"What is the one activity that you know if you did superbly well and consistently would have significant positive results in your personal, professional, or work life?"
7 Common Answers:
- Improving communication with people
- Better preparation
- Better planning and organizing
- Taking better care of self
- Seizing new opportunities
- Personal development
- Empowerment
That is a question Stephen R. Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People asks at his seminars. What a powerful question. The usual responses are fascinating; how many of you would answer in a similar manner?
If you think about the most valuable resource you can have; it would almost certainly be "improved communication with people" (sales ability). Want improved relationships? How about more friends? I know, we all want more money. Some parents might want a resource to help with their kids. There are also some of us who are depressed. Some of us lack motivation. A group of us just doesn't believe in ourselves....Do any of these sound like you?
If so, then you must agree that improved communication would be the one ability you would like to do superbly well and consistently, to have a significant positive impact in your life. With all the power promised by communication...you would think that we would all be flocking to resources via books, training, coaching, etc.
Do you?
It amazes me that with all the value in communication we are so atrophied in that arena. A colleague of mine once commented, "Angel serenades his clients over the phone with his voice..." I took this as a complement, however; I couldn't say the same thing for him. Truth be told, I have worked on my voice...and I still do. If how well I live my life has to do with how I communicate with people then I'll definitely work the probabilities in my favor and work on all channels of communication consistently.
Now here's something few people ever think about. You communicate with yourself all day long. You talk to yourself, you convince yourself, you insult, provoke, congratulate, sell,... You are both the buyer and the seller. You try to sell yourself on working out, or the new diet, or taking care of important things. How good are you at selling yourself? Unfortunately, I've met few individuals who are aware, much less competent, at being able to make themselves do the things that they "know" they should do. Why is that? Again, because we have not consistently worked on our communication and selling skills. We don't know how to sell ourselves on anything...thus we are sold anything being peddled in our environment.
As you can see...I'm passionate about communication and its effect on every aspect of our lives.
-Angel Armendariz
Showing posts with label Selling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Selling. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Rigid or Flexible Capitalist -What the Coming Economic Downturn Requires of You
"Markets crashing, Armageddon, it's never been this bad!" These are some of the resounding headlines around Newswires. When Gabriel's trumpet is the sound of the Wall Street bell...who do we call on for help? My choice is our good ol' American pal Ralph Waldo Emerson. I can here the sarcastic "oh boy" already...but hold on a second; let me explain. You see there are a couple of things that we can take from our long deceased friend.
First thing is Self-Reliance(self sufficient/effective). Now, of course we are a vastly interconnected society, and economic downturns can effect us in several ways. However, I chant the principle of Self-Reliance because this is what gives us the ability individually to become more capable. Evolutionary Theory has taught us that the more adaptable the organism, the better it will survive any changes. The more specialized (one-dimensional) an organism is the more vulnerable it becomes. Thus, any change to its environment can potentially cause its annihilation.
I use this as an analogy for our own selves. The more we can embrace Self-Reliance, the more we increase our adaptability. Take for instance the Wall Street Banker that specializes in Mortgage Backed Securities. That is a pretty specific specialty - the equivalent to a turtle in the animal kingdom. The equivalence I refer to is the fact that both the turtle and the banker can only function in a very limited sphere/environment. If that environment becomes threatened, than their existence becomes compromised.
Now, lets take another example. A professional Sales Person. A highly skilled sales person can work selling everything from fruit baskets - to selling the masses in voting for him/her as the next president. Sure, I'm extending the utility of a sales person, however, selling a fruit basket effectively requires one to adapt to your clients. To sell a nation on your competence as a politician requires adaptability to opinions, polls, and peoples concerns. The equivalent to a virus or bacteria in the biological world - not in the bad sense; in the sense of adaptability. So Emerson's long forgotten Self-Reliance essay would be a good wake me up for the common capitalist. Take a lesson from nature and be the tree that bends with the hurricane and remains standing. Not the rigid oak that cracks and breaks.
- Angel Armendariz
First thing is Self-Reliance(self sufficient/effective). Now, of course we are a vastly interconnected society, and economic downturns can effect us in several ways. However, I chant the principle of Self-Reliance because this is what gives us the ability individually to become more capable. Evolutionary Theory has taught us that the more adaptable the organism, the better it will survive any changes. The more specialized (one-dimensional) an organism is the more vulnerable it becomes. Thus, any change to its environment can potentially cause its annihilation.
I use this as an analogy for our own selves. The more we can embrace Self-Reliance, the more we increase our adaptability. Take for instance the Wall Street Banker that specializes in Mortgage Backed Securities. That is a pretty specific specialty - the equivalent to a turtle in the animal kingdom. The equivalence I refer to is the fact that both the turtle and the banker can only function in a very limited sphere/environment. If that environment becomes threatened, than their existence becomes compromised.
Now, lets take another example. A professional Sales Person. A highly skilled sales person can work selling everything from fruit baskets - to selling the masses in voting for him/her as the next president. Sure, I'm extending the utility of a sales person, however, selling a fruit basket effectively requires one to adapt to your clients. To sell a nation on your competence as a politician requires adaptability to opinions, polls, and peoples concerns. The equivalent to a virus or bacteria in the biological world - not in the bad sense; in the sense of adaptability. So Emerson's long forgotten Self-Reliance essay would be a good wake me up for the common capitalist. Take a lesson from nature and be the tree that bends with the hurricane and remains standing. Not the rigid oak that cracks and breaks.
- Angel Armendariz
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