Coach’s Corner – Building Resilience
What is resilience? As defined by the Webster’s Dictionary, it is “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.” The past few months and looking forward to the coming months, resilient people and businesses will recover and succeed. The recovery and adjustment will not be to the old ways, it will be to a “new normal” that has been imposed by current situations and restrictions—social distancing being one by-product. The question for many is how do we build resilience? What are the steps or processes that we can incorporate into our lives that strengthen our resiliency? How do we move forward successfully? “Resilience is accepting your…
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Coach’s Corner – five thoughts on being an effective mentor
Managing Your Workforce Remotely
Covid-19 has fast-tracked us into a new business paradigm that was, just a few months ago, only slowly infiltrating our business lives. A Gallup poll recently showed that by the end of April, 63% of people had worked from home in the preceding seven days. A Global Workplace Analytics survey shows that between 25% – 30% of the U.S. workforce will be working from home post-pandemic for multiple days of the week. Interestingly, some 77% will want to work from home. This “new norm” will require managers to rethink, not only their management approach and practices, but also learn new skills. Here are 8 things you should bear in mind…
The COVID Stress Challenge
We live in crazy times and given the number of stressors flying about us it’s no wonder many of us are struggling to retain a sense of equilibrium. Minister for Women and Gender Equality, Maryam Monsef, recently said, “What the pandemic has done with the self-isolation measures, with the closures of some of the support systems, is create a powder keg.” She was referring to the recent increase in domestic violence across Canada, but it’s not a stretch to imagine business relationships being strained by the stress we are all under with the current situation. And, we need to consider our employees who are working from home cloistered with their spouses, children…
Coach’s Corner – five thoughts on being an effective mentor
“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”— Isaac Newton Although this column generally speaks to coaching, it is important to also recognize that mentoring in organizations is a valuable resource. In coaching we assume that the person being coached is the expert and knows their role. In mentoring, however, the person being mentored, the mentee, is an individual who may be “learning the ropes.” They may be more junior in the organization and gaining experience. Mentors provide support because they have the knowledge, experience, and expertise to share with their mentee. “Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a…
3 tele-sales tips
First, should you use a script or not? Rhetorical question: there’s no right answer. On the one hand, if you are supremely confident and know exactly what you want to say, then not using one maybe the best way to go. But if you have even an iota of doubt, a script can sometimes help ensure you cover all the points you need to make, especially when selling a new product or service. The key is, if you do use one, it should never come across as a script and you should allow enormous flexibility so that if the prospect interrupts you, it doesn’t throw you off kilter, or make…
Does your integrity bear scrutiny?
That’s an in-your-face question. It almost slaps you across the face with its audacity. How dare anyone cast aspersions on you or your company’s integrity. Your knee-jerk reaction is to undoubtedly to say, 100%. But, is anyone 100% honest and ethical all the time? Is any company that honest and above board? What about shades of grey? Would every one of your employees score 100% on an integrity meter? What about you or your management team? Now for a scary thought: what about your advertising and promotional literature or your hiring practices? The problem with integrity is that there is no sliding scale, you either have integrity or you don’t.…
Coach’s Corner – How can you delegate more effectively?
“If you really want to grow as an entrepreneur, you’ve got to learn to delegate.” – Richard Branson, British entrepreneur Have you ever found yourself in a position where you know there are things you shouldn’t be doing? Do you sometimes feel it is easier for you to simply do them rather than have someone else take them on? Do you find it difficult to delegate because you feel others will not do the task as well as you can or the way you would do it? These are common thoughts that leaders and managers have about delegating activities and tasks. Here are some ideas on how you may become a…
Common grammar errors that annoy readers
In business writing, the goal is to be clear and concise. It’s also a good idea not to confuse people or annoy them with some of those common grammatical mistakes we all make from time to time. It’s strange, but most of the following grammatical no-no’s actually make some people very angry. Sometimes, they are things that have over the years become accepted; they in effect have become a cultural norm, but they are still technically incorrect. Language is in a state of constant change, but when writing for business it’s often a good idea to err on the side of caution. The last thing you want to do is…
Writer’s block
Here is some advice from an award-winning writer Mike Wicks: In business we have to write reports, emails, guides, proposals; all types of communication are vital to the smooth running of our businesses. Whether you are a good writer or not, there will come a time when you are faced with a blank page and come up well, blank. You have no idea of how to start or put into words what it is you need to communicate. Then the fear and frustration rise; you are experiencing writer’s block. Gene Fowler, an American journalist, author and dramatist once said, “Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank…
Secrets of a Sales Rep #6
The following article was written by Mike Wicks; He is currently a writer and author, but at the beginning of his career he was a professional salesman. He has developed dozens of sales and marketing courses and has provided hundreds of hours of sales and marketing training over the course of his career. He is also an advisor to the Innovation Center of Entrepreneurship at the University of Victoria. “Salespeople Come in All Shapes and Sizes” is the sixth in a series of articles in which he shares with his readers his secrets to sales success. The fifth “Secrets” article was published in this publication in July 2019. In my…
