When I was a kid, my father, a doctor, would take me along with him when he made his rounds at the hospital. I was always amazed at his focus and humanity. While my father was asking insightful questions of his patients, I was dreaming about lunch at the Strathmore Deli in Manhasset…I could just […]
Many organizations scale their business inorganically through buying and merging with companies that enhance/broaden their business proposition. “Overnight” these newly formed entities have a blended set of employees, vendors and customers. This is a fine strategy except once these marriages have taken place, an organization needs to meld their businesses into one cohesive unit that’s […]
As you prepare for your next meeting, imagine that CNN will be there broadcasting it live. How does that make you feel? Nervous? Self-conscious? Truth is, it shouldn’t matter. Facing your next meeting as if the whole world will see it let’s you take the bull by the horns: come what may, you are going […]
I believe it was Dale Carnegie who once said; “Arouse an interest in another person before you present your idea…” I’ve expounded on this for years…the sale is made in the listening, not in the presentation. But listening without perspective is a lost opportunity to connect. Doing some quick research about your key client contact, […]
You go into a meeting where you will be pitching your company’s services and/or products. At some point, the client turns into a charity case when their expectation is that you will do some of the work for free as “goodwill” to earn their business. Been there? And did you comply? You shouldn’t. Even though […]
Raise your hand if you have ever said one or more of the following: I’d like to spend time leading my team, but I’ve got to focus on…. Recruiting Renewing my existing clients Retaining my high performers Branding activity My P+L Business forecasting HR issues Compliance issues Daily fire drills Operational issues only I can […]
You are sitting in a presentation and the speaker doesn’t move…for an hour! Are you engaged in the content? Conversely, your presenter is on the move constantly and it is like watching a tennis match…back and forth, back and forth. Does that get your attention or is it distracting? Up to 90 percent of communication […]
I’ve just completed a program with the leader of an organization whose humility and confidence was profound. She participated in the program on Business Development with her direct reports. In a very demonstrative case of “leading by example,” she was willing to be coached and learn right along with them. It made a difference. Here’s […]
“How are you doing?” “How’s the weather where you are?” “What’s new?” “What’s your sign?” We all use small talk a lot to start of conversations. But too many times in business meetings, we use opening questions like those above (Ok…probably not the last one!), the answers to which do nothing to move your relationship […]
I have a client who hosts up to 25 conference calls with clients…per month! The challenge, besides the sheer volume, is that his clients usually have four people on the call and so does he. Adding to the complexity is that each conference call participant is in a different part of the world! I am […]
