Following last week’s post about finding and attracting clients, the question has surfaced: What personal attributes are critical to implementing an effective client pursuit plan? Sure, you have to be a good communicator, build relationships, organize your activities and have a good attitude…but what do you need to do to play in the big leagues?
Longtime readers of my blog know there’s one element that’s central to every post I write: being human at work. It seems obvious, but sometimes we forget that core common denominator in everything that’s important. And that’s why my blog is about “leading as a human being rather than a human doing.” Recently, I’ve had
One of my favorite books of 2014 was Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West by Blaine Harden. It chronicles the life of Shin Dong-Hyuk, the first person born in a North Korean political prison to get out and tell his story. The turning point in
We’ve been to the same furniture store four times and still haven’t bought a couch. Every visit we leave feeling overwhelmed with our choices. As the salesperson learns more about us, she presents more options—bedding, curtains and pillows to match! In her passion to present everything we might need, she’s driving us further and further
I learned to dance Salsa in a university class called Bailes Latinoamericanos. Having an analytical mind and a Lutheran heritage didn’t set me up as a natural success. But thankfully, I had a good instructor who helped me move my hips to the even beats with the characteristic pause on the fourth beat. While I
What risks and challenges will you face in the new year, and how will you respond? Like all of us, my colleague Pat Griffin has been broken several times in his life. The hardest might have been seven years ago when he moved his family from Iowa to Montana to start a consulting practice and
After going through six miscarriages, we’d agreed that we should choose our new baby’s name based on what it meant, not what it sounded like. So when we arrived at the hospital six months ago, we were in full agreement that if our baby was a girl, her name would be Matilda Mae (Matilda meaning
As I turned off my car engine, I panicked. I’d forgotten the name of one of the executives who would be in this meeting! Reassurance came quickly, though, when I realized I could just look it up on our CRM system on my phone. But as I headed into the building with my phone in
What role do your eyes play in building relationships? Quite a bit, according to a new study highlighted in the Wall Street Journal. It found that human beings are unique among animals in how we reveal and interpret our emotions through our eyes. The eyes really are the window to the soul, and since the
My nerves have been frayed. Not sleeping soundly. My breathing has been shallow and my body has felt unsettled. In moments of calm, I search my iPhone for an email, a text, a photo, a song, I don’t know what. Anx-i-e-ty: a feeling of worry, nervousness or unease, typically about an imminent event or something
Matt Norman is president of Norman & Associates, which offers Dale Carnegie Training in the North Central US. Dale Carnegie Training is a global organization ...READ MORE