Grant Stanley Consulting

Five reasons why emotional intelligence matters right now An emotionally intelligent workforce can help organisations meet many of their current challenges. Managers who are high in EI can help the business drive through change, stimulate innovation and get the best and most inspired performance from its people. Emotional intelligence is however a tool that is under-used and often widely misunderstood within the corporate environment. Managers are suspicious of the very word ‘emotion’ and often feel it has no place in a fast-paced competitive climate where tough decisions are being made on a daily basis. It’s important to recognise however, that being emotionally intelligent isn’t about being emotional – it’s about being able to manage yourself better and get the most out of your team while also paying attention to their welfare and individual needs. Here I share five reasons why emotional intelligence should form the backbone of every manager’s tool-kit: 1. It makes ...

I was recently visiting an established client and saw the opportunity to “Drop In” on a potential client that I had been repeatedly trying to contact.   Why wouldn’t you, I hear you ask?   I approached reception and Introduced myself and asked to speak to the Principle of the College (Let’s call her Bernie for Anonymity sake) and was told to wait in reception.   After 2 minutes of waiting, out storms this petite lady with a decidedly angry expression and the first words out of her mouth were; “I don’t know you, I don’t know your company and I never asked to see you!” Well, the consummate professional that I am, I didn’t balk at this onslaught and asked her for 5 minutes of her time.   It was wasted by the way, but I’ll explain why.   For those who study body language or NLP I could instantly tell that “Bernie” was not giving an inch; with her crossed arms and crossed legs, coupled with the etched scowl.   It turns out that my calls to her off...

For many years I have struggled and beaten off my competition through hard work and failures.   I have read many books and many articles on how to be the best Salesperson or the Best Marketer and have tried implementing all the advice.   I am sick to death of all of these How-To guides and the lack of actual real life examples of when these tips actually worked! A bit about me first so you can understand my frustrations.   I left the British Army in 1995 and having no actual trade to fall back on (well not one that would be of use in Civvy Street) I stumbled into Sales.   I found that I had a natural ability to listen to people, identify opportunities and close business, so did quite well.   For three years I worked for a small Sales and Marketing company that sold products and services on behalf of developing companies.   I managed to save enough money to put myself through University and in 1999 started a 3 year Bachelor of Science degree in Comp...

Selling can be sleazy when it’s manipulative. “Let me convince you to do something so I’ll get what I want.” If you want to grow your business, and feel good about yourself at the same time, it’s necessary to change the way you think about “selling.” Everyone buys things. If you provide a product or service that has real value and helps people solve real problems, there is someone who will want to buy it. That someone is struggling with the problem you’re prepared to solve. They wouldn’t want a solution if solving the problem wasn’t important to them. So if you can help them solve their problem and do a good job of it, you have become their new best friend. They not only will want to buy what you have to sell, they will want to buy from you again and again because now they have begun to trust that you are someone who can help them solve their problems. When you are able to shift your thinking from “I’m selling something” to “I’m serving someone by helping them solve a probl...

I will probably incur the wrath of many a Project Manager with this post but hey I have had that happen to me many times when working with them on various change initiatives. Anyway here we go … It never ceases to amaze me how the words Project Management and Change Management can be used in the same breath. In my experience (and this is not a criticism of PMs) Project Managers cannot execute Change Management because the two disciplines require a whole different set of skills and competencies. Unfortunately this seems to be something that is on the rise and it makes me wonder whether this contributes to so many change failures. Both disciplines aim for totally different outcomes: •Project Management is about installation. It focuses on a plan built around events and timelines with the aim of getting from a current state (no installation) to a future state (installation achieved). •Change Management is about adoption. It focuses on the people aspects of the change with...

Let’s face it. Your boss might not be the most emotionally evolved mammal on the planet.   Chances are you will have to deal with (or have already dealt with) a boss that is all too like the chicanery you see from Dunder Mifflin’s leadership team. No matter what you do, it’s never enough.   Your results are never big enough or fast enough.   Even though the boss is never there, when he/she does decide to show up they “second guesses” all your decisions and keeps asking “what the hell is going on around here?” All the while you are using all your big people skills to not shout out the obvious answer — “You would know if you were here…”   But you shut your mouth and pretend to take notes on the clipboard you are holding.   Muttering to yourself if having a job is really all that worth it. Not for bosses like that! The extra stress and chaos does nothing but bring you years closer to your death.   It’s not only stupid, it’s dangerous – to you...