Women Empowerment – Workshop 6 (Executive Presence)
The Appleton Greene Corporate Training Program (CTP) for Women Empowerment is provided by Ms. Tull Certified Learning Provider (CLP). Program Specifications: Monthly cost USD$2,500.00; Monthly Workshops 6 hours; Monthly Support 4 hours; Program Duration 12 months; Program orders subject to ongoing availability.
If you would like to view the Client Information Hub (CIH) for this program, please Click Here
Learning Provider Profile
Ms. Tull is a Certified Learning Provider (CLP) with Appleton Greene. She has over 25 years of experience in coaching, consulting and training CEO’s and executives. She specializes in the areas of personal and professional development and leadership. She is passionate about empowering women in the workplace equipping them with leadership skills and helping them to reveal their unique value, so they can reach their true potential and make a bigger impact. She has industry experience in the following sectors: Technology, Financial Services, Biomedical, Consultancy and Healthcare. She has commercial experience in the following countries: United States, Canada, England, Mexico and Sweden. More specifically within the following cities: Austin, TX; Houston, TX; Dallas, TX; Los Angeles, CA; New York City NY; St. Louis, MS; Virginia Beach, VA; Chicago IL. Her personal achievements include 17 yrs. as Founder/CEO of Silverlining Concepts, LLC where she empowers business owners and leaders to own their value and earn their worth, Certified Money Breakthrough Method Coach, Best-selling Author of a book about owning your value, so you can earn your worth in the workplace, Executive Contributor to Huffington Post, Biz Journals and Brainz Magazine, featured on the Brainz 500 Global list 2021. She also is a co-host on a national TV show- that focuses on bringing more light and positivity to the world. Her service skills include; leadership development, executive coaching, business strategy, sales and marketing strategies, mindset shifting and advanced communications and presentation skills.
MOST Analysis
Mission Statement
Enhance your Personal Presence and Professional Influence – Who you show up as each and everyday matters. Do people see you as an expert or as a leader? During this training you will learn how you can start showing up as the best version of yourself and as a powerful leader that can successfully guide and influence others. You will learn how to present yourself confidently in any situation by providing value and by being of service with your gifts. You will learn where your area of expertise lies and what you are the “go to” expert for. You will create your own personal power brand on and offline. We will teach you how to up-level your LinkedIn Profile, so that it represents you powerfully and allows you to shine as a leader and expert in your industry.
Objectives
1. Essence of Presence – The Essence of Presence is doing something for yourself that also benefits your community or the world. Learning to believe in yourself and your abilities. Feeling fulfilled simply by doing; put service ahead of ego. Becoming what you bring to the world in every aspect of your life. If you pile up all of your experiences (make a list), you will begin to recognize where you shine, where you belong, where you love to lead, and where you want to help others become like you and achieve An Essence of Presence. In this lesson, you will learn why presence is important in the workplace and in relationships and learn personal and group meditation techniques to help you get into the present moment.
2. Develop Presence – Executive presence is very much about how you control a room, how you make impressions, and how you affect the people around you. It is the way you communicate verbally as well as through your appearance and physicality. It’s not just about how you look, but also about how you communicate with people and convey your intentions. In this lesson you will learn key tips on how to develop your presence helping you to come across more capable, professional, and confident.
3. Online Presence – Having a powerful online presence is necessary in this day and age to be considered professional. Online presence or Web presence is the collective existence online of a company or individual. In this lesson, we explore the importance of online presence, ways to improve yours. We will also cover how to establish your own personal brand, so you can stand out in the professional world and further your career.
4. LinkedIn Makeover – LinkedIn has catapulted into the social media world as an essential means of effective professional networking over the last ten years. It is critical for a professional to maintain a strong online presence and brand. In this course you will learn how to use LinkedIn to brand yourself, 5 keys to building a rocking LI profile and 5 examples of great LI profiles.
5. Workplace Presence – Being more professional and being seen as more professional will definitely benefit your career and position with your organization. It will set you apart from others marking you as a leader. It will help you to develop the confidence you need to achieve results and build a widely respected image. To enhance your professional presence in the workplace starting now, there are some very basic things you can do. In this lesson, we will cover how to make a shift of personal presence in your organization and ways to increase presence in the workplace.
6. Professional Courage – Professional courage is a skill that is often overlooked, but it is essential for career advancement, happiness, and fulfillment. It is a fundamental component of leadership, whether you are in a formal leadership role or not, and it is critical to your professional and personal development. In this course, you will discover the science and nature of courage, the benefits of being courageous as well as, types of courage and how to apply them into your career.
7. Professional Appearance – Gaining respect in the workplace requires proper grooming and a professional appearance. The way you look and carry yourself makes an impression on the people with whom you work. Professional image is the image that a person projects about themselves based on their appearance and reputation. Professionalism can be conveyed through how you dress, how you speak, how you respond to others, and how others speak about you. It also can help in making a good first impression. In this lesson, we will share some great ideas for achieving a great workplace appearance.
8. Professional Values – Professional values are the core values and ethics that you adopt and showcase at work. These characteristics include skills, behaviors, and actions that many employers seek and desire in their employees. There are several professional values that must be demonstrated on the job. During this course, you will learn exactly what professional values are and what workplace values to adopt to further develop your role as a leader.
9. What’s Influence – In today’s workplace, developing personal effectiveness and influencing skills is critical as organizational hierarchies and layers diminish. Only through, with, and from others can success and outcomes be achieved. Influencing without formal authority is a necessary skill, and we cannot do so without confidence, clarity of purpose, and the ability to fully express ourselves. And, as leaders, we must draw on who we are as well as what we do to inspire and engage our followers. True influence is based on an emotional relationship. In this course, we will dive deep in influencing skills, influence styles and share examples of powerful influencers of our time.
10. Social Influence – Psychologists have spent decades researching the power of social influence and how it influences people’s opinions and behavior. Social influence, in particular, refers to how individuals change their ideas and actions to meet the demands of a social group, perceived authority, social role, or a minority within a group wielding influence over the majority. In this course, we will discover the difference between informative and normative social influence and the 5 most common social influence examples and how they impact us daily.
11. Grow Influence – One of the most important skills for leaders at all levels is the ability to influence others. It’s more art than science, and it can be difficult to grasp. However, the bottom line is that influence is important. And it will become more important as we continue to morph (at breakneck speed) into an interconnected, interdependent, increasingly global workplace. The person who wields power wields influence. To be a successful influencer, you must have both substance and style. In this lesson, you will learn the key traits of a powerful influencer and 5 simple steps to grow your influence.
12. Body Language – Did you know that our bodies speak louder than our words? Body language training can help you identify hidden emotions in others and even make you feel more powerful, attractive, and charismatic. In this lesson, you will learn the fundamentals of body language, including how to use it in your daily life, the most common gestures you’ll encounter, body language rules, and more!
Strategies
1. Learn a present moment meditation and how to lead a group meditation to instantly become more present.
2. 14 steps to develop a powerful executive presence.
3. How to create a strong personal brand statement and steps to develop your own unique personal brand.
4. Exact steps to give your LinkedIn Profile a makeover.
5. Tips to increase your workplace presence.
6. Strategies to strengthen your professional courage.
7. Ways to improve your professional appearance.
8. Implementing your professional values in the workplace.
9. How to influence by creating an emotional relationship.
10. Learn 10 key influencing skills.
11. Discover your influencing style.
12. Learn how to use body language to get what you want in life and at work.
Tasks
1. Go through the Study Guide and Distance Learning lessons first and make notes.
2. Identify the key relationships that need to be managed to ensure project success.
3. Schedule a meeting for the participants to meet and discuss the workshop within 30 days.
4. Identify current executive presence within your organization.
5. Participate in group meditation exercise.
6. Create your individual brand statements.
7. Give your LinkedIn Profile a makeover.
8. Participants will review Ted Talks by powerful influencers.
9. Participants will partake in the Feedback: Start, Stop, and Continue Exercise with their team members.
10. Participants will learn how to show courage in front of their fellow team members.
11. Participate the create a Magazine Story exercise to demonstrate influence.
12. Apply the body language techniques revealed in Course Manual 6:12.
Introduction
Executive presence is a dynamic executive’s combination of personality and character traits. It is the ability to inspire others to be assertive in their roles by demonstrating consistent confidence and clear leadership. Executive presence enables leaders to understand the needs of their team members in relation to the needs of the business.
Many individual characteristics that are necessary for good leadership make up an executive presence. When combined, they create an executive who can be the driving force behind a company. As a result, employees with executive presence skills are frequently in positions of leadership.
Individuals with executive presence are difficult to mistake on a factory floor, a construction site, a corner office, a research lab, or an academic institution. They command attention and motivate and inspire others to follow in their footsteps. They are leaders, to be sure, but they may not even have a title. They are regarded as supremely capable, competent, and confident in any situation that may arise. They represent the answer to the question, “Who’s in charge?”
Some experts believe that gravitas, communications, and appearance are the three most important characteristics that indicate strong executive presence. Other researchers have identified ten characteristics, including interpersonal integrity and the ability to put values into action. Other sources define three overarching themes – character, substance, and style – as well as the components that comprise each, such as character, wisdom, and assertiveness.
It all comes down to first impressions:
• Are you trustworthy?
• Do you exude confidence?
• Do you elicit trust?
• Do you exude sincerity?
• Do you show any concern?
• Do you discuss where you fell short and what you learned as a result?
• Do you involve your coworkers and motivate them to effect change?
• Do you have the right appearance?
Executive presence training assists you in identifying and honing your unique skills and talents so that when the opportunity to speak up and influence others arises, everyone pays attention.
According to Sylvia Ann Hewlett, author of Executive Presence: The Missing Link Between Merit and Success, “(Executive presence is) about what you signal about your readiness for the next big chance.” Who wouldn’t want a chance at the next big thing?
Assume you want the next big opportunity, but something is preventing you from taking it. Is it apprehension about public speaking? Do you exude skepticism about your abilities? Do you have great ideas but find it difficult to persuade others to share your vision?
When you have executive presence, it is easier for others to see, hear, and feel the value you can bring to your organization, company, or institution. You exude confidence and credibility, and you are a compelling speaker who can articulate and demonstrate a deep understanding of your expertise in an authentic and engaging manner. On top of that, you motivate others to share your vision.
This powerful executive presence training will help you better understand your unique skills, tap those talents more effectively, and supplement them with strategies and tips that will help you become the leader you’ve always wanted to be.
In the Executive Presence Workshop, you will learn what the essence of presence is, learn how to develop your executive presence in and out of the workplace, as well as your online presence. You will get access to powerful strategies to makeover your LinkedIn profile. You will clarify your professional values and learn how to level up your professional courage and appearance. You will discover what influence is and how you can grow yours. And finally, you will learn how to use body language to get what you desire both personally and professionally.
As a leader, we are constantly scrutinized by others. Executive presence practice allows you to shape the professional environment around you. You have the opportunity to lead with executive presence and build effective and respectful relationships with others no matter where you work. One of the most important building blocks for new opportunities for you as an executive is executive presence.
Executive Summary
Executive presence is one of the key differences between an effective and ineffective leader. Developing an executive presence is critical if you want to be a successful leader.
In essence, executive presence is your capacity to lead a group. This is determined by their willingness to follow you and your direction, as well as how you are perceived by the rest of the team.
Some of the benefits of executive presence are it strengthens company culture, it improves organizational performance, it helps leaders manage their teams, it improves customer relationships, it helps to facilitate leadership development and helps with promotions.
There are 4 key executive presence skills:
• Composure
• Confidence
• Charisma
• Clarity and Communications skills
These skills can be used as a guide to help you develop your own leadership abilities. Alternatively, you can use them to identify employees with potential for leadership within your organization.
The Executive Presence Workshop will uncover how executive presence can help you lead your team more effectively and achieve your organizational goals. We will explore how to be seen as an expert in your industry and how you can use your influence to better lead and inspire your team.
There are 12 courses (or focus areas) in the Executive Presence Workshop.
Here’s what we’ll be covering:
1. Essence of Presence – The Essence of Presence is doing something for yourself that also benefits your community or the world. Learning to believe in yourself and your abilities. Feeling fulfilled simply by doing; put service ahead of ego. Becoming what you bring to the world in every aspect of your life. If you pile up all of your experiences (make a list), you will begin to recognize where you shine, where you belong, where you love to lead, and where you want to help others become like you and achieve An Essence of Presence. In this lesson, you will learn why presence is important in the workplace and in relationships and learn personal and group meditation techniques to help you get into the present moment.
2. Develop Presence – Executive presence is very much about how you control a room, how you make impressions, and how you affect the people around you. It is the way you communicate verbally as well as through your appearance and physicality. It’s not just about how you look, but also about how you communicate with people and convey your intentions. In this lesson you will learn key tips on how to develop your presence helping you to come across more capable, professional, and confident.
3. Online Presence – Having a powerful online presence is necessary in this day and age to be considered professional. Online presence or Web presence is the collective existence online of a company or individual. In this lesson, we explore the importance of online presence, ways to improve yours. We will also cover how to establish your own personal brand, so you can stand out in the professional world and further your career.
4. LinkedIn Makeover – LinkedIn has catapulted into the social media world as an essential means of effective professional networking over the last ten years. It is critical for a professional to maintain a strong online presence and brand. In this course you will learn how to use LinkedIn to brand yourself, 5 keys to building a rocking LI profile and 5 examples of great LI profiles.
5. Workplace Presence – Being more professional and being seen as more professional will definitely benefit your career and position with your organization. It will set you apart from others marking you as a leader. It will help you to develop the confidence you need to achieve results and build a widely respected image. To enhance your professional presence in the workplace starting now, there are some very basic things you can do. In this lesson, we will cover how to make a shift of personal presence in your organization and ways to increase presence in the workplace.
6. Professional Courage – Professional courage is a skill that is often overlooked, but it is essential for career advancement, happiness, and fulfillment. It is a fundamental component of leadership, whether you are in a formal leadership role or not, and it is critical to your professional and personal development. In this course, you will discover the science and nature of courage, the benefits of being courageous as well as, types of courage and how to apply them into your career.
7. Professional Appearance – Gaining respect in the workplace requires proper grooming and a professional appearance. The way you look and carry yourself makes an impression on the people with whom you work. Professional image is the image that a person projects about themselves based on their appearance and reputation. Professionalism can be conveyed through how you dress, how you speak, how you respond to others, and how others speak about you. It also can help in making a good first impression. In this lesson, we will share some great ideas for achieving a great workplace appearance.
8. Professional Values – Professional values are the core values and ethics that you adopt and showcase at work. These characteristics include skills, behaviors, and actions that many employers seek and desire in their employees. There are several professional values that must be demonstrated on the job. During this course, you will learn exactly what professional values are and what workplace values to adopt to further develop your role as a leader.
9. What’s Influence – In today’s workplace, developing personal effectiveness and influencing skills is critical as organizational hierarchies and layers diminish. Only through, with, and from others can success and outcomes be achieved. Influencing without formal authority is a necessary skill, and we cannot do so without confidence, clarity of purpose, and the ability to fully express ourselves. And, as leaders, we must draw on who we are as well as what we do to inspire and engage our followers. True influence is based on an emotional relationship. In this course, we will dive deep in influencing skills, influence styles and share examples of powerful influencers of our time.
10. Social Influence – Psychologists have spent decades researching the power of social influence and how it influences people’s opinions and behavior. Social influence, in particular, refers to how individuals change their ideas and actions to meet the demands of a social group, perceived authority, social role, or a minority within a group wielding influence over the majority. In this course, we will discover the difference between informative and normative social influence and the 5 most common social influence examples and how they impact us daily.
11. Grow Influence – One of the most important skills for leaders at all levels is the ability to influence others. It’s more art than science, and it can be difficult to grasp. However, the bottom line is that influence is important. And it will become more important as we continue to morph (at breakneck speed) into an interconnected, interdependent, increasingly global workplace. The person who wields power wields influence. To be a successful influencer, you must have both substance and style. In this lesson, you will learn the key traits of a powerful influencer and 5 simple steps to grow your influence.
12. Body Language – Did you know that our bodies speak louder than our words? Body language training can help you identify hidden emotions in others and even make you feel more powerful, attractive, and charismatic. In this lesson, you will learn the fundamentals of body language, including how to use it in your daily life, the most common gestures you’ll encounter, body language rules, and more!
Curriculum
Women Empowerment – Workshop 6 – Executive Presence
- Essence of Presence
- Develop Presence
- Online Presence
- Linked In Makeover
- Workplace Presence
- Professional Courage
- Professional Appearance
- Professional Values
- What’s Influence
- Social Influence
- Grow Influence
- Body Language
Distance Learning
Introduction
Welcome to Appleton Greene and thank you for enrolling on the Women Empowerment corporate training program. You will be learning through our unique facilitation via distance-learning method, which will enable you to practically implement everything that you learn academically. The methods and materials used in your program have been designed and developed to ensure that you derive the maximum benefits and enjoyment possible. We hope that you find the program challenging and fun to do. However, if you have never been a distance-learner before, you may be experiencing some trepidation at the task before you. So we will get you started by giving you some basic information and guidance on how you can make the best use of the modules, how you should manage the materials and what you should be doing as you work through them. This guide is designed to point you in the right direction and help you to become an effective distance-learner. Take a few hours or so to study this guide and your guide to tutorial support for students, while making notes, before you start to study in earnest.
Study environment
You will need to locate a quiet and private place to study, preferably a room where you can easily be isolated from external disturbances or distractions. Make sure the room is well-lit and incorporates a relaxed, pleasant feel. If you can spoil yourself within your study environment, you will have much more of a chance to ensure that you are always in the right frame of mind when you do devote time to study. For example, a nice fire, the ability to play soft soothing background music, soft but effective lighting, perhaps a nice view if possible and a good size desk with a comfortable chair. Make sure that your family know when you are studying and understand your study rules. Your study environment is very important. The ideal situation, if at all possible, is to have a separate study, which can be devoted to you. If this is not possible then you will need to pay a lot more attention to developing and managing your study schedule, because it will affect other people as well as yourself. The better your study environment, the more productive you will be.
Study tools & rules
Try and make sure that your study tools are sufficient and in good working order. You will need to have access to a computer, scanner and printer, with access to the internet. You will need a very comfortable chair, which supports your lower back, and you will need a good filing system. It can be very frustrating if you are spending valuable study time trying to fix study tools that are unreliable, or unsuitable for the task. Make sure that your study tools are up to date. You will also need to consider some study rules. Some of these rules will apply to you and will be intended to help you to be more disciplined about when and how you study. This distance-learning guide will help you and after you have read it you can put some thought into what your study rules should be. You will also need to negotiate some study rules for your family, friends or anyone who lives with you. They too will need to be disciplined in order to ensure that they can support you while you study. It is important to ensure that your family and friends are an integral part of your study team. Having their support and encouragement can prove to be a crucial contribution to your successful completion of the program. Involve them in as much as you can.
Successful distance-learning
Distance-learners are freed from the necessity of attending regular classes or workshops, since they can study in their own way, at their own pace and for their own purposes. But unlike traditional internal training courses, it is the student’s responsibility, with a distance-learning program, to ensure that they manage their own study contribution. This requires strong self-discipline and self-motivation skills and there must be a clear will to succeed. Those students who are used to managing themselves, are good at managing others and who enjoy working in isolation, are more likely to be good distance-learners. It is also important to be aware of the main reasons why you are studying and of the main objectives that you are hoping to achieve as a result. You will need to remind yourself of these objectives at times when you need to motivate yourself. Never lose sight of your long-term goals and your short-term objectives. There is nobody available here to pamper you, or to look after you, or to spoon-feed you with information, so you will need to find ways to encourage and appreciate yourself while you are studying. Make sure that you chart your study progress, so that you can be sure of your achievements and re-evaluate your goals and objectives regularly.
