Last week I spent several weeknights awake much later than normal—all because of a book. On Wednesday night, when the clock hit 11:30, I noticed, for the first time, the library coding on the book in my hands: “Teen Fiction.” A trusted friend had told me I had to read the Hunger Games trilogy, and
Leadership is the ability to motivate others to risk, sacrifice and engage. It’s not necessarily a job title or position—there are times when you will have to lead but you won’t have the power structure that generates leverage. So what can you do to influence others in these situations? One strategy is to frame a
Growth often results from pain and discomfort. Sometimes suffering yields obvious and tangible results in and of itself (like exercise) whereas other times it is our response to suffering that determines whether we become bitter or better. Despite our fear of being broken, if we embrace and effectively move through challenge, we can better lead
Since the 1970’s, Xerox and IBM fueled a point of view that the best salespeople frame their solution in the context of a need. Thought leaders such as Mike Bosworth, Neil Rackham and Percy Whiting have advocated a consultative framework for selling that led with questions in order to establish a business and emotional case
Concise messaging results in more relevant, collaborative and effective communication – especially in meetings. To help me with this, I wish I had a Twitter character-counter inside my brain. Last week, I sat quietly in a team meeting listening to perspectives while I formulated mine. When just enough confidence in my point of view intersected
Power usually moves down organizational hierarchy and through customers to client-facing teams to support functions. With each pass through level or functional silo, people get further away from the epicenter of strategy and market demand. This distancing pushes people away from the planning process and into need fulfillment. The result is organizations filled with functional
People often want more responsibility and a bigger title. Whether it’s at a full-time job or on a volunteer board, leaders are wired to pursue greater influence. Increasing responsibility and influence is a way for us to be more valuable. One challenge with positioning ourselves for more responsibility is being promotable without being self-promotional. And
The only people that don’t admit to fighting insecurity at times are insecure about being honest. While insecurity is a part of being human, it can limit our clarity, creativity and communication. Dale Carnegie Training conducted research last year, and will follow with further research to be released next month, revealing that the feeling of
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