-lose.

The word discrimination is not a bad word. If someone says you have discriminating taste, you say “thank you” and take it as a compliment. If you answered “yes” to the belief statement at the beginning that “pay for performance is essential to creating a high-performance organization” then you believe in the virtues of discrimination. Discrimination based on performance! Not race, sex, etc. Welcome to the Age of the Individual, and to enlightened HR!

Any manager/leader who does not discriminate is not manager/leader material. Being willing and able to make distinctions (discriminations) and tough decisions is a core competency of modern management and leadership. And that goes for HR management and leadership, as well. In fact, HR should be leading the charge!
Conclusion

When CEO’s, business owners, entrepreneurs and non-HR executives hear this message, they rejoice. They say they have been thinking it for a long time, and wish they could hear it from their own HR departments. And ironically, HR probably agrees. So let’s make it a win-win.

One of the hidden objectives of “Weirdos in the Workplace!” is to get the strategic HR message out to the non-HR mainstream, to the people who hold the keys to the boardroom, and to the “individuals” we must all attract, retain and motivate.
But, now it’s HR’s job to shift its mental paradigm to position itself with its own leadership. That is, to get their leaders’ attention by speaking their language, without compromising the beliefs or principles of the HR profession. And by following the aforementioned logic, now they can.

HR cannot be seen as glorified union stewards, blindly advocating for the rights of all employees. They must be stewards of both the individual and the organization. It is not incongruous to advocate for the individual and the organization simultaneously. The greatest places to work are usually the greatest companies in all other aspects, as well (profitability, effectiveness, customer service, etc.).
But it takes backbone. It takes courage. It takes hard work and tough decisions to create a culture that both recognizes and celebrates the individual and then discriminates based on performance and value, in order to do so. We cannot have one without the other.

See? We agree after all!

Article Contributed by Mr John Putzier, International Speaker and Best Selling Author with Training Edge International. He is the President of Firstep Inc and appears regularly in the media including CNN, NPR, ABCNews, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and many others.
Email : john.putzier@trainingedgeasia.com
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com

Business Building in the 21st century

I have a thriving business today because I have embraced what I see as the eight massive changes to business building strategies and actions that have occurred since I began my business almost 20 years ago. These eight have also been key to the success of my colleagues at Training Edge International.

1) Spin to Story
Authentic stories sell. Most people ignore advertising because they don’t see it as the truth about our product or service. People embrace real stories about real people which is why genuine testimonials about what we do and case studies about how we have helped people to meet their wants and needs are key ways to attract customers/clients.

What are people saying about your product/s and/or service/s? Are you using what people are saying about you as a key way to build your business?

2) What to Why
“Doing well by doing good” or enlightened self-interest is a key way to build our businesses which is why so many people have embraced the triple bottom line of environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and economic prosperity.

How good is your business for people, and our planet? If you are doing good for people and our planet it is likely that you are making higher profits.

Profit is not a reason for being in business however, rather a result of being good at business. What’s your reason? Douglas Atkin, author of The Culting of Brands, asks: What’s your cause? What do you want to have happen? If you’re not out to cause anything then you might as well go back to bed.

3) Interruption Marketing to Permission based marketing (my thanks to Seth Godin)
In the early days of my business I had to cold call. The biggest hurdle I had to overcome was the fact that people saw my call as an interruption to their work. Advertising of cause is the biggest way we interrupt people which is why many of us mute the ads when we are watching television.

Today if we are seen as interrupting people it is unlikely that they will hear our message.

In what ways do you have permission to communicate your message to people. Do you have an electronic newsletter for example that people have opted-in to receive? Do you have numerous ways to collect people’s details and do they know what will happen on a frequent basis once you have their details?

4) Media to Mass Media
When I first started my business, phone books, newspapers, magazines, radio and television were the media available to me, and most were inaccessible as I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t have a lot of funds to spend. Today we can use a multitude of media channels to add value and attract customers/clients, for free!

Are you blogging? Are you on YouTube? Are you using Facebook, LinkedIn or others to build relationships. Today one of the big questions we must ask and answer thoroughly is - What is our strategy for using social media to build our business?