Self-assessment
Appleton Greene training programs are in all cases post-graduate programs. Consequently, you should already have obtained a business-related degree and be an experienced learner. You should therefore already be aware of your study strengths and weaknesses. For example, which time of the day are you at your most productive? Are you a lark or an owl? What study methods do you respond to the most? Are you a consistent learner? How do you discipline yourself? How do you ensure that you enjoy yourself while studying? It is important to understand yourself as a learner and so some self-assessment early on will be necessary if you are to apply yourself correctly. Perform a SWOT analysis on yourself as a student. List your internal strengths and weaknesses as a student and your external opportunities and threats. This will help you later on when you are creating a study plan. You can then incorporate features within your study plan that can ensure that you are playing to your strengths, while compensating for your weaknesses. You can also ensure that you make the most of your opportunities, while avoiding the potential threats to your success.
Accepting responsibility as a student
Training programs invariably require a significant investment, both in terms of what they cost and in the time that you need to contribute to study and the responsibility for successful completion of training programs rests entirely with the student. This is never more apparent than when a student is learning via distance-learning. Accepting responsibility as a student is an important step towards ensuring that you can successfully complete your training program. It is easy to instantly blame other people or factors when things go wrong. But the fact of the matter is that if a failure is your failure, then you have the power to do something about it, it is entirely in your own hands. If it is always someone else’s failure, then you are powerless to do anything about it. All students study in entirely different ways, this is because we are all individuals and what is right for one student, is not necessarily right for another. In order to succeed, you will have to accept personal responsibility for finding a way to plan, implement and manage a personal study plan that works for you. If you do not succeed, you only have yourself to blame.
Planning
By far the most critical contribution to stress, is the feeling of not being in control. In the absence of planning we tend to be reactive and can stumble from pillar to post in the hope that things will turn out fine in the end. Invariably they don’t! In order to be in control, we need to have firm ideas about how and when we want to do things. We also need to consider as many possible eventualities as we can, so that we are prepared for them when they happen. Prescriptive Change, is far easier to manage and control, than Emergent Change. The same is true with distance-learning. It is much easier and much more enjoyable, if you feel that you are in control and that things are going to plan. Even when things do go wrong, you are prepared for them and can act accordingly without any unnecessary stress. It is important therefore that you do take time to plan your studies properly.
Management
Once you have developed a clear study plan, it is of equal importance to ensure that you manage the implementation of it. Most of us usually enjoy planning, but it is usually during implementation when things go wrong. Targets are not met and we do not understand why. Sometimes we do not even know if targets are being met. It is not enough for us to conclude that the study plan just failed. If it is failing, you will need to understand what you can do about it. Similarly if your study plan is succeeding, it is still important to understand why, so that you can improve upon your success. You therefore need to have guidelines for self-assessment so that you can be consistent with performance improvement throughout the program. If you manage things correctly, then your performance should constantly improve throughout the program.
Study objectives & tasks
The first place to start is developing your program objectives. These should feature your reasons for undertaking the training program in order of priority. Keep them succinct and to the point in order to avoid confusion. Do not just write the first things that come into your head because they are likely to be too similar to each other. Make a list of possible departmental headings, such as: Customer Service; E-business; Finance; Globalization; Human Resources; Technology; Legal; Management; Marketing and Production. Then brainstorm for ideas by listing as many things that you want to achieve under each heading and later re-arrange these things in order of priority. Finally, select the top item from each department heading and choose these as your program objectives. Try and restrict yourself to five because it will enable you to focus clearly. It is likely that the other things that you listed will be achieved if each of the top objectives are achieved. If this does not prove to be the case, then simply work through the process again.
Study forecast
As a guide, the Appleton Greene Women Empowerment corporate training program should take 12-18 months to complete, depending upon your availability and current commitments. The reason why there is such a variance in time estimates is because every student is an individual, with differing productivity levels and different commitments. These differentiations are then exaggerated by the fact that this is a distance-learning program, which incorporates the practical integration of academic theory as an as a part of the training program. Consequently all of the project studies are real, which means that important decisions and compromises need to be made. You will want to get things right and will need to be patient with your expectations in order to ensure that they are. We would always recommend that you are prudent with your own task and time forecasts, but you still need to develop them and have a clear indication of what are realistic expectations in your case. With reference to your time planning: consider the time that you can realistically dedicate towards study with the program every week; calculate how long it should take you to complete the program, using the guidelines featured here; then break the program down into logical modules and allocate a suitable proportion of time to each of them, these will be your milestones; you can create a time plan by using a spreadsheet on your computer, or a personal organizer such as MS Outlook, you could also use a financial forecasting software; break your time forecasts down into manageable chunks of time, the more specific you can be, the more productive and accurate your time management will be; finally, use formulas where possible to do your time calculations for you, because this will help later on when your forecasts need to change in line with actual performance. With reference to your task planning: refer to your list of tasks that need to be undertaken in order to achieve your program objectives; with reference to your time plan, calculate when each task should be implemented; remember that you are not estimating when your objectives will be achieved, but when you will need to focus upon implementing the corresponding tasks; you also need to ensure that each task is implemented in conjunction with the associated training modules which are relevant; then break each single task down into a list of specific to do’s, say approximately ten to do’s for each task and enter these into your study plan; once again you could use MS Outlook to incorporate both your time and task planning and this could constitute your study plan; you could also use a project management software like MS Project. You should now have a clear and realistic forecast detailing when you can expect to be able to do something about undertaking the tasks to achieve your program objectives.
Performance management
It is one thing to develop your study forecast, it is quite another to monitor your progress. Ultimately it is less important whether you achieve your original study forecast and more important that you update it so that it constantly remains realistic in line with your performance. As you begin to work through the program, you will begin to have more of an idea about your own personal performance and productivity levels as a distance-learner. Once you have completed your first study module, you should re-evaluate your study forecast for both time and tasks, so that they reflect your actual performance level achieved. In order to achieve this you must first time yourself while training by using an alarm clock. Set the alarm for hourly intervals and make a note of how far you have come within that time. You can then make a note of your actual performance on your study plan and then compare your performance against your forecast. Then consider the reasons that have contributed towards your performance level, whether they are positive or negative and make a considered adjustment to your future forecasts as a result. Given time, you should start achieving your forecasts regularly.
With reference to time management: time yourself while you are studying and make a note of the actual time taken in your study plan; consider your successes with time-efficiency and the reasons for the success in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future time planning; consider your failures with time-efficiency and the reasons for the failures in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future time planning; re-evaluate your study forecast in relation to time planning for the remainder of your training program to ensure that you continue to be realistic about your time expectations. You need to be consistent with your time management, otherwise you will never complete your studies. This will either be because you are not contributing enough time to your studies, or you will become less efficient with the time that you do allocate to your studies. Remember, if you are not in control of your studies, they can just become yet another cause of stress for you.
With reference to your task management: time yourself while you are studying and make a note of the actual tasks that you have undertaken in your study plan; consider your successes with task-efficiency and the reasons for the success in each case; take this into consideration when reviewing future task planning; consider your failures with task-efficiency and the reasons for the failures in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future task planning; re-evaluate your study forecast in relation to task planning for the remainder of your training program to ensure that you continue to be realistic about your task expectations. You need to be consistent with your task management, otherwise you will never know whether you are achieving your program objectives or not.
Keeping in touch
You will have access to qualified and experienced professors and tutors who are responsible for providing tutorial support for your particular training program. So don’t be shy about letting them know how you are getting on. We keep electronic records of all tutorial support emails so that professors and tutors can review previous correspondence before considering an individual response. It also means that there is a record of all communications between you and your professors and tutors and this helps to avoid any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation. If you have a problem relating to the program, share it with them via email. It is likely that they have come across the same problem before and are usually able to make helpful suggestions and steer you in the right direction. To learn more about when and how to use tutorial support, please refer to the Tutorial Support section of this student information guide. This will help you to ensure that you are making the most of tutorial support that is available to you and will ultimately contribute towards your success and enjoyment with your training program.
Work colleagues and family
You should certainly discuss your program study progress with your colleagues, friends and your family. Appleton Greene training programs are very practical. They require you to seek information from other people, to plan, develop and implement processes with other people and to achieve feedback from other people in relation to viability and productivity. You will therefore have plenty of opportunities to test your ideas and enlist the views of others. People tend to be sympathetic towards distance-learners, so don’t bottle it all up in yourself. Get out there and share it! It is also likely that your family and colleagues are going to benefit from your labors with the program, so they are likely to be much more interested in being involved than you might think. Be bold about delegating work to those who might benefit themselves. This is a great way to achieve understanding and commitment from people who you may later rely upon for process implementation. Share your experiences with your friends and family.
Making it relevant
The key to successful learning is to make it relevant to your own individual circumstances. At all times you should be trying to make bridges between the content of the program and your own situation. Whether you achieve this through quiet reflection or through interactive discussion with your colleagues, client partners or your family, remember that it is the most important and rewarding aspect of translating your studies into real self-improvement. You should be clear about how you want the program to benefit you. This involves setting clear study objectives in relation to the content of the course in terms of understanding, concepts, completing research or reviewing activities and relating the content of the modules to your own situation. Your objectives may understandably change as you work through the program, in which case you should enter the revised objectives on your study plan so that you have a permanent reminder of what you are trying to achieve, when and why.
Distance-learning check-list
Prepare your study environment, your study tools and rules.
Undertake detailed self-assessment in terms of your ability as a learner.
Create a format for your study plan.
Consider your study objectives and tasks.
Create a study forecast.
Assess your study performance.
Re-evaluate your study forecast.
Be consistent when managing your study plan.
Use your Appleton Greene Certified Learning Provider (CLP) for tutorial support.
Make sure you keep in touch with those around you.
Tutorial Support
Programs
Appleton Greene uses standard and bespoke corporate training programs as vessels to transfer business process improvement knowledge into the heart of our clients’ organizations. Each individual program focuses upon the implementation of a specific business process, which enables clients to easily quantify their return on investment. There are hundreds of established Appleton Greene corporate training products now available to clients within customer services, e-business, finance, globalization, human resources, information technology, legal, management, marketing and production. It does not matter whether a client’s employees are located within one office, or an unlimited number of international offices, we can still bring them together to learn and implement specific business processes collectively. Our approach to global localization enables us to provide clients with a truly international service with that all important personal touch. Appleton Greene corporate training programs can be provided virtually or locally and they are all unique in that they individually focus upon a specific business function. They are implemented over a sustainable period of time and professional support is consistently provided by qualified learning providers and specialist consultants.
Support available
You will have a designated Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and an Accredited Consultant and we encourage you to communicate with them as much as possible. In all cases tutorial support is provided online because we can then keep a record of all communications to ensure that tutorial support remains consistent. You would also be forwarding your work to the tutorial support unit for evaluation and assessment. You will receive individual feedback on all of the work that you undertake on a one-to-one basis, together with specific recommendations for anything that may need to be changed in order to achieve a pass with merit or a pass with distinction and you then have as many opportunities as you may need to re-submit project studies until they meet with the required standard. Consequently the only reason that you should really fail (CLP) is if you do not do the work. It makes no difference to us whether a student takes 12 months or 18 months to complete the program, what matters is that in all cases the same quality standard will have been achieved.
Support Process
Please forward all of your future emails to the designated (CLP) Tutorial Support Unit email address that has been provided and please do not duplicate or copy your emails to other AGC email accounts as this will just cause unnecessary administration. Please note that emails are always answered as quickly as possible but you will need to allow a period of up to 20 business days for responses to general tutorial support emails during busy periods, because emails are answered strictly within the order in which they are received. You will also need to allow a period of up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Please therefore kindly allow for this within your time planning. All communications are managed online via email because it enables tutorial service support managers to review other communications which have been received before responding and it ensures that there is a copy of all communications retained on file for future reference. All communications will be stored within your personal (CLP) study file here at Appleton Greene throughout your designated study period. If you need any assistance or clarification at any time, please do not hesitate to contact us by forwarding an email and remember that we are here to help. If you have any questions, please list and number your questions succinctly and you can then be sure of receiving specific answers to each and every query.
Time Management
It takes approximately 1 Year to complete the Women Empowerment corporate training program, incorporating 12 x 6-hour monthly workshops. Each student will also need to contribute approximately 4 hours per week over 1 Year of their personal time. Students can study from home or work at their own pace and are responsible for managing their own study plan. There are no formal examinations and students are evaluated and assessed based upon their project study submissions, together with the quality of their internal analysis and supporting documents. They can contribute more time towards study when they have the time to do so and can contribute less time when they are busy. All students tend to be in full time employment while studying and the Women Empowerment program is purposely designed to accommodate this, so there is plenty of flexibility in terms of time management. It makes no difference to us at Appleton Greene, whether individuals take 12-18 months to complete this program. What matters is that in all cases the same standard of quality will have been achieved with the standard and bespoke programs that have been developed.
Distance Learning Guide
The distance learning guide should be your first port of call when starting your training program. It will help you when you are planning how and when to study, how to create the right environment and how to establish the right frame of mind. If you can lay the foundations properly during the planning stage, then it will contribute to your enjoyment and productivity while training later. The guide helps to change your lifestyle in order to accommodate time for study and to cultivate good study habits. It helps you to chart your progress so that you can measure your performance and achieve your goals. It explains the tools that you will need for study and how to make them work. It also explains how to translate academic theory into practical reality. Spend some time now working through your distance learning guide and make sure that you have firm foundations in place so that you can make the most of your distance learning program. There is no requirement for you to attend training workshops or classes at Appleton Greene offices. The entire program is undertaken online, program course manuals and project studies are administered via the Appleton Greene web site and via email, so you are able to study at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home or office as long as you have a computer and access to the internet.
How To Study
The how to study guide provides students with a clear understanding of the Appleton Greene facilitation via distance learning training methods and enables students to obtain a clear overview of the training program content. It enables students to understand the step-by-step training methods used by Appleton Greene and how course manuals are integrated with project studies. It explains the research and development that is required and the need to provide evidence and references to support your statements. It also enables students to understand precisely what will be required of them in order to achieve a pass with merit and a pass with distinction for individual project studies and provides useful guidance on how to be innovative and creative when developing your Unique Program Proposition (UPP).
Tutorial Support
Tutorial support for the Appleton Greene Women Empowerment corporate training program is provided online either through the Appleton Greene Client Support Portal (CSP), or via email. All tutorial support requests are facilitated by a designated Program Administration Manager (PAM). They are responsible for deciding which professor or tutor is the most appropriate option relating to the support required and then the tutorial support request is forwarded onto them. Once the professor or tutor has completed the tutorial support request and answered any questions that have been asked, this communication is then returned to the student via email by the designated Program Administration Manager (PAM). This enables all tutorial support, between students, professors and tutors, to be facilitated by the designated Program Administration Manager (PAM) efficiently and securely through the email account. You will therefore need to allow a period of up to 20 business days for responses to general support queries and up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies, because all tutorial support requests are answered strictly within the order in which they are received. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Consequently you need to put some thought into the management of your tutorial support procedure in order to ensure that your study plan is feasible and to obtain the maximum possible benefit from tutorial support during your period of study. Please retain copies of your tutorial support emails for future reference. Please ensure that ALL of your tutorial support emails are set out using the format as suggested within your guide to tutorial support. Your tutorial support emails need to be referenced clearly to the specific part of the course manual or project study which you are working on at any given time. You also need to list and number any questions that you would like to ask, up to a maximum of five questions within each tutorial support email. Remember the more specific you can be with your questions the more specific your answers will be too and this will help you to avoid any unnecessary misunderstanding, misinterpretation, or duplication. The guide to tutorial support is intended to help you to understand how and when to use support in order to ensure that you get the most out of your training program. Appleton Greene training programs are designed to enable you to do things for yourself. They provide you with a structure or a framework and we use tutorial support to facilitate students while they practically implement what they learn. In other words, we are enabling students to do things for themselves. The benefits of distance learning via facilitation are considerable and are much more sustainable in the long-term than traditional short-term knowledge sharing programs. Consequently you should learn how and when to use tutorial support so that you can maximize the benefits from your learning experience with Appleton Greene. This guide describes the purpose of each training function and how to use them and how to use tutorial support in relation to each aspect of the training program. It also provides useful tips and guidance with regard to best practice.
Tutorial Support Tips
Students are often unsure about how and when to use tutorial support with Appleton Greene. This Tip List will help you to understand more about how to achieve the most from using tutorial support. Refer to it regularly to ensure that you are continuing to use the service properly. Tutorial support is critical to the success of your training experience, but it is important to understand when and how to use it in order to maximize the benefit that you receive. It is no coincidence that those students who succeed are those that learn how to be positive, proactive and productive when using tutorial support.
Be positive and friendly with your tutorial support emails
Remember that if you forward an email to the tutorial support unit, you are dealing with real people. “Do unto others as you would expect others to do unto you”. If you are positive, complimentary and generally friendly in your emails, you will generate a similar response in return. This will be more enjoyable, productive and rewarding for you in the long-term.
Think about the impression that you want to create
Every time that you communicate, you create an impression, which can be either positive or negative, so put some thought into the impression that you want to create. Remember that copies of all tutorial support emails are stored electronically and tutors will always refer to prior correspondence before responding to any current emails. Over a period of time, a general opinion will be arrived at in relation to your character, attitude and ability. Try to manage your own frustrations, mood swings and temperament professionally, without involving the tutorial support team. Demonstrating frustration or a lack of patience is a weakness and will be interpreted as such. The good thing about communicating in writing, is that you will have the time to consider your content carefully, you can review it and proof-read it before sending your email to Appleton Greene and this should help you to communicate more professionally, consistently and to avoid any unnecessary knee-jerk reactions to individual situations as and when they may arise. Please also remember that the CLP Tutorial Support Unit will not just be responsible for evaluating and assessing the quality of your work, they will also be responsible for providing recommendations to other learning providers and to client contacts within the Appleton Greene global client network, so do be in control of your own emotions and try to create a good impression.
Remember that quality is preferred to quantity
Please remember that when you send an email to the tutorial support team, you are not using Twitter or Text Messaging. Try not to forward an email every time that you have a thought. This will not prove to be productive either for you or for the tutorial support team. Take time to prepare your communications properly, as if you were writing a professional letter to a business colleague and make a list of queries that you are likely to have and then incorporate them within one email, say once every month, so that the tutorial support team can understand more about context, application and your methodology for study. Get yourself into a consistent routine with your tutorial support requests and use the tutorial support template provided with ALL of your emails. The (CLP) Tutorial Support Unit will not spoon-feed you with information. They need to be able to evaluate and assess your tutorial support requests carefully and professionally.
Be specific about your questions in order to receive specific answers
Try not to write essays by thinking as you are writing tutorial support emails. The tutorial support unit can be unclear about what in fact you are asking, or what you are looking to achieve. Be specific about asking questions that you want answers to. Number your questions. You will then receive specific answers to each and every question. This is the main purpose of tutorial support via email.
Keep a record of your tutorial support emails
It is important that you keep a record of all tutorial support emails that are forwarded to you. You can then refer to them when necessary and it avoids any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation.
Individual training workshops or telephone support
Please be advised that Appleton Greene does not provide separate or individual tutorial support meetings, workshops, or provide telephone support for individual students. Appleton Greene is an equal opportunities learning and service provider and we are therefore understandably bound to treat all students equally. We cannot therefore broker special financial or study arrangements with individual students regardless of the circumstances. All tutorial support is provided online and this enables Appleton Greene to keep a record of all communications between students, professors and tutors on file for future reference, in accordance with our quality management procedure and your terms and conditions of enrolment. All tutorial support is provided online via email because it enables us to have time to consider support content carefully, it ensures that you receive a considered and detailed response to your queries. You can number questions that you would like to ask, which relate to things that you do not understand or where clarification may be required. You can then be sure of receiving specific answers to each individual query. You will also then have a record of these communications and of all tutorial support, which has been provided to you. This makes tutorial support administration more productive by avoiding any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation.
