Magic Dust Status

Today I attended the excellent Professional Speaking Association Spring Convention at The Bloomsbury Ambassador Hotel, in London.

Great keynote speakers, all reiterating the same point that nowadays it's even more important for leaders to step-up to the plate and improve on their skills, and one way they can do that is in the power of public speaking.

Knowing how to inspire and motivate is one vital component towards making sure a leader is 'the difference that makes the difference'.

In the coming week's I'll be writing more about this process, and how I help managers, C.E.O.'s and leaders in industry to develop their speaking skills in order to achieve what I call 'magic dust status'.

If you're a great manager that wants to make the transition to leader, then keep reading in the days and weeks ahead and you'll get some hot tips to help you on your way to succeed.

Should Lenny Henry Apologise?

I was pleased to hear Comic Relief co-founder Richard Curtis has now apologized for the supposed comic spoof of movie ‘The King’s Speech’ at the beginning of last Friday’s TV special. 

In the spoof, comedian Lenny Henry, was ‘inserted’ into the crowd as King George VI stammered whilst making a speech to thousands of people. The scene is pivotal to the movie in demonstrating the impact that the stammer had on the King’s life, and the lives of those around him. Lenny Henry’s ‘gag’ was to screw his face up and shout “blimey your Highness, we’ve only got 7 hours you know.”

My Story
As anyone who’s attended my workshops will know, I tell the story of having had a severe stutter whilst at school. I was also bullied from during those days until my mid 20's, and even though now I speak with relative ease, that experience left an indelible imprint on my life. 

It was unfortunate to have seen this type of cheep humour traded as an introduction to what such a wonderful event as Comic Relief undoubtedly is. 

I have so many memories of the bullies at school rolling in fits of laughter at my obvious discomfort and embarrassment - which sounds a little like Lenny Henry's 'gag' that began Comic Relief last Friday, doesn’t it? 

Spontaneity
Some argue that comedy should be uncensored on television and radio. As a business trainer and ex-professional singer/actor who loves the spontaneity of comedy I understand, but surely one of the 1st rules of comedy is that the other person is laughing, too - and I can’t imagine many stutterers laughed at that joke on Friday.


There's a fine line between being a comedian and a bully. Comedians laugh with their audience, bullies laugh at them. Bullies justify their actions by saying, "it was only a bit of fun, a joke", and those that support them agree by saying, "well, what harm could it do?"

Lenny Henry
Lenny Henry is an excellent comedian. Though surely if he wanted to include such a topical joke, as ‘The King’s Speech’, maybe he should also have considered an equally crass joke about the horrible events still unfolding in Japan. Funny, or outrageous? Beyond the pale, I know, but that's one of the differences between someone who truly believes what they say is respectful and funny (and great comedy is), and someone who doesn't care - plus of course, a bully is never brave enough to really ‘go it alone’ as such a joke about Japan would obviously have been. Bullies select 'easy' targets, targets unable or too embarrassed to fight back. 

It's sad to think so little has changed since my school days, and to think such a stupid insult of a joke could be used as the introduction to a major charity fundraiser. There are so many other 'untouchable' subjects in comedy, whereby moral decency rules the day (as it should).

Apology
Lenny Henry overstepped the line during last Friday’s show. The comedian became the bully. As Richard Curtis has now apologised, I hope Lenny Henry is man enough to do so to, without any quip, excuse, straight down the line, “sorry.”

A Clear Message For Business?

Tomorrow is budget day here in the UK, and already the speculation has started as to what Chancellor George Osborne may or may not do to manage and re-invigorate the economy.

My hope is that he uses clean language in terms of how he and his team have arrived at their conclusions and what they plan to do in order to achieve economic growth after one of the deepest recessions and biggest deficits in recent history.

Whilst some may not agree with the route the Government have chosen, so long as the decision is delivered clearly, and with vision and strength, then the plan has a chance of success. After all, markets and industry react to clear vision - they also react to inconsistency and dithering.

So, Mr Osborne, it's all up to you and your team. 'Clean language' is the order of the day. By you using that, confidence can continue to rise and be rebuilt, and that is one of the most important jobs any government needs to deliver for the markets, and even more importantly, for it's people.

Walking The Path of Least Resistance

Roger Hamilton, creator of the Wealth Dynamics profiling tool, used by many business coaches, emphasizes the importance of walking 'the path of least resistance' on the road to your success.

But knowing which path might be the one for you to tread is often a journey point at which an individual initially stumbles.

As a coach, I ask three very simple and straight forward questions at the beginning of a coaching assignment; 'why here, why me, and why now?'

• Why here - what is it in your life or business that brings you to consider coaching?
• Why Me - what is it about me that says to you 'I am 'the one' you need to work with?
• Why now - how clear are you about the consequences of taking this action, and also of not taking the action - what's making it a 'must'?