5) Expert to Thought Leader
I could easily validate my expertise when I first started my business. Today being a expert is a given. In order to thrive we must be seen as leaders in our fields of expertise otherwise we get ignored.

How are you perceived in your markets? Are you seen as a leader or just one of many?

In all your business building activities are you positioning yourself as a stand out? And do you prove your standing in all your transactions and interactions with people?

6) Generalist to Niche
Once I tried to be all things to all people. I learned the hard way that I can only truly serve people in certain niches. Are you open for business to everyone or are you the go to person for certain people?

7) Provider to Partner
I was once a provider of certain services and usually I was hired for a specific period of time to provide a specific solution or meet a particular need. Today I don’t provide my clients with solutions to their challenges or problems, rather I partner with them to discover their own solutions. A consequence is that I get paid for the value that I provide rather than the time it takes.

Do your customers/clients see you as a partner or a provider? If your answer is provider then it won’t be long before someone makes your customers/clients a perceived better offer and you will lose their loyalty. Being perceived as a partner is a key way to build loyalty and therefore retain customers/clients.

8) Service to Experience
Providing our customers/clients with great customer service is a given today. Provide less than high standards of service and people will simply go somewhere else.

What kind of experience do you provide for your customers/clients before they buy, when they buy, and after they buy? Unless your answer is memorable across the board then you are not building the business you could be and not only are you are missing out on significant income and profits, you are most likely go backwards.

Article Contributed by Ian Berry is an International Business Speaker with Training Edge International
Email : ian.berry@trainingedgeasia.com
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com

The Seven Is of Effective Leadership

Organisational effectiveness depends on effective leadership. Leaders differ from managers because leaders rely mainly on personal power whereas managers rely mainly on formal power. Personal power stems from expertise, personality, social skills, and ethical conduct whereas formal power stems from the power inherent in a position such as the power to reward, punish, and force compliance.

Leaders build long-lasting relationships based on social exchange and relational trust whereas managers build short-term relationships that are based on economic exchange and calculative trust. Social or relational exchanges are long-term oriented and create a deep relational trust in the leader. Examples of social exchanges are sharing and delegating authority, respecting and seeking input from followers, treating all followers fairly, and showing a genuine concern for the welfare and development of followers. Social exchanges result in an emotional bond with the leader such that followers identify with the leader and the leader’s vision and believe that the leader has their best interests at heart and truly appreciates their contributions. Economic exchanges are short-term oriented and result in a conditional trust in the leader. Examples of economic exchanges are rewarding followers in accordance with any agreements made with them and providing them with the technical support needed to effectively perform their roles. Economic exchanges yield calculative trust in the leader because the leader keeps promises and treats followers equitably.

True leadership transforms the norm and seeks goals that are morally sound and beneficial to all stakeholders. One of the key functions of leadership therefore is to influence others so that they will enthusiastically accept and commit to the radical propositions of the leader. When we attempt to influence others, they can either resist, comply, agree because they have an emotional connection with us, or agree because they believe in what we believe in. Leaders differ from managers because leaders can create an emotional bond with others and make others believe in their visions. Leaders rely on influence tactics such as inspirational appeal, personal appeal, and rational persuasion whereas managers rely on pressure, exchange and legitimatisation.

Leaders can increase organisational effectiveness by sincerely and consistently practising the Seven Is because the Seven Is create an emotional bond with the leader and make others believe in what the leader wants to achieve. People who are emotionally connected to the leader and internalise the ideals of the leader are likely to make extraordinary efforts to achieve the leader’s vision.

The Seven Is of effective leadership are Integrity, Inclusiveness, Individualisation, Idealism, Industriousness, Innovation, and Inspiration:

