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The Power of Story Telling

A powerful way to develop creative solutions is with storytelling.  Today companies are looking for ways to solve problems using creative processes. Creative storytelling offers significant benefits to every company. This process is not only much more rewarding for everyone involved , it actually produces more innovative and longer lasting results.   Here are just a few of the reasons why storytelling can help your company to develop collaborative solutions that deliver a genuine return on investment. Creativity and Ideas Generation Creative thinking in business yields measurable results. A culture of creativity within an organisation fosters idea generation and nurtures innovation. A co-creation process involves more people, which in turn generates more ideas. These people can include employees, customers and the wider community. Ideas that are developed within this group inform the story behind your business and your brand. Make use of the experiences of these pe...

Great Quotes to use in your next meeting!

“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”                                 George S. Patton Although this is relevant to many walks of life, this is particularly relevant to sales leaders who, as activists and experienced sales professionals in their own right, often tell people what to do because they (like their people) have fast minds and feel that they always need to have the answer. “Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become successful.”                                 Zig Ziglar This quote is highly relevant to a sales or sales leadership role. It is effective because it brings...

Painting a Picture to attain Engagement

All great leaders communicate with maximum impact and regularly get their people (either physically or virtually) to give them direction, keep them informed, inspire them, motivate them and engage them to commit to achieving success at both the individual and team level. Competent sales people typically have fast minds. They like a mental challenge, they enjoy new ways of looking at the world and they are activists. They are also extroverts, they want to be entertained, they want to be successful and they want recognition for their success. All of these attributes mean that being successful at leading a sales force can be a real challenge and requires an ability to use every communication to inspire and motivate their people to step up to the challenge, at both the individual and team level. This means that great sales leaders need to be great communicators. They need to ensure that all of their communications are ‘high impact’. A critical element of any leader’s tool-kit is the ...

Appreciate All your Employees!

A navy pilot completed hundreds of hours of training and then flew dozens of combat missions. He shot down dozens of enemy planes, bombed many targets, and earned a chest full of medals, along with higher ranks. He was quite prooud of his accomplishments. On one mission, a crucial piloting error allowed an enemy missile to disable his jet and he was forced to bail out. His parachute deployed and he landed safely in the ocean. As he floated for two days waiting to be rescued he had plenty of time to think back over his career. When the helicoptor finally picked him up and returned him to his ship, he went directly to the flight equipment room. He asked to speak with all the sailors that worked there. When they were all assembled, he thanked them for packing his parachute. He explained that it took being shot down to make him understand how much he took for granted the labors of others that made his job possible - the mechanics, the flight crew, the cooks, and even the parach...

Stepping Up

Often, we hear people asking someone to 'Step Up' to a challenge that needs to be done. Stepping Up means that you have accepted the responsibility, not of Starting that job, but of Finishing it. Before you stepped up, you were in a comfortable position, no stress, no effort being put out - kind of like just standing here. You could stand here for an hour easily. You aren't getting anywhere, but it's easy. Once you 'Step Up' to a challenge, it is no longer comfortable. Others now expect you to perform. You have work to do and it may be difficult. It's like Stepping Up onto this chair. (step one foot onto the chair seat, keeping only the toes of the other foot on the floor) This is a difficult position. It isn't comfortable. I haven't accomplished anything and I can't stay here long. I have to do something. So, I 'Follow Through' - I complete all the work required for the task and I do what I said I would do. (stand with both feet ...

A Lesson from Noah!

Don't miss the boat. Remember we're all in the same boat. Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark. Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big. Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done. Build your future on high ground. Use the buddy system. Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs. When you're stressed, float a while. Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.

True Story

Some of you probably have outdoor clothing you wear that is made from Polartech or Polarfleece material. The company that makes these materials is called Malden Mills. The owner of the company is a deeply religious man of the Jewish faith named Aaron Feuerstein. On December 31, 1995, his factory caught fire and burned to the ground. The factory employed 3,400 workers and was the main employer for two neighbouring towns. The area once had many mills but most had closed and moved to areas where they could pay people less money to work. Mr Feuerstein felt that people should be paid a decent wage and so he wouldn't move his factory. The fire occurred on his 70th birthday. The workers believed it was the end of the line for their jobs. Surely, Mr Feuerstein would take the $300 million in insurance money and call it quits. While the smoke was still rising from the charred remains of the fire, Mr Feuerstein called his workers together at a school gymnasium and spoke to them. They w...