Thursday, November 29, 2012

MEASURABLE PROGRESS – REASONABLE TIME

Big True Fact: Experiencing proof of your progress and achievement will spur you on to even greater success!

Something we discuss at every meeting is -- are members making measurable progress in reasonable time? One of the goals of Master-Mind is that members make progress that can be measured by counting something or concretely observing something substantial. We want every member to make noticeable steady progress, to keep getting better, to approach that DONE Business Ideal and upon reaching that goal to enjoy it and, of course, to sustain it.

Since measurable progress matters so much we talk about and plan for it and encourage all the appropriate behavior to make it happen throughout our entire group meeting. And it feels really good to experience this from one month to the next month when we meet again.

Human beings like feeling that progress, growth, new understanding, learning and such is happening. These things feel good. The opposite of these things -- stagnation, frustration and being totally stuck – causes stress and unhappiness and misery which no one wants.

We know how to make the operation of any viable small business highly successful. You just have to do enough of the things that are known to work. Those things are not a secret. We talk about them and share experiences using them at each and every Master-Mind Alliance meeting. 

Wednesday, November 28, 2012


PERSUASION, THE KEY EVERYTHING

Wikipedia says PERSUASION is the influence of beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations, or behaviors. They go on to say that it’s a process aimed at changing a person's (or a group's) attitude or behavior toward some event, idea, object, or other person(s), by using written or spoken words to convey information, feelings, or reasoning, or a combination thereof.

That’s pretty good. Persuasion certainly is one of the several way in which you use communication. You often communicate with the intention of persuading an individual or a group of people. With this aim in mind, you might all want to get better at persuading huh.

Think about how important it is to be able to get others to do what you want and immediately a few benefits for learning to speak more persuasive should spring to mind. You’ll make more money. That’s clearly good. You’ll be a more substantial resource when you are helping others. That’s good too. And of course, you’ll get your way more often. These are obvious reasons to sharpen your persuasion skills.

Now the question is HOW. What specific communication techniques will help a person become more persuasive and how can they be practiced and learned? Well, some of the basic techniques have names. Here are a few: The Magic Opening technique. The Magic Word. Embedded Commands. The Suppose Ploy. The Any Good Reason Question.

These are persuasive communication techniques you can put to good use when you wish to get people to things for you. Things like: Buy from you. Come in on a Saturday to help you paint the bathroom. Drive more slowly when on the freeway at night. Or vote for you in the upcoming election.

Of course, there are many more opportunities to wield persuasion more effectively. You can probably think of several from your life right now.

Persuasion, specifically outlining how to use the techniques listed above, will be the subject of our CHALK TALK in December 2012 meeting of the Master-Mind Alliance. 
PEAK PERFORMANCE LEADERSHIP

How do you manage yourself and lead your people effectively as you slog through the operation of your small business day after day after day? What does it take to win at leading employees? What about leading customers and clients who you want to get to do things that are good for your business, namely buy from you? How do you do this stuff well every day? What are the requirements for good leadership? What is the official role you play when you lead? And what is Peak Performance and how does that fit into this whole leadership thing.

This was the subject of our Chalk Talk in the November 2012 Master-Mind Alliance meeting.

When you lead others effectively, with a minimal amount of effort and with a minimal supervision on your part, you inspire people to willing start and successfully complete things you want done. This is the official definition of LEADERSHIP.

And PEAK PERFORMANCE, well that’s consistent excellence in thinking and behaving applied to an activity or task. It’s a condition in which your mind, body and emotions are fully committed and you engage with utter conviction and desire to excel.

Put Leadership and Peak Performance together properly and you’ll be able to construct accurate productivity monitoring systems that give you valid and reliable knowledge of what’s happening in your business. You’ll be able to develop skilled employees you trust. And you’ll be able to enjoy consistent competent execution of well-crafted game plans with automatic course correction procedures in place.

It all comes down the one big secret. To win at leading others you must first take care of yourself in all things. When as a manager of your own self, you are fit and happy, then and only then you are ready and able to lead others effectively. 

You Come First!

Monday, November 26, 2012


THE KEY TO LEADERSHIP

Persuade, beg, threaten or force. When you lead people, which of these techniques do you most often employ? And which one works best? And how can you get better at it?

Please remember that when you assume the role of a leader in your business, or anywhere for that matter, your responsibility, your task is to…with a minimal amount of effort and with minimal close supervision on your part…INSPIRE people to willing start and successfully complete things you want done. That’s it. So persuade, is that what you do? Or must you resort to begging, or threatening or forcing?

And also remember this business owner big true fact. You want to effectively operate all aspects of your small business so you can make a difference, have fun, build a great life and become as rich as possible. Deep in your heart this is what you want. And that happens when you are able to consistently get the right things done right the first time and on time and on budget with as little stress and as much joy as possible for all concerned, especially you.

Of course, you must assume the leadership role at times, usually every day. You may have employees to lead. You certainly have customers or clients to lead, so they will buy from you. And resorting to begging, threatening or forcing in order to get someone to buy from you is never effective. Effective leaders persuade, they don’t beg or use threats or force.

No choice.

An ineffective leader either does not get people to do anything he wants and, therefore, feels frustrated and probably sad or angry a lot of the time. Or he must resort to begging or threatening or force to have his wishes carried out. And if he does that, then he must constantly closely monitor those he would lead or, upon noticing that he has left the scene or that his vigilance has waned, they will immediately stop doing what he wants done. In the threat or force case, when the intimidation stops so does the compliance. If the relationship is one of master slave, the slave aint gonna ever be happily compliant.

When you lead, the key to being effective is to be persuasive. Persuasion is the skill you must master. An effective leader persuasively inspires people so they willing want to do things he wants done and, therefore, his followers do not require his constant monitoring and attention. He can do other things and everyone can be happy.

Now the question of course is how can you effectively persuade someone to do something you want done? And the answer is simple. You persuade people by using the Request-Plus-Reason technique.

Request-Plus-Reason: By using a combination of talking and explaining and showing and demonstrating, you lay out the specific advantages those you would lead will enjoy when they comply with your request and follow your lead, do what you want. This means you do The Vision Thing. Using words you paint a pretty picture of a desirable future in the minds of those you want to do something.

And the kicker is that then you give them a reason for complying with your request to take some sort of action.

For example, you say, “Buy this great copier today and you’ll be able to make as many colorful beautiful copies as you want for years and years because this unit has all the features you say you want.” 

Request-Plus-Reason, you already do this a lot. You may not think of it as such, but it is.

Here’s another example. You’re at the grocery store checkout line with only a few items and several people are in front of you. You don’t want to wait. So, you say, “Excuse me, I only have a few things, may I go ahead of you?” People look at you and often times, nothing happens, they don’t budge, and with frustration, and maybe a little embarrassment, you have to wait your turn.

But — if you change the words of your request just a bit, to, “Excuse me, may I go ahead of you, because — I only have a few things?” This simple change in your request will often produce a much different reaction. And now, many people will indeed wave you ahead of them. 

What’s the difference? In the second request, you gave the people in line ahead of you a reason to let you move ahead.  You said, “because — I only have a few things.” And this worked.

When attempting to persuade an individual or a group of people to be most effective, you must talk about purpose and mission and results and such…and…if you’re smart about it…you’ll give them a reason for taking the action you wish them to take.

To make Request-Plus-Reason work, your request must be sensible and practical  and your reason must be clear and believable. When those things are present then persuasion works well and leading is relatively easy.