BLArticle®
The personal touch of a blog; the informative touch of an article.
When Questions Become Conversations
It seems basic to be told, taught, and monitored to ask questions when we communicate with clients. I can’t imagine anyone who has been trained to sell who has not been taught this lesson… and taught this lesson multiple times. Well, I’m here to tell you it’s...
Backed Into A Confrontation Corner
About nine years ago, I wrote a four-part BLArticle® miniseries dedicated to dealing with how to handle difficult behavior without direct confrontations. There are a handful of ways to professionally avoid confrontations… but that doesn’t mean there’s never a...
The Agony of Default
default: a selection made usually automatically or without active consideration. I think we all have a love/hate relationship with the default settings within our computers. In theory, these settings are designed to make our lives easier, and to help us do our jobs...
The Danger Is At The End – Not The Beginning
A few years ago, I was invited to go on a Segway tour of Washington, D.C. Having never been on a Segway before, I was a bit anxious, but I didn’t really have a choice. I had auctioned off the ten-person tour for a charity, and part of the package was for me to...
Moving On – Surviving Workplace Abuse
It’s a common experience. You get a job that seems to promise great things. You work for a manager who seems to have your best interest at heart. You work with a team of like-minded individuals, and they all seem to be people you can really bond with. It seems...
The Can’t Miss Holiday
I’m a New Year’s Eve man. No doubt about it, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. What can you say about New Years Day that isn’t positive? Christmas is a wonderful holiday, but not everyone celebrates Christmas. The same could be said for Kwanzaa, Bodhi Day, Hanukah,...
The Bully In The Brain
“You’re just not good enough.” Have you ever heard those words rattling around in your brain? Perhaps a better question would be this: Has anyone not heard those words rattling around in his or her brain? It’s the same voice that challenges our expertise and...
Planting a Seed for Commitment
Many years ago, I remember watching an old Woody Allen move called “Annie Hall.” It wasn’t my favorite movie, but there was one particular scene I really connected with. Woody Allen was on a first date with Diane Keaton, and he was nervous about the first kiss that...
That’s EnterTrainment™!
Now, more than ever, it’s important to not just speak, but speak well, and that often means incorporating an element of entertainment. After all, when our communications are not face-to-face, it’s a whole lot more difficult to hold the attention of those we are...
Five Percent Moves
I purchased a new thermos the other day. I was looking for something else, and I found it quite by accident. It turned up on one of those pages on Amazon that says this: “If you liked that other thing you purchased, you might like this.” At first, I dismissed the...
A Path To Wisdom
When I was a kid, I remember begging my parents to buy me a journal. I really wanted that journal; I had dreams of capturing all sorts of private thoughts, and I wanted to be able to to lock it! I was relentless, deploying every trick in the book to convince my...
The Power Of Failure
The other day, I delivered a program that just wasn’t my best. It wasn’t due to a lack of preparation or a lack of effort, but I was faced with obstacles with every move I made. I won’t bore you with the details, but my favorite obstacle was leaving a breakout room,...
Making Your Mind Smile
In 1991, Steven Spielberg, Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, and plenty more came together and put out a movie called Hook. It was a sequel to the movie, Peter Pan, and the critics didn’t seem to like it much, only giving it a lowly 29% on Rotten...
When Feedback Is Anything But
There’s no doubt about it; one of the best ways to get better at something is to simply ask for feedback. How do we get better without feedback from others? Feedback provides invaluable information we can’t see for ourselves. Feedback helps us evolve. Feedback...
Want To Fix The Sales World?
…Look in the Mirror Full disclosure: I have a rather biased view of salespeople, but hear me out. Yes, there are problems within the selling profession, and I fully realize there are some bad salespeople in this world. There are also some bad doctors, bad...
Don’t Forget The Big Picture
In any type of presentation, there is an overall goal involving what is being taught. For the sake of this BLArticle®, let’s refer to this as “the big picture.” In one sentence, this is a clear explanation of what it is you’ll be talking about and what you really want...
Finding Success Without Your “A” Game
Athletes will often talk about performing at a high level, but on certain occasions, they will comment that performing at that high level was effortless. When golfers are putting, they will say things like, “the cup looked as big as a bucket,” or they sum up an...
The Magic of Rituals
There’s nothing like a good ritual or two to help us stay emotionally and physically in balance. For those who are not quite sure what I mean when I say, “ritual,” please allow me to define it for you. A ritual is “a sequence of activities involving gestures, words,...
And Now, The Rest Of The Story
Born in Oklahoma, and the son of a policeman, Paul Aurandt started making radios while attending high school. His teacher was very impressed with his voice, and helped him get a job at a local radio station. It wasn’t long before he was reading...
The Artist In All Of Us
I come from the business world, and I happen to be married to an artist. Opposites do attract, but you would be surprised at the number of things we share. There are quite a number of unexpected similarities that exist between the two of us. One such similarity is...
“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!