Work, success and meaning at every stage of your career
Seth Godin writes: “Tugboats don’t usually tug. They push. That’s because pushing is more mechanically efficient than pulling. When we pull, there’s tension and slack in the ropes, and the attachment between the puller and the pushed keeps changing. But the metaphor gets far more interesting when we think about leading instead. One bird at … Continue reading Pushing Doesn’t Work. Pulling is Unreliable. Try Leading Instead.
In a recent post, I encouraged everyone to be more generous. Generosity is not just a way to make the world a better place, it’s also the best way to build strong business relationships. Generosity is defined by sharing scarce resources, and almost no resources are more scarce than time and attention. Jason Harris is … Continue reading Time, Attention, Patience and Other Gifts
Jason Harris is the author of Soulful Persuasion: The 11 Habits that will Make Anyone a Master Influencer.He knows about persuasion; he’s CEO of the creative agency Mekanism and the cofounder of the Creative Alliance. He’s worked with brands like Peloton, Ben & Jerry’s, Miller Coors, HBO, and the United Nations. He write the book to help … Continue reading Be Generous
Pat Flynn, author of How to Get Better at Almost Everything, says that becoming a generalist has made him both successful and happy. He believes that generalists are more marketable, more productive, and more flexible, making them better candidates for almost any job. In a previous post, I wrote about Flynn’s concept of skill stacking, … Continue reading Skills You Need to Build Skills
No matter how independent you think you are, you’re susceptible to what others think and do.
It’s hard to compare groups of objects; we compare best when we have only two things to contrast. At least we think we do.
Influence is a book about how to be more persuasive, written by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D., who admits in the introduction that he wanted to research how and why he became such a patsy. “For as long as I can recall,” he writes, “I’ve been an easy mark for the pitches of peddlers, fundraisers and operators of … Continue reading How to Be More Persuasive Part 2: Reciprocity
All business communication is persuasive communication. Whether you’re in sales, business development, advertising, PR, or another persuasive profession, or leading a team, creating policies, or recruiting, you’re working on persuading someone else to take action. Influence is a book about how to be more persuasive, written by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D., who admits in the introduction … Continue reading How to Be More Persuasive
Pink writes that both in sales and ordinary human interactions, people aren’t likely to be persuaded by your reasons. No matter how compelling your argument, they essentially must persuade themselves to buy, change, or take action.
Pink’s premise for To Sell is Human is that “Yes, one in nine Americans works in sales. But so do the other eight. Whether we’re employees pitching colleagues on a new idea, entrepreneurs enticing funders to invest, or parents and teachers cajoling children to study, we spend our days trying to move others. Like it or not, we’re all in sales now.”
Your Work, Your Way 