You Can be Great If You Really Want To

Based on my experience in the area of Emotional Intelligence (EI), a group of internal consultants asked me to facilitate a session for their Chicago Organizational Development Network. Comprised of highly seasoned consultants from large organizations, the group gathers with the purpose of sharing best practices. I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to be with such a highly experienced group by drawing on their expertise. Through a highly interactive session, the group identified the significance of Emotional Intelligence (EI) skills for the workplace.

After defining Emotional Intelligence and providing some examples of the results obtained from our applied EI skill-building programs, I asked the group to divide into three smaller groups and note on flipcharts what issues or problems could be improved within their organizations by increasing EI skills. The groups were given 10 minutes to identify and discuss the problems or issues and then reported on their lists. Below is a composite, alphabetized list of 45 identified issues.

- Absenteeism

- Call reluctance

- Change management

- Coaching

- Communication

- Conflict management

- Creativity

- Culture change

- Customer satisfaction

- Decision-making

- Developing leaders

- Efficiency

- Emergencies

- Employee engagement

- Employee satisfaction

- Expectation setting

- Goal attainment

- Goal setting

- Grievances

- Group interaction

- Health care costs

- Lawsuits

- Leadership

- Lost time accidents

- Mergers

- Non-union status

- Patient safety

- Performance management

- “Politics”

- Problem solving

- Process improvement

- Productivity

- Project management

- Quality

- Retention

- Sales/revenue

- “Silo” mentality

- Stress

- Succession planning

- Supplier relations

- Teamwork

- Thought clarity

- Trust/loyalty

- Work/life balance

- Workplace violence

It’s quite eye opening to see this expansive list which is, most likely, not all-inclusive. I can’t think of any other organizational improvement intervention that has the potential to positively impact so may organizational problems concurrently. Development of Emotional Intelligence skills does not just improve leadership competencies or management skills. It has a far-reaching effect. And the percentage improvement our clients have experienced is dramatic. Program participants have reported improvements that range from 20% to 40% reduction in stress and worry, 20% to 35% increase in personal productivity, 15% to 35% increased teamwork and similar improvements in personal motivation, management of emotional reactiveness, work/life balance, creativity and more.

I am always conservative when determining results such as those listed above. Let’s be even more conservative by cutting the above ranges in half. What would a 10% to 17% increase in personal productivity, a 7% to 17% increase in teamwork or a 10% to 20% reduction in stress and worry mean to your organization? Since we know that stress impacts health, we can infer that there may well be an indication of reduced health care costs which, in turn, directly and positively impacts the organizational bottom line.

Let’s look at a few other areas identified by our group of experts. Grievance resolution is one of the toughest issues on the list. Despite its difficult nature, one of our participants, using simple, proven techniques, was able to resolve grievances at the first step in the process and reported a significant reduction in step 2 grievances. And in another specific example, a participant reported an increase in employee engagement. As a result of applying the techniques, he was viewed as more approachable, and his direct reports presented an idea that, when implemented, saved the location the equivalent of 10 people per year. The impact on the bottom line is a savings of about $300,000.

I always enjoy stories from the transportation industry. When asked about improvement in resolving or managing conflict, one participant stated, “This is huge! I used to thrive on the conflict. Now I avoid it. It’s a daily issue. Now I will talk between dock guys and drivers. Now we’re not yelling and throwing stuff. It would get ugly sometimes – wresting matches at times. Drivers are rough around the edges and can get pushy/feely. I was always the first one to step up. This hasn’t happened in awhile. Arguments don’t break out now. I let people vent and explain why (the issue is they way it is) or I don’t say anything (just let them vent and be heard).”

The point is that helping people at all levels of the organization to develop their EI skills helps improve or resolve multiple problems and issues. Rather than focusing on a narrow, targeted intervention such as conflict management or change management, or communication, consider leveraging your scarce resources with EI skill-building.

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Self esteem is defined as how one perceives themselves and their perspective of the things around them in relation to themselves. A healthy sense of self esteem is cultivated by positivity and the occasional pats on the back for a job well done. But unfortunately in today’s modern society, the pervasive problem with most people is that they tend to suffer from a sense of low self esteem. This article will endeavour to show readers a way on how they can improve self esteem with a quick 3 step solution.

Step 1: Eliminate Negativity

This is crucial, because negativity is the one factor that hinders you from becoming more confident and feeling good about yourself. Most people tend to have a small tiny little voice inside their heads that often nag at them for something that they might have done, or something they could have done. A lot of people are guilty of allowing that voice to become negative over time. Think about the last time you looked into a mirror. Did you hear a voice in your head about how you wished you were thinner or more beautiful or be younger? This is not an uncommon problem, in fact quite a number of people tend to allow society’s view on how a person should look like to have a negative impact on how they perceive themselves. The thing you need to remember is that the tiny voice in your head is yours, you control what the voice says, so instil some positivity into your life, and you will find that the voice inside your head will be more encouraging than being a constant put down.

Step 2: Belief In Thyself And Love Thyself

You need to believe in yourself in order to be able to overcome low self esteem. Despite what others might say, you are in fact a worthwhile and competent person. Focus on your positive traits and your own abilities. You have your own talents that make you distinctly you. Do not try to be a carbon copy of someone you admire or envy. Stay true to yourself as a unique individual. Learn to love yourself by making time for yourself. Take care of your mind and body and set aside some leisure time for yourself instead of enslaving yourself to the whims of others. Take some time for fun activities that you might enjoy, and whenever you’ve achieved something in life, learn to reward yourself for the job well done.

Step 3: Seeking Help

A lot of people who suffer from low self esteem issues tend to be hesitant about seeking help when they need it. As a result, these people tend to suffer from more serious long term problems like depression and other mental health issues. If you feel as though you can’t cope with your self esteem issues, then you will need to consult someone. It doesn’t matter who, it could be your friends, loved ones, or even a healthcare professional. If you feel that your self esteem problems might spiral out of control, seek help immediately.

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What effective selling is really all about is effective problem solving. Anyone engaged in any marketing endeavor should focus first on solving problems for clients or customers. If this is done consistently, sales will happen naturally, because customers immediately realize the value that the seller is delivering. This, of course, is the exact opposite of the salesperson or entrepreneur who merely tries to convince the prospect to purchase through force of will, but who doesn’t offer any tangible proof of value.

Solving problems for people creates immediate value. And this fundamental exchange of value is always at the heart of any successful sales transaction. Furthermore, unless both parties perceive this value exchange as being equal, the transaction simply will not take place. All of the talking and salesmanship in the world is not sufficient to convince a prospective buyer of the value exchange. Conversely however, by identifying problems that are causing pain in the prospective buyers life, and then by solving those problems, the flow of sales and new business will be never-ending.

Of course, in order to solve problems you must first be able to identify what those problems are. This is clearly one of the most important traits and skills that a salesperson or Internet marketer can have. By being able to talk to prospects and to clearly identify what their problems are — where the pain is — only then can the entrepreneur go about solving those problems.

After the problems have been identified, the salesperson or entrepreneur must then be able to solve them. If the offerings of the business are consistent with the problems that that prospective customers typically face and provided that the offerings can legitimately solve those problems, transactions will occur regularly. If you want to sell, you need to solve.