Selling is not my strength and I have signed up for the rest of the course in June.

On the Saturday night we had to buy one of his books and then go out and sell it during our dinner break.

I decided that selling it cold was too big a step for me at that stage so, instead, I would barter it for a meal of the same value.

I walked up the road in Earls Court and called at a pizza restaurant that had attracted me on a previous visit. I explained that I was on a course and had a book to sell. Could I either exchange it for a meal or speak to some of the customers there?

No way. The staff member explained that they were part of a chain and that such things were not allowed. Why did i not go to an independent restaurant and try my luck there.

So, I went next door. Here, i was treated differently. The staff member greeting customers treated me seriously and immediately referred me to her manager. He took little interest in the book but said that he would take the book and provide me with a meal.

I learned three things: -

1. When doing business, choose people who are already entrepreneurial
2. Sell below the line – there was no audit trail of my sale and the cost of my food would not have shown in the accounts, and my book purchase did not need a budget heading
3. When waiting for and eating my (pleasant) meal, I felt disempowered as I had no control over what I would receive.

When I returned to the course, relieved and pleased, I found that not everybody had succeeded in the task but that some people had sold their books for significantly more than the cover price. They had sold the contents for the book as a training course, which was certainly worth more than the £15 they had paid for it.

Finally, one person sold to a fish and chip shop owner who had already been propositioned by several others. He bought because this person appeared to be more interested in him as a person than in the sale.

Richard Winfield is founder of Brefi Group.
An international facilitator, he coaches and
facilitates directors and boards in transition:
helping them to make progress by
bringing structure and clarity
to their thinking.

USEFUL LINKS

• Subscribe to the CorporateCoach RSS feed
• Blair Singer’s Sales Dogs
• Rich Dad’s Advisors: Salesdogs UK
• Rich Dad’s Advisors: SalesDogs USA

My guess: in the first seven weeks of 2010, you’ve already abandoned some or all of these. Why?

1: inadequate checking in on Your Goals

2: insufficient leverage or accountability

3: lack of discipline to walk your talk

I’m assuming that Your Goals would have contributed positively to your life and perhaps the lives of others, so revisit them.

First: resolve to check in more frequently on Your Goals. Plan, execute, review, repeat.

Second: work with a group, an Executive Coach or someone who can hold you more accountable.

Third: increase your discipline to increase your results. Identify causes of failures, decide to shift your thinking and behaviour, and then act to achieve a clearly-defined purpose.

If you didn’t make any resolutions or you’d like to add some, here are five tips to make this Tiger year a grrreat one for growth.

GrowthTip 1: Talking Tiger Hidden Learning

If you’re always the expert, you’re not listening and you might not be learning. Go and listen to a variety of specialists that can give you new insights and help you further grow and develop. Yes that means going to events, network, listen, apply. (Yes, I have just the event for you: the Singapore Leadership Development Congress).

GrowthTip 2: Tiger Learns From an Ambush

The collective for tigers is: an ambush of tigers. Bring your tigers together and bring in a specialist speaker. Then evaluate your common Team Goal, your Execution Timing, your location strengths and your willingness to Act On Opportunity. Procrastination almost always costs money. Example: booking an air ticket; if you leave it to the last minute, it’ll cost you a fortune.

GrowthTip 3: Tiger Collaborates for Big Wins

Make this a year for effective collaboration. That means working together for mutual benefit and ROI. You with your strength, me with mine. If you want to fly somewhere, you collaborate with flying specialists as well as others who share a similar need and can share the cost. Similarly if you want to increase productivity and results, then you bring in productivity and results specialists (yes that is what I help businesses improve: increase profitable productivity).

GrowthTip 4: Tiger is Watchful and Restful

Tigers keenly observe what is going on. And they are well rested to ensure performance. Sleep well this year. Sleeping 8 hours a night increases productivity by 25%. If you sleep 6 hours a night, you might have 2 extra hours awake (or 8.33% of a day), but if your productivity is 25% less then that’s a bad return on investment. Sleep on it. You can’t be an Effective Leader if you’re not healthy.

GrowthTip 5: Tiger seeks Courage through Faith

Tigers stand for courage and action. Be swift with your action this year. Make decisions often. Be courageous. Have faith in your purpose and your ability to succeed. When I take people through the 9 Characters to Victory in my V9 profile, it’s amazing to watch people finally identify why they haven’t been more Victorious. Often it comes down to their relationships with themselves, each other and, importantly, with their purpose. Have faith in your purpose.

Have a fantastic year of the Golden Tiger. Seek Victory, Listen, Learn, Collaborate, Rest, and Be Courageous.

Tim Wade, Speaker Station Asia, Singapore

We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
We were born to make manifest
The glory of God that is within us.

