Communication is a life skill that influences every aspect of your life. The first Edenchanges blog on the topic was very well received so I thought it would be good to share some further communication tips.

The original article which presented four general communication tips can be found here.

In this article I am going to look at communication that helps build rapport with people. Rapport in this instance is about bringing people closer together and creating a feeling of understanding and connection. In other words your communication builds rapport when the people you are speaking to feel closer and more in tune with you.

The following material is taken from the Edenchanges Communication for Executives training course.

Use their words – a powerful rapport building technique is to use the other persons words. Let me illustrate by example:

Person A describes an experience they have just had with a friend – “That was thrilling!”

Person B (who also experienced the same event) replies – “Yes that was exciting!”

The problem here is that to Person A the words ‘thrilling’ and ‘exciting’ might well have different meanings. As a result they might not feel that Person B had exactly the same experience. The change in words creates a barrier in the communication. At least from the perspective of rapport building; of being connected.

Everyone has their own internal definition for all words and by using the other persons words in a conversation with them we send the message that we truly understand and are truly talking about the same experiences.

So to be clear in the above example it would have been more powerful from a rapport building perspective for Person B to say:

“Yes that was thrilling!”

Naturally this might not actually be the opinion of Person B however if Person B is looking to bond and connect with Person A then they would be well advised to use the same words!

Ask questions – I’ve spent nearly a decade in the recruitment industry, first as a head-hunter and now as a trainer and coach. Consequently asking questions has been part of my job for years! One of the things I have noticed about questions is that, outside of recruitment, people simply don’t ask enough of them.

People generally like other people to show an interest in them. By asking questions you show that you are interested in them. I’m not suggesting you interrogate people rather express a level of interest in them.

For example the other day I was buying a coffee when I noticed that the man behind me in the queue had a really great pair of boots on. I complimented him on them and asked him where he had got them from. From looking a bit surprised that a total stranger would speak to him he suddenly looked very happy. It turned out that the boots were a birthday present from his fiance and he’d managed to get the last pair, in his size, in stock. He was very happy to share the story.

The conversation lasted only a moment but it was a positive experience that couldn’t have happened without a question being asked.

Speak at their level - not everyone has the same command of the English language. Rapport is a great word and I know what I mean by it however at the beginning of this blog I clarified its meaning for those readers who might not have come across it before.

There is nothing wrong with not knowing the word ‘rapport’ or indeed any other word. What is wrong is to assume that everyone understands the words you do.

Good communication is about accurately conveying information from one person to another. A large part of building rapport through communication is about having respect for the other person. This includes respecting their educational level and language range.

A good rule of thumb is to speak at a simple but competent level to new people until you get a chance to gauge their grasp of English. Some ideas and events can only be shared through more advanced language which then simply requires new or more unusual words to be clarified and explained.

Intelligent Listening – this is a big topic in itself and I will return to it in future blogs however for now let me mention one element of it; it is important to clearly indicate that you are listening to the other person whether you are communicating face to face or over the phone or internet.

Use verbal nods such as ‘Ah ha’, ‘yes’, ‘really’; to show that you are truly listen to the other person. When face to face with the person use body language and eye contact to clearly show that you are listening.

When people speak they want to be listened to and in some instances need to be listened to. Every wife and girlfriend in the world can no doubt tell stories of when their partners were not listening to them and how bad that felt! And every husband and boyfriend in the world can no doubt tell stories of when their partners thought they weren’t listening when in fact they were and how annoying that felt!

The point is; not visibly listening destroys rapport!

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 I trust you have found the above of interest. As already mentioned the above information has been taken from the Edenchanges Communication for Executives training course. We would love to talk to any companies interested in improving the communication skills of their staff and we can be contacted via the details below.

 And finally as always comments via the blog site or by email are always welcome.

 Until next time, be successful;

 Stephen

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Coming next on edenchanges.com - Standing Tall - more personal development thoughts inspired by Fight Club!

