|
Ever been in a situation when you think of your best arguments and statements 30 minutes after the meeting has finished? Managing your composure and presenting your arguments effectively are skills you never stop learning.
Whether you have to tackle a trivial complication or you have millions at stake, the most important factor in persuading someone will more often than not depend on how well you are able to communicate with others so that you influence their decisions.
Persuasion is a skill which requires you to use appeals to influence the reasons, values, beliefs and emotions of a listener, to make them think or act in a particular way. Sounds simple. So what gets in the way?
‘Short circuit'
The bouts of inaction that attack us when we really need to make our point heard are referred to as ‘emotional hijacks,' in psychological terms. In recent years, neuroscientists have been able to track what happens physically in our brains — how they ‘short circuit' when we are hijacked, and how our decision-making functions are inhibited.
Learning to control our reactions under stress or pressure is the most important aspect in the art of persuasion. That does not discount the significance of great preparation and planning, another solution to make sure you seize the moment.
When presenting an idea, one of the most effective approaches is to provide all the evidence to support it, for both the positive impact and the potential negatives, if not executed. This includes not only financial information, but outcomes such as market share, environmental impact, customer satisfaction, andemployee turnover.
Preparing the evidence in a format that is easy to digest and powerful is critical to getting your point across quickly. In addition to presenting the positive impact of your idea, be clear about the potential downside of delaying it or worse, not taking any action at all.
Concession
Alternatively, if you provide a concession in a deal, the other party is likely to offer something back in return.
The natural law of scarcity is the law of the lacking. All collectors know that the less there is of something, the more it is worth.
In business it is about tapping into our desires to not lose out. Perhaps your product is only available for a limited time period, or there are only a few products available
Simplicity
To communicate the solution, we present ‘downwards', working from main message down to supporting detail. It is critical to know your main message as you plan to persuade others; getting lost in the background or details can quickly deteriorate your message and lead to confusion.
Keeping it simple but having depth, facts and background information is essential. It enables you to answer questions and prove your main message, but also provides you with confidence.
This confidence helps avoid the frustrations of ‘emotional hijacks'.
With a little preparation, organisation of thoughts and practice of delivering the message, you can master the art of persuasive communication and achieve your desired outcomes in business.
Read the full article "Planning and preparation can help in persuasion" published on Gulf News
|
|
Does splashing out on employee development programmes really help companies boost their bottom line?
It is a question that has long been asked in the business world, although many companies are now scrutinising training schemes to a new level to ensure they get a return on their investment (ROI).
"The days of people going to training courses and not looking at ROI is over, particularly with the global financial crisis," says Paula McManus, the head of learning and development at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD).
While the amount businesses spend on learning and development programmes is not tracked overall in the Emirates, it amounts to US$1,228 (Dh4,510) per employee for those who goes through training in the US, according to data from the American Society for Training & Development.
In 2009, corporate spending on salaries for trainers as well as workshops and outside learning events in the US topped $125 billion. Some companies in the UAE also spend significant sums on training their employees. NBAD has a budget of more than Dh70 million for this purpose, says Ms McManus. But the bank requires an assessment following most of the programmes it offers or hosts to ensure the money is being spent wisely.
Following one seminar this year, employees from NBAD learnt about how to challenge their teams and push them to new limits. They were then asked to submit a portfolio to show which tools they had started to implement, such as asking the right kinds of questions to foster group decision-making. At Dubai Aluminum Company (Dubal), some of its senior managers have been moving through an accelerated leadership programme for more than a year.
Hazel Jackson, CEO of biz-ability, recently came in for some sessions to help individuals find ways to continue innovating and creating new business ideas.
Earlier this year the company sent two of its senior executives to a speech delivered by Liz Wiseman, an executive leadership trainer and author of the book Multipliers. Afterwards, the executives felt other leaders in the organisation could also implement some of the new tools that were discussed to "get the most from the talent we have within the company", says Ilias Assimakopoulos, the chief executive of Agthia
Ms Wiseman did end up delivering a one-day presentation for 30 senior managers at Agthia, although the timing of her visit was no accident: it coincided with the launch of new product categories at Agthia during the last quarter of this year.
Read the full article on The National
For more information about Multipliers Workshops or email us at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
|
- Richard Dean
Years of disappointment have made me deeply suspicious of human resources gurus. All too often a public relations consultant has spun me a line that his client is the latest brilliant, innovative thinker on matters of people management. But when I put them in front of a microphone, they churn out the same tired old clichés as the last three HR "experts" before them: "You know, people are a company's greatest asset," and "HR isn't just about processing leave applications." Aaaargh.
Not Liz Wiseman. The American author of Multipliers: How The Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter was in Dubai recently, her second visit this year. When I look back at all the people I've interviewed over the past year, Ms Wiseman stands out as the one who really changed my outlook on business.
