HARNESSING THE POWER OF EYE CONTACT

14 May 2012

Something special for all the ‘budding’ business leaders out there. CEO Lifeline receives two excellent articles direct from the expert himself - Karl Smith. You have been warned - Do not keep this man a secret!

Our two eyes are intended to be used for far more than the routine and passive viewing of objects, people and events. “Making eye contact and smiling is probably the number one success strategy for initiating contact with someone”, says Karl Smith, author and founder of Business Networking South Africa. If in a business or private setting, this behaviour is a proven way to start successful conversations. Eye contact is commonly considered a sign of self-confidence and a means for emotional connection.

One of several popular definitions defines it as “meeting of the eyes between two people expresses meaningful non-verbal communication”. Besides touch, eye contact is the most powerful way of delivering personal cues. They play a critical and indispensable role in effective communication practices, building productive relationships and in proving one's ability as a leader.

They give us the ability to express our feelings of love ... acceptance ... hope ... fear… anger ...  and much more without a single word. Eye contact says to the other person: “I am interested in you”. “I respect you”. “I trust you”. “You have my attention”. “I value you”. Eye contact can trigger fighting, smiling, acknowledgment, invitation, understanding and encouragement.

The most important rule to remember is that eye contact is not staring. Don’t lock eyes and bore holes through their heads or you’ll come off as threatening. And don’t pick a spot on their face, like an eyebrow or a mole, for two reasons: One, that’s not eye contact and two, they’ll feel as though you’re staring at a flaw.

So, what is an effective time length concerning eye contact and how can we achieve it? As a rule of thumb, when you are speaking to someone, match their frequency of eye contact.

People have different preferences for eye contact and matching the other person’s frequency will build good rapport, whereas mismatching it will take away from the rapport.

Your lack of eye contact signals that you don't want to have this conversation or have something to hide. As the saying goes, “Eyes are the windows of one’s soul”, you can see the inner feeling through this gateway. With your eyes, say, “I know who you are and I see what you’re doing”. Your words will seem insincere to the other party if you don't back them up with your eyes, especially if you are trying to be friendly.

“In our society there is an increased need for cross cultural interaction”, cautions Smith. Be aware that in some countries eye contact means you are an honest and trustworthy person and in others it’s considered disrespectful or aggressive.

As a high stakes conference and key speaker, trainer, coach and consultant, Karl Smith has worked with thousands of senior executives, business developers and entrepreneurs in South Africa, challenging their traditional notions about business relationships and excellence.

www.businessnetworkingsouthafrica.co.za

Storytelling in Business: The Power to Persuade

14 May 2012

 Nothing succeeds like success! And in business nothing succeeds quite like success stories. Are you sharing yours? Why not? If you want to win the hearts and minds of your audience, you must be a master storyteller. Human beings have been communicating with each other through storytelling since we lived in caves and sat around campfires exchanging tales. What is new today about the art of telling stories is the purposeful use of narrative to achieve a practical outcome with an individual, a community or an organisation.

Unfortunately, storytelling has become a lost art in many businesses. Why storytelling? Storytelling works. The simple reason why storytelling is becoming a major factor in networking, sales, management and leadership or finding a job is that it works. Purposeful storytelling can get results that traditional abstract modes of communications can’t. Stories work for several reasons. For starters they're more memorable than numbers, names and dates.

Stories also work well because we enjoy the drama: a problem followed by a solution, a mystery solved with a twist, or a creative workaround to a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Also, the listener can find him or herself in the story as well. As communication tools, stories provide a means for understanding, remembering and acting on information. Most importantly, stories also put a “face” to the “numbers”. That is, stories have the ability to bring to life accomplishments that go well beyond hard numbers, data and statistics.

Success stories can be told in many ways – there is no “right” or “wrong” way to tell a story, because every story is unique to the community and circumstances from which it derives.

Because stories are so memorable, they're easy for listeners to recount in the future. So, if you arm your audience with a good story, they'll be able to communicate the details of your business more clearly. This is especially important in today’s world. Potential investors and customers will need to recount the information you shared with them to their partners and colleagues, so it's crucial that the information you share is retold accurately.

Help people remember your message longer. People process stories in three ways — factually, visually and emotionally. If you want to win the hearts and minds of your audience members, you must be a master storyteller.

Stories can help you:

• Get and keep attention. It’s no secret that our audiences suffer from information overload. In this environment, communicators must cut through the clutter to grab our audience’s attention. The best way to do that is through storytelling.

• Bring your mission, vision and values to life. These are arguably some of an organization’s most important messages. Yet in most companies, they’re relegated to laminated cards in employees’ wallets or to the back of the annual report — in six point types. But storytelling can bring these defining statements to life. In fact, there is no other way to adequately communicate these big-picture elements.

• Enhance credibility. People who are cynical about statistics — and who isn’t these days? — find stories credible. It’s the Peer Principle of Persuasion: Our audience members believe that if it worked for someone else, it will work for them. Success stories offer a setting, a situation and a solution. Remember, you're the hero of your stories. Your decisions, actions and insights made a difference and it's OK to say so.