Tutorial Support Email Format
You should use this tutorial support format if you need to request clarification or assistance while studying with your training program. Please note that ALL of your tutorial support request emails should use the same format. You should therefore set up a standard email template, which you can then use as and when you need to. Emails that are forwarded to Appleton Greene, which do not use the following format, may be rejected and returned to you by the (CLP) Program Administration Manager. A detailed response will then be forwarded to you via email usually within 20 business days of receipt for general support queries and 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Your tutorial support request, together with the corresponding TSU reply, will then be saved and stored within your electronic TSU file at Appleton Greene for future reference.
Subject line of your email
Please insert: Appleton Greene (CLP) Tutorial Support Request: (Your Full Name) (Date), within the subject line of your email.
Main body of your email
Please insert:
1. Appleton Greene Certified Learning Provider (CLP) Tutorial Support Request
2. Your Full Name
3. Date of TS request
4. Preferred email address
5. Backup email address
6. Course manual page name or number (reference)
7. Project study page name or number (reference)
Subject of enquiry
Please insert a maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)
Briefly outline the subject matter of your inquiry, or what your questions relate to.
Question 1
Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)
Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)
Question 3
Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)
Question 4
Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)
Question 5
Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)
Please note that a maximum of 5 questions is permitted with each individual tutorial support request email.
Procedure
* List the questions that you want to ask first, then re-arrange them in order of priority. Make sure that you reference them, where necessary, to the course manuals or project studies.
* Make sure that you are specific about your questions and number them. Try to plan the content within your emails to make sure that it is relevant.
* Make sure that your tutorial support emails are set out correctly, using the Tutorial Support Email Format provided here.
* Save a copy of your email and incorporate the date sent after the subject title. Keep your tutorial support emails within the same file and in date order for easy reference.
* Allow up to 20 business days for a response to general tutorial support emails and up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies, because detailed individual responses will be made in all cases and tutorial support emails are answered strictly within the order in which they are received.
* Emails can and do get lost. So if you have not received a reply within the appropriate time, forward another copy or a reminder to the tutorial support unit to be sure that it has been received but do not forward reminders unless the appropriate time has elapsed.
* When you receive a reply, save it immediately featuring the date of receipt after the subject heading for easy reference. In most cases the tutorial support unit replies to your questions individually, so you will have a record of the questions that you asked as well as the answers offered. With project studies however, separate emails are usually forwarded by the tutorial support unit, so do keep a record of your own original emails as well.
* Remember to be positive and friendly in your emails. You are dealing with real people who will respond to the same things that you respond to.
* Try not to repeat questions that have already been asked in previous emails. If this happens the tutorial support unit will probably just refer you to the appropriate answers that have already been provided within previous emails.
* If you lose your tutorial support email records you can write to Appleton Greene to receive a copy of your tutorial support file, but a separate administration charge may be levied for this service.
How To Study
Your Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and Accredited Consultant can help you to plan a task list for getting started so that you can be clear about your direction and your priorities in relation to your training program. It is also a good way to introduce yourself to the tutorial support team.
Planning your study environment
Your study conditions are of great importance and will have a direct effect on how much you enjoy your training program. Consider how much space you will have, whether it is comfortable and private and whether you are likely to be disturbed. The study tools and facilities at your disposal are also important to the success of your distance-learning experience. Your tutorial support unit can help with useful tips and guidance, regardless of your starting position. It is important to get this right before you start working on your training program.
Planning your program objectives
It is important that you have a clear list of study objectives, in order of priority, before you start working on your training program. Your tutorial support unit can offer assistance here to ensure that your study objectives have been afforded due consideration and priority.
Planning how and when to study
Distance-learners are freed from the necessity of attending regular classes, since they can study in their own way, at their own pace and for their own purposes. This approach is designed to let you study efficiently away from the traditional classroom environment. It is important however, that you plan how and when to study, so that you are making the most of your natural attributes, strengths and opportunities. Your tutorial support unit can offer assistance and useful tips to ensure that you are playing to your strengths.
Planning your study tasks
You should have a clear understanding of the study tasks that you should be undertaking and the priority associated with each task. These tasks should also be integrated with your program objectives. The distance learning guide and the guide to tutorial support for students should help you here, but if you need any clarification or assistance, please contact your tutorial support unit.
Planning your time
You will need to allocate specific times during your calendar when you intend to study if you are to have a realistic chance of completing your program on time. You are responsible for planning and managing your own study time, so it is important that you are successful with this. Your tutorial support unit can help you with this if your time plan is not working.
Keeping in touch
Consistency is the key here. If you communicate too frequently in short bursts, or too infrequently with no pattern, then your management ability with your studies will be questioned, both by you and by your tutorial support unit. It is obvious when a student is in control and when one is not and this will depend how able you are at sticking with your study plan. Inconsistency invariably leads to in-completion.
Charting your progress
Your tutorial support team can help you to chart your own study progress. Refer to your distance learning guide for further details.
Making it work
To succeed, all that you will need to do is apply yourself to undertaking your training program and interpreting it correctly. Success or failure lies in your hands and your hands alone, so be sure that you have a strategy for making it work. Your Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and Accredited Consultant can guide you through the process of program planning, development and implementation.
Reading methods
Interpretation is often unique to the individual but it can be improved and even quantified by implementing consistent interpretation methods. Interpretation can be affected by outside interference such as family members, TV, or the Internet, or simply by other thoughts which are demanding priority in our minds. One thing that can improve our productivity is using recognized reading methods. This helps us to focus and to be more structured when reading information for reasons of importance, rather than relaxation.
Speed reading
When reading through course manuals for the first time, subconsciously set your reading speed to be just fast enough that you cannot dwell on individual words or tables. With practice, you should be able to read an A4 sheet of paper in one minute. You will not achieve much in the way of a detailed understanding, but your brain will retain a useful overview. This overview will be important later on and will enable you to keep individual issues in perspective with a more generic picture because speed reading appeals to the memory part of the brain. Do not worry about what you do or do not remember at this stage.
Content reading
Once you have speed read everything, you can then start work in earnest. You now need to read a particular section of your course manual thoroughly, by making detailed notes while you read. This process is called Content Reading and it will help to consolidate your understanding and interpretation of the information that has been provided.
Making structured notes on the course manuals
When you are content reading, you should be making detailed notes, which are both structured and informative. Make these notes in a MS Word document on your computer, because you can then amend and update these as and when you deem it to be necessary. List your notes under three headings: 1. Interpretation – 2. Questions – 3. Tasks. The purpose of the 1st section is to clarify your interpretation by writing it down. The purpose of the 2nd section is to list any questions that the issue raises for you. The purpose of the 3rd section is to list any tasks that you should undertake as a result. Anyone who has graduated with a business-related degree should already be familiar with this process.
Organizing structured notes separately
You should then transfer your notes to a separate study notebook, preferably one that enables easy referencing, such as a MS Word Document, a MS Excel Spreadsheet, a MS Access Database, or a personal organizer on your cell phone. Transferring your notes allows you to have the opportunity of cross-checking and verifying them, which assists considerably with understanding and interpretation. You will also find that the better you are at doing this, the more chance you will have of ensuring that you achieve your study objectives.
Question your understanding
Do challenge your understanding. Explain things to yourself in your own words by writing things down.
Clarifying your understanding
If you are at all unsure, forward an email to your tutorial support unit and they will help to clarify your understanding.
Question your interpretation
Do challenge your interpretation. Qualify your interpretation by writing it down.
Clarifying your interpretation
If you are at all unsure, forward an email to your tutorial support unit and they will help to clarify your interpretation.
Qualification Requirements
The student will need to successfully complete the project study and all of the exercises relating to the Women Empowerment corporate training program, achieving a pass with merit or distinction in each case, in order to qualify as an Accredited Women Empowerment Specialist (AWES). All monthly workshops need to be tried and tested within your company. These project studies can be completed in your own time and at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home or office. There are no formal examinations, assessment is based upon the successful completion of the project studies. They are called project studies because, unlike case studies, these projects are not theoretical, they incorporate real program processes that need to be properly researched and developed. The project studies assist us in measuring your understanding and interpretation of the training program and enable us to assess qualification merits. All of the project studies are based entirely upon the content within the training program and they enable you to integrate what you have learnt into your corporate training practice.
Women Empowerment – Grading Contribution
Project Study – Grading Contribution
Customer Service – 10%
E-business – 05%
Finance – 10%
Globalization – 10%
Human Resources – 10%
Information Technology – 10%
Legal – 05%
Management – 10%
Marketing – 10%
Production – 10%
Education – 05%
Logistics – 05%
TOTAL GRADING – 100%
Qualification grades
A mark of 90% = Pass with Distinction.
A mark of 75% = Pass with Merit.
A mark of less than 75% = Fail.
If you fail to achieve a mark of 75% with a project study, you will receive detailed feedback from the Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and/or Accredited Consultant, together with a list of tasks which you will need to complete, in order to ensure that your project study meets with the minimum quality standard that is required by Appleton Greene. You can then re-submit your project study for further evaluation and assessment. Indeed you can re-submit as many drafts of your project studies as you need to, until such a time as they eventually meet with the required standard by Appleton Greene, so you need not worry about this, it is all part of the learning process.
When marking project studies, Appleton Greene is looking for sufficient evidence of the following:
Pass with merit
A satisfactory level of program understanding
A satisfactory level of program interpretation
A satisfactory level of project study content presentation
A satisfactory level of Unique Program Proposition (UPP) quality
A satisfactory level of the practical integration of academic theory
Pass with distinction
An exceptional level of program understanding
An exceptional level of program interpretation
An exceptional level of project study content presentation
An exceptional level of Unique Program Proposition (UPP) quality
An exceptional level of the practical integration of academic theory
Preliminary Analysis
Do you have the presence of a leader? Executive presence is a crucial skill in business and life: the ability to connect with others by making your case and communicating genuine emotion, even in the most intimidating situations. You can learn to combine your breath, your voice, your body language, your passionate belief in what you’re saying, and your authentic self so profoundly that people won’t be able to look away, whether you’re leading a team meeting or giving a formal presentation to a large group.
When your employees develop a strong executive presence, this will result in significant changes in the company’s culture, leadership, productivity, and retention. The Executive Presence Workshop will provide a proven process to develop the executive presence and influence of your women team members, so they can be more composed, confident, charismatic as well as, improve their communication skills. This will lead to becoming a more effective leader in the organization.
Opportunity for Change
As women continue to advance their careers and take on more leadership roles, they must have a strong executive presence to allow them to effectively lead, influence and inspire their team.
The Women Empowerment Leadership Program is a method of accelerating women’s professional development at work. Women have made significant strides in the workplace, but there is no doubt that they continue to face challenges in climbing the corporate ladder. This program provides the necessary support and tools to ensure that these women have everything they need to succeed. This will in turn benefit the overall growth and profitability of the company.
Workshop 6 – Executive Presence focuses on Personal Presence which the third step in the Women Empowerment Transformation Process.
Preparing for the Workshop
Participants are encouraged to continue to show up with an open mind and be ready for a transformation from the inside out. Once again, there will be a lot of mindset work that involves being open to change. You will also need to be ready to learn new skills and start adopting them into your current role in the company.
Be sure to assess your organizations current stance on leadership development this will be helpful before you start making significant changes to its structure.
Take a look at your current processes and infrastructure.
Participants should also ensure that they are familiar with the major people-related processes of the company. All participants should be familiar with the processes of performance management, recruitment, talent assessment, and talent development. The workshop’s goal is not to change these processes, but rather to supplement them with the 5 Step Women’s Empowerment Business Transformation Process (Mindset Shift, Leadership Development, Personal Presence, Advanced Communications Skills and Creating and Implementing an Action Plan) to improve their effectiveness. Participants compile a list of their most recent successes and failures in each of these processes. The list will be useful later on when discussing how to integrate the process into the existing model.
It may be advantageous to the participants if these processes are also examined from the perspective of the employees. One or two of the participants should meet with a few key employees to discuss the success of the processes. The effectiveness of these processes, rather than the method itself, should be the focal point of these discussions. When discussing the efficacy of the process, it is critical to consider the outcomes from the perspective of the people it is supposed to help. Ineffective processes, regardless of their efficiency, fail to meet the expectations of the customer. The Women’s Empowerment Business Transformation Process will be able to fill in the gaps discovered by identifying flaws in these procedures.
The sixth workshop in our Women Empowerment Program – Executive Presence will demonstrate how executive presence can help you lead your team more effectively and achieve your organizational goals. We will explore how to be seen as an expert in your industry and how you can use your influence to better lead and inspire your team. This workshop will provide all the tools and strategies to help you develop these skills.
How this will be achieved, is by implementation of the following strategies:
1. Learn a present moment meditation and how to lead a group meditation to instantly become more present.
2. 14 steps to develop a powerful executive presence.
3. How to create a strong personal brand statement and steps to develop your own unique personal brand.
4. Exact steps to give your LinkedIn Profile a makeover.
5. Tips to increase your workplace presence.
6. Strategies to strengthen your professional courage.
7. Ways to improve your professional appearance.
8. Implementing your professional values in the workplace.
9. How to influence by creating an emotional relationship.
10. Learn 10 key influencing skills.
11. Discover your influencing style.
12. Learn how to use body language to get what you want in life and at work.
Sources/Resources –
Course 6:1 – Essence of Presence
Meditation Scripts
{Download of – 8 Guided Meditation scripts]
Course 6:6: Personal Appearance
Case Study: The Cognitive Consequences of Formal Clothing – Michael L. Slepian, Simon N. Ferber, Joshua M. Gold, Abraham M. Rutchick, 2015 (sagepub.com) ]
Course 6:8: Professional Values
Explore Personal Values Exercise – 17 Effective Leadership Activities and Games (That Work Online Too) | SessionLab
Course 6:11- Grow Influence
Read more at: https://www.scienceofpeople.com/increase-influence/
Top 3 Books on Influence:
• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People by Vanessa Van Edwards
Course 6:12 – Body Language
Body Language | Science of People
https://www.scienceofpeople.com/category/body-language/
Truth and Lies Exercise: https://www.workamajig.com/blog/team-building-activities
Preliminary Plan
It’s important to have a plan to start implementing the processes learned throughout the workshop. Here are the steps to get this “project” started.
• Define the scope and objectives. Why is this project being initiated? …
• Define the roles and responsibilities.
• Next, you need to identify the project stakeholders – the ones who are responsible for its success.
• Set milestones and create a timeline.
• Then, it’s time to break down the work that needs to be done into manageable blocks. …
• Hold regular meetings to check in on the progress.
Course Manuals 1-12
Course Manual 1: Essence of Presence
Presence. The word is powerful on its own, but the concept is even more so. This concept, also known as executive presence, can make or break a leader’s success.
What exactly do we mean when we say someone has a strong “presence”? I mean, what exactly does it mean? If you poll 100 people (which the Latimer Group did), you might get 50 different answers. To different people, a strong presence means different things. And when you force people to define it, you end up with high-level, intangible concepts like “confidence.” Then, when you offer to let someone off the hook for their attempted description by simply saying, “we’ll know it when we see it,” they smile and enthusiastically agree.
We recognize it when we see it, don’t we? But, more specifically, what is it?
It CAN mean a variety of things. And “it” can be had by people of all shapes, sizes, ages, and attitudes. Tall and short people, slender and heavy set, young and old, male and female, executive and not… have all had a strong presence. A person’s presence can come from a variety of sources.
At The Latimer Group, they describe presence as the sum total of lots of seemingly small things. All aspects, while each seemingly insignificant, eventually add up to something noticeable. Things like the way we stand (up straight? facing the room?), the way we look people in the eye, our rate of speech, the polish in our words, the way we dress, the way we collaborate, the way we treat others, the questions we ask, the things we show an interest in, the things we speak about… we could go on and on. Each of these things contributes towards our presence.
When we stand (or sit) up straight and face the people we’re speaking to; when we look people in the eye; when we dress for the job we want, not necessarily the job we have; when we speak with enough polish that we sound intelligent and well-informed; when we pause occasionally and don’t appear to be in a huge rush and frantic all the time; when we ask questions and listen to people’s answers; when we speak about “executive issues” and don’t get stuck in People take notice when we can do all of these things. They recall who we are and what we have said.
So, take your time and think about it. What draws your attention to people? What is it about their names and what they said that makes you remember them? What makes a person’s presence memorable to you?
And, while you’re thinking about the presence of others, consider your own presence. Is it what you truly desire or need it to be?
In this lesson, we will unravel the presence mystery and help you to identify your personal presence.
The Meaning of Presence
At its most basic level, presence is awareness.
Nothing ever truly changes. A timeless, Eternal sense of Beingness is at the heart of everything. This “Is-ness” is universal energy, the very fabric of energy that holds everything together.
You are already (and will always be) a part of this timeless, eternal essence because you exist. When we talk about presence, we’re referring to your awareness of this fact. Thus, presence reflects your own awareness of your true, eternal essence.
When you are truly present, you release your pain body and live a life of joy rather than suffering. You become more loving, compassionate, and understanding of your relationship with All That Is.
If you pile up all of your experiences (make a list), you will begin to recognize where you shine, where you belong, where you love to lead, and where you want to help others become like you and achieve An Essence of Presence…
The Present Moment vs. Presence
The concept of presence differs from the concept of the present moment. The Eternal Now, or simply The Now, is another name for the present moment.
The Now is a portal to presence, but it is not presence itself. For example, you can exist in The Now without being aware that you are doing so. Presence is the recognition of The Now.
What exactly is an Essence of Presence?
What if you could be happy simply by being the same person in all of your interactions and relationships with family, friends, the community, and yourself?
Not having to hide your affection, love, words, and intentions. When you are at peace with yourself and surrender to the desire to live your life with Passion, Purpose, and Play…every life experience, conversation, and emotion becomes a part of who you are.
If you pile up all of your experiences (make a list), you will begin to recognize where you shine, where you belong, where you love to lead, you can help others become like you and achieve an Essence of Presence.
When you discover what makes you happy and what fulfills you and you’re willing to go above and beyond to use it to serve others this allows your presence to shine!
“Presence is the key to freedom, so you can only be free now.” Eckhart Tolle
Present Moment Meditation
Here is a very simple meditation you can use to center yourself in the present moment. It only takes 5 minutes and is a great technique for beginners and experienced meditators alike. The practice is one of recognizing: “Now, I am breathing in. Now, I am breathing out.” Take 5 minutes to concentrate on taking slow deep breaths.
“One conscious breath in and out is a meditation.” Eckhart Tolle
Reminders for the Present Moment
The key to remaining present in the moment is to return to your state of heightened awareness. I always say that becoming present is not a difficult act. The difficulty lies in our ability to put it into practice as we go about our daily lives.
One technique for assisting with this is to create a series of present-moment reminders. This can range from scheduling a daily meditation time to carrying a gemstone or other symbol with you and remembering to focus on presence whenever you touch it. The point is to create actions that will remind you to be present, and then use simple breathing exercises or mindfulness techniques to help you do so.
Another effective strategy is to concentrate on ways to simplify your life. When you declutter your daily routine, you create more space and time for yourself to reflect on your inner joy. You will be able to stay present more consistently if there are fewer external distractions.
Workplace Presence Training
Work can be one of the most difficult places to practice presence. When confronted with a situation in which we frequently need to balance external, worldly goals and ambitions with people we may or may not enjoy the company of, it is an excellent opportunity to learn how to let go of your ego’s desires and learn how to be present and live in the now by focusing on love, appreciation, and gratitude.
Improving Relationship Presence
One of the most important practices to master if you want to deepen presence in your close relationships is learning to identify the demands your ego places on the relationship.
Even when we are dealing with people we care deeply about (perhaps especially when we are dealing with people we care deeply about), our ego has a tendency to make subtle demands. Without realizing it, we condition the love we express, causing pain and separation in many cases in a very subtle way because our love is conditional. Our ego forces us to become engrossed in pain. The path out of that suffering is through presence.