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We would be delighted to discuss your communication, or other corporate training or coaching needs so call us, or email us, today to discuss:

International: +44 1757 249 380 UK: 01757 249 390

Email: enquiries@edenchanges.com

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Lance Corporal Katrina Hodge Picture: Cpl Adrian Harlen

Last week I saw, for the first time, Fight Club with Brad Pitt and Ed Norton. And yes I recognise that I’m about ten years behind everyone else on that score!

Anyway I was planning a blog about some of the ideas in that film when I learn that Katrina Hodge, a serving solder in HM Armed Forces  is now Miss England and will represent England at the Miss World competition later this year.

It’s the type of event that I really thinks applauding and ironically it fits into one of the thoughts I had from Fight Club.

Fight Club provoked some real thinking and one of the themes I really liked in the film was the idea that we are all so much more than our business card or bank balance. It’s an idea I am familiar with indeed I had just a few weeks earlier ripped up a client’s business card in front of them telling them most earnestly that ‘You are not your business card…’

To then have Brad Pitt utter a similar speech was quite shocking – most of all because I would hate the client to think I’d copied my opener for that training session!

Anyway what I love about the concept is that it is absolutely true. We are all so much more than the labels we are given by employers, friends or family. Recognising ourselves as more than the label of ‘dad’, ‘manager’, director’ or whatever is a freeing experience.

So what does this have to do with Katrina Hodge?

Modelling for La Senza Retail Chain

Well to have a career in the military and at the same time be a model speaks of a person who is confident in their goals and free of the limitations people would normally assign to work or hobbies. How many people have laughed at her or poured scorn on her doing both those activities? Yet there she is doing both successfully.

Whether you approve of beauty pageants or not I’d hope you’d see that Katrina is a great example of someone who has broken out of the confines of expectations and is living a life of her own choosing.

So from a fictional film to the world of reality one idea blends together so to you I would ask this question – how great it would be to live past the confines of your labels?

Until next time; be successful

Stephen

Trainer, Coach, Public Speaker

Photo’s – I believe the photo’s are in the public domain however if you are the copyright holder and want me to remove them then let me know.

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Coming next on edenchanges.com – Communication Tips

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We would be delighted to discuss your corporate training or coaching needs so call us, or email us, today to discuss:

International: +44 1757 249 380 UK: 01757 249 390

Email: enquiries@edenchanges.com

Advice given to people should change with the times. The answer to “How can I be a successful consultant” has changed in the last year or two and more than ever if you are serious about getting into, or staying in, the recruitment industry then you need to become brilliant at sales; specifically new business generation.

At this moment companies are being ever more careful and cautious regarding how and where to spend their money. The practical result for consultants is that there are fewer companies spending and those that are need even more reason to do business with you than before.

I was going to outline a number of different business generation routes in this article but preferring always to write detailed rather than shallow articles I have opted to focus on one area. . .

Vertical Market Specialisation

If you don’t have a vertical market that you specialise in then fast track your recruitment career and get one. One of the universal factors in every top biller I have ever seen is that they verticalise. If you this isn’t practical for you, perhaps you run a temp desk offering a certain candidate type to any industry then consider doing the below in a specific geographical area. The principles are then the same.

1) Realise this is a marathon not a sprint. It might take weeks of consistently calling to work your way through even a medium-sized industry. That’s okay because you are looking to develop long-term, consistent, business

2) Prepare before you phone. Specifically consider how you are going to introduce yourself, your company and your services. What objection handling lines and techniques will you use to the objections you can imagine coming up; the company isn’t recruiting, they have no budget, they have a preferred suppliers list etc

You might only get one shot at a decision maker within a particularly company so you want to be prepared to deliver powerful lines that will get their attention.

3) Get a list of companies in your chosen industry and call  all of them. You will find that a lot of them are too small or for other reasons unsuitable as clients. That’s okay. You can’t prejudge companies accurately without ringing them at least once. So ring everyone.