• Integrity is a cornerstone of trust and shows that the leader has a high level of morality, walks the talk, and is simply an honest and good-hearted person.;
• Inclusiveness shows people that the leader values them and does not have favourites. Inclusiveness shows that the leader respects the contributions that others make and thus builds an emotional bond with the leader;
• Individualisation makes people feel that the leader cares about them and facilitates the development of close relationships with the leader because the leader is a mentor who willingly shares explicit and tacit information;
• Idealism shows people that the leader has high standards, an advanced sense of morality, and seeks a future that surpasses the present. Idealism stems from dissatisfaction with the status quo and an optimism that the future can be better than the present;
• Industriousness demonstrates that the leader walks the talk and is prepared to do more than what is asked of others. Great leaders work tirelessly towards their vision and this inspires others to do the same;
• Innovation occurs when leaders encourage people to reconsider old ways of doing things and create organisational cultures in which people feel safe to take risks and make mistakes. Leaders who are prepared to abandon old ways of doing and thinking, encourage others to do likewise, and act upon the ideas of others are able to facilitate creativity and ultimately innovation; and
• Inspiration is an outcome of great leadership and appears when the leader is someone who is an admirable role model and who creates a compelling vision that excites others and makes them identify with collective goals.

Leaders influence organisational effectiveness directly and indirectly. Leaders who are a role model and who work tirelessly and demonstrate exceptional social skills directly influence organisational effectiveness. However, leaders who practise the Seven Is of effective leadership can have a greater indirect influence on organisational effectiveness by exciting others to do their utmost to achieve organisational goals.


Article Contributed by Dr. Gian Casimir, Honorary Academic Advisor of Training Edge International and was a lecturer with Wharton School in the University of Pennsylvania. He currently lectures at the University of Newcastle in Singapore.
Email : Gian.Casimir@trainingedgeasia.com;
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com

The Art of Giving and Receiving Feedback

Giving feedback to others is a tough skill for managers all over the world, but in Asia it is even more difficult to accomplish for complex social and cultural issues. Feedback is a way to let people know how effective they are in what they are trying to accomplish, or how they affect you. It provides a way for people to learn how they affect the world around them, and it helps us to become more effective. If we know how other people see us, we can overcome problems in how we communicate and interact with them. Many years ago Kenneth Blanchard defined feedback as “the breakfast of champions” Unfortunately for many of us feedback has become associated with "criticism," but this seriously limits its meaning.

Some people experience feedback as pure criticism and don't want to hear it. Others see it as crushing; a confirmation of their worthlessness. Still others only want to hear praise, but nothing that might suggest imperfection. That's not the case for everyone, of course. Some people are willing to accept feedback and seek it out, even if it is sometimes disturbing, because they believe they can grow from it. We all have the right to expect feedback to be given in a respectful and supportive manner.

How you deliver feedback is important because it can be experienced in an extremely negative way. To be effective you must be tuned in, sensitive, and honest when giving feedback. It is a skill that needs to be developed with proper training and constant practice. The following are some helpful hints for providing good feedback.

Feedback should be……

Timely - it should be given as close as possible to the occurrence of the behavior in question to have maximum effect. It should be given at an appropriate time, in an amount the receiver can use, and checked for clarity of communication

Descriptive rather than judgmental/evaluative, directed toward remediable behavior, and designed to elicit an appropriate response.

Specific rather than general (based on first-hand data, actions, and behavior, not on the person or speculation about his or her intentions) giving feedback that includes specific examples of behaviours or actions.

Based on observed behavior or results, not personality.
Feedback that focuses on traits can be seen as a personal attack. (e.g., “You are too passive”)

Used positively. Avoid sweeping statements – words such as “always” or “never” can make people angry and defensive. (e.g., “You always avoid difficult cases” or “You never deliver on time”)

Presented as a method of improvement rather than as a punitive step and used as a method of improving performance and strengthening the professional relationship between manager and member of staff.

Given constructively as issues arise. Praise in public criticise in private. Avoid destructive criticism – it can breed resentment , intensify conflict and may have a negative impact on confidence and motivation.

Thought through, be aware of some possible solutions to problems beforehand.

When receiving any feedback, listen without comment, looking directly at the person. When they have finished, don't make any statements, but do ask questions if you want clarification. Don't accept, don't deny and don't rationalize. Because we are rarely taught to give feedback well, you will often get feedback when the giver is angry about something in the moment.

Recognize the courage it took to give you the feedback and consider it a sincere gift intended to help you grow.Thank the giver for feedback - make it short, but something you can say sincerely, such as "You've really given me something to think about, thanks." It is hard to feel real appreciation when you hear negative messages about your behavior, so it is important to have simple words of gratitude prepared ahead of time.