To deepen your connection with others, you must practice letting go of your expectations of them. This can be a very intense and intimate process of honoring another’s true calling and seeing how they are striving spiritually through the experiences of this world, just as you are.
(Use the Letting Go Process from Workshop 2 – Course Manual 2:2 Limiting Beliefs)
“Presence is when you’re no longer waiting for the next moment, believing that the next moment will be more fulfilling than this one.” – Eckhart Tolle
Case Study on Executive Presence:
(Provided by CKB Consultants)
I shared about the qualities required to project Executive Presence. Now, let’s look at someone who demonstrates it.
Last week I observed a recently hired senior leader participate in an all-hands meeting with her new organization’s team – about 120 people from all over the country. How did she display executive presence?
Instead, she started with a short story about arriving at a recent Leadership Conference as a newbie. It was personal and it drew her audience in. She began her story with a clear, strong voice, and direct eye contact (helping to ensure she had the audience’s attention). She then talked about what she learned at the leadership conference (everybody wants to know what goes on at those conferences). She also included people in the audience by name – not easy to do since she didn’t know many of these people well. But she made the effort, and that effort was clear to everyone.
She ended her presentation telling one more story. It was about her transition into her new company. Again, it was a personal story. She recounted how she had told her husband about the Leadership Conference, and he asked her: Do you realize what you just did? You started referring to your colleagues as “we,” not “them.” And then she gave the audience big smile. It was a simple but powerful statement.
The Power of Group Meditation
An organized meditation with a group is an opportunity for those who might not practice alone to show up. If the group mediates together overtime, this is likely to have a positive impact on the individual meditation habits of each group member. Meditating with others creates a sense of connectedness.
Our world is more connected than ever before. Connection is at our fingertips, from shared social media to the rapid dissemination of news and information. Talking to someone on the other side of the world has never been easier and staying up to date on world events is just as simple.
However, while these rapid modes of communication benefit us in many ways, many of us feel isolated, disconnected, and alone. We may share a lot of information, but we often struggle to connect on a heart level with those around us.
Group meditation allows us to counteract some of the negative effects of our paradoxically connected and solitary experiences. It touches us in ways that most other activities do not because it allows us to share meaningful space with others. Among these advantages are the following:
Habit formation can be aided by group meditation.
An organized group meditation provides an opportunity for those who may not practice alone to participate. If the group meditates together over time, it is likely to have a positive impact on each group member’s individual meditation habits.
Meditating with others fosters a sense of community.
Meditation may be perceived as a lonely experience by some. We aren’t always good at sitting quietly and mindfully in a world full of distractions. A group meditation, on the other hand, provides the benefits of both the inward, personal experience and the shared experience. We practice individually but collectively, each working toward a common goal.
Group meditation broadens our understanding of how to share space with others.
The modern Western world tends to assume that social gatherings must involve food, drink, and/or entertainment. Meditation groups disagree with this assumption. We become more comfortable sharing space without distractions as we experiment with new ways of being together. We begin to feel more at ease being authentic, open, and honest.
Group settings allow us to share our experiences and feedback.
If we have any questions about our meditation experience, others in a meditation group can offer support or feedback. We strengthen our own practice and encourage the growth of others by sharing techniques, trials, and triumphs.
Who facilitates group meditations?
So, while group meditation appears to be a good idea, who organizes and guides them? Given the adaptability of mindfulness and meditation to a wide range of settings and scenarios, there are no hard and fast rules. However, some of the people who frequently benefit and succeed from leading group meditations are:
Educators
Mindfulness teachings can be incorporated into lessons at any level. There are numerous ways to explore meditation with youth, ranging from incorporating simple breathing techniques into physical education to reading meditation scripts for relaxation. The practices and scripts chosen will be determined by the class’s age and maturity.
Professionals in Health and Wellness
Health and wellness professionals are another group of people who frequently lead group meditations. Yoga instructors, social workers, and coaches, for example, may use guided meditation scripts to help those they work with. This could be done in a group setting in workshops, schools, conferences, or any other appropriate setting.
Corporate Leaders
Bringing mindfulness into the workplace can help employees reduce stress while also increasing their well-being and productivity. These types of sessions may be led by corporate leaders or human resource professionals who have received training. Regardless of formal training, scripts for mindfulness meditation can assist in guiding employees through these practices.
Parents
A group can also be as small as a family. If you are a parent, using guided meditation scripts for kids can help you bring more peace, happiness, and presence into your children’s lives. In this case, look into age-appropriate meditations, starting with something short and sweet for the youngest family members.
How to Lead Meditation Groups
It takes more than a script to guide others through mindfulness and meditation practice. You can tailor the following suggestions to the needs and goals of the group you’re working with:
1. Learn about the backgrounds and goals of those you’ll be working with.
Leading a youth group in meditation is very different from guiding adults in anxiety-relieving practices. Knowing who you’re working with and what they’re looking for will help you choose the right script. Relaxation meditation scripts are a good place to start, but make sure the language, length, and techniques covered are appropriate.
2. Select a relaxing and soothing environment.
You should also think about your environment. In some cases, you will have more control over where the session takes place than in others. In any case, keep temperature and lighting in mind, as well as your ability to adjust them. Take note of the props that are available. Are there any chairs or cushions? If not, what are you able to bring with you to promote peace and relaxation?
3. Think about what kinds of tools you’ll need.
In addition to the last point, feel free to incorporate any helpful tools into your guided meditation. Music and singing bowls, for example, are beautiful tools that can contribute to a collective sense of peace. If you’re thinking about using aromas or essential oils, make sure no one in the group is allergic to them. Also, keep in mind that an extra set of hands may be just what you need. Consider having someone assist you or collaborate with you from the start.
4. Be aware of the space you occupy, as well as the tone and pace of your voice.
Finally, it is critical to remember that meditation is not a comfortable experience for everyone. While one person may feel at ease in these group settings, others may feel out of place. Warmly greet everyone, checking in before and after the sitting to see if anyone requires additional assistance. Make sure your tone and pace of speech are also soothing.
Exercise 6:1: Group Meditation- Practicing Being Present
Alleviate Stress with Three Simple Breaths [Download and Print Script Here] Source: (mindfulnessexercises.com)
When guiding groups, this simple guided meditation for deeper breathing is a great place to start. It includes positive affirmations to redirect the mind as well as mindful breath awareness. This script also includes time stamps to indicate how long to hold pauses for.
Here’s The “Alleviate Stress With Three Deep Breaths” Guided Meditation Script:
[voice at the beginning of the session is serious yet calm and soothing, speaking at a slower yet comfortable speed] (words that are underlined should be emphasized and said with great passion)Begin by taking a deep breath and hold it for 5 seconds…(pause for 5 seconds)…exhale and relax…(pause for 5 seconds)…take another deep breath, as deep as you can, and hold it, count for 5 seconds…(pause for 5 seconds) and as you exhale just imagine blowing out all of your stress…(pause for 5 seconds)…take a third deep breath and hold it…(pause for 5 seconds)…and as you exhale you blow out any stress you’ve been holding on to, saying to yourself “relax now”
[pause for 3 seconds, speaking now with confidence and at a normal pace of speech]This is your new solution to stress.
Whenever you become stressed in the future, you simply take 3 fully in and deep breaths, holding it at the top of the inhalation for 5 seconds, and when you exhale, blow out any stresses that you feel.
And on the third breath as you exhale you simply say to yourself, relax now.
[Pause for 5 seconds] [speaking slowly with a soothing and gentle voice] [Body Scan Induction]Begin by slowly blinking your eyes, and with each number I say, blink once. (pause for 3 seconds in between each number) 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0.
Allow your eyes to gently close, and when you do this you feel a wave of relaxation sweep over you.
[speaking even slower now]Now I’d like for you to focus on the sensations at the top of your head.
Just notice how the very top of your head feels.[Pause for 5 seconds]
And now let your focus move down to your eyes.
Just notice how your eyes feel and ask them to relax even more.
The little movement in your eyes is called rapid eve movement and is completely normal.
Open up discussion to share about the experience.
Couse Manual 2: Developing Presence
Executive presence is an excellent quality to have as a leader, but business owners and employees of all positions and levels can cultivate this important trait to use throughout their careers. While executive presence can lead to promotions and professional advancement, it can also inspire others and increase workplace productivity.
How do you define Executive Presence?
Executive presence is a learned set of behaviors and personal characteristics that enable you to command respect and authority. It creates a perception of your ability to lead in any situation, which can have an impact on yourself, your team, and the company for which you work. Executive presence is frequently defined by how one acts, speaks, and appears, and while it may come naturally to some, executive presence is a quality that can be strengthened, grown, or created.
Executive presence is very much about how you control a room, how you make impressions, and how you affect the people around you. It is how you communicate verbally as well as through your physical appearance and physicality. It’s not just about how you look, but also about how you communicate with people and convey your intentions. The question is not, “Are you a supermodel?” “Are you dressed appropriately, and do you look put together and powerful, and are you wearing clothes easily and authentically, or do you perhaps need to step up to signify your power and presence?” It’s similar to what I say about reputation: If you have great presence, people will feel the remnants and echo of what you left behind when you leave a room — “Wow, I enjoyed what that person had to say, and I will take some action because of it.”
“It’s our choices that show what we truly are far more than our abilities.” – JK Rowling
Why is it important to cultivate a strong executive presence?
Developing executive presence is important because it demonstrates to others that you are a skilled professional capable of leading others and making significant contributions to a company, business, or organization. It can also boost your confidence and professional worth regardless of your position, role, or career path.
Making an impression is not a choice; it is inevitable. Whether you realize it or not, eyes will be on you, and you never know who is watching you. You can leave a positive, negative, or neutral impression. Social outings are opportunities to meet new people, and if you don’t make an effort, you’ll miss out. There’s also an opportunity to make a good first impression, and those who are aware of how they appear at first have an advantage in terms of executive presence. In unfamiliar situations, you can offer to introduce someone to someone they don’t know who can assist them; you can make someone feel valued, and that person will value you in return. They will remember how much they admired and appreciated you when you leave. Executive presence is something that anyone can learn; it’s more about being aware.
How can individuals begin to cultivate their own executive presence?
When it comes to executive presence, you want to give people the impression that you have their back and can handle whatever “it” is. It doesn’t mean you have every superpower; some things you’ll be great at, while others you’ll just get by with.
Face the thing you are terrified of – Example:
Mary is not good with numbers. She was at a new job overseeing a department of 70 people, and they called her in and told her everything she would be doing, and then they told her, “You’re going to also have to do the budget.” And she said, “No problem.” But when the meeting was over, she went into the stairwell and started hyperventilating. She thought about all the things she could do specific to her talent, and there she was focusing on the one thing she was going to be uncomfortable with. she was hyperventilating and crying, and she was a wreck.
But then she calmed herself, went to her department assistant and said, “Who is the person who deals with expense reports?” She found that person and asked if she had worked on budgets, and she said yes. I said, “Tomorrow we’re going to set aside three hours to work on the budget,” and she said, “No problem.”
All of us feel like imposters at one time or another. None of us wants to feel judged. But having executive presence is about making people feel you can handle things and that you’re smart enough to know your strengths, and for the things you don’t know, you can figure it out or seek help in figuring it out.
Communication is another factor to consider when developing executive presence. Do you engage in eye contact with others? Is there any warmth coming from you? Are you saying things that will help or inspire people? Or are you looking over their shoulder to see if there’s someone “better” you should be speaking with?
This also contributes to the concept of gravitas. Consider a swan gliding across the water. When you think of a swan, you imagine a creature that is elegant, composed, and flowing smoothly, but beneath the surface of the water, there are little webbed feet paddling furiously. When you’re in command, you don’t let anyone see those furiously paddling feet. This is where gravitas comes into play. A strong leader possesses gravitas.
How do men and women develop their executive presence differently?
“Think about the leader you admire and the leader you want to be, and act like the leader you want to be,” I tell women and men. The more you practice, the easier it will become.
Women rarely do anything unless they are 100 percent certain they can, whereas men only need to be 60 percent certain. However, if a woman and a man take the same exam, the women will perform equally well or better. It’s easy for women to avoid situations that make us nervous, but we should develop the mindset of “I’m going to say yes,” and then go freak out in my office or stairwell and figure out how to make it happen. Yes, please. Act as if you want to be the leader you want to be. Whether you’re a man or a woman, it’s critical to know your material, be prepared, and then present it authoritatively.
Recently, the phrase of the moment has been “authentic selves.” Is this in any way incompatible with executive presence?
Authenticity is extremely important because people can detect inauthenticity quickly. You should be a positive person who wants to do a good job. I truly believe that the best combination for success and leadership is warmth and competence, but if you’re all warmth and fuzziness, people may not always believe you know what you’re talking about or may perceive you to be lacking substance. And competence without warmth can come across as cold and arrogant. Combining warmth and competence will result in great executive presence for both men and women. People will like and trust you, and they will want to follow you.
“No matter what the situation never let your emotions overpower your intelligence.”- Kushandwizdom
14 Steps to Develop a Strong Executive Presence
1. Establish your personal executive presence.
Knowing who you want to be as a leader can help you get there. Investigate your work style, leadership style, and career goals, and devise a plan of action to achieve them. Make sure your goals, timelines, and milestones are reasonable and attainable. Developing any skill takes time, and executive presence is no exception.
2. Maintain a positive attitude and mindset.
Rather than focusing on skills you may not yet have, believe in yourself and your abilities. Developing an optimistic mindset is essential for remaining motivated and focused on developing executive presence. Also, keep in mind that part of leadership is knowing when and where to delegate tasks or connect with those who have specialized knowledge, so you don’t need to know how to do everything to demonstrate executive presence.
3. Shift your focus.
Be deliberate in your attention and focus, whether in large meetings, conference calls, one-on-one conversations, or even when reading and responding to emails. Consider every interaction as a chance to connect rather than a transaction or task to complete. It can assist you in developing your reputation as a personable, dependable, and genuine leader while also cultivating your executive presence.
4. Pay attention to your breathing.
Use your breathing to center your awareness, release tension or anxiety, and aid in concentration. Taking a deep breath and exhaling before making a phone call about a difficult topic, for example, can subconsciously relieve nerves and put you at ease. This simple exercise can help you relax, think strategically, and set the appropriate pace for your day.
5. Think about your habits and background.
Take some time for personal reflection and be honest about your strengths and areas for improvement. Sometimes our habits and personality traits are influenced by our experiences or upbringing, such as shyness, body language, or voice volume. Consider having introspective conversations with those who know you well in order to identify areas for improvement and gain motivation for exploring activities and exercises that will help you break or create new habits as you develop executive presence.
6. Get support.
Inform a colleague, mentor, or friend that you are working on improving your executive presence and solicit their assistance. People frequently want to help, and you can share ways they can, such as providing feedback, acting as a practice partner, or simply being a source of encouragement.
Support from people you respect and admire can help to reinforce what you’re doing well, boost your confidence, and accelerate your progress. It may also lead to additional opportunities to practice and hone your executive presence, such as being invited to speak in front of a larger audience, lead a project, or connect with other industry or executive contacts through your network.
7. Hone your public speaking skills.
Consider practicing your public speaking skills whenever possible. Use routine tasks, such as showering or driving to work, to speak aloud and experiment with your voice’s pace, tone, and sound. The repetition aids in the formation of a habit and speaking aloud provides more exercise and practice than simply reviewing thoughts mentally.
8. Take video of yourself.
Consider videotaping yourself giving a speech, presenting, or leading a meeting and watching it back to take notes on things like body language, voice control, breathing, and presence. You can learn a lot about how you look and sound by recording yourself multiple times. This allows you to track your progress in developing executive presence.
9. Pay attention to others.
Examine how others walk, talk, dress, and behave, especially other leaders you admire. They could be company leaders, other industry professionals, or well-known business role models. Look for nonverbal and visual ways they communicate, as well as their voice control, such as volume, speed, breathing, and how they use silence or pauses when speaking. Effective observation and research can teach you best practices from successful people who demonstrate executive presence and provide positive reinforcement as you develop your own.
10. Take advice from those you admire.
While observation can teach you a lot, consider connecting directly with those you admire, whether they are public figures or industry mentors. Inquire about their personal journey to developing executive presence or read books on leadership that they have written. This can help you save time by focusing on effective techniques rather than trial and error learning.
11. Make use of body language.
Recognize the messages your body sends through body language and learn how to use it effectively. Body language can help to reinforce verbal messages and directives, convey confidence and authority, and put others at ease or inspire them.
Try this, for example:
• Maintain eye contact and nod occasionally to show that you’re paying attention.
• Regardless of your physical stature, walk, sit, and stand tall.
• Take note of your posture and facial expressions.
Hand gestures are an essential component of body language. Open hand gestures, for example, convey a sense of welcome; palms down can direct or make a point; and open fingers while rotating your wrist can draw others into your idea.
12. Invest in learning resources.
Consider taking leadership classes or reading leadership books. There are several online platforms and tools available to assist you in developing a stronger executive presence, or you can look into leadership development conferences, seminars, newsletters, and books. They can be used to reinforce existing habits and traits or to learn new ones.
13. Participate in a group.
Executive presence frequently includes being well-spoken and having a large vocabulary, and there are associations, clubs, and groups that specialize in developing this skill set. Consider researching and joining a professional development organization, such as Toastmasters International. Their clubs encourage public speaking, communication, and other forms of leadership, and there are even speech contests and competitions. Groups like this can help you hone your public speaking skills, as well as your eye contact and pausing technique. Practicing these skills in a setting other than the workplace can help to remove distractions and lower inhibitions.
14. Work with a coach.
An executive coach may provide consulting, training, exercises, and personal development to assist you in developing leadership skills that will enhance your executive presence. They can assist you in setting goals, improving your communication and body language, and advancing or transitioning your career. Professional and executive coaching can be more expensive than self-education methods, but it is a worthwhile investment to investigate.
Case Study on Executive Presence
Allison Kluger recalls one of her earliest days as an associate producer at Good Morning America, when a senior producer saw her crying at work.
“She told me, ‘Allison, you can’t cry at the workplace. Do you know why? You’re young, attractive, and female, and nobody will think you’re reliable, and they won’t trust you to do the job. If someone asks, say you’re having a great day, because nobody wants to hear you’re having a bad day.’”
That straight talk taught her something: Kluger needed to act the part of someone who was reliable and capable if she wanted to be perceived that way.
“I became the person who was unflappable,” she says. “I started getting jobs producing live remotes, being on air, and in the control room, and it became authentic. I’m still a very sensitive person and I still cry, but to be the leader I wanted to be, I had to act like the leader I wanted to be.”
This was Kluger’s first lesson in executive presence — or the way people carry themselves, present themselves, communicate with others, and project competence and calm.
This quality inspires others to follow. And it’s something Kluger firmly believes that anyone can learn and develop.
Kluger, the Dorothy J. King Lecturer in Leadership at Stanford Graduate School of Business in the areas of strategic communication, reputation management, and personal branding, spent more than 25 years in broadcast media and entertainment. She hosted and produced at Q2, an offshoot of shopping network QVC, and she was executive producer at the Global Shopping Network. She was an original coordinating producer on ABC’s The View, consulted with Al Gore and Joel Hyatt on the launch of Current TV, and helped MSNBC create a live pilot show for Michael Savage. She also founded her own consultancy in 2005.
She spoke to Insights about executive presence and why it matters.
Four Pointers for Improving Your Presence
1. Take note of your appearance. Do you dress appropriately for meetings or events where you’ll be meeting someone new? People will attribute traits to you if you are too casual or sloppy; they may believe you are lazy or not senior enough to do your job.
2. Be conscious of how you communicate and use your voice. Be clear, present, and strong, and exude an aggressive demeanor. Say “I believe” and “My plan is this” instead of “I was wondering” or “Perhaps.”
