Author Archives: Larry Janis

Building a Culture Where Employees Feel Free to Speak Up

 

 

 

by Timothy R. Clark

 

I recently attended an all-hands meeting for a large corporation. The CEO took the stage and began discussing a fresh batch of employee survey data, focusing on the results of one specific survey item: “I feel safe to speak up at work.” More than half of the employees who completed the survey disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement, indicating a culture of pervasive fear.

But that’s not the interesting part. With a distinctly scripted flavor, the CEO then proceeded to say: “It’s very clear that we need to create a speak-up culture. So that’s exactly what we’re going to do. In fact, we’re going to do it right now. Our speak-up culture begins today. We need your voice. We need your opinions. We need your honest feedback.”

I nearly fell off my chair. A leader who approaches an organization this way is either culturally out of touch or managing optics. You can’t speak a speak-up culture into existence. Rhetorical reassurance in the absence of true psychological safety is an abdication of leadership and an admission of failure.

Speaking Up Is Highly Vulnerable Behavior

Let’s put speaking up into perspective. For the average employee, speaking up is risky business because it introduces maximum personal risk. According to our global survey research, which now includes nearly 50,000 data points across 834 organizations, speaking up lives at the intersection of the top six most vulnerable behaviors from the 20 behaviors we measure in our Ladder of Vulnerability survey.

Here are those six behaviors, ranked from most vulnerable to less-vulnerable:

  1. Giving an incorrect answer
  2. Making a mistake
  3. Expressing your emotions
  4. Expressing disagreement
  5. Pointing out a mistake
  6. Challenging the way things are done

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Strategies to Enhance Your Negotiation Skills

 

 

 

BY PAUL BRAMSON

 

Negotiation skills play a crucial role in professional sales. Expertise in negotiation is a skilled practice. While some individuals are naturally strong negotiators, the best ones learn and work hard to strengthen their knowledge and learn new techniques– and they continually practice perfecting their approach.

Every negotiation conversation is different and requires far more than just product knowledge or technical knowledge of what you’re negotiating about. Each negotiation requires interpersonal skills that let you connect with who you are talking to, build rapport, and communicate in a way to engage and proactively move the conversation forward in a mutually beneficial way.

Everyone has internal motivators and drivers they will respond to in a conversation – or will shut down if those motivators are not there. Strong negotiators listen and pay attention to cues from the other person regarding what resonates for them during the conversation. When they can see and understand those, they can use words that resonate with the other person and bring elements into the conversation they know the other individual will respond to.

People want to be heard and listened to, and, when they feel that, you build rapport and relationships that support more productive conversations and collaborative outcomes for both parties.

Mistakes to Avoid

During negotiations, people often make three common mistakes that hinder their success.

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Building Trust from the Start: Why First Impressions Matter

 

 

 

BY NICK KANE

 

“First impressions are formed in the blink of an eye, but their impact lasts a lifetime” is an expression I repeated to myself before meeting potential clients for the first time. The science behind this mantra suggests people form an opinion in seconds. Some studies have shown that people form initial judgments about others within milliseconds of meeting them. These opinions can impact sales success and career growth. This article explores how sales professionals can make their best first impression when meeting new prospects for the first time.

Every salesperson knows the importance of making a good early impression. However, it is all too common that, despite this awareness, buyers are often left with a negative impression after the initial meeting with a seller. This begs the question: How does this disconnect occur when sellers understand that their success hinges on the opinion of the buyers they are working with?

The answer lies in the fundamental dynamics of human psychology. As social beings, we are hard-wired to judge others rapidly based on limited information. Our brains automatically seek cues to assess trustworthiness, competence, and likability. These instinctive evaluations guide our subsequent interactions and influence our decisions.

For salespeople, understanding first impressions is not just a matter of intuition but a strategic imperative. A positive initial impression helps foster trust, instill confidence, and create an environment conducive to open dialogue. On the other hand, a poor first impression can create barriers, raise doubts, and hinder communication and the sales process.

Start with Low Ego

Have you ever observed a new salesperson who appears nervous and cautious at the beginning of their sales career, carefully choosing every word and action? They diligently follow the sales training and coaching they received and experience early sales success. They might even set a new sales record, and their potential seems unlimited. However, after this initial peak, they seem to reach a plateau and never manage to achieve the early high-performance results again.

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How to Make a Pivot in the Latter Half of Your Career

 

 

 

 

by Marlo Lyons

 

 

Changing careers can be challenging, especially when you’ve worked in a single profession or industry. Doing so when you’re in the last decade or two of your career may be even harder because you need to maintain a certain compensation, level, or title and your competition is younger and “experienced enough” to get the job done.

I remember at 33, when I wanted to change careers from TV news reporter to entertainment lawyer, I was scared hiring managers wouldn’t value my decade of work experience. That fear multiplied exponentially when I decided to pivot careers again at 48 from entertainment lawyer to HR business partner in a new industry, tech.

If you’re considering making a move to a different type of role or industry later on in your career, here are some ways to set yourself apart from your more junior competition during the interview process.

Highlight experience that requires more years of work to master.

Being more mature in the workplace means you understand how to excel in not only the “what” of work but also the “how.” Highlight the personal, interpersonal, and soft skills that have contributed to your career achievements and progress.

Personal skills like dependability, punctuality, and commitment show your overall work ethic and energy to perform the job. Soft skills are also important, such as independence in performing work, being able to work at all levels of an organization, and an ability to understand how your work contributes to a company’s larger goals. For example, if you’ve had the opportunity to present to or work with the CEO or other executives, highlight this experience to show you have executive presence, the ability to communicate effectively, and that you’re not intimidated by more senior leaders.

Finally, interpersonal skills are critical in the corporate workplace. Knowing how to partner with cross-functional team members, problem-solve with others, align and manage stakeholders through change, and influence without authority are skills valued in every job. But your goal is to demonstrate these skills along with a higher level of business acumen — perhaps by giving an example that shows your ability to understand the wide-ranging implications of decisions or by showing an orientation toward profitability when answering a question. Providing examples of complex work situations that show your mastery of interpersonal skills will distinguish you from the more junior employee who hasn’t had as much exposure or time to gain that experience.

Show how you’ll bring value. (more…)

Stop Going It Alone

 

 

 

 

by Michael Jarrett

 

Negotiating radical organisational change needs to be a collective effort.

History is filled with tales of courageous and decisive heroes. Individuals like Julius Caesar and Winston Churchill, for instance, have led from the front to guide their people through adversity and achieve ultimate success. This myth building is especially prominent in the business sector, with stories of inspiring CEOs parachuting in to rescue and revive troubled organisations.

But is a strong leader who takes a centralised approach to company strategy really the best thing for an organisation experiencing change? Based on research I conducted with Professor Russ Vince from the University of Bath, the answer may often be no. This was our conclusion after studying the emotions of members of the senior management team at KleanCo (name changed), an FTSE 100 company headquartered in Europe.

A decisive leader can have a positive, and sometimes rapid, impact during periods of transformation. But we found that the emotional stresses that such centralised authority places on the organisation, and specifically on those in top management roles, make it difficult to maintain long-term. The tensions such an approach creates typically lead to failure for either the company, CEO, or both.

At the time of our study, KleanCo was going through a period of transformation. A “rag bag of loosely coupled silos”, the multinational was confronting a shift from a position of market dominance to one of fierce competition. Declining performance had led to calls for radical change from stakeholders, and a boardroom coup ushered in the arrival of a new CEO tasked with halting the slide. (more…)