Know that feedback can be tough to receive, even if we solicit it and are grateful for it.Although it is simply another's perception, it can shake up your feelings about yourself. Plan to do something nice for yourself when you know you are facing tough feedback. Try to do something that bolsters self-esteem - dinner with friends, or engage in an activity that you are particularly good at.

Discuss the feedback with friends or others whose opinions you respect, but ask them not to react to the message.Tell them you are only looking for sympathy for the difficulty of going through a rigorous self-development process, but that you don't want them to agree or disagree with the feedback. It would be normal to want to invalidate negative feedback, and to get others to help you, but you will lose what may be a critical grain of truth if you do.

Article Contributed by Chris Fenney, Co-founder and Director of Training Edge International
Email : chris.fenney@trainingedgeasia.com
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com

Keeping Employees Without Spending More Money

In these current economic times the challenge for managers is to find ways to retain good employees without spending more money. In addition to saving money, you need to figure out how to get them to be happy to stay, rather than just hanging about being miserable because they don’t have any other options. The answer lies in creating attachment. This is a relatively new HR term used to describe employees who feel a sense of belonging to their organisation and are therefore less likely to leave if the going gets tough or another offer comes along. So you need to ask yourself: do your people feel attached or is your organisation easy to leave?

Being easy to leave is what Leigh Branham was talking about in “The 7 hidden reasons employees leave” when he described “push and pull factors” of engagement. He believes that most line managers blame “pull” factors (such as more pay) for people leaving rather than considering “push” factors (such as unfulfilling jobs, poor management practices and unhealthy work cultures) that open the door to the pull of outside opportunities. Another item to add to this list is lack of attachment. When an employee lacks attachment it often means they have not made a connection with any of the people they deal with in their role. It could be their manager, colleagues, a mentor, customers or even suppliers. Sometimes all it takes is one good connection to keep them going through the tough times.

Think about it . . . have you ever::

• stayed in a job longer than we might have because of the relationships we had formed?

• maintained contact with former work colleagues long after we have moved onto new roles?

• looked back fondly on a past workplace experience and realise that it was the people, not the tasks, that made it so memorable?

• followed a manager or a colleague when they left to join a new organisation?

If you answered yes to any of these questions then you have experienced the phenomenon called attachment.

Attachment is not a new concept. Psychologists first used the term to describe the attachment of mother and baby then later in discussing intimate relationships. I think attachment also applies to communities. We regularly hear stories of people who die alone and are not found for long periods because no-one in their community came to check on them. In other words, they hadn’t made any connections. These stories always bring a strong reaction in the media and spark a discussion on why we need to build stronger community ties. So strong attachment has long been seen as a sign of a healthy society and an organisation is really just another form of a society.

The goal of attachment is to make it more difficult for people to leave. So how do you know if your workplace is easy to leave? Here are some factors that might make the difference:

• You are forbidden from having personal items on your desk
• Non-work related conversations between staff are frowned upon
• New comers feel left out of social events
• Departments don’t speak to each other (the old silo mentality)
• Your manager makes no attempt to get to know you as a person, only as someone filling a role
• You don’t feel there is anyone in your workplace you can confide in
• The organisation is in business to make money and nothing else
• You don’t look forward to seeing your colleagues each day


Managers used to believe that keeping good people was all about the “golden handcuffs”: making people stay by offering financial incentives such as paying for higher education or share options but only if they stayed a certain amount of time. Another tactic still used in some industries involves getting people to sign employment contacts with “no competition clauses” that make them agree to not join certain organisations when the leave this employer. These strategies don’t work anymore. People now have more options and different motivators. We don’t just want a job, we want a rewarding experience. From a managers point of view, you don’t want people who only work for you because they have no other options. You want people who are passionate and motivated.

The answer to creating attachment is actually contained in the list above. Do the opposite of all these things and you can keep good your staff without spending any more money.

Article Contributed by Karen Schmidt ,an award winning speaker, workshop leader and facilitator and a re-engagement expert with Training Edge International .
Email : karen.schmidt@trainingedgeasia.com,
Website : www.trainingedgeasia.com