3. Be mindful of your energy. Do you walk into a room standing straight, with good energy, and ready to interact? Make sure you’re aware of people and that people are aware of you, because if you aren’t (and they aren’t), they may have a neutral or negative impression of you. Remember that the first impression you make includes eye contact, a firm handshake, a smile, and your first and last words.
4. Consider your unique value. What distinguishes you, and how do you publicize it so that others are aware of it? Maybe you’re a great runner or a programmer. Create a blog post about it or organize a seminar to teach others. Being an expert at something teaches you how to embrace the spotlight and broadcast your talents to others, because sharing with others allows you to build a network, take on leadership roles, and open up new doors for yourself.
Exercise 6:2: Show and Tell
Objective:
To give each participant the chance to present, reveal their personality and share a personal aspect of their lives.
Instructions:
Before the Workshop, tell everyone that they’ll need to bring in an item of personal significance to share. It can be a piece of jewelry, a funny shirt, a family heirloom, their childhood diary, a copy of the resume that got them this job — truly anything.
For Show and Tell, you can either ask everyone to present on their item and what it means to them or shuffle the items up for everyone to guess each owner before the big reveal.
Another twist is to not inform of every one of this activity beforehand. Simply spring it on them, just before presentation time, so that they’re challenged to get creative in utilizing what’s around them.
Course Manual 3: Online Presence
Online presence or Web presence is the collective existence online of a company or individual. A website is one example.
Many businesses have websites with their branding and customized look and feel. There are millions of websites that range from simple and small to much more intricate and interactive. Everyone understands what a website is and what purpose it serves. So, what is an online presence and how do you go about establishing one for your business?
There is so much that can be included in your online presence. An online presence is any aspect of an individual’s or business’s existence that can be found through an online search. A member of an association with an online member directory listing is an example of a person who is not active on the Internet but has an online presence. Another case in point is a person who only has a LinkedIn or Facebook profile. How do you leverage and improve their existing web presence in order to increase their exposure and reputation, as well as market themselves and/or their business online?
One approach is to create a compelling website or blog. Once the concept of a web presence has been established, it is time to begin building it, including the all-important keywords that are important in that market. The website will not be successful and will essentially stagnate if keywords are not used. It is critical to understand that cultivating a specific business’s success through its online presence requires much more than a beautiful-looking website. Another option is to leverage their existing web presence and supplement it with additional social media marketing interactions. A third option is a hybrid of the two.
Targeted Keywords: Keywords that are well-placed are critical for both options. You may be wondering how you go about identifying the most effective keywords that will be recognized by search engines and will drive more and more online traffic to your website. Careful research is essential because finding the best keywords for your niche should be the very first thing you do. That is your first step toward establishing a web presence.
After you’ve laid the groundwork, you can start working on your web presence. Naturally, the information must be presented in a visually appealing and compelling manner. However, there is a lot more to it than that. It is much more than just designing and building a website.
Web presence visitors: Once you’ve established your web presence, the next critical step is to get people to visit it. The more traffic you can direct to your online presence, the better it will be for your company. Of course, this relates back to when you chose your keywords and key phrases. People will visit and return if you have strategically placed them.
Lead generation and conversion: Your online presence plays an important role. It must be able to effectively capture leads (leads are people who have the potential of eventually becoming your clients). Once the leads have been captured, it is critical to conduct the conversion process in an appropriate and sensitive manner. An essential component of the success of converting leads lies with the design of the web presence, the compelling nature of the content, the aesthetic appeal of the graphics, etc.
Interacting on social media: Interacting with your online connections is extremely important because it adds a deeper layer to the relationship that you will establish through your online presence. The more you interact with people, the more they will trust you and regard you as credible and knowledgeable. You will begin to realize how important interaction is to the success of your company.
So, how do you improve your online presence?
• A precise market definition
• Keywords that are understandable and appropriate
• Websites and/or social media pages that have been search engine optimized
• A visually appealing and well-organized website and/or social media pages, so that any visitors understand what your company offers right away.
• Fill out your social media profiles
• A laser-like focus on your target connections and market
• A strategy for gaining fans, followers, and business contacts.
• A plan for promoting yourself and/or your business and disseminating marketing messages.
• Content that is compelling and effective calls to action
• A successful social media marketing campaign for your company
• On a consistent basis, there is a high volume of traffic
• A successful lead generation and conversion strategy
If you go through this list and notice that any of the concepts are missing, you most likely have a website rather than a web presence. You can improve the effectiveness of your web presence by making a few changes.
Now that you understand the difference between a website and a web presence, you will be able to assess what you have and what you require in terms of online exposure and reputation. Your web presence is a collection of online elements that should be used in conjunction to create a successful marketing campaign. The more you share about yourself and your company, the stronger your presence will be, and the greater your and your company’s success will be.
Why is an online presence important
If you want your business to succeed in this day and age, you must have a strong web presence. Because others are marketing their businesses online, you must market alongside them.
Business owners who do not engage in online interactions are missing out on potential opportunities that may arise as a result of online interactions with a large number of clients. Not only is it critical to have a website for your business, but it is also critical to have a web presence that includes other online social media tools that can greatly assist you in growing your business. Of course, your online presence, as well as the interactions and activities in which you become involved, will be determined by your specific business and what you do.
There are numerous consequences for businesses who do not have an online presence.
Niche Markets
You will miss out on interacting with many other people in your niche if you do not have an online presence. You have the potential to share a mutually beneficial relationship that will last for a long time.
Technology that is competitive
In this advanced technological age, small businesses can compete on an equal footing with larger corporations than ever before. They can accomplish this in a variety of ways, including communicating with automated responses (so they don’t have to devote as much personal time to social media), conducting transactions online, and delivering their products and/or services via the internet.
Making the most of profiles
If you have an impressive online profile as a business professional, you will get a lot of mileage out of it. It will give the impression that you and your company are trustworthy and credible.
The cost of an online presence
Marketing via social media and other online tools will cost you significantly less than traditional marketing. That doesn’t mean you won’t have to make any investments. However, the investment you will make will be more about time and effort than money.
Schedule that runs around the clock
You can have it working for you without you being there because you have the technological capability to automate your postings. That is a fantastic benefit.
Being inextricably linked to the local community
There is a lot to be said for being close (geographically) to your clients. You’ll be right there if they need you. When you interact online, you can accomplish a wide range of tasks in a short period of time. However, it is reassuring for your clients to know that if they require your assistance in person, you will arrive quickly and provide them with what they require.
The other side of the coin
As beneficial as it is to be able to conduct business close to where your customers are, it is also beneficial to be able to conduct some of your business on a larger scale. Many countries have jumped on the bandwagon.
Getting feedback
When it comes to the success of your business, client feedback is an extremely important factor to consider. You won’t know if you’re on the right track if you never get feedback, and you won’t know how to keep growing your business. The more you learn from your customers, the more powerful and successful your company will be.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions (FAQs) can be extremely beneficial to your online connections. It is a tool that saves time and makes your business run more smoothly in many cases. It can also save money because phone calls may be unnecessary if the answers are readily available.
Continue interacting
Interactivity is what establishes a solid foundation for the relationship. If you continue to interact, you will get to know each other well, and trust and credibility will follow. Nobody will buy from you if they don’t believe you and find you credible.
There is no denying that a company must have an online presence if they want to be successful. The business world has advanced to the point where you will be left in the dust if you do not keep up. It is pointless to be resistant. You will discover that interacting online is enjoyable, exciting, and enticing. As a company, take full advantage of it. Having an online presence will provide your company with many more opportunities than they would have otherwise. It will provide a greater opportunity to build your brand, expose you to endless marketing possibilities, give you a greater opportunity to get to know your clients, and allow you to see metrics on your performance. Take advantage of all the opportunity that the internet provides for you and your company.
Your Personal Brand
Establishing your distinct professional identity through personal branding is a practice that is gaining traction in today’s fast-paced digital world. When used effectively, it can be a powerful way to stand out in the professional world when looking for a job or furthering your career.
What exactly is a personal brand?
A personal brand expresses who you are, what you stand for, your values, and how you express those values. Your personal brand is how you distinguish yourself from others; it is the story of who you are and how you tell that story to others. Personal brand messages can include items such as:
• Experience
• Character traits
• Skills
• Habits
• Values
The Advantages of Creating a Personal Brand
Creating a personal brand gives you some control over how others perceive you. This can have a significant impact on both your personal and professional lives, such as:
Improved relationships: By developing your personal brand, you can identify who you are and what you want. This enables you to connect with people more honestly and form mutually beneficial relationships.
More job opportunities: Knowing your personal brand enables you to make better decisions about where and with whom you network. It also enables you to define your objectives so that you know what you need to do to advance in your career.
Improved sales: Using your personal brand instills trust because it is more authentic. Authenticity and confidence are two critical factors in increasing sales.
Increased name recognition: A personal brand is about defining who you are and communicating that message to the rest of the world. When you take control of this process, more people will hear of you and your name will become more well-known.
Creating a Brand Statement
In almost every profession and industry, personal branding is essential. By developing a strong personal brand statement, you can capture the attention of prospective clients, customers, and employers and ensure that they recognize your value as soon as possible.
What exactly is a personal branding statement?
Personal brand statements are concise statements that summarize what you do, why you do it, and what distinguishes you from others in your field. In other words, it’s your one-of-a-kind selling point. These statements should be one to two sentences long and should be attention-grabbing, compelling, and memorable. A personal brand statement is similar to a slogan in many ways.
What is the significance of a brand statement?
A personal brand statement can help you communicate your value and expertise in a way that makes people want to learn more, regardless of your job status, profession, or industry. These statements are especially useful when networking with potential customers, clients, or employers because they can help you connect with others. After you’ve created a great personal brand statement, you can use it by including it in your:
Social Media Profiles: Brand statements can be an excellent addition to your bio on social media platforms.
Resume: Put your personal brand statement near the top of your resume, near your name, to highlight your strengths for hiring manager.
Online Portfolio: Personal brand statement as a tagline for your online portfolio: A personal brand statement can serve as a great tagline for your online portfolio.
Learning how to brand yourself is an important step in your professional development. It’s critical to find your niche, your distinct voice, and an effective way to market yourself.
Examples of Personal Brand Statements
Example 1:
In some cases, using a formula that identifies your ideal employer or customer and what you help them achieve can be beneficial. Aside from these essential elements, you can strengthen your statement by including quantifiable evidence of your effectiveness. This method is an excellent way to highlight your previous achievements and demonstrate your expertise.
“By creating killer websites, I assist businesses in harnessing their image and achieving their objectives. My website designs boost traffic by at least 25% ”
Example 2:
When creating your personal brand statement, it’s best to keep it as specific as possible. You can accomplish this by mentioning your target audience as well as the outcomes you can assist them in achieving.
“I assist manufacturing facilities in streamlining their processes in order to reduce waste and increase profits.”
Example 3:
Another effective strategy is to begin your statement with a verb, such as “let’s,” to emphasize the partnership you create with clients and customers.
“Let’s create some great branding.”
Example 4:
If you have a solid reputation, you can turn your brand statement into a question to pique people’s interest.
“Would you like to increase your conversion rates by 15%?”
Example 5:
Though creativity can aid in the creation of an eye-catching personal brand statement, simplicity is frequently just as effective. You can provide a brief summary of what you assist your clients with.
“Organize your time, and you’ll have time to organize your life.”
You can expand on this slightly to make it more specific if you prefer. As an example:
“I assist small business owners in organizing their time so they can organize their lives.”
Example 6:
It can be beneficial to create a brand statement that focuses on your target audience rather than your knowledge or skills. This is especially true if you work in a specific niche market or with a specific clientele.
“Assisting your small business in making a big impact.”
Example 7:
You can emphasize what you can do to help your audience by demonstrating your ability to transfer knowledge or expertise. This enables you to communicate what you do best and who you serve in a clear and concise manner.
“I can show you how to use social media platforms effectively to expand your brand’s reach and revenue.”
Example 8:
Your personality is what distinguishes you and makes you authentic. Creating a personal brand statement that reflects your personality can demonstrate that you are grounded as well as confident. Furthermore, because it is more inviting, this frequently encourages connection.
“Hello, my name is Serena. A graphic designer, philanthropist, entrepreneur, and lover of all things yellow who is dedicated to assisting you in developing a brand that reflects your voice and needs.”
Example 9:
If your work is related to social media or is influenced by your presence on social media platforms, you can create a distinct and modern call to action by including your handle.
“Assisting you in developing and managing your social media presence across platforms. @socialeyes”
Example 10:
To create a brand statement that gets to the point quickly while still reaching your target audience, remove unnecessary filler words.
“Reduce the number of procedures and protocols so that you can scale and grow.”
7 Steps to Create Your Personal Brand
Your personal brand is defined by who you are as a professional and what distinguishes you from others. Consider the following steps to successfully brand yourself:
1. Determine what makes you unique.
When you first begin to define your brand, you must identify your strengths, skills, and talents. Consider what you do well and what you are passionate about. Passion can drive you to persevere in the face of adversity. It’s also motivating because people admire people who are passionate about what they do. For example, if you are passionate about numbers and accuracy, you can leverage that to position yourself as a top accountant.
2. Establish a distinct voice.
Make your brand stand out by developing a distinct voice for your product or service. Determine what characteristics you have that your competitors do not. Knowing what you can do better or more effectively and emphasizing those skills is essential for developing a successful personal brand.
Researching potential competitors and objectively comparing their results to yours is part of the process of defining your voice. For example, you may discover that you have a distinct method of completing a common work-related task that distinguishes you from other professionals in your field.
3. Identify your target audience.
Determine your target audience. It will be easier to develop a branding strategy once you have determined who your target audience is and what you can do for them.
Begin by researching your specific area of expertise. For example, if you are a real estate professional who specializes in residential rentals, target people who want to rent apartments, houses, or condos.
4. Establish a reputation.
After you’ve laid the groundwork for your brand by defining yourself, your goals, and the platforms you’ll use, you can begin to build an audience and a reputation. The goal is to persuade those who are interested in your brand that your skills are valid and that your claims are supported by strong expertise.
Determine which online platforms will help you find potential customers and then publicize your brand through social media posts. Your goal is to make it simple for people to learn about you and contact you. For example, if you discover an online social media group that is relevant to your product or service, you could actively promote your skills or services to that group.
Typically, this step entails creating a website for your brand and publishing blog posts. A website will help to support your brand voice and make it easier for people to learn more about you and what makes your product or service unique.
Being active in your professional community and establishing a reputation for accuracy and knowledge are also important aspects of developing a reputation. For example, if economics is your main area of expertise, you can build an audience and a reputation by starting a blog and sharing your economics-related ideas in relevant social media groups.
5. Establish a network.
Find as many relevant people and brands as you can and contact them to collaborate in order to gain access to their audience, reputation, and credibility.
If you find people in your social media groups who have similar qualities but a larger brand than you, you can reach out to them and propose different collaborations. You’ll need to make a compelling case for why working with you will benefit them as well.
6. Examine your competitors.
Examine your competition and look for opportunities for your own advancement.
Analyzing your competition is dependent on your area of expertise, but in most cases, it is possible to do so through online research. If you are a marketing professional in the automotive industry, for example, you can study major marketing campaigns carried out by other car manufacturers to analyze your competition.
7. Obtain feedback.
Request feedback from friends, family, and industry contacts on everything from your social media strategy to the professional appearance of your website and blog to the value of your product and service. Then, use the feedback to revise your marketing strategies and fine-tune your brand voice.
For example, if you post photos of your new product on social media and receive a lot of positive feedback, you’ll know you’re reaching your target audience. If, on the other hand, you receive a lot of questions from people who don’t understand your product, you’ll realize you need to be more concise in your marketing efforts.
Your personal brand image will most likely need to change. Your interests shift, your experience level grows, and the interests of your audience shift. Make it a habit to review your personal brand image and refine your messaging on a regular basis. Small changes to your narrative or messaging efforts can have a big impact in the long run.
“Building a personal brand is simply a matter of you identifying, positioning, and packaging who you are, and what you know so that you can use it to serve as many people as possible in your target audience.” – Lord Klukpui
Exercise 6:3: – Your 3-Word Self
Your personal brand encompasses who you believe yourself to be, but also how others think of you. What words jump into their mind when your name comes up in a meeting?
If creating a comprehensive personal brand strategy intimidates you or feels too fake, try this quick exercise to ground yourself.
Instructions:
1. Partner up with someone in your workshop group.
2. Write down the answers to these two questions
3. What 3 words would I use to describe myself when I first meet someone?
4. Ask your partner what 3 words would they use to describe you?
Choose 3 adjectives that you wish to portray, whether they match or not with your above list. They shouldn’t be too far off because they should represent you. For example, if you’re shy, you won’t suddenly be outgoing.
If you’re stuck on some adjectives, you can find some great lists online.
The first step to building your personal brand is knowing yourself and your personality.
5. Group Share: Share your 3 words with the rest of the group.
Understanding your strengths and weaknesses–and your 3-word self—allows you to start building your personal brand. Whenever you tweet, post, write, or introduce yourself with your 30 second Mission Statement (This exercise can be found in the Project Studies section of this workshop), think about those three words and what they mean to you and to someone else.
Course Manual 4: LinkedIn Makeover
LinkedIn has catapulted into the social media world as an essential means of effective professional networking over the last ten years. It is critical for a professional to maintain a strong online presence and brand. LinkedIn is used by colleagues to refer you for jobs, employers to screen candidates, and recruiters on a daily basis. It is critical that you have a well-crafted and comprehensive LinkedIn profile.
Create a LinkedIn account if you haven’t already!
LinkedIn has over 450 million professional profiles; you should be one of them.
It is now one of the most effective ways to connect professionally.
To create an account, all you need is an email address and a few simple steps to guide you through the process.
How to Use LinkedIn to Brand Yourself
As we mentioned in the previous lesson, your personal brand is all about you. It is your professional reputation, online and offline image, work style, and how you interact with others. Consider what you want people to think of when they hear your name when developing a personal brand. What are you hoping people will remember about your knowledge, skills, and talents?
How do you think people would describe you right now? Is it consistent with how you want others to perceive you? Using LinkedIn strategically will help you develop your personal brand, increasing the likelihood that others will perceive you the way you want to be perceived.
Who you are
This is the first step you should take when attempting to build a personal brand.
There is something special about you and the experiences you have had. That is where we begin.
Nobody else has gone through your experiences in the same order that you have. Your life experiences have shaped who you are today.
Your perspectives on career, business, relationships, and so on have been shaped by what you’ve learned and experienced in life.
There will always be people who haven’t gone through what you have. And this audience will require someone to instruct and guide them.
There will always be people who need your help.
What you know
You have something that someone else requires. That is a proven fact.
You don’t have to become a self-proclaimed “expert” who knows everything. Your personal brand is based on the value that you can only bring to the table through your unique experiences and skills.
What you know is your audience’s message. It could be a skill you’ve honed for yourself that you can pass on to others.
You don’t have to wait until you have those certifications and qualifications to start developing your personal brand.
It could be information you have on a specific topic (for example, event planning) or a skill you have learned (for example, public speaking) that people might find useful.
It could be how your experiences shaped you into the person you are today.
If you struggled with something and overcame it, that can be your message to the world. Many people have used their personal experiences to build a brand for themselves.
If you’ve spent years figuring out how something works, your audience can benefit from your experience to reduce their learning curve. That is your message in a nutshell.
Take, for example, Robert Kiyosaki. His message about financial literacy stemmed primarily from his experiences growing up with two types of fathers.
Lissa Appiah, a well-known introvert, focuses her message on how introverts can increase their visibility and marketability in order to advance in their careers. This stemmed from how she advanced in her career despite being an introvert.
What these two people have in common is that they used their unique experiences (who they are) and what they learned from them (their message) to build their personal brand.
Once you’ve decided how you want to be known, you must devise a strategy for making it known to the rest of the world. It’s in the content you share and create the comments you leave on other people’s posts, and, most importantly, in your profile. Regardless of what your personal brand is (or what you want it to be), it’s critical to use LinkedIn correctly.