Trade associations are great sources of members lists and do remember the classic source of sales calls – the phone book. There are several online versions which can again produce a list of potential companies in a handful of mouse clicks. These days there is simply no excuse for not being able to generate a good target list for a sector.

Online business directories have a place in the world but approach with caution – of all the methods of generating lists they, particularly the free ones, tend to be the least accurate.

On that point please realise that every target list ever created had some dud companies on it. The information is always going to be out of date so expect that and prepare to have to be flexible when you ring. Companies merge, change name, shut down all the time. Your target list is simply a starting point.

Now the really important part. . .

4) Have a diary system that makes you money – After you have rung your companies ensure that you keep accurate records; who you called, what was said, contact numbers, email addresses, whether they are a potential client now or in the future etc

The really important part is to then record in your diary system when you are going to call them again. It could be as soon as tomorrow if you failed to reach the decision maker today. Equally it might be six months from now when their merger is expected to be finished. The when you ring them again I leave you to decide.

Old school professional sales people will recognise the above technique – sometimes called the day book system – every day a sales person opens his day book, see’s who they have to follow-up and call them. By continually putting the details into a diary or day book system everyone gets called back and real business gets generated on the second, third or later call back as you build up a relation with the client.

Business you find on your first call is luck; business you find on your call backs is sales!

There are certainly other things you can do to develop your vertical market but I trust the above has given you something to get started with.

Consider the benefits of apply the above – your sales manager will love your proactivity, you might find business simply waiting to be called and lastly you will definately develop a network of industry contacts, who if you call regularly, will give you business!

That’s got to be a good thing!

Until next time; be successful

Stephen

Trainer, Coach, Public Speaker

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Coming next on edenchanges.com – Fight Club!

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We would be delighted to discuss your corporate training or coaching needs so call us, or email us, today to discuss:

International: +44 1757 249 380 UK: 01757 249 390

Email: enquiries@edenchanges.com

Focus definition:

• the concentration of attention or energy on something
• concentrate: direct one’s attention on something
• cause to converge on or toward a central point

On the outside this week has been a week of opposites – on Monday I was running a head hunting course for recruitment consultants and on Sunday I will be delivering the first module in a personal development program for a martial arts academy.

What is interesting are the similarities.

At a break in the head hunt training the recruitment consultants asked me how to be successful in recruitment – a very common question. The week before I had asked Sensei Craig Long, six times British kickboxing champion and owner of the York Martial Arts Academy what made people successful at martial arts. The answer it turns out is the same thing; focus.

But let’s put some perspective on this in case I’m just getting carried away as us personal development specialists can do; so just how much different does focusing on a goal or objective make?

Consider the following two statements; one is true, one is not:

1) If you focus on a goal or an objective you will reach it.

2) If you focus on a goal or an objective you will get closer to your goal and increase your chances of reaching it and being totally successful.

Being a realist I would offer the second statement as the true one. Focus does not guarantee success but it increases the odds in your favour!

And whether you are preparing for martial art combat, building a career or working towards a personal goal improving the odds has to be a good thing!

Until next time; be successful

Stephen

Trainer, Coach, Public Speaker

NEW Addition: PS – A very interesting comment has been added by a reader – I would invite all other readers to read it and add their thoughts

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Coming next on edenchanges.com – more recruitment specific tips

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We would be delighted to discuss your corporate training or coaching needs so call us, or email us, today to discuss:

International: +44 1757 249 380 UK: 01757 249 390

Email: enquiries@edenchanges.com

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Photograph by the talented Jade Macalla,  photo manipulation by me

The age of a typical workforce has never been more diverse. 

This was a natural demographic shift which has been accelerated by the economic climate which is requiring many senior and middle executives to find new careers paths. These new career paths are often coming at a different level or in a different sector to the one in which they had previously been working.

