Monthly Archives: April 2009

Engaging a new method of leadership

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Engaging a new method of leadership
By LEE KIAN SEONG

Incorporating high emotional intelligence and sensitivity

PETALING JAYA: The new type of leadership should possess high emotional intelligence apart from a keen sense of sensitivity towards people, says Dr George Kohlrieser.

The professor of Leadership and Organisational Behaviour at the International Institute for Management Development, Switzerland, said it was important for leaders to understand what were the things that motivated people and this involved a high level of social skills.

“As a leader, you have to be good in business but it doesn’t automatically make you a good leader. A good leader is able to create vision, develop strategies and plans, and can influence people to participate and deliver the vision and working together as a team,” he told StarBiz at the training conference on “Leading from the Mind’s Eye” yesterday.

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Decision making

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Decision making is one of the most important things that we do, especially for those in a leadership role.

A poor decision can cause us much anguish and a good decision can free us to enjoy the result.

This excerpt of a talk by Prem Rawat really give a clear and unique perspective on decision making that coincides with the method of www.threebrainsynergy.com.

Spring up your selling skills to improve your business!

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Do you sell solutions or products and services? There is a big difference between the two. Most people today only want to deal with sales people if they can provide solutions to their problems or opportunities to improve sales, operations and lower costs.

Otherwise you will be treated as a commodity and only be able to sell based on price and delivery. The more you can sell on value and return on investment the more profitable your selling will be.

There is a big difference in the skill set required to sell solutions versus commodities. The higher up the person is in their organization to which you are selling, the greater quantity of selling skills you will need.

There are four key skill sets a professional salesperson needs to continuously develop to be at the top in their respective field.

1. Self-knowledge & understanding
2. Product and technical knowledge
3. Planning & organization
4. People skills

Notice that I did not list selling skills, such as listening, closing, negotiation. Of course these skills or techniques are important, but I incorporate them in the four skill sets I listed.

Business owners and sales professionals, who want to excel in their business, must understand the components of these skill sets and know how to develop themselves according to their own strengths and weaknesses.

I used this approach to train and coach Mario Lapointe of SMT-ASSY. After one year Mario more than doubled his sales, amongst other accomplishments.

Watch a video interview with Mario here.

Join Me on Thursday April 23rd at 1:00 PM EST for a FREE tele-seminar where I will explain the components of these four skill sets and how to improve your sales and profits by developing greater proficiencies.

To register for the seminar simply reply to t his email or send a request to sgoldberg@optimusperformance.ca

Stephen Goldberg

Advice on teamwork from an 8 year old

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This morning I read about a local Atom A hockey team, the Lasalle Lions,  that went unbeaten all year in 51 games and won their regional championship. The star player, Nathaniel Larivée, had the most points in the league although a few other kids on the team also were in the top level. Actually a line-mate of Nathaniel had more goals than he did but the star had more assists than goals. We are talking about 8 year old here.

I remember when my son played hockey at that age and passing was kind of rare. It was mostly a free for all and the best puck carrier usually hogged the disc.

What was interesting is that they interviewed the star player and asked him what he liked most about his season. Was it scoring goals and racking up the points? Surprisingly he answered none of that but simply what he enjoyed most was the team spirit.

This is interesting coming from an eight year old who had not been trained in teamwork and has probably not yet been sufficiently brainwashed to work towards the NHL and a star’s salary. What is still most important at that age is enjoying himself with his buddies on the team and that in his mind equates to team spirit. I am sure he enjoys winning but that is not what he expressed as the most important.

This is what we need to rekindle in our organizations as we move towards fixing our economy and solving the big problems like war, the environment, poverty, etc.  Without rediscovering true team spirit we have little chance of survival as a species because the causes of those big problems need to be solved through the participation and contribution of each person.

Stephen