5 Keys to Building a Rocking LinkedIn Profile
Key #1 – Be yourself
Being yourself is the most effective way to build a personal brand. Authenticity is essential! Include the things you want to be known for in your profile. It is acceptable to include some personal information, such as your volunteer activities. After all, we work with people we know, like, and trust, and sharing relevant personal information allows us to connect with them.
Key #2 – Have a fantastic headshot!
• Professional, sharp, current, facing forward and smiling.
• People are less likely to contact you if you do not have a picture.
• It’s a great way to figure out who you are.
• No out-of-date photographs!
Key #3 – Focus on the Headline
Your LinkedIn Headline is critical for how you want to be perceived. Use it wisely, because some people will never look beyond the headline when looking for people with your knowledge and expertise.
Consider it like a newspaper headline. Instead of sentences, use keywords and keyword phrases. You can use characters such as a pipe “|,” bullet “•,” or star “” to separate items. It looks nicer and distinguishes each word or phrase. Don’t be afraid to use a catchy headline! Captivate the reader’s interest!
Key #4 – Customize Your LinkedIn URL
You can select a unique URL to point to your profile on LinkedIn. Most people use their name, which makes it easy for people to find you if they search for your name. Will you be found if someone searches for a Paleo Nutrition Expert? Consider using a keyword in the URL only if you are certain that you will always do so. Otherwise, select your name if it is available. If your name is fairly common, you may need to be creative in order to add a middle initial or name.
Key #5 – Contribute Your Knowledge Regularly
Post frequently! But don’t worry – once or twice a week is sufficient, but daily is also acceptable. It is also important to like, share, and comment on items shared by your connections in their status updates. Share any white papers, eBooks, or blog posts you’ve written about your niche on LinkedIn. Share other people’s work in your niche (along with your commentary). If the work you curate is up to your standards, you will gain a reputation as the go-to person for finding the information people want about that topic.
Use video. Ever since LinkedIn introduced video to their tools, they stated: “video content is shared 20x more than any other type of content on the platform”.
According to Dennis Koulouris, World re-known LinkedIn Expert, if the goal of using LinkedIn effectively is to get people to know, like, and trust you, (and of course, ultimately hire you, collaborate with you, refer you to others) a well-produced video is one important rung on your ladder to success! The ladder to becoming a LinkedIn All-Star starts with creating a profile that is of a LinkedIn expert level!
Creating a personal brand takes time, consistency, and a thorough understanding of your target audience. However, if you use LinkedIn on a regular basis and in the right way, it is a quick way to get noticed.
More LinkedIn Pro Tips
• Make sure you can be found!
• Include your full name, both first and last.
• If you use your degree as your last name, it will be difficult for colleagues, recruiters, and employers to find you.
• Include a detailed employment and educational history in your profile.
• Create a detailed profile that includes all of the relevant companies you’ve worked for as well as well-written bullet points of your responsibilities.
• Include your alma mater, graduation year, and the appropriate logo.
• Maintain your employment status.
• If you leave one company to start another, make the necessary changes as soon as possible.
• Include your contact information.
• If you are actively looking for work, include a copy of your resume and contact information on your resume.
• At the bottom of the page, list your skill sets.
• If you are a consultant, include the names of the companies for which you have worked.
• Do not simply write “consultant” or “contract” without including the company name.
• Side jobs and small businesses should be avoided.
• That’s fantastic if you’re a jack of all trades! However, avoid putting “dog walker” or “babysitter” in your professional LinkedIn profile.
• Join and Engage in Groups -There are thousands of groups on LinkedIn that you can join for various industries/niches. If you are looking to network with people in your professional field, this is one of the best strategies to implement.
• Examine your LinkedIn profile on a regular basis.
• LinkedIn mail is used by employers, recruiters, and colleagues to contact you. You don’t want to miss these messages.
• Connect your LinkedIn account to your mobile device.
• Connect, Connect, and Connect again!
The more people with whom you are connected on LinkedIn, the better. Expand your network – opportunities are frequently determined by who you know.
“We live in a reputation economy. People are judged based on their online visible choices, behaviours, accomplishments and mistakes. Every comment you leave, person you connect to, photo you upload, or review you get, contributes to the permanent record of your online reputation.” -― Maarten Schäfer, Around The World in 80 Brands
5 Examples of Great LinkedIn Profiles
Here are 5 examples of great LinkedIn profiles to inspire change (in no particular order). I’ve highlighted some of the reasons why I like each one. Spoiler alert: the Summary sections are my favorites.
#1 Laura Stack
www.linkedin.com/in/laurastack
Laura is a keynote speaker and the Productivity Pro. What I like about her Summary section is that she explains how she differs from others and helps you decide if she is a good fit for your group.
Look at what she does in her Experience section is to tell you who she works with.
#2 Lee Oden
www.linkedin.com/in/leeodden
Lee is a fantastic content marketer. You can see this from his profile, which has a lot of great content in the summary section, as well as from the LinkedIn Publisher.
He regularly publishes on LinkedIn and has over 35,000 followers.
#3 Viveka Von Rosen
www.linkedin.com/in/linkedinexpert
We’re almost cheating on this one because Viveka spends A LOT of time on LinkedIn because it’s her business. However, it makes sense to highlight her rock star status.
One of the things to highlight is her Summary Section, where she discusses why you should hire her and what you’ll get out of it. I also like how she mentions her eBook right at the beginning – even though you can’t hyperlink in the Summary section, it can still bring in leads.
She mentions her eBook right at the top – although you can’t hyperlink in the Summary section, that can still bring in leads.
It’s also clever how she considers different ways to add to her Experience section, such as listing her role as the moderator of #LinkedInChat. Your experience is more than your “job.”
Viveka does far too many things correctly on her profile to discuss, including her contact information at the bottom.
You should definitely check out Viveka’s profile just to marvel at how long it is. She packs a lot of information in there!
#4 John Sileo
www.linkedin.com/in/identitytheftspeaker
John Sileo is a keynote speaker who addresses the issue of identity theft (and has an amazing story about what happened to him). I like how his Professional Headline includes where he’s appeared.
The Professional Headline has a character limit of 120 characters, so use them wisely.
John’s summary section also includes a lot of videos, which is beneficial to speakers.
#5 Liz Ryan
www.linkedin.com/in/lizryan
Liz is an HR and workplace expert. What’s great about her profile is that she has incorporated her own drawings into the Published articles and her cover image, which makes her profile very colorful and unique.
As you can witness in her videos in the summary section, she also has a great no-nonsense attitude!
Because the Summary section is so important, here are some quick notes:
You have a character limit of 2000.
If you include links, they will not be hot linked, but they can be easily copied and pasted into a browser.
You cannot include a bulleted list, but you can highlight your points with special characters.
Each Position Description can also have up to 2000 characters, so include more details there!
So, I hope that gives you a good starting point for re-vamping your LinkedIn profile! Let me know in the comments what you look for in a LinkedIn profile!
Exercise 6:4: LinkedIn Profile Review
As a group, go through the examples of the LinkedIn Profiles above and review them. (You can also search for others online).
Make a list of 10 things you like and 10 things you and don’t like.
Course Manual 5: Workplace Presence
These days, societal pressure is more and more prominent. Those changes in the way we dress, communicate, interact, and behave are rapidly increasing and becoming more demanding each year.
Being viewed as a true professional has never been more significant for today’s employee regardless of his or her position in the company.
The good news is professionalism in the workplace is an asset that you can develop and make part of your corporate image.
Being more professional and being seen as more professional will definitely benefit your career and position with your organization. It will set you apart from others marking you as a leader. It will help you to develop the confidence you need to achieve results and build a widely respected image.
To enhance your professional presence starting now, there are some very basic things you can do.
Consider what you should do when you join a meeting…
• Be on time
• Organize your workspace
• Always be prepared
• Avoid conflict
• Smile
• Make eye contact
• Don’t gossip
• Contribute
• Stand up straight
• Don’t interrupt
• Ask appropriate questions
Be sure to exercise these simple tips and techniques and you’ll surly be perceived as more professional to everyone around you!
“People assess your competence and trustworthiness in a quarter second based on how you look.” – Harvard Medical School 2011 Research
Making the Shift of Personal Presence in your place of work
Is everyone there for the meeting? Is it possible that some people are occupying seats, but their intellectual presence is questionable? Workplace presence is the starting point for everything.
It appears that there is always some doubt about whether the appropriate people are present at the meeting. Sometimes there are too many, and other times there aren’t enough. The effectiveness of meetings is critical. It’s possible that your presence will make a difference.
Correct Approach
In today’s society, the authoritarian approach rarely works. When compared to inspiring performance, commanding performance is far less effective.
Seats are frequently occupied, but are people present?
When the truth is revealed, much of what occurs in the workplace is determined by leadership and culture. Things happen when leaders are truly present. If they are not, far fewer things will occur.
Why is Presence in the Workplace Important?
The workplace can no longer be an ignorant and unresponsive container for synchronous work activities performed by a workforce that is physically present on a consistent and unchanging basis. It must evolve into a smart and connected entity capable of curating and managing the interactions of an office population whose presence will fluctuate with demand and reflect more unpredictable working patterns in the post-pandemic era.
In the new world of work, the corporate office building will continue to be critical as a hub for culture and social capital generation, as well as for seeding innovation and training employees. However, it may not be the sole source of employment, and it may not necessitate daily attendance. In the future, employees very well may be working through multiple channels, including at home, local satellite offices, coworking spaces, client sites, and so on. The office building’s task will be to become a “destination of choice,” bringing together the right people at the right time with the right tools for certain face-to-face activities.
Presence assists you in realizing your vision, which usually occurs when you create compelling opportunities.
Taking the initiative is critical. Taking the appropriate initiative is even more critical. Workplace leaders help steer and navigate everything that occurs or does not occur.
Tactics are used to achieve goals and objectives. Tactics are the means by which strategy is put into action.
If you’re present at the meeting, you have the responsibility to lead. If you called the meeting, you bear even more responsibility.
Make certain that you do more than just show up.
Arrive.
How to increase your presence in the workplace.
A vacuum contains nothing. To have a physical presence in the workplace, each of us must occupy space. Other things and/or people will share that space.
Understanding and adjusting to the physical realities, both the benefits and limitations, of the physical space we occupy, as well as how we use that space to interact with the people, things, and situations we encounter there, determines the magnitude of our physical presence in the workplace.
One of the most important ways we can maximize our influence and effectiveness as executives is through physical presence.
Space serves as a medium.
Space is more than just a stage on which executives can demonstrate their stage presence. Space is a medium through which ideas, relationships, and experiences can be expressed. Every space is unique. Each defined space is bounded in a unique way. Each space contains a unique set of people and objects. It has a distinct atmosphere — textures, contours, and dynamics — that can be shaped and used to convey useful information to everyone gathered there.
Whether we remain static or move in and through the space we occupy has an effect on the inertia of everything else in that space. We have the ability to make an impression and have an impact, or we can choose not to. If we do nothing, we risk giving the impression that we are unconcerned. We optimize our physical presence in the workplace to maximize our influence and effectiveness as executives at work by actively using position, orientation, and gesture with the application of energy.
Learn to read the room.
Before anything else, it’s critical to learn to read a room. What dimension are you in? Reading the room prepares us to react and respond to the environment as well as what we have read. The following are immediate things to look for in any space:
• How secure are the room’s perimeters? Is this a private or public area?
• How would you describe the room’s atmosphere? Is it hot or cold? Is the lighting bright or dim? Is the room cold and foreboding, or warm and inviting? Is the room charged with static electricity or does it have a low energy level?
• Consider the objects in this space and keep in mind that “everything is information.” What data points stand out the most? What conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect from these data points? Is the room shabby as a result of neglect, or is it obsessively minimalist and tidy? Is this an office with personal belongings or a business-only conference room?
• Consider the people in the room. What narratives do they imply? Who are they, where are they from, and where are they going?
• What social cues do you notice? This space evokes what emotions, metaphors, or past experiences?
“I don’t have time for that,” you may think. However, you do. If you take a moment to look, you will see that all of that information is right in front of you. It is possible that you are hesitant, if not afraid, to lower your shield and admit any surprise, uncertainty, or even discomfort that may result from close observation. What you miss, however, can deprive you of important discoveries and deeper insight.
The attention you pay to the physical space you occupy begins to draw you outside of yourself, making you more interesting and appealing to those who share that space with you.
Be present in your space.
Let’s be very clear that this isn’t about being present for the sake of being present. Despite all advice to the contrary, as executives, we should not prioritize presence for the sake of personal brand building or achieving celebrity at work. Do it on your own schedule.
To increase their physical presence, all executives must learn three things:
1. Be present in the space. Don’t seek out the farthest corner, the last seat in the back row, or the densest cluster of any workplace space. Don’t say things like, “I’m not really here,” “Don’t pay attention to me,” or “I’d rather be somewhere else.” Prepare to stand up, separate yourself, and stand out a little.
2. Take charge of your surroundings. Take ownership of the space you occupy and treat it as if it were your own. Handle the objects in the space with caution if necessary. Extend the same courtesy to others in the space as you would to guests in your own home. Move with economy and haste, and “try not to bump into the furniture,” as stage actors are fond of saying.
3. Fill the space. Engage the stage you’re on with your energy. Make the best use of the available space:
• Show that you are paying attention to others. Extend your reach beyond your immediate vicinity and invite others into your orbit.
• A static presence conveys no information and makes only a minor impression. Show good posture, poise, and initiative.
• If you’re just listening, try active listening: Give the speaker your full attention and respond to what they are telling you.
• Do not stray. Walk to your destination.
Sound and motion capture and hold an audience’s attention. People with personal magnetism have a lot of energy and make good use of their surroundings.
Work Culture Case Study: Leaving Culture Behind
Cracking the Work Culture Code (3 Case Studies) (edoardo-binda-zane.com)
The Company
A successful company with a skyrocketing growth, putting a lot of focus on how much they believed in the power of people, at the time undergoing a change process to become more flexible and change their work environment to ensure more focus on value creation.
The Facts
In this case, Leadership Expert – Edoardo Binda Zane was brought in to work with the people and reduce the levels of complexity blocking value creation, and to make their new, more flexible work environment more accessible. Focus was on people and leading creativity, and creativity is strongly linked to culture.
After preparing a workshop for the company, his contact disappeared. He actually managed to talk to this person only once, only to hear that they were buried by having to onboard a large number of people and as such had no capacity left to deal with workshops and upskilling. That was the last time he heard from them.
The Work Culture Implications
Looking at what happened in this company through the lens of the model, then, we have a strategy pushing upwards on the vertical axis – i.e. the company wanting to change to generate more value in complex environments – but a culture that was being left behind.
Simply put: HR was not given enough resources to keep up with the changes!
And this creates another strain: between leadership and strategy, and work culture.
In this case, if the strategy moves away too quickly from business as usual, people will not be able to follow up quick enough, and when they see that behaviors that worked well for years don’t fit the company environment anymore, they will want to leave.
And if you pair this with the skyrocketing growth that the company is having, you can see that it creates a huge burden on HR.
HR, then, is left to deal with onboarding and has little to no resources left to steer culture in the new direction chosen by management.
Clearly, if this process isn’t dealt with, work culture will never change and people will keep on leaving, creating an infinite cycle: more people leaving, more time devoted to hiring and onboarding, no resources left to deal with culture and so on…
Consider virtual space.
Any discussion of the workplace today must include virtual space. Virtual space has one major advantage and numerous drawbacks. Working remotely allows us to reach a wider audience in any circumstance, but it limits the amount of available space to a flat, two-dimensional, cool surface. It’s much more difficult to attract and hold anyone’s attention once the novelty of connecting in real-time online wears off. The more we work remotely (exclusively), the more difficult it will be for us to achieve and maintain the presence we require as executives.
The future-ready connected offices
If “presence” in the workplace is no longer a one-dimensional concept, but rather an increasingly multifaceted one, then a stable, effective, and unobtrusive digital infrastructure is required to support all of the emerging concerns about hybrid ways of working. To work effectively and create the safest, most flexible, and collaborative work experience, software and systems architecture must seamlessly plug into the physical workplace and connect to other systems. Smart systems should be modular and scalable so that businesses can test the principles of the connected office at a basic level while also being prepared to scale up in the future. From an operational and design standpoint, the use of LED connected lighting with embedded IoT (Internet of Things) sensors makes a lot of sense in this context.
Academic research in the field of environmental psychology suggests that the office building’s continued survival—despite some pundits predicting its demise after COVID-19—is due to the most effective way it enables us to invent, collaborate, and learn together. To support creativity and innovation, we need to be physically co-located for psychological reasons. “Human aggregation, friction, and the interaction of our minds are vital aspects of work, especially in the creative industries,” researchers Carlo Ratti and Matthew Claudel predicted in the Harvard Business Review in 2016. As a result, the physical workplace’s quality is more important than ever.”
Following the pandemic, the physical workplace’s quality will increasingly include smart systems and software that connect the infrastructure as part of a collaborative ecosystem. That has changed as a result of a shift in what it means to be present at work.
Exercise 6:5: TED Talks
Technology, Entertainment, Design… and you! TED Talks are no longer niche, hidden gems. They’re mainstream, and might be widely popular with your staff, too.
Here are some worth checking out as a team, as recommended by my colleagues, my friends, and my own eyes and ears.
Simon Sinek — Start With Why
“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.”
Brene Brown — The Power of Vulnerability
“When we work from a place that says, ‘I’m enough,’ then we stop screaming and start listening. We’re kinder and gentler to the people around us, and we’re kinder and gentler to ourselves.”
David Logan — Tribal Leadership
“Tribes are clusters of people, and people are complex and non-rational at times. If a tribe is united only by agreement, as soon as times change, agreement has to be reestablished.”
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie — The Danger of a Single Story
“Show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again and that is what they become”
Mellody Hobson — Color Blind or Color Brave?
“We have to be willing to have proactive conversations about race with honesty and understanding and courage, not because it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s the smart thing to do.”
Angela Lee Duckworth — Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
“Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out — not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working really hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
Rita Pierson — Every Kid Needs a Champion
“Every child deserves a champion — an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.”
Daphne Koller — What We’re Learning from Online Education
“Maybe we should spend less time at universities filling our students’ minds with content by lecturing at them, and more time igniting their creativity, their imagination, and their problem-solving skills by actually talking with them.”
Daniel Levitin — How to Stay Calm When You Know You’ll Be Stressed
“We all are going to fail now and then. The idea is to think ahead to what those failures might be, to put systems in place that will help minimize the damage or to prevent the bad things from happening in the first place.”
Margaret Heffernan — Dare to Disagree
“When we dare to break that silence, or when we dare to see, and we create conflict, we enable ourselves and the people around us to do our very best thinking.”
Can’t pick just one or two? No problem. Rather than watching and debriefing full talks during your retreat, assign a different video to each team member a few days ahead of time. Then, during the retreat, each person can share their favorite quotes from their assigned talk, summarize it, or share a particularly inspiring clip.
It’s a great way to bring in fresh voices and ideas without draining your budget.
Course Manual 6: Professional Courage
Professional courage is a skill that is often overlooked, but it is essential for career advancement, happiness, and fulfillment. It is a fundamental component of leadership, whether you are in a formal leadership role or not, and it is critical to your professional and personal development.
However, contrary to popular belief, courage does not imply the absence of fear. Instead, it is acting and moving forward despite its fear. Some have claimed that it occurs when conscience, fear, and action all come together. Grit, perseverance, and determination are required.
The Science and Nature of Courage
Professional bravery is distinct from other types of bravery in that it is rarely defined as an impulsive battlefield moment with life-saving potential. Professional courage, on the other hand, entails making risky decisions while avoiding career-limiting consequences. It requires the ability (or instinct) to detect opportunities and then determine the appropriate response and timing.
