Negotiation

Two People Arguing

(Influential Leadership) Disagree the Right Way

Disagreements can be unpleasant.   Disagreeing the wrong way can create bad feelings and sour a relationship.   Avoiding a disagreement can be just as bad. You can mislead the other person into believing you support their ideas, destroying trust when they realize their mistake. This doesn’t even have to have been an active attempt […]

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Apology Signs

(Influential Leadership) Own Your Mistakes

Own Your Mistakes…Without Excuses Apologies can be awkward.   However, owning up to your mistakes in a very professional way is one of the most important career moves you can make! True leaders don’t hesitate to own up.   Think of the famous Tylenol poisoning case. In many ways, Johnson & Johnson didn’t even make

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On Phone, Looking At Computer

(Influential Leadership) Name That Behavior

Have you ever been in a meeting where you were trying to influence the other person, and you noticed that they: Glanced at the computer screen while you spoke? Took phone calls or answered emails? Picked up items from the inbox to process? Got interrupted by a knock on the door? In any way seemed

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edwin andrade 4V1dC eoCwg unsplash Audience Asking Questions

(Influential Leadership) Ask Effective Questions

Master The Art of Asking Effective Questions My last two posts discussed the importance of paying attention to someone’s tension (their level of urgency) in order to influence them, and that for someone to act on your idea (or “buy” from you) their tension needs to reach the Threshold of Activation. If they are not

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ethan elisara 9VRlK7lu1Ck unsplash Swimmer Jump

(Influential Leadership) The Threshold of Activation

My last post discussed the concept of “productive tension.” Tension can be defined as the urgency one feels to do something.   To be effective with others you need to develop a keen awareness of where someone’s “threshold” is – specifically, their Threshold of Activation.   What is the Threshold of Activation? The Threshold of

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romain v nMDp15T4lJ0 unsplash

(Influential Leadership) Pay Attention To Tension

What is Tension Anyway? The critical factor that determines what changes someone will make and when those changes occur is TENSION. Tension can be defined as the urgency one feels to do something.   Tension determines what some will notice and what they will ignore. A key principle to remember is that people pay attention

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