Which raises a lot of questions regarding intergenerational attitudes and communication. In this blog I want to focus on the strengths that each age has with a desire to smooth the communication and relations between different ages.

“In my day. . .” -When someone starts a sentence like that younger workers typically do a mental eye roll and sigh inwardly if not outwardly however I’d like to present a thought that might limit the sighing, whether inner or outer! Let’s consider some of the ’old school’ techniques of doing business. 

These are things like networking with people, professionalism, keeping a good diary system; all techniques that are still recommended. Now there might be new methods of doing them (Linkedin for networking for example) however the principles are old. So “In my day. . . ” might simply be the start of a description of a good solid business principle that could then be implemented in a newer way by the younger listener.

Equally if a person has been in business thirty years it stands to reason that they have done many activities repeatedly. The older person has probably tried, failed and retried many things many times – thus, hopefully learned some things along the way. I would suggest that there is a value in listening to their stories (i.e. their experience) to see what tips can be taken and applied today. It might be they can shorten the learning curve for their younger audience.

Speak with an open mind - If the above advice was aimed at the younger party then this is for the older one – young keen workers and executives have lots of experiences that frankly older generations haven’t had. Consequently they know first hand about things that older generations typically have only heard about.

It is very easy to deride and dismiss new views and new fads as just that; fads. However if the younger audience would be advised to listen with an open mind then the older speaker would be wise to keep an open mind also.

The younger person has a different perspective and might be sceptical, or take longer to accept, the advice presented. It’s important to limit your expectations of the impact your hard won wisdom will have and also very important to be open to the ideas being changed or challenged based on a younger point of view; and they might be right – for them.

What worked thirty years ago might still work today but possibly, with a modern twist or tweak, it could work even better.

Passing over knowledge is literally that, passing it over. The recipient then has ownership. It is important to be open minded over what they will do, or how they will feel, about it.

Everyone has a story to tell – If you have been in business for any length of time you will have stories to tell. These will range from the mundane to the truly profitable! It is powerful to listen to other people’s stories as you never know what truth or wisdom will be contained within it.

If you filter your listening through an internal age filter either mentally saying;

 ”What will this person have to share with me they are too young.”

or

“What will this person have to share with me they are past it.”

then I guarantee you will be missing out. For evidence of that I would tell you that it was a relatively young colleague of mine who once told me that ‘everyone has a story to tell’ and upon consideration I realised they were right.

Always remember age does not guarantee wisdom and youth does not guarantee ignorance. Listen to their story and then take a view.

Respect -the key point from this blog is that everyone has something to bring to the table. Psychologically people’s expectations are heavily influenced by the perceived age of the person with whom they are communicating.

It takes discipline and mental effort to change your thinking to be more open and to drop ageist filters. A factor to help is simply chosing to have enough respect for everyone so that you can listen with an open mind.

By doing so you will open yourself up to a wider world of influences, ideas and suggestions. Additionally I suspect that the respect you show to others will go some way towards lowering the age filters that they apply when you speak!

Until next time; be successful

Stephen

Trainer, Coach, Public Speaker

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Coming next on edenchanges.com – The Power of Focus!

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We would be delighted to discuss your corporate training or coaching needs so call us, or email us, today to discuss:

International: +44 1757 249 380 UK: 01757 249 390

Email: enquiries@edenchanges.com

Inspirational dissatisfaction was a phrase used by W. Clement Stone in his best selling book “The Success System that Never Fails.”

In a nutshell inspirational dissatisfaction is an internal dissatisfaction with how things are currently which motivates a person to change and improve things.

W. Clement Stone put forward the thought that every great achievement in the world had sprung from this. Like all sweeping statement it’s probably possible to pick fault with it and find some example of a great achievement that came about without this but that would be to belittle a very powerful concept.

In this article I would like to address sales people in particular and see how the above concept could make them better at what they do for a living.

I would think that most sales people would accept that a year from now their sales calls and meetings will be better and more effective at winning business than they are today.