Furthermore, professional courage is strongly related to decision making—as well as being sensitive to both your own emotions and the context around you. These sensitivities assist you in avoiding impulsive action and ensuring that the timing of your actions is appropriate.
However, we have a tendency to overestimate our own bravery. A Carnegie Mellon University study discovered that when confronted with a dangerous situation, people tend to overestimate their willingness to act—for themselves or others. Thus, more than imagination, courage is developed over time through repetition and experience.
Courage is also influenced by specific brain regions. According to a study conducted by the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, when people show courage, their frontal and temporal brain regions are most involved. These are the areas of the brain that are in charge of decision making, perception, and memory. In moments of courage, we gather information, assess it, determine the best reactions, and then cement the experience in memory for the next time courage is required.
Courage’s Advantages
Courage has numerous advantages that make it a compelling case to strengthen your resolve:
1. It has a significant impact on your own happiness and fulfillment. When you act in accordance with your values, you tend to be happier and more fulfilled—so having the courage to stand up for what you believe in is worthwhile.
2. Furthermore, when you push yourself, strive for new experiences, and seek out new experiences outside of your comfort zone, you tend to be happier and more fulfilled. Thriving includes elements of success as well as elements of continuous growth and improvement. Courage inspires you to strive for more and to be the best version of yourself at all times, which contributes to happiness and fulfillment.
3. Courage also allows you to step outside of your comfort zone, which gives you a broader perspective and more experiences that will help you succeed in unfamiliar situations in the future. You have more reserves to draw on now that you have gone through more. This resilience will be especially useful in the future of work, which will be more ambiguous and fast-paced.
4. Courage can also help you improve your credibility and relationships. People respect and admire those who have strong convictions and act on them. Furthermore, when you do the right thing, the positive effects are likely to affect not only you, but others around you, which can help you build relationships and contribute to the larger community.
It is also worth noting that courage tends to breed courage. When you act bravely and stand up for others, your values, or yourself on a regular basis, you develop your comfort and competence for the next time, and the next. According to Aalto University research, the deeply held cultural construct suggests that we can overcome perceived limitations and access reservoirs of inner strength. These can either get us started on a long journey or keep us going, demonstrating perseverance. It’s the concept of ’embodied fortitude,’ or showing grit.
Types of Courage
Courage can be demonstrated in a variety of ways, not all of which are defined by self-motivated action. Courage always entails making decisions that affect others and cause you to move forward or back—at your discretion.
Stand With. When a coworker requires assistance, you can show your bravery by standing beside them. If a coworker has been wronged, ignored, or verbally dismissed, now is the time to support them. When a co-worker is belittled by a boss in a meeting, you can speak up on her behalf, reinforcing her performance. You can take a constructive, firm, and determined stance with your teammates.
Stand Up. You can also show bravery by being yourself and taking responsibility for your performance. Be confident in expressing your abilities, but also open to admitting when you don’t know everything. Accept responsibility for your mistakes and seek feedback on how to improve. Keep your promises, follow through, and avoid stalling or procrastination. Accept responsibility not only when you perform brilliantly, but also when you make a mistake and know you can do better. Accountability necessitates courage because when you do well, you must be confident enough to feel good about your accomplishments, and when you can do better, you must be confident enough to admit and fill the gap. Being self-assured about your own performance allows you to develop.
Stand For. Your values can also be used to express your bravery. As a member of a community, do the right thing not only for yourself, but also for others. According to an Ohio State University study, when students did not cheat, they scored higher on measures of courage, empathy, and honesty. They also had a stronger belief in the honesty of those around them. Their bravery included important components that connected them to others (empathy and belief in the goodness of others) and contributed to their integrity (honesty). Know what is most important to you and don’t be afraid to express your opinions.
Do so in a way that others can hear you and seek to learn from others as well. Allow yourself to be open to others in order to gain new perspectives and continuously develop your own opinions over time. “When you know better, do better,” as the saying goes. Begin with a strongly held belief and seek to broaden your understanding of different points of view so that your responses are as empathetic and holistic as possible.
Stand Down. Sometimes the most courageous thing to do is to back down or compromise. True courage entails deciding what is most important and where you will focus your efforts. It is about picking your battles and letting go of those that aren’t as important. True bravery isn’t bellicose or reckless, fighting at every turn. It is the ability to pause, reflect, and act with caution. Compromise can be the best form of bravery. You represent your values or the values of your group, listen to others’ preferences, and then come up with creative ways to meet the needs of the group as much as possible—while keeping things moving forward.
Still Standing. Courage can also be demonstrated over time by perseverance. You might not get the promotion on your first try and being brave means putting yourself out there again (and again). You may go through several rounds of interviews, but grit requires you to persevere while maintaining your confidence and grace. You also show bravery through your creativity. If you don’t succeed the first time, you may need to come up with a novel solution or an innovative solution that surprises the system. The ability to persevere in the face of adversity is a sign of courage.
As Winston Churchill said, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”
How to Exhibit Courage
You only need a few pieces of information to demonstrate courage.
First, get to know yourself. Understand your goals and values so you can decide which actions are most important. Certain career objectives may motivate you to take on that expat role or to look for the next job that will allow you to stretch your current skills. Your values will determine which issues necessitate your intervention. Know your own emotional responses as well. If you’re on the verge of exploding with rage, it might be a good idea to take a breather and consider your next best course of action.
Be aware of your limitations. Embracing new situations, taking new actions, or venturing out despite being unsure or afraid is often required for growth. Putting forward a risky idea or recommending a novel approach may necessitate a departure from your usual path. Recognize how you’ll need to stretch in order to be ready to take action.
Understand the situation. Traditional business systems (for example, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) require you to assess the likelihood of failure as well as the potential negative consequences. You should have contingency plans in place for actions that are unlikely to succeed and may have potentially negative consequences. Keep up to date on potential risks and be aware of the drawbacks of your choices. Your own awareness contributes to your resilience. When you know what’s going on, you can make sense of it all, improvise, and solve problems. Be deliberate in your responses. Clarity and wise decisions will not only contribute to your courage, but also to your success.
Also, know your options. When considering responses to situations, keep in mind that there are multiple correct answers. If you’re in the middle of a disagreement about how to respond to a customer need, you might be better off taking a firm stance that ensures your and the company’s values are upheld. If you’re trying to sell an idea at a high-stakes meeting, you should meet with each member of the group one-on-one before going in front of the entire group. Courage can be expressed through a direct approach or through more nuanced strategies, which will vary depending on what is best for the situation.
Finally, get to know others. Increase your social capital in order to increase your courage. When you have a strong network of relationships, you can check in and get advice on when and how to take action. Furthermore, if you have a strong network, you will have better support if you make a mistake. Doing the right thing for yourself and others on a regular basis tends to strengthen your bond, which will pay off when you take courageous action that may go against the grain.
Examples:
Brené Brown, a leading voice for our time, describes the deep connection between courage and vulnerability in her book “Dare to Lead”: “Daring leaders who live their values are never silent about hard things.” We need more courageous leaders and cultures.”
Clarifying core values, she claims, is essential for effective leadership, and she explains how to use your values to meaningfully engage others in difficult conversations.
Unfortunately, courage can be difficult to fully internalize; it is not something that can be easily learned in a workshop.
“Great leadership is connected with the deepest parts of ourselves,” write Robert Anderson and William Adams in their book “Mastering Leadership.” It has less to do with specific skills or competencies and more to do with character, courage, and conviction.”
To become a better leader, you must be willing to step outside your comfort zone and make a lifelong commitment to learning and growth
“You can’t expect to become better at leadership, or anything else for that matter, unless you do something different than you’re currently doing,” Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner write in their book “Learning Leadership.”
In “Authentic Gravitas: Who Stands Out and Why,” Rebecca Newton argues that we can choose to be courageous and practice self-leadership, focusing on meaningful connections with others and becoming more thoughtful and reflective. She defines authenticity as “being true to one’s values.”
Newton asks, “What kind of leader do you want to be?” He adds, “If someone who worked with you was asked about you by someone else, how would you like to be described?”
A lack of courage can lead to the avoidance of important decisions and actions. This can have serious consequences, such as undermining employee morale, lowering the company’s bottom line, and diminishing your reputation as a leader.
To summarize
Courage is fundamentally positive. When you take action and persevere in the face of adversity, you are moving forward and contributing to a bright future. You could be making evolutionary changes in small steps, or you could be making more revolutionary changes. In either case, your actions will almost certainly have a positive impact not only on you, but also on the community. Courage is fuel for your success, thriving, and happiness.
How are you doing in terms of displaying courage at work? Are there any activities that you should be doing but aren’t? What steps could you take to increase your leadership courage?
We all have a unique opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others, including our own. Don’t undervalue your impact!
Exercise 6:6: Show Your Courage
Instructions:
These are some scenarios that may necessitate workplace courage. Below are a few examples.
Write down these 10 different scenarios individually on pieces of paper and put into a bowl.
1. Taking disciplinary action against a low-performing employee.
2. Confronting your boss if he or she exhibits unprofessional behavior toward you or others.
3. Explain to employees why you believe layoffs are necessary.
4. Making the decision to change long-standing business practices when you believe change is necessary.
5. Taking the lead on initiatives to promote diversity, inclusion, and gender equity.
6. Having an opinion even if you know it will not be popular.
7. Filing an HR harassment complaint against a coworker.
8. Recognizing and admitting to yourself and your team that you made a mistake.
9. If the salary is being revised every year and you are then left out among other employees of the company, then it’s your turn to speak up at the workplace.
10. You’re not feeling well and have to ask to go home early.
11. Have each participant draw one of the 10 scenarios and come up with and share their courageous action or response.
Course Manual 7: Professional Appearance
“The way we dress affects the way we think, the way we feel and the way we act, and the way others react to us.” -Judith Rasband
Gaining respect in the workplace requires proper grooming and a professional appearance. The way you look and carry yourself makes an impression on the people with whom you work. Men and women must both take care of and look after themselves. In this lesson, we will share some great ideas for achieving a great workplace appearance.
Professional image is the image that a person projects about themselves based on their appearance and reputation. Professionalism can be conveyed through how you dress, how you speak, how you respond to others, and how others speak about you. It also can help in making a good first impression and allow you to gain respect.
It’s no secret that women are scrutinized when it comes to their appearance, as society places a lot of emphasis on what it means to be “beautiful.” While no one should feel obligated to conform to the opinions of others, your professional appearance does influence your brand image. Whether you’re getting ready for an interview, a client meeting, or just a regular day at the office, you should think about how your appearance reflects the image of your company and your personal brand.
How your professional appearance relates to the image of your brand
While it is not advisable to judge a book by its cover, customers, potential clients, and even employees use your physical appearance to assess your personality, character, and level of professionalism. After all, the first thing they notice when they interact with you is your appearance. If you want to make a good first impression, consider what your appearance says about your brand.
How do you project a professional appearance at work?
Doing your job well is one of the best ways to establish yourself as a professional.
• Meet all deadlines.
• Try not to be late.
• Participate in group and team projects.
• Help your coworkers.
• Offer praise and thanks.
• Don’t take up other people’s time.
• Maintain a clean work environment and clean up after yourself in shared areas.
Does Outward Appearance Affect Job Opportunities?
Physical appearance can have an impact on one’s job prospects, advancement opportunities, and relative income. Instead, they prefer applicants who have submitted a portfolio of relevant work, an infographic, or a traditional-formatted resume.
Why is it important to dress professionally?
You will have more opportunities to promote yourself within a company and build your image if you dress professionally. Finally, dressing professionally boosts your self-esteem. With high self-esteem, you are more likely to feel at ease in difficult or novel situations, increasing your chances of success.
What is the significance of a professional image?
The image that a company projects contributes to customer trust. Uniforms are used by some businesses to give the impression of professionalism. Others create a service-oriented corporate culture. Companies that present a professional image while also providing quality service attract and retain customers.
Why is it important to present yourself well at work?
It is critical for an employee or businessperson to be presentable because it demonstrates how serious an individual is about his or her business. Being messy gives the impression that a person is disorganized and does not value his or her role or job.
How do you approach an employee about their physical appearance?
How to Provide Appearance Feedback to an Employee -What the Experts Have to Say.
It would be ideal if appearance did not matter at all, but this is rarely the case.
1. Examine your assumptions. Before you do anything, consider what the real issue is.
2. Get over your frustration.
3. Prepare for the discussion.
4. Be straightforward.
5. Take responsibility for your part.
6. Give specific advice.
7. Listen.
Is workplace appearance a factor in job performance?
Influences Your Reputation – Simply put, your appearance has an impact on your reputation. While we’d like to believe that everyone is judged solely on their performance, the truth is that your appearance will be scrutinized as well.
What are the four most important aspects of professional image?
There are four main characteristics:
• Appropriate professional dress.
• Use proper manners and etiquette.
• Personal conduct that is appropriate.
• Communication that is effective.
What is the significance of grooming in the hospitality industry?
In the hospitality industry, grooming is extremely important. Improving and Interacting Skills: Grooming is more than just your clothing or physical appearance; it is also about your overall demeanor and how you carry and conduct yourself in public. A warm personality and good communication skills are always beneficial.
What exactly is proper grooming?
Good grooming entails using proper hygiene techniques. Showering, having neat hair, and having clean, trimmed fingernails are all examples of good grooming. Brushing one’s teeth and wearing clean clothes are also examples of good grooming. Some people frequently judge others based on their grooming habits.
How does one’s physical appearance affect one’s chances of success?
According to research, your physical appearance has a significant impact on how others perceive your financial success, authority, trustworthiness, intelligence, and suitability for hire or promotion.
What exactly is meant by “professionalism”?
Professionalism is defined as “the conduct, goals, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person” by Merriam-Webster, and a profession is defined as “a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation.
How do you groom professionally?
Professional Workplace Appearance and Grooming Tips:
• Put on a business attire that is in a neutral color (no loud patterns).
• Always keep your teeth, fingernails, face, hair, and even your shoes neat and clean.
• Keep your pockets empty, and avoid tinkling coins, keys, and bulges as much as possible.
• When you’re in the office, avoid eating candy, smoking cigarettes, and chewing gum.
Case Study: WHAT YOU WEAR AND WHAT YOU THINK
[First Published March 31, 2015 – The Cognitive Consequences of Formal Clothing – Michael L. Slepian, Simon N. Ferber, Joshua M. Gold, Abraham M. Rutchick, 2015 (sagepub.com) ]
There was a study that was published in the journal of Social Psychological and Personality Science. It revealed that people who dress more formally have a tendency to think with higher levels of abstract thinking.
The study was measured using 361 participants in five different sub studies. The researchers analyzed the data from the five separate sub studies and concluded that the individuals who dressed more formally were quicker to make big picture decisions. The individuals who were told to dress casually were more concerned with minor details.
ABSTRACT:
Drawing from literature on construal-level theory and the psychological consequences of clothing, the current work tested whether wearing formal clothing enhances abstract cognitive processing. Five studies provided evidence supporting this hypothesis. Wearing more formal clothing was associated with higher action identification level (Study 1) and greater category inclusiveness (Study 2). Putting on formal clothing induced greater category inclusiveness (Study 3) and enhanced a global processing advantage (Study 4). The association between clothing formality and abstract processing was mediated by felt power (Study 5). The findings demonstrate that the nature of an everyday and ecologically valid experience, the clothing worn, influences cognition broadly, impacting the processing style that changes how objects, people, and events are construed.
Clearly there are individuals who do not dress for success and perform better than their colleagues and peers. The point is not to claim that the only way to become successful is by purchasing expensive suits or lab coats. The point is that people take your appearance into consideration and make evaluations based off your overall aesthetic, which can be good or bad depending on what you are aiming to accomplish.
So, when you wake up in the morning or when you are picking out what to wear the night before, it never hurts to remember the valuable dress code mantra:
“Dress for the job you want, not the job you currently have.”
5 Ways to Improve Your Professional Appearance
Look Good, Feel Good.
How you feel about yourself can have a big impact on your mood, which can then spill over into your work. When I go to a networking event or a presentation, I always make sure to wear an outfit that makes me look and feel great because I want to focus on performance rather than how I look. When I look good in an outfit, my confidence skyrockets, and I am more likely to perform well. Your conscious mind possesses enormous power to assist you in shaping your reality. By believing in yourself, dressing the part, and believing that you are capable of completing a task, you improve your chances of success. Looking good on the outside will help you feel good on the inside which can lead to a more productive and successful day!
Send the correct message.
People will respect you if you are dressed professionally. Office attire conveys far more than we realize. Putting thought and time into how you arrive at work demonstrates to your coworkers, boss, and clients that you are serious, capable, and care about what you do. Look the part and dress the part to gain the respect you deserve and to always make a good first impression. You never know who you might meet on a daily basis, so dressing well will ensure that you are always prepared.
Make certain that you are overdressed rather than underdressed.
Most of the time, your appearance will play a role in the first impression you make with your employer, so when attending an interview or your first day at a new job, it’s always better to go with a polished look. Take the time to understand the corporate culture and what the most appropriate attire would be if you want to send the right message to your interviewer and/or boss. When you get the job, observe the office atmosphere and what the people around you are wearing. If your workplace is more casual, feel free to dress down a little. Just get a good feel for the atmosphere before you begin.
Take excellent care of yourself.
You’ve got the outfit; now make sure you’ve got the hygiene to match. Clothing and hygiene are inextricably linked, and while we like to say that it’s what’s on the inside that counts, physical appearance is the first thing people notice and remember. When interacting with a current or potential employer, brushed hair, minty breath, and an overall pulled-together appearance can make all the difference. Good hygiene communicates to others that you value self-care, which reveals something about your personality. While no one will consciously think you have good hygiene, they will notice if you don’t.
Don’t go overboard.
It is critical to remember where you are and what your goal is while following these tips. When getting ready in the morning, consider your purpose. While your appearance can help you convey how professional, dedicated, productive, and hardworking you are, overdoing it can be detrimental. Dressing in anything too flashy, inappropriate, or out of the ordinary at your workplace can create negative impressions and send the opposite message you’re trying to send.
Every day at work, strive to look the way you want to be remembered. Putting in the effort to look professional is worth the few extra minutes in the morning, and your career may benefit from it. When you’re polished, all you need is the confidence to back it up. A lot of the time, this is due to the amount of thought you put into your appearance.
Exercise 6:7: Professional Image Challenge
As a group, (on the internet or in business magazines) find 20 different examples of a professional look.
Explain what makes it so.
Course Manual 8: Professional Values
Just as we have personal values, as we discovered in Course Manual, 3 we also have professional values. Professional values are the core values and ethics that you adopt and showcase at work. These characteristics include skills, behaviors, and actions that many employers seek and desire in their employees. There are several professional values that must be demonstrated on the job.
What exactly are professional values?
Professional values include the characteristics that many employers seek in their employees. Your professional values are the personality traits you adopt and demonstrate in the workplace that demonstrate your success.
Furthermore, these professional values frequently include the soft skills and behaviors required for career advancement. For example, your ability to adapt your communication style between different groups or teams demonstrates a flexible and adaptable personality, which can influence how others perceive you in the workplace.
The significance of demonstrating professional values
The characteristics you exhibit at work can influence how others perceive and interact with you. When you have strong and positive professional values, you demonstrate to your coworkers and employers that you have self-worth, confidence, and a desire to succeed. Furthermore, your professional values can be very important in demonstrating your ability to take on more difficult and important assignments, which can lead to future career advancement.
Workplace professional values to adopt
Professional values are characteristics that demonstrate your overall work ethic and ability to meet goals and succeed in your career. Here are a few key characteristics you can use to demonstrate your core values:
Exceptional work ethic
Work ethic is a quality that most employers look for in new employees right away. Your ability to work hard, overcome obstacles, and support your coworkers demonstrates a strong work ethic and can help you succeed while also building positive relationships. Furthermore, having a strong work ethic entails understanding what is expected of you and remaining motivated to achieve your objectives.