It’s not just in some of us;
It’s in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we’re liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

There is a prestigious two day event on the 20 & 21 March that I know you will love. It’s called “Expand Your Brand” and will host 12 expert speakers including:

* Mike Harris – Founder of Egg, which floated for £1.3B just 3 years after launch.
* Kanya King MBE – Founder of the MOBO Awards, seen in 57 countries by 250M people.
* Sabirul Islam – A best selling author and international speaker at just 18 years old.
* Peter Thomson – The creator of over 150 products.
* Dan Wagner – On the Times Rich List, founder of Venda, pioneering internet entrepreneur.
* Justin Champney – Top brand builder and founder of Buildabrand.com
* Mindy Gibbins-Klien – Has helped over 300 people write, publish and promote their books.
* Deirdre Bounds – Founder of i-to-i Travel, which she grew from nothing to over £20M in 10 years

This event is all about building more influence, more recognition and more results from your business and personal brand. When you consider that getting your brand right is a key part of building a successful and valuable business … you must be at this event!

Since Brefi Group has a good relationship with the promoters at Triumphant Events, we can offer some half price tickets for just £59 (this offer is only for the first 50 people who register and is only available for the next two days). Please book today to avoid missing out on this special offer.

Tethered elephants

I was doing a hike through the jungle as a tourist, when I saw these large elephants tethered to a small stake. I asked their trainer ‘How can you keep such a large elephant tied to such a small stake?’ He said ‘When the elephants are small, they try to pull out the stake and they fail. When they grow large, they never try to pull out the stake again.’

The cow in the ditch

When everything gets really complicated and you feel overwhelmed, think about it this way: You gotta do three things. First, get the cow out of the ditch. Second, find out how the cow got into the ditch. Third, make sure you do whatever it takes so the cow doesn’t go into the ditch again.

Stuck in a hole

A man was walking along a sidewalk when he fell into an unprotected hole. He could not get out.

A doctor came along and he cried out for help. The doctor wrote him a prescription, threw it into the hole and continued walking.

Then a priest came along and he cried out again. This time, the priest wrote down a prayer, threw it into the hole and continued walking.

Finally, a friend came along. His response was to jump down into the hole to comfort the man.

The man said ‘What was the point of that? Now we are both stuck down the hole.’

‘Ah’ replied his friend ‘but I have been here before, and I know how to get out.’

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• Stories
• More stories in our free resources section

On my return to Birmingham I was referred to hospital to have the break re-set and a titanium splint inserted. My big worry was that I would be detected every time that I went through airport security on my international travels. Fortunately, that has not occurred.

What I really appreciated about my treatment was the way my surgeon, Simon Tan, related to me. I consider myself a professional, and obviously a surgeon is a professional, too.

However, in this context I was a patient and normally that is how I would feel I was being treated. In this case, though, I felt honoured as a fellow professional. The attitude that Mr Tan took towards me, the respect and the trouble he took over explaining all the details of the break and the treatment, all took place on a one-to one adult basis.

I hope, and believe, that this special health service worker actually treated everybody exactly the same.

Recently I was flying from Phuket to Bangkok. A Thai lady was sitting next to me with her young son. She asked me whether I had been on holiday and explained that she lived in Hong Kong and was returning home. There was something very special about how this stranger addressed me. Once again it was as if we were equals – worthy adults who might have known each other for years.

Not only did this conversation honour me, but it indicated great self confidence and self esteem on the part of the lady.

I was very struck by this short interaction. A couple of adults treated me like this when I was a teenager. The difference is subtle but significant.

I have been pondering since what is the difference between these interactions and normal conversations between adults. How can I honour and respect people when I meet them in the way the Mr Tan and the lady from Thailand did to me?

Dr John Demartini has recently produced a video on relationships and the art of communication.

Coach training in India

This week we have been working on the brochure for the ISEC coach training programmes that we are launching in Bangalore. Eventually they will cover the whole spectrum of training from Line Manager as Coach to full preparation for IAC and ICF accreditation.

I shall continue to keep you up to date with developments.

In the meantime, my partner, Krishna Kumar, has contributed an article on lessons from the world of sports. See below.

Last chance to see Harv in the UK

This weekend I am off to London for a very intensive three days with Harv Eker. This is the last chance to experience him at the Millionnaire Mind Intensive (”The Secret Psychology of Wealth”) in the UK. Whether you want to learn, or to model a master presenter, you should be there.

Richard Winfield is founder of Brefi Group.
An international facilitator, he coaches and
facilitates directors and boards in transition:
helping them to make progress by
bringing structure and clarity
to their thinking.