As a business coach, I find that the clearer you are with the answer to the three 'why?' questions, the easier will be the next step that will take you towards identifying your path of least resistance.

Ask yourself now; 'why are you here reading this blog post? Why my blog post? And why is now the time you must take action?'

Answer that, and you've taken the first step.

What Kind Of Networker Are You?

One of the quickest ways to build a business is with effective networking. However, not all networkers are the same. Deciding what type of networker you want to be could make all the difference.

The ‘1 minute before' networker is the person who arrives at a business event 1 minute before it begins. They time their journey precisely - quick sign-in, get a badge, and straight in to the meeting.

No time to peruse the attendance list; this is 'headlss chicken mode' - in for the kill. A ‘1 minute before’ networker doesn’t realise some people arrive early, or even pre-arrange meetings with other attendees before hand.

The ‘fully plugged-in’ networker – arrives at an event early, knowing who they want to talk with. They don't confuse networking with 'hard sell'. Instead, they have intelligent, focused, relaxed and genuine conversations. Other networkers gravitate to them. They have an authentic air of believability about them. For them, networking is a enjoyable and profitable way to build their business.

The ‘is it that time already? Got to dash!' networker is the type of person who usually leaves, or disappears, from an event when they think no one is looking. Because they don't really plan why they are there or what they want to attract, networking is a trauma - a necessary evil business owners have to endure, to flee from at the earliest opportunity. For them, networking is never a success, as the only connections made are with fellow sufferers.

The question is which type of networker are you?

UPGRADE NOW!

What would becoming a ‘fully plugged-in' networker do for your business?

The Mental Game of Tennis

Watching Andy Murray crash out of the Australian Open Tennis Championship finals yesterday was painful viewing.

By contrast, his victor, the excellent young Serbian, Novak Djokovic, who won in three straight sets, really did play the bigger game and was an absolute joy to watch.
 
The Mental Game of Tennis
Was it only me, but did anyone else notice Andy come on to the court and play the match with 'defeat' written all over him? Djokovic however, had a spring in his step (even with a plastered knee and shoulder), moving around the court chest out, shoulders back, a smile on his face - even though obviously concentrating on the task in hand. He looked as if he was enjoying playing tennis.

Contrast this to the Murray slouch; shoulders down, face looking bemused into a grimace, breaking only to shout expletives every time he missed a shot - which happened a lot. Whilst he has undoubtedly done much work on technique and strength, what he also obviously needs is to work on his inner game - the mental game of tennis. Whether it's with a mentor, someone who's been there and done it before, or a mental conditioning coach, he needs to figure out a way to enjoy his game, whether winning or losing.

Mental Coaching & Training
Yesterday, we saw two very different mental games at play. Dvokovic wanted to win and believed he could, whereas Murray wanted to win but doubted he could. That slight difference can so often be 'the difference that makes the difference'. Federer also played a negative mental game in his semi-final and lost, as did Nadal before him - and I know Nadel was injured, but 'positive' Nadel may well have carried on, and won that match.

In tennis, as in business (there are so many parallels, which I'll discuss another day), talent, fitness, strength and dedication,  are all important. The thing is, if you have a plentiful supply of them, as Andy Murray does on the tennis court, and yet still somehow play the smaller game when we can all see he's capable of playing the bigger one, that's the real sadness of yesterday's loss.

Grand Slam
On paper, Andy Murray can still win a Grand Slam final in the future. However, if you look at the inner games he tends to play in his head, then winning a tournament actually looks very unlikely.

An in form Federer is simply graceful to watch. Nadal 'in his zone' he is a force of nature. Watching Djokovic yesterday was an inspiration - I felt better for having watched a player so obviously at the top of his game.

...and Murray, let's just say he was a disappointment. He wasn't just beaten, he was wiped off the court, with a whimper and a scowl.

If You See Andy, Tell Him
So, if you know Andy, please give him my number and tell him to call me! Because until he plays a better mental game of tennis, winning a Grand Slam first in his head before he ever steps on to a court - and I know we're all talking Wimbledon here -  doing it for real might just remain a 'shoulda, woulda, coulda' pipe dream.

Sell The Sizzle, Not The Steak!

How many times have you found yourself listening to someone at a networking event going on and on and on about the technicalities of how they do what they do?

They’re making the mistake of talking about the features too early in the conversation, when all we want to hear about are the benefits – what’s in it for us.

It's helpful to think about features as the bare-bones of a service or product, whereas the benefits are the value or the solution the customer will get from buying it.

If you recognise yourself doing this, in essence what you're doing is talking about the steak, when all you should be talking about is the sizzle.
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