* The following perspectives were taken from Michael Reddington’s presentation at DisruptHR 3.0 in Charlotte, NC on 4/25/18. We’ve all felt it before. The emotional combustion that results from our of our hearts pounding in our chests, our lungs gasping for more oxygen, our faces turning bright red and an eloquent string of curse words running through our brains while we try to choose how to verbalize our feelings without sacrificing our careers. What could possibly trigger such … [Read more...]
Maximize Mentorship
Heavy lies the crown. Success brings many rewards and many responsibilities. One of the greatest responsibilities your success bestows upon you is passing everything you’ve learned on to others who are eager to develop their careers. The very best leaders don’t see the next generation as a threat, withhold information and force their teams to rely on them. Great leaders see the next generation as an opportunity to carry the torch. They devote their time to mold their teams with the tools and … [Read more...]
Easily
We all face seemingly impossible professional and personal challenges every day. These professional challenges may include completing our to-do list, developing a new team, overcoming a poor leader, completing a sale with a tough client or getting an interview subject to tell the truth. Personal challenges may include raising children, starting an exercise routine, learning a new hobby or dealing with your in laws. It's common to perceive these challenges, and many others, as impossible. … [Read more...]
Forge Strength From Weakness
The story we heard wasn’t unfamiliar or inspiring. A client called saying they suspected a group of employees had been stealing from them for about a decade and they finally caught one employee in the act of stealing a week ago...and fired him on the spot. Then they sat down the three other suspects individually, told them they just fired the first employee and asked them if they were also stealing. Not surprisingly all three employees answered “No” and were immediately sent back to work. Now … [Read more...]
Take Bullets Out of Guns
Prior to any contentious conversation your counterparts may prepare to debate or challenge you in an effort to create a perception of leverage. This preparation is typically centered on one or two ideas, comments or issues. Often their entire strategy for the conversation is predicated on their ability to execute these challenges. When you accurately anticipate these challenges, and address them first, you render your counterpart rudderless. What they think can hurt you may just be what … [Read more...]
Chevrolet – The Heartbeat of American Persuasion
Selling automobiles is a tooth and nail struggle, contested among dozens of global competitors, for a large portion of our shrinking wallets. Buying a vehicle is one of the largest financial commitments most of us make. Yet, like any other purchase, we buy cars and trucks for both rational and emotional reasons. This is why some manufacturers boast about their safety record, and other manufacturers show beautiful people enjoying a fairy tale evening in the city. One specific manufacturer, … [Read more...]
The Power of Logistics
Everything you say and do should work towards the goal you are trying to achieve. This sounds like common sense, but business professionals often stray from the path. The most commonly neglected aspects of the communication process are the logistical aspects. Negotiators and sales professionals spend a lot of time detailing the agreements they want to achieve and what they need to say to achieve them. They don’t always consider how the logistics of the conversation can improve their ability … [Read more...]
Truth Verification – The Path to Unbiased Success
It’s happened to all of us. We started to get sick, we feel achy, or maybe we just had a hard time getting out of bed for a couple weeks. We wanted to know what’s causing us to feel this way, but we don’t want to visit the doctor. So what did we do – we hit the Internet. What better place to find accurate information from experts right? We search our symptoms on several different websites and 15 minutes later we are convinced we have multiple diseases, two of which could be fatal and one … [Read more...]
It’s not what YOU say, it’s how YOU say it
Rarely a day goes by when you don’t have to confront someone about their actions, or lack there of. It could be an employee who missed another deadline, a child who did not complete her homework, a co-worker who made inappropriate comments, or a counterpart in a negotiation who intentionally misled you. Our goals in these situations often include getting the truth, learning our counterpart’s motivation and positively affecting future behavior - without damaging the relationship. … [Read more...]
Connect the Dots
Leaders have all had gut feelings that warned them their counterparts may be speaking dishonestly dishonestly. Most of the time these gut feelings are accurate because subconsciously we identified verbal and/or behavioral anomalies that didn’t fit the situation. There are many common myths and stereotypes surrounding deception detection and unfortunately most of them are false. Unfortunately there is no magic clue that always alerts leaders to deception. There is however, a system they can … [Read more...]