Effective stories are always vivid, and they always create visual images in the mind of your audience.

Here are a few guidelines that can help you tell a powerful story:

1. Know your story – the big picture accomplishment

2. Know the specific information you want to share (e.g., who, what, when, where, why it is important, and how)

3. Know your audience

4. Know how to tailor your story to the audience so that it matters to them

Purposeful storytelling can get results in the modern business organisations that traditional abstract modes of communications can’t. Said Robert McKee - another commentator: "A big part of a CEO's job is to motivate people to reach certain goals. To do that, he or she must engage their emotions, and the key to their hearts is story".

Though we all tell stories all the time, we are often unaware of it. Watch how others tell their stories. When did they tell their story? Who was around? How well did people react to the story? Once we realize what we are doing, we can all learn not only to become better storytellers but also to use storytelling to achieve business results.

As a high stakes conference and key speaker, trainer, coach and consultant, KarlSmith has worked with thousands of senior executives, business developers and entrepreneurs in South Africa, challenging their traditional notions about business relationships and excellence.

Strategy gone bad

11 May 2012

…poorly monitored and poorly constructed...

The most talked about news today would have to be the $2 billion trading loss incurred by JPMorgan Chase. According to media reports the trading loss is a result of a failed hedging strategy that now has sent shock waves throughout Wall Street ultimately resulting in a drop in share price.

Media reports have stated that the $2 billion loss resulted in a shock 7% drop after the markets closed.

The reputation of the bank has taken a beating.

 “This puts egg on our face” JPMorgan Chase’s CEO Jamie Dimon (Pictured) said as he gave the official apology.

JPMorgan can however ‘weather the storm’ and they certainly have the ‘know how’ in order to bounce back. JPMorgan Chase has a good track record. In 2008 they took over the troubled Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual and at the end of March they had $2.32 trillion worth of assets supported by $190 billion in shareholder equity. Media sources have stated that JPMorgan had an equity ratio of 13% which happened to be 4 times the industry average.

Jamie Dimon – once referred to as one of the kings of Wall Street – admits that the bad hedging strategy was ineffective, poorly monitored and poorly constructed.

One news source was quoted as saying that this trading loss comes at a significantly bad time for the industry. Currently the industry is questioning the way regulators conduct stress tests – i.e. do banks have the necessary capital to withstand possible losses?

What many are saying is that the loss is surprising given JPMorgan’s track record. They pride themselves on risk management systems and the strength of its balance sheet.

Image: Wikipedia

The Business Strategic Health Check: How safe are you?

10 May 2012

By PJ Veldhuizen – Director of G&V Inc

To say that the commercial risks that we face today are changing rapidly is an understatement.

Even before the introduction last year of the Companies Act in May and the Consumer Protection Act in April, we had game-changing legislation like the National Credit Act to contend with. This cascading and all pervasive legislation affects your business strategy and can determine the sustainability of your business future.

It is now, more than ever, imperative for you to perform a Strategic Health Check on your business to avoid falling into one of the many hidden traps set in the new playing field.

For example:

Are your company documents compliant and in harmony with the Companies Act – MOI, Shareholders Agreement, Audit Requirements? Do your directors understand their duties? Do your directors know what to consider at board meetings to avoid liability?

Do you understand:

The Business Judgment Rule? Solvency & Liquidity Test? Impact of Fundamental Transactions? Business Rescue Process?

The CPA and the minefield: Is your business model CPA compliant?

Are your clients CPA and Companies Act compliant – is this not the epitome of a hidden risk for your business – they slip beneath the waves and you are left carrying the load.

We recommend that you conduct a Strategic Health Check. When you least expect it you are found vulnerable. Our firm specialises in the Strategic Health Check. It can only benefit you. Give us a call and lets help you.

CEO pay under threat

10 May 2012

“The days of huge pay packages for CEOs running big global businesses are under threat from leading shareholders”

The above statement is according to CNBC and highlights a rather contentious issue. Are CEO’s earning too much? According to the article some shareholders seem to think so.

The article reflects on a recent incident from a leading insurer where the CEO resigned after shareholders rejected his pay deal.

Over the last few years CEO compensation has spiralled upwards; however there seems to be a lot of shareholder activism surrounding the issue. According to sources shareholder activism has increased ever since markets started stagnating. It seems as if shareholders are unhappy that CEO compensation has spiralled upward while markets have remained stagnant.

The bottom line is the shareholders own the business and the CEO represents the interests of the business on behalf of the shareholders. The shareholder activism is of course justified – it’s their business. However where does one draw the line in terms of CEO compensation?

It is a very difficult market in general. It is a tough ask to find anyone who is able to generate increased shareholder value given the heightened competitive environment we all trade in. Shareholders want a return on their investment relative to prime. Talent isn’t cheap so it is understandable the upward spiral in CEO compensation (Simple economics) – however it can get a bit excessive. Recently there was an incident where a new UK chief earned a bonus of 45000 pounds for one month’s work.

It is an interesting debate and one that will most certainly draw the attention of many.