USEFUL LINKS

• Subscribe to the CorporateCoach RSS feed
• Singapore Leadership Development Congress
• Millionaire Mind Intensive
• Indian School of Executive Coaching
• Dr Demartini on relationships

We have had lots of interest in Andrew Halfacre’s latest management game. If you wish to benefit from the half price introductory offer, then find out more about it now.

This game can be used to help teams understand skills, behaviours and techniques that work in a high pressure situation. It aids communication and learning about managing practical problems. It is particularly useful for drawing out the differences between managing a project and managing routine work.

Rigger can be played at several levels of complexity and the game pack suggests many variations you could use. [MORE]

You will be able to download the game pack as soon as payment has been accepted.

Half price until 28 February!

Buy now at the introductory offer price of £25.00

He is one of the great personalities in the world of personal development. He might be known as a chef, but, for me, his real contribution is what he does for young people, giving them life and hope. When I have watched him on his programmes about his restaurant for unemployed young people, Fifteen, and others about teaching people, I have been moved to tears of joy.

He is a a leader who cares to the bottom of his heart. And he is a civic leader who takes action to change the world. A role model for us all.

I was delighted to learn that he has received an award from TED. However, in this case I wept in sadness. I have watched three feature films about food in the USA and I forecast that within ten years there will be major class actions against the food industry just like there have been against the tobacco industry.

Once again, it is Jamie who sets the lead.

I challenge you to watch this lecture and think deeply about it. We are all responsible for providing food, whether it be in our personal lives, our workplaces or in how we feed children at school.

Jamie Oliver’s TED award speech.

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
‘ Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!

Imagine that you are participating in a knock-out tennis tournament. If you are a tennis player this would sound rather a routine event, but wait…there’s a catch. The tournament rule of progression is inverted. In every match the loser (yes, the loser!) progresses to the next round and the winner is knocked out.

Imagine also that you are the local tennis champ and entered the tournament before knowing the changed rule. You have been told about this new rule a short while before your match and you are now contemplating the best strategy to employ.

On the one hand you need to win to maintain your standing as the best player and on the other hand you realize that winning the match would knock you out of the tournament. What would be your strategy for the match? Equally what is your opponent’s strategy as he is also playing by the same rule?

You have the choice of playing badly to ensure that you lose. It is possible that your opponent would also choose the same strategy and the match would end up as a series of intentional mistakes and, while you might progress to the next round(s), you are unlikely to obtain any satisfaction from your playing performance. Or, you might decide to win, maintain your standing as the champion player and not progress further in the tournament. But, the fact your performance was not rewarded in the conventional sense would likely make you unhappy.

Effectively, therefore, you lose whichever strategy you select?

Busy high performing executives in the business world face similar decisions many times in a working day. The problem is that most often they do not realize that the decision-situation is as simple (or complex depending on how you view it!) as the one described earlier. And at the end of a busy day, if they were to take stock of their decisions they would recall that many times the end result was distributed between “losses” and “wins.”

But, corporate executives are measured on the quality of their decision making and it is necessary to have greater wins than losses. To resolve this dilemma, let us return to our tennis champion and assist him in selecting a match strategy.

Imagine, that you – the tennis champion – decide to change your mind-set and no longer look upon the match as a lose-lose situation. Instead you decide to go out, play your natural game and irrespective of the real outcome consider that you have won. What is the likely outcome? Once the pressure of winning in the conventional sense is removed you will discover that you are actually enjoying the game.

In his early twentieth century masterpiece, “As a Man Thinketh”, the novelist James Allen captures this situation aptly in this couplet:

Defeats are steps by which we climb
With purer aim to nobler ends;
Loss leads to gain, and joy attends
True footsteps up the hills of time.

In actual fact, when players were placed in this tournament situation many of them claimed that they had played the best games of their life. In some respects the description of their feelings during the game coming close to a state that athletes describe as “playing in the zone.”

In technical terms this state is also known as the Flow state – a state where the person is totally absorbed in his task, where distractions are excluded from the consciousness and the joy of undertaking the activity is its own reward.

We may now ask ourselves, what can the busy corporate executive learn from the experience of our tennis champ?

He can learn to cultivate his thought process so that he believes himself to be in a win-win position, whatever the decision-situation. In the process he will find himself gradually working in a state of flow. A state where there is no difference between work or play, defeat or victory. A situation best summed in this short poem attributed to the Zen Masters.

The Master simply pursues excellence,
in whatever he does.
He makes little distinction between,
his work and his play,
His labour and his leisure,
his mind and his body,
His education and his recreation,
his love and his religion,
He hardly knows which is which,
for he is always doing both.

The Zen Masters

Krishna Kumar is the founder of IntradConsult
and Brefi Group’s partner in ISEC –
The Indian School of Executive Coaching