If you agree with that fact then it has an interesting consequence which is this – it means that your calls and meetings today are not as good as they could be. In fact it means that you should be dissatisfied with how good they are and want to improve – which is inspirational dissatisfaction!

Assuming you want to get better as a sales person then inspirational dissatisfaction should have you analysing your calls and meetings, considering your techniques or scripts (whether written or in your head) and seeking ways to improve them.

Not doing that is like a sports person saying “I only want to be this good, I don’t want to improve.” No world class athlete ever said that!

When you are in sales you are busy. Either prospecting for new business or working hard to satisfy the client’s you already have. You don’t have a lot of time for fancy theories or pointless acronyms dreamed up by trainers. I have found that simple and quick is the way to go and for me “Inspirational Satisfaction” is a phrase that is easy to remember, widely applicable and very powerful to use. I hope you find it the same.

Until next time; be successful!

Stephen

Trainer, Coach, Public Speaker

Photo by Kotanfis with thanks.

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Coming next on edenchanges.com – The Power of Age – a blog on how you can use your age to your advantage in business!

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We would be delighted to discuss your corporate training or coaching needs so call us, or email us, today to discuss:

International: +44 1757 249 380 UK: 01757 249 390

Email: enquiries@edenchanges.com

I think it’s accurate to say that one of the fundamental factors that shapes your life is the relationships you have with other people.

Now when you consider that the quality of every relationship, whether transitory or long term, is influenced by your communication skills it makes one thing obvious; improving your communication skills can improve your life.

The great thing about improving your communication skills is that you get lots of chances to practise. Like improving any skill it does take time, diligence and effort. Fortunately the rewards can come quickly particularly with people you spend a lot of time with.

True communication empowers relationships and enriches lives. I truly hope that the following suggestions take you some way forward on that journey.

Maintain their self esteem - There are times when you have to point out the errors that someone has made. What makes for powerful communication is to do this whilst maintaining the person’s self esteem. This is something that many parents fail at; consider the difference between the following statements:

“You stupid boy! Look at what you’ve done!”

“That was stupid! Look at what you’ve done!”

In the first example a statement was made about the child’s intelligence – a statement that when said often enough will lower their self esteem. The second statement referred to the act they committed rather than the person’s character.

Because a person has committed a stupid or idiotic act does not make them stupid or idiotic and making them think that they are does no good. Better to maintain their self esteem whilst pointing out their errors.

The example above it taken from the world of parent and child however consider in what manner you point out the errors of the people you know, whether at work or home. Do you criticise them or their actions; and which one did you really mean to criticise?

And indeed which would be more constructive to criticise?

Communication is about the response it illicits - It really doesn’t matter what you meant to say it’s actually about what the other person heard and felt. Consider those times when you have given instructions or made requests of people and been met with resistance or hostility. From your point of view it might well be unreasonable but for the other person or persons it was reasonable. It was their genuine reaction to your communication.

When giving instructions or making a request a good communicator will strive to convey a message in a way so that the other person will follow the instructions in the emotional manner in which it was intended. That takes more thought and skill than simply barking an order.

Consider that the other person’s reaction is more often the result of the communication than the content and you will realise that a) you can influence the outcome and b) you are largely responsible for the outcome!

You will be misunderstood - No matter how good you are at conveying information or requests sometimes you will be misunderstood.

Good communicators therefore endeavour to ensure that the lines of communication are open enough so that if people are confused or upset by what they have said or done that a query can come back. This way misunderstandings can be cleared up rather than being allowed to fester.

Just think about how many family arguments could have been avoided if a minor misunderstanding could have been cleared away before the other person dwelt on it for days or longer!

Equally accepting that sometimes you will be understood keeps you on your toes and helps you remember to strive for clarity in your communication. Also when it does happen the fact that you accept it will happen at some times tends to make the misunderstanding less confusing and stressful.