Here's her theory. There are essentially two types of managers: diminishers and multipliers. Diminishers are the all-too-common bosses who suffocate their staff, while multipliers help them blossom and grow. "The science and the research behind the book started with a very simple observation: some leaders who were brilliant seemed to bring about brilliance in others," she said. "And there were others who seem to suffocate people."
That spark came from Ms Wiseman's 17 years at US tech giant Oracle, where she ran Oracle University. For the Multipliers research, she and her team profiled hundreds of managers and employees in 35 companies and four continents. She came up with five things that multipliers do well and five things that diminishers do badly. So here are the diminishers: empire builders, tyrants, know-it-alls, decision makers and micromanagers. "We found that almost everyone has worked for one of these diminishers, and it's an absolutely exhausting process," says Ms Wiseman. "Pretty quickly, A players become A-minus players and B players. I describe organisations like this as an elephant graveyard - it's where careers go to die."
What about the good guys? They are talent magnets, liberators, challengers, debate makers and investors. "These are leaders around whom people do their best work," she said. "In fact, they demand people's best work. There's almost an exchange. They say to their people 'I will give you space to work, I will invite you into the debate, I will give you a bigger job - but in return, I expect your very best work.'" All of this matters for a company's bottom line. Ms Wiseman's research suggests people working for multipliers are twice as productive. Not in terms of hours worked, but in terms of ideas, intellect, insight and knowledge. "We see this enormous crime inside organisations that we have these diminishers who are wasting the intelligence of the organisation - essentially paying the price for two headcounts but only getting the output of one," she says.
That may be a bridge too far, but for anyone looking for a stocking filler, a copy of Multipliers is a good place to start.
Richard Dean hosts Tonight on Dubai Eye 103.8 FM and is the author of Sink or Swim? How to Stay Afloat in Tough Economic Times: Business Lessons from the UAE
Read the full article published on The National here
|
|
Multipliers, an executive leadership development program launched by the region's leading corporate training firm biz-ability earlier this year, continues to gain favour among UAE organisations. Since the program launched in March 2011, more than 400 participants have undertaken the training and are now reaping the rewards of multiplying the intelligence of their workforces.
Multipliers is the latest leadership thinking and executive development programme from top U.S. business coaching firm The Wiseman Group. It teaches business leaders to look beyond their own capability to amplify the intelligence of the people that they manage.
biz-ability is the first company outside of the U.S. to be accredited to deliver Multipliers Workshops to c-level executives and its localised delivery of the program is, according to clients, resulting in transformational changes within their workplaces.
UAE companies embracing the Multipliers Effect have so far included larger organisations, primarily from quasi government, insurance and financial sectors. The National Bank of Abu Dhabi is among biz-ability's satisfied clients. Paula McManus, Head of Learning and Development and Senior Vice President, NBAD says, "The concept of Multipliers has been adopted by our most senior business leaders and is now part of our daily business language. This is key to achieving our vision of building a culture of learning and of being an employer of choice in the UAE."
According to research conducted by Multipliers creator Liz Wiseman', Multipliers are genius makers that bring out the intelligence in others by building collective, viral intelligence in organisations. Diminishers, on the other hand, are absorbed in their own intelligence, stifle others, and deplete the organisation of crucial intelligence and capability.
This week, Liz Wiseman returned to the UAE to review the progress of biz-ability's Multiplier Workshops and said the acceptance of multiplying behaviours by UAE participants was among the highest levels she had seen of any program implementation. "Multipliers imparts a set of behaviours which significantly increase a leader's ability to identify, nurture and grow the potential of others. Our research shows that these leaders more than double the level of intelligence and skill that employees use on the job. The enthusiasm and feedback from participating UAE companies demonstrate the relevance of Multipliers to the country's Emiratisation objectives and long term strategies surrounding talent management. The positive evidence gathered to date from biz-ability's clients is living proof that behavioural change towards becoming Multipliers can be achieved cross-culturally," said Wiseman.
Multipliers identifies five practical ways in which leaders can grow the intelligence and talent of employees. These include: attracting the best talent and using them at their highest point of contribution; encouraging liberated thinking; challenging people to deliver beyond their own expectations; debating key decisions; and delivering extraordinary results without direct management. It also provides a shocking insight into how leaders are often guilty of accidently diminishing the capability of others.
Hazel Jackson, CEO of biz-group, the holding company of biz-ability, said: "We're really impressed with the way our clients are embracing Multipliers with genuine enthusiasm. Traditionally, organisations in the UAE have followed a more authoritarian style of leadership so it was not natural for leaders to challenge their teams to make decisions. During the last nine months of running Multipliers in the UAE, we have seen an increasing number of senior executives start to apply this new leadership thinking. While the program is still in its early days the feedback we are receiving suggests companies have already started to reap significant bottom line benefits from our training."
"It's very encouraging to see that UAE companies continue to invest in their people, especially when we consider the recent financial and political events within the region," added Jackson.
For more information about Multipliers Workshops or email us at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
|
|
