BLArticle®
The personal touch of a blog; the informative touch of an article.
The Strong Hand of Implementation
When you spend a few decades doing something you love, you build a reputation. When you speak for a living, there isn’t a lot of debate as to how well you do it. As I’ve always said: “When you do a great job; everyone knows it. When you don’t do a great job;...
It’s All About The Details
I’m a details man and that’s how I like to think of myself. Some might refer to me as a bit obsessive, while others might call me a pain in the neck. Guilty as charged. However, at the end of the day, I’m kind of proud of any of those names you might want to call...
Skill Vs. Will
As I watch my beloved Washington Redskins team finish off another disappointing season, I find myself drifting back to the good old days. We had a great owner in Jack Kent Cooke, a great coach in Joe Gibbs, great players like Joe Theismann, John Riggins, Darrell...
Price vs. Performance
When it comes down to doing a job for a customer, it often boils down to two things; price and performance. The first is negotiable; the second is not. To me, this is a black and white issue, but it never ceases to amaze me how confused some people can get over...
What’s in a Name?
Recently, I went to Tanzania, and like many African countries, tourism is one of the few sources of income for this struggling population. Wherever you go, and whatever you do, you will find a cluster of friendly faces with bags of trinkets following you around. ...
When Good Is More Than Good Enough
No matter how many times you have delivered the same presentation, there are always unknowns. The message might not change, but the audiences sure do. Clearly, the more you deliver the same message, the tighter that presentation becomes. But what about the...
Lee Jolles – A Life Well Lived
I think I can sum my father up in two words. The first word presented itself to me in the mail when I was seven years old. One of my many jobs was to retrieve the day’s mail, and I began to notice that a number of letters were addressed to “Lion Lee Jolles.” I had...
The Negotiation Quagmire
Here’s a story you’ve probably heard, if not participated in, many times in your career. A lead is passed your way, regarding the use of your services. You dutifully set an appointment with the potential prospect. Things are going well on the call, and the...
Lessons In How Not To Say You’re Sorry
All of us make mistakes. Some are bigger than others, and some are more in the public eye than others. We seem to take a perverse pleasure in building our public figures up, only to take a greater pleasure in watching them fall, due to their mistakes. A good example...
The Need To Be Liked
Something curious happened a few weeks ago that most of my social network either didn’t notice, or didn’t care about. Unbeknownst to me, my social media consultant sent out a request to “Like” me. I was not asked, and if I had been, I would not have given...
It’s All A Matter Of Focus
Remember when reality shows were fresh and new? I can recall watching the very first episode of “Survivor,” and I was hooked. I have not missed an episode since the show first aired thirteen years ago. In fact, I’ve applied to be on the show several times. I’ve...
It’s Not Who You Know… It’s Who You Trust
When it comes to true friendship, there is almost no truer or closer friend than my cousin Steve. We’re virtually the same age, and we have been more like brothers since, well, since either of us can remember. We played together when we were very little, we had...
How NOT to Gain Trust
Imagine if your job was designed to help influence policy, and in doing so, you would need to understand how to change minds and how to influence decisions. Now, imagine that you were doing this job and 83% of the people were not happy with the job you were...
A Reason To Try
You’d think that, after thirty years of delivering seminars all over the world, it would get old and less exciting for me. Oh, some deliveries are easier than others, but last week was special. Last week’s seminar provided me with plenty of motivation to...
A Deal Is A Deal…
At an early age, my Dad taught me to despise the word “renegotiate.” If Lee Jolles had his way, he would have had it dropped from the dictionary. Let’s take a look at the definition, and you’ll see why two Jolles men dislike this word: Negotiate (something) again in...
Breaking The Ice
When I began working at Xerox almost 25 years ago, I had the pleasure of learning how to deliver training from the great Emmett Reagan. He was responsible for teaching every Xerox instructor how to conduct his or her training program. Emmett was a longtime “Xeroid”...
You Can Judge A Book By Its Cover
A BLArticle® Miniseries Part 4 “You Can Judge A Book By Its Cover” We grew up hearing, over and over again, the following statement: “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” In the new, multi-visual, internet driven, see-it-buy-it world we live in, I believe this could...
Release The Hounds!
A BLArticle® Miniseries Part 3 - Release The Hounds! Several months ago, when a release date of June 3rd was finally announced for my latest book, one of my tasks was to interview potential publicists. Visions of the “Today Show” and other glamorous appearances...
It Starts With…
A BLArticle® Miniseries Part 2 “It Starts With…” I can see the question coming a mile away. Almost every time I finish a keynote or a workshop, I end up talking with a handful of courageous souls who come on up to meet me. Some just want to say thank you, and others...
How to Change Minds
(For best results, watch in full screen mode and change to 720p Quality, and if your connection bogs down, take back down to regular quality.) A BLArticle® Miniseries Part 1 - “The Pre-launch” When I’ve written a book in the past, I used to tell my friends that my...
“Rob is an expert not only in the art of influence,
but also in human nature.”
~Ken Blanchard,
coauthor of The One Minute Manager® and Trust Works!
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