Every piece of communication builds or reduces your reputation – there are no casual conversations in business. It’s an arena where one off-the-cuff comment can ruin a career or relationship. Don’t get paranoid but do get careful. People get judged by the content and manner of their communication at work and it is important to maintain the reputation you want at all times.

The higher up the career ladder you go or the more of an advisory your role is the greater your reputation must be maintained. Genuine consistency is the best way forward and always remember that if you say it, someone will hear it and someone will remember it. If you don’t want that to happen then keep quiet!

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As always I trust you found the above blog of interest and practical use. Communication is an art form that we can all benefit from improving.

Until next time; be successful communicating!

Regards

Stephen

Trainer, Coach, Public Speaker

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Coming next on edenchanges.com – Inspirational Dissatisfaction and how it can help you become a better sales person! Blog to be posted later this week!

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 We would be delighted to discuss your communication, or other corporate training or coaching needs so call us, or email us, today to discuss:

International: +44 1757 249 380 UK: 01757 249 390

Email: enquiries@edenchanges.com

“The people I have seen succeed best in life have always been cheerful and hopeful people, who went about their business with a smile on their faces.”

C.H.Kingsley

A good smile and a positive attitude is like a calling card – it says ‘hi – I’m a positive, happy person work with me!’

It has been my experience that the most successful people are positive people. It certainly doesn’t make you successful on your own. Success takes a lot of other ingredients including hard work, consistency and ingenuity amongst others. What positivity seems to do is oil the wheels; make the machinery work smoother and more efficiently.

It’s much easier for people to approach someone who is being positive than someone who is downbeat. In management a positive demeanour is a real asset. Communication will be a lot smoother and you will find people more willing to be spontaneous and eager to follow your guidance.

A word of warning though – don’t go over the top. As negative as being downbeat can be so being overly friendly and happy can result in people backing away from you slowly!

Genuine, practical positivity is about taking a level headed positive view on the world and the likely outcome of events and sharing that with others.

Until next time; be positively successful!

Stephen Hart

Coach, Trainer, Public Speaker

stephen.hart@edenchanges.com

+44 (0) 1757 249 380

With thanks to Katanaz-Stock for the excellent photograph; used with thanks.

Good time management is more than a useful work skill, it’s a life skill.

With good time management you can achieve more, see more and do more in your life than you would otherwise have been able. For me when I realised that I decided to make it a skill that I would always seek to improve upon and ultimately master. The further I travel on that particular path of learning the bigger and more fundamental the topic seems to me.

Many people feel’s it’s simply a matter of have a good diary system and that’s certainly an element of it but it’s much more about you and your personality than you might at first realise.

It’s not about time - that heading is the heart and soul of real time management  – it isn’t about time. It’s about what you do with the time you have; it’s about event management.

What events, in what order and how many of them will you chose to do in the time available. That’s nothing to do with time. No one, (excepting the Doctor with his handy Tardis) can give you more physical time. We all have the same amount. The challenge is what you do in the time available; that’s event management.

Once you really take that onboard you will stop looking at the clock and start looking at what needs to be done.

Oh and the real sting in the tail is this – it’s not about event management either. . .but what it’s really about is either staring you in the face right now and you are nodding with new found wisdom or you’ll have to come on an Edenchanges time management course to find out. . .sorry but we can’t just give all the family silver away in a free blog!

Brigid was right - I had a friend at school who is sadly no longer with us but going back to a happier point in her life she was quite simply brilliant at school. Five ‘A’s at A level back when you had to get special permission to even sit five A levels! I was with her in six form and I asked her how she did it. She explained that every night; not some nights but every night, she would go home and work for one to two hours on her homework or classwork. Simple as that she said; steady, consistent work.

Now I know she was also gifted but equally I have learnt from observation, research and personal experience that nothing gets a large task done as efficiently or effectively as steady, consistent work.

And this ties very tightly into the next two points. . .

