Month: December 2005

In dealing with personality types it is always easiest to understand the one you epitomize so I want to begin with Powerful Choleric. The three ways to describe this person are The extrovert, the Doer, the Optimist.

Powerful Cholerics are born leaders and very goal oriented in life. They always move quickly to action and adapt well to change. On the down side they can sometimes find it difficult to slow down or relax. They will often quickly get to the top of their field… but can sometimes find themselves alone at the top.

When dealing with a powerful choleric personality the best approach to take is to quickly get to the point. They do not care much about the story behind things or the fluff that goes along with it. If you want things done, or someone who can deal well in a stressful situation then a powerful choleric comes in handy.

Cheers,

CB

One of my favorite topics to study is that of personality types and personality profiling. I have found it to be invaluable in allowing me to get a read on the people I am speaking with as well as gaining introspection to myself. I am one of the unusual types who has one very overwhelming personality style. Most people are a close blend of a couple but I am firmly in one quadrant.

As entire books have been written on the subject of personality profiling, I am going to break this down into a series of articles so you will have to keep coming back :)… what a shame I know. One of the first lessons that I learned was that if you are not able to put yourself in the shoes of a person you are speaking with you are really only able to communicate with about 25% of the population. Or the group of people who share your personality style.

There are many names given to the personality styles, some prefer to give them colours. I use the names in which I first learned them from a book called Personality Plus by Florence Littauer. She calls them 1. Powerful Choleric 2. Perfect Melancholy 3. Peaceful Phlegmatic 4. Popular Sanguine.

Stay tuned and I will talk about the 4 types and how to best deal with each one.

Cheers,

CB

Today I was reminded once again why it is that so many businesses have trouble. I was in a planning meeting at the Burnaby Board of Trade and we were discussing possible topics for our upcoming small business seminars. The meeting, as often happens, was draw away from new progressive ideas and taken in the direction of tired old business concepts that should have died with the 80s.

As our economy enters into a recession I feel so many companies are missing the point of building long term solid relationships. I beleive the companies who are too busy now to worry about relationships are the ones who are going to be “busy” in bankruptcy proceedings in the coming years.

I always find myself trying to convince people that it is not good ideas, not good marketing or good products that make or break companies. The key ingrediant in all successful companies is good people and good people skills. I want to steal a few lines from one of my favorite articles called “Getting a message to Garcia”. When talking about this type of person Elbert Hubbard states

“Civilization is one long anxious search for just such individuals. Anything such a man asks shall be granted; his kind is so rare that no employer can afford to let him go. He is wanted in every city, town and village- in every office, shop, store and factory. The world cries out for such: he is needed, & needed badly”

These are my thoughts on the subject…..

CB

With all of the networking functions that go on in a city like Vancouver, most business people will find themselves attending meetings from time to time. I would always recommend people attend them regularily, but that is not the topic of today. I think one of the challenges we face is that too often a networking event is seen as a group of potential customers we should be trying to sell to. This is far from the case and will get you nowhere in the fast lane.

A networking function is an opportunity to get to know someone a little bit and discover what he and his company does and has to offer. If you feel there is synergy with your new found friend by all means set an appointment at which you can begin the sales proccess. Do not, I repeat DO NOT, try and make a deal then and there. It is neither the time nor the place.

One of the biggest problems trying to “sell” at a networking event creates is that you miss the opportunity to get to know someone who is not part of your “target market”. What is often overlooked is just because I may not be in your target market, it does not mean I don’t know anyone who is. Some of the most well connected people I know don’t show it. So take the time to establish rapport with everyone, you just never know who they might know. A solid long term relationship is worth way more than on one time deal.

These are just my two cents,

Cheers,

CB

In my ever expanding world of strategic partners and key connections I have taken on a new role with Duocom. I was approached by them to come on in an account managment/ relationship building role which I accepted. I am please to work with them and add more complimentary services to my network.

Having spent many years working in the world of Audio Video, Duocom is a natural fit for me and my endeavors. The world of office technology is changing quickly and there are so many great ways to communicate your message to both customers and co-workers, I am excited about the opportunity.

Cheers,

Chuck

But do it properly… or not at all

Businesses need to embrace the benefits that blogging can deliver, according to Harvard Business School. Though in some circles blogging has gotten a bad rap the US business school says companies should get online and start spreading the word.

In a Harvard Management Communication Letter, the school said blogs enable the brave few “to connect with customers online and advance corporate communications and marketing goals” and added that a well-written blog can boost a company’s credibility. If you don’t want to hear from your customers and critics in a public environment, don’t blog.
In the case of crisis – far from being a PR disaster – a blog can enable companies “to shape the conversation about it”,

Among those already embracing the trend are Boeing, General Motors, Google, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Sun and Yahoo!.

However, the business school suggests companies bear in mind a number of key points such as ensuring readers can comment so the blog remains open and interactive and doesn’t appear a mouthpiece for the company. “Permit both positive and negative posts on your blog and reply to comments made on other blogs pertinent to your area of focus. Respond in a professional and businesslike way. If you don’t want to hear from your customers and critics in a public environment, don’t blog.”

It also urges companies not to allow their PR department anywhere near their blog and put the marketing-speak thesaurus back on the shelf. A blog which is “genuine, conversational and engaging” and which “eschews corporate-speak” is far more effective, it states.
And most importantly, the article tells companies to make a commitment to update the blog regularly once they have told the world they are doing a blog.

This is excellent food for thought when trying to consider whether or not you should be blogging,

My two cents,

CB

You know one thing I am always surprised by is how willing people are to take bad advice from people they know. How many people do you know who missed an opportunity because they talked to their brother in law’s uncle who thought it was a bad idea? When I look at someone who is offering me advice, I ask myself one simple question. Is the person I am speaking with credible on this subject? If I need advice on money, I am not going to talk to a middle age relative who is broke. A much better strategy is to talk to someone who has money and has been successful in getting it.

I think this is a very important lesson we all need to learn. Everyone needs to have role models in life, just make sure you choose them wisely. I am a firm beleiver in the psychological theory that you become who you associate with most of the time. If you want to be good at golf then hang around with people who are good golfers. If you want to have money, hang around with people who you want to emulate with money.

Everything we do and everyone we associate with is a choice, dont have that choice made for you. It is your life, make darn sure you choose wisely!

Cheers,

CB

One of the things many people have heard me talk about is the importance of knowing your audience. All to often we get so wrapped up in our thoughts, feelings and desires that we start asking the world “why arent you more like me”? What is often overlooked in my opinion is the fact that first of all there are 4 major personality types. ( I am not going to get into a discussion of what they are right now, I will leave that for a later post)

So what we need to realize is that even if every person of our personality type were like us (they are not, however) we would still only be getting our message to 25% of the population who share our thought patterns.

Instead of trying to get people to think more like you, try thinking more like the person you are speaking with. I know you will love the results you get once you begin to do this. For more on this topic take a look at my article on creating an elevator speach for an introduction.
BNI Vancouver: Elevator Speach

Cheers,

CB

One of the thing that continues to amaze me the most is the search capacity of RSS feeds. I can be notified for instance everytime anything is written on the net using the words “Chuck Brady”. I can have a constant search being run and the results delivered directly to my inbox with no work on my part and most importantly NO SPAM.

The ramifications of this are huge from an information standpoint. It allows you to always be updated on the topics of your choice. You can always be aware of what your competition is doing, stop any bad press while it is in its infancy or just track the results of your favorite sports team.

Just one of the many reasons why I love this new technology,

Cheers,

CB