Start early and have a pre-deadline - People talk a lot of rushing at the end, getting things done for the deadlines or just after and sweet talking their way into that being acceptable. This is not effective, or stress free event management. Following the two tips – start early and have a pre-deadline – takes out the stress and provides you with more opportunities to produce quality work. . .let me explain. . .

Typically people know how long it will do to complete a task, whether it is phoning a list of people or writing a blog etc By starting early you are in fact aiming to finish early. It is not about aiming to hit the original deadline but about finishing before the original deadline. You do it to give yourself time for overruns and unforeseen happenings and when you do finish earlier than the original deadline you get to feel great and then fit something else into your schedule!

The pre-deadline is a deadline that you personally decide you want to finish by. It’s the point in time which you are working to with your steady, consistent work. Consider any top sports person and you will see that they have been working steadily and consistently towards their peak performance over a long time. Staying with the sports people for a second and consider that they need to be match or game ready before the game – not atthe game. Pre-deadlines again.

A further note combining the above three points – is that by starting early it means that you can put in steady, consistent work over a period of time. This allows for reflection and review as you progress. In the times in between direct work on the task you can give it thought and consideration. This has to be a good thing surely because after all the more thought you put into things typically the better they become.

You also have the option of spending more time on the project if you chose as you have time before the main deadline. Once you are in the last minute it’s too late!

 Time = quality – again following on from the above (real time / event management is a blend of skills and principles rather than separate points) typically the more time you put into something the better the quality at the end. More time spent on something enables more proofing and checking. Yes you might be able to do something in five minutes but if you can do it properly in ten minutes and brilliantly in fifteen minutes then consider what quality of result you want before you schedule time in to do it. Simply getting it done isn’t always enough.

Last thought-I’d say that how a person respects time and their schedule of work will say a lot about them as a person and their character. The last minute, ‘it will do’ people tend to do last minute it will do quality of work. That has a place in the world but it’s not the type of reputation I personally want to build. I’d rather schedule my time more cleverly, work steadily and consistently towards pre-deadlines and produce work of a higher quality.

That’s how I want to work; what about you?

Until next time; be successful,

Stephen 

Train, Coach, Public Speaker

www.edenchanges.com

Should you be interested in an innovative and effective time management course for yourself or colleagues do contact Stephen or Edenchanges by phone or email and let us know.

Earlier in the year I was in a meeting held by three of the most senior people at a client of mine. In the meeting the potential future managers within the business were being considered.

Various names were put forward and the last name presented was that of a particularly talented and successful individual. A conversation was then had about that person and one of the three people present, the managing director, was particularly negative about the person.

When asked the managing director said “Well for a start it would help if they looked like a manager. I don’t think I have ever seen them wear a suit jacket. When they improve their appearance then I’ll consider them as a potential manager. That’s their first step.”

To date that person has not been put on the management program that I designed and am now delivering for the company. And yes they have had the advice that they need to improve their dress code however they are choosing not to follow it. The company in turn is holding to its position of needing to; literally, see something better from the individual.

The truth of the matter is this – your colleagues, your superiors and your clients will all judge you, to some degree, on your appearance. The deeper truth is more shocking – you will judge yourself on how you look.

A business person who doesn’t care about their appearance will not care about their work. A business person who fails to consider how well presented they are for business will often fail to consider how professionally they act, talk and work.

Certainly that is the view that other business professionals will take of them.

A positive consequence of this is that you can develop your potential in business and thus influence your own career and earning potential by motivating yourself through your own dress code.

If you really are a business professional then show that to the world and most importantly . . . dress to impress yourself.

Until next time;

Stephen

Coach, Trainer, Public Speaker

www.edenchanges.com

(0) 1757 249 380

PS In case anyone is worried I checked with my client before sharing this story! All work done by Edenchanges is done in the utmost confidentiality.

Photography by Ksenia Korneychuk with thanks.