Responsibility
Being responsible entails not only following through on commitments made, but also offering your support or assistance when it is required. Demonstrate your responsible nature by meeting objectives, completing tasks assigned to you, and ensuring that you are performing to the best of your abilities in your job. These responsible characteristics will demonstrate to your managers that you are dedicated to meeting objectives and contributing to the growth of your company.
Integrity
Being trustworthy and committed to carrying out your responsibilities is what it means to have integrity. Integrity is a valuable characteristic that can assist you in developing positive and supportive relationships at work. It also implies that you are trustworthy and truthful in your interactions, communications, and relationships with others.
Honesty
Honesty is a component of integrity, and both of these characteristics can assist you in developing a solid foundation of professional values. When you communicate honestly and openly with your coworkers and supervisors, they are more likely to refer to you when they have questions, need extra help, or need input on important tasks. Furthermore, remaining truthful in your work will demonstrate your trustworthiness, which is critical for developing strong relationships at work.
Reliability
Being dependable or reliable entails being punctual, staying on track with your work objectives, and always following through on your commitments. Demonstrating your dependability can also lead to more advanced or difficult projects, which can help you advance in your career, because your supervisors will be more likely to trust you with important tasks because they know you will follow through on your work commitments.
Adaptability
In the workplace, the ability to adapt to different situations and navigate interactions with diverse individuals is critical. Challenges or problems can arise in any field of work. In difficult situations, your adaptability will demonstrate your ability to change your approach to problem solving.
Accountability
Being accountable in the workplace entails accepting responsibility for your actions and behavior on the job. When you hold yourself accountable for your actions and behavior at work, you demonstrate more than one core value. When you seek feedback and input to help you improve, you’re demonstrating your honesty, adaptability, responsibility, and a positive attitude.
Self-Motivating
Self-motivation is an extremely important core value to have. Maintaining your motivation at work will assist you in remaining satisfied with your job, remaining passionate about your work, and finding meaning in your daily activities. This self-motivation is also a highly desired trait in employees that many employers seek, as it demonstrates a strong desire to achieve personal and company-wide success.
Confidence
Confidence in the workplace can be developed as you perform difficult tasks, solve problems, and apply feedback for improvement. Focusing on professional development and skill development demonstrates that you are confident in your ability to grow and succeed in your career. You can also boost your confidence by taking on challenges that are outside of your comfort zone, such as leading a team meeting or giving a presentation.
Loyalty
Employers frequently seek employees who will be loyal to their teams and the company as a whole. This means that you do your job for the benefit of your team, supervisors, and employers, and that you remain committed to supporting the growth and development of your organization. When you show your loyalty, you are demonstrating to your employers that you care about the company’s success and that your work is important to you.
Compassion
Employees who are compassionate are supportive of one another, offer assistance when it is needed, and generally find ways to show others that they care. Compassion can also lead to a better understanding of the feelings of others, which is useful in developing meaningful relationships. Maintaining compassion in the workplace is also critical for resolving conflict, providing and receiving constructive feedback, and problem solving.
Empathy
Empathy is defined as the ability to understand the perspectives, ideas, and feelings of others. Furthermore, empathy can help you relate to others and discover shared interests and characteristics with your coworkers. Being empathetic will assist you in developing relationships and friendships at work that can be fulfilling and supportive. Furthermore, empathy in the workplace will help you adapt to different interactions with others, making it easier to relate to others’ thoughts and emotions.
Patience
Patience will help you overcome obstacles, find appropriate solutions to problems, and ultimately cope with any job-related stress. Being patient can assist you in overcoming obstacles, finding positive solutions to problems, understanding the perspectives of others, and completing your work accurately and completely.
Positivity
Another important professional value to demonstrate is the ability to remain positive in the face of challenges or problems at work. Being open-minded and positive at work often leads to greater job satisfaction and can boost self-motivation. Employers also look for employees with positive attitudes, as this often leads to a strong work ethic and a desire to succeed and help others succeed.
Flexibility
Flexibility in the workplace, like adaptability, will demonstrate your ability to remain open-minded and willing to take on challenges and help others. Furthermore, being flexible at work means that your employer can rely on you to handle last-minute work assignments, provide extra support to a colleague, or even contribute to an existing project that is outside of your normal job responsibilities.
“When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier.” Roy E. Disney
A Complete Guide to Integrity in the Workplace:
Since integrity is one of the most important values (at least in my opinion) we are going to take a deeper dive here.
How to Show Integrity in the Workplace
Follow these steps to help you demonstrate integrity at work:
1. Always conduct yourself morally and ethically.
Having integrity entails always choosing to let your moral principles and standards guide your behavior and actions in order to do the right thing, even when no one else is looking. You can demonstrate integrity in the workplace by demonstrating that your employer and team can rely on you to complete your work correctly without direct supervision. Having a personal set of core values to which you remain loyal in all situations can help you demonstrate integrity in the workplace.
When making decisions at work, you can also use your employer’s policies and procedures to guide you. Your company’s established rules should be consistent with the organization’s mission and values, and they should encourage you to make the right decision in every situation.
2. Show respect to everyone.
Another way to demonstrate integrity in the workplace is to be respectful of everyone in the workplace, including supervisors, colleagues, and customers. Respecting people in all situations will help you earn their respect.
3. Communicate in an open and honest manner.
Strong communication skills can help you demonstrate integrity in the workplace by being honest and transparent while also acknowledging and empathizing with the needs of others. This makes you appear trustworthy and dependable to others. Being able to communicate effectively with customers also assists your company in developing a brand that customers respect and are loyal to.
4. Always give your all to your work.
Making sure you are doing your best on each project or task you complete, as well as assisting your team members in completing their work, when possible, is a great way to demonstrate integrity at work. You can also demonstrate your dedication to doing a good job by arriving at work on time and waiting until your breaks to socialize or handle personal matters. This demonstrates that you are committed to achieving great results and that your team can rely on you to contribute to the team’s overall success.
5. Keep your promises and commitments.
Dependability is an important aspect of workplace integrity. To demonstrate integrity at work, always do your best to follow through on any commitments or promises you’ve made to coworkers, supervisors, or customers, even if it means putting in extra effort. People with integrity are always willing to go above and beyond what is expected of them in order to ensure that their promises are kept.
6. Take responsibility for your actions.
One of the most important aspects of integrity is the ability to recognize when you have made a mistake and to admit and learn from it. You can also demonstrate accountability by ensuring that your team members are given credit for the work they have completed.
7. Demonstrate integrity in your personal life.
Outside of the workplace, demonstrating your integrity can assist you in demonstrating your integrity in the workplace. You can practice integrity in your daily life by remaining loyal to a friend, avoiding gossip, being honest when someone gives you too much change, maintaining confidentiality, and accepting responsibility for mistakes you make. When you practice being honest in your personal life, the same actions and behaviors will naturally transfer into your professional life.
“Moral authority comes from following universal and timeless principles like honesty, integrity, treating people with respect.” -Stephen Covey
Workplace Integrity Case Studies
Here are a couple of examples of how to act with integrity in the workplace:
Setting a good example
In a large call center, John supervises a team of customer service associates. Several members of his team informed him during a meeting with his team that they were having difficulty meeting their expected key performance metrics due to the time it took them to make the notes in each account after the call. John promised his team that he would make taking notes easier for them so that they could improve their call response time.
While John couldn’t change the company’s policy regarding what each note should contain, he could create a list of pre-written notes and note templates that his team could use to complete their notes in less time. When John discovered that these pre-written notes were effective in improving his team’s metrics, he shared his findings with his superiors, and a similar procedure was implemented across the company.
Stopping workplace gossip
Karen is on her lunch break when she overhears a group of coworkers discussing an issue they had with Carla’s work. While Karen could understand the group’s frustration, she made it a point to point out that discussing it in the break room wouldn’t help resolve the problem.
Karen informed the group that she had a close working relationship with Carla and offered to speak with her directly about the problem. Carla was already aware that she was struggling in this area and appreciated Karen’s advice on how to improve her work. Karen’s efforts to reduce workplace gossip resulted in an improvement in the team’s overall performance.
Exercise 6:8: Explore Your Professional Values
17 Effective Leadership Activities and Games (That Work Online Too) | SessionLab
Your Values is an exercise in which participants discover their most important values. It is done in an intuitive and quick manner to encourage participants to follow their intuitive feelings rather than overthinking and determining the “correct” values. It’s a good exercise for starting a conversation about professional values.
Goal:
Initiate reflection and dialogue around professional values
Materials
Post-its
Pens or Markers
Instructions:
Step 1:
Hand out post-its to all participants.
Step 2:
Ask them to write down the ten things in their career that they value the most, one on each post-it, in the form of a value. In other words, rather than the name of a specific person, put down, for example, “connections,” “learning” or “honesty” – something they actually value in the workplace.
Step 3:
When everyone has their ten post-its, ask the participants to spread them out in front of them so that they can see them clearly and have a good overview.
Step 4:
Tell the participants that they now have 30 seconds to pick the three post-its that are the least important to them and throw them away. Be hard on the timings and don’t give them more time even if it’s needed. They are to use their gut feelings.
Step 5:
Repeat the last step, now giving them 20 seconds to throw away two more.
Step 6:
And finally, repeat the last step, giving them 20 seconds to throw away two more. They should now have three post-its left with their three most important values.
Step 7:
Give the participants 15 minutes to reflect individually, then 30 minutes to in pairs or groups of three to reflect on the following questions:
• What do I feel about the values I ended up with? Were they expected or did they surprise me?
• How do these values show themselves in my everyday life?
• What actions do I already take to live by them?
• What actions would I like to take to live by them?
These actions can be connected back to an action plan, using everyday actions to live and work more holistically.
Course Manual 9: What’s Influence
Webster defines influence as the act or power of producing an effect without apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command. Through this definition, the difference between influence and dictatorial command are delineated.
“Do this because I said so, and there will be terrible consequences if you don’t,” says Command.
“I am assisting you in seeing that this is the best course of action in terms of long-term benefits for both of us,” says Influence.
Change of mind can be initiated by command, but it is externally motivated. When the external consequence is removed, the status quo is quickly restored. Influence causes a shift in a person’s mindset. Internal commitment develops in the absence of external consequences. The world’s most powerful people don’t just change other people’s behavior; they also change their mindsets.
Example: Assume you own a retail store and one of your employees continues to fail to greet customers in accordance with your company’s culture. “Do this or you’ll be fired or written up,” says command. “Let me show you why this is important to your and my success,” says Influence. When an employee is told to greet customers, he or she will do so while thinking you are watching. Your customers will see right through the ruse. Because an internal shift has occurred, the influenced employee will begin to sincerely greet customers regardless of your presence.
True influence is based on an emotional relationship.
The emotional connection you form with people is an important aspect of influence. True influence entails developing trust and a relationship with those you want to persuade to align their views and values with yours in the long run. Short-term change relies less on emotional connection and more on other tactics such as reasoning, manipulation, or coercion.
The world’s most powerful leaders, businesspeople, and innovators understand the one key characteristic that will help them achieve their objectives and effect change.
They not only had the ability to wield influence, but they were also influential.
A review of the last 20 years of research on the world’s greatest influencers – Gandhi, Christ, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Suu Kyi, Benazir Bhutto, Margaret Thatcher, Rosa Parks, John Maxwell, M. Scot Peck, Jack Welch, and many others – reveals that it was not just what these people did that made them influential. It wasn’t because they had a lot of money, a high position, or a lot of power. They were influential because of who they were or are, as well as the characteristics they possessed.
You only need to consider your own experiences to notice the difference. If someone threatens or coerces you into doing something, you may do it temporarily, but long-term resentment means you’ll revert to your previous behavior as soon as possible. If, on the other hand, a friend asks you to change your behavior, you are much more likely to do so – and, more importantly, you are much more likely to want to do so. You’re emotionally invested in that person and want to see him or her succeed so much that you’ll assist them in any way you can.
Dr. Karen Keller and Keller Influence International understand that TRUE INFLUENCE occurs at a deeper internal level, owing to their extensive background in psychology and human behavior. This distinguishes us from other influence “experts” who advocate for surface-level tactics to increase influence. We work from the inside out to maximize the internal emotional influence traits that are most important in determining your influence. This type of personal growth in influence is difficult but yields the best long-term results.
In today’s workplace, developing personal effectiveness and influencing skills is critical as organizational hierarchies and layers diminish. Only through, with, and from others can success and outcomes be achieved. Influencing without formal authority is a necessary skill, and we cannot do so without confidence, clarity of purpose, and the ability to fully express ourselves. And, as leaders, we must draw on who we are as well as what we do to inspire and engage our followers.
But influencing skills aren’t just about persuading others to agree with us all of the time – we may be able to persuade them to cooperate with us even if they don’t always agree with us. It is not about winning at all costs and always getting our own way. It is not about forcing or attempting to persuade others to change – we cannot change others.
Influencing skills entail acting in ways that invite others to change (their behavior, attitudes, thoughts, and ways) and/or accommodate your own wishes while accepting that they may be unable, unwilling, or unprepared to meet our request to be influenced.
“Influence is that rare opportunity to make positive change. No act of kindness toward another person will ever be wasted.” – Charles Specht
Influencing skills
Whether we like it or not, we use influencing skills all the time, and not just through our actions. Our mere presence at a meeting may have an impact on people, either positively or negatively. The manner or nature of our presence, what we say or how we say it, and the attitude we (consciously or unconsciously) project all speak volumes.
The better we understand what we do or what it is about ourselves that affects others, the more personally effective and powerful we can become.
10 key influencing skills:
Observation – entails paying attention to nonverbal behavior – what is not said, how a person may be feeling, as well as your own thoughts, feelings, hunches, and intuitions.
Interpretation – understanding and responding to nonverbal behavior – what do specific body signs, changes in skin color, breathing, demeanor, and so on mean?
Active listening – entails hearing what is said as well as hearing what is implied or not said, as well as being able to communicate in your own words what the other person has said and reflecting their feelings, as well as summarizing and checking for clarity and agreement.
Provide feedback – to the other person on what you see, interpret, and hear, as well as what you feel and intuit. Solicit feedback from others to improve your self-awareness and your impact on others.
Be aware of yourself – moment by moment, especially of counter-productive behavior patterns, limiting thoughts, beliefs, and reactions.
Choices – Recognize that if your current behavior is ineffective, you can change your own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors at any time.
Self-confidence – is the ability to feel good about oneself in the face of opposition or conflict. This assurance should be founded on self-acceptance rather than a sense of superiority over the other person.
Timing – know when to give feedback and when not to, when to use option ‘A’ or ‘B,’ when to retreat or be persistent, and when to let go completely.
Intuition – believe your own feelings or hunches about the likely patterns of the other person’s behavior, and pay attention to your positive, inner voice.
Other’s Point of View – to consider your objectives (what you want) from the perspective of another person. You can’t force or order them to agree, so figure out what’s in it for them, sell them the benefits, consider their feelings, and be willing to change your mind.
Relationships and influencing skills both working with and through other people are extremely important in today’s workplace. It is uncommon to be personally effective and positively influence others without the reciprocal giving to and taking from others that creates opportunities for your growth and effectiveness – and you can only achieve this if you have the support and challenge that only other people can provide.
What’s your Influencing Style?
Have you ever considered how you influence others? What strategies do you employ? We are all aware that different influencing tactics are used by different people, but did you know that we all naturally default to the same tactics every time? Or that the tactics we default to are also the ones we are most receptive to when influenced?
These preferred tactics characterize our influencing style. Researchers identified up to nine primary influencing tactics after analyzing various influencing tactics. We conducted additional research to supplement the existing knowledge base in our quest to better understand personal influencing styles. We discovered five distinct influencing styles based on our research: rationalizing, asserting, negotiating, inspiring, and bridging.
Although hearing these labels may give you an idea of your style, the most accurate way to identify your style is with an influence style indicator — a self-scoring assessment that classifies your style based on answers to questions about preferred influencing tactics. But even if you don’t have the indicator, here are some questions you can ask yourself to get a sense of your personality:
Rationalizing: Do you present your ideas using logic, facts, and reasoning? Do you use facts, logic, knowledge, and experience to persuade others?
Asserting: Do you use your personal confidence, rules, law, and authority to persuade others? Do you insist on having your ideas heard and considered, even if others disagree with you? Do you challenge others’ ideas when they disagree with yours? Do you argue with or put pressure on others to see your point of view?
Negotiating: Do you look for compromises and make concessions when negotiating in order to achieve a result that is in your best interests? Do you make tradeoffs and exchanges to meet your larger goals? Will you, if necessary, postpone the discussion until a more convenient time?
Inspiring: Do you inspire others to join your cause by conveying a sense of shared mission and exciting possibility? Do you employ inspirational appeals, stories, and metaphors to foster a sense of shared purpose?
Bridging: Do you try to influence outcomes by bringing people together or connecting with them? Do you rely on reciprocity, superior support, consultation, coalition building, and personal relationships to persuade people to agree with you?
Take your style a step further while answering these questions. How frequently does it work for you? Do you have more success with certain types of people? Have you ever wondered why this is so? Because there are five different influencing styles, using only your preferred style may undermine your influence with up to four out of five people.
Gaining awareness of our own and others’ influencing styles is especially important in today’s fast-paced and stressful work environments, and here’s why: When we operate unconsciously out of a preference (our style) and don’t get the results we want, we have a tendency to intensify our preferred behavior — even when it’s not working!
If your personal success is dependent on the cooperation of people over whom you have no direct authority, you should be concerned. To begin increasing your chances of influencing more people, learn to recognize and employ each of the five styles.
Recognizing that there are influencing styles other than your own is a good place to start. To increase your influence even further, you must learn what each style sounds like when used effectively and ineffectively. Gaining this awareness will help you recognize when your current style isn’t working and how to find one that will.
What is your influencing style? And what are your plans to address it?
Become a world changer and influencer.
Mother Teresa changed the world’s perception of the poor.
Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt shifted global indifference to confront Axis aggression.
Gandhi shifted our perspective on leadership.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu changed the world’s understanding of what it means to truly forgive.
Jeff Bezos shifted our perception of online shopping.
Your parents have hopefully changed your perspective on how to treat others with love and kindness.
Whether you are called to change the world’s mindset on a global scale, through the leadership of your small business, or through the parenting of your children, your legacy will be seen in those you have deeply influenced. Growing your influence is important for more than just personal success. Your professional success depends on it!
Exercise 6:9: Feedback- Start, Stop and Continue
Regular, effective feedback is one of the most important ingredients in building constructive relationships and thriving teams. Openness creates trust and trust creates more openness. Feedback exercises aim to support groups to build trust and openness and for individuals to gain self-awareness and insight. Feedback exercises should always be conducted with thoughtfulness and high awareness of group dynamics. This is an exercise for groups or teams that have worked together for some time and are familiar with giving and receiving feedback. It uses the words “stop”, “start” and “continue” to guide the feedback messages.
Goal:
To support groups to build trust and openness and for individuals to gain self-awareness and insight
Materials:
• White Board
• Post it
• Markers/Pens
Instructions:
Step 1:
As a group working together share experiences when they received feedback what worked and what didn’t work. Explain the purpose of this step: for the group to come to agreement around key principles of effective feedback. If relevant, briefly discuss as a group what feedback is and why it is a useful practice.
Then, ask them to discuss examples of when they have received effective/helpful feedback, and ineffective/harmful feedback. Write key principles on the whiteboard.
Step 2:
Work in a small team (3-4 people)
Give the instructions: “Write down the name of the person you are addressing. Complete the two sentences for that person. Use the principles for effective feedback. Sign it with your name.” Tell participants that they should reflect on each of the three prompts (Start, Stop, Continue), but they do not have to use all three if they cannot think of relevant feedback.
“To _____: Something I would like you to START doing is… Something I would like you to STOP doing is… Something I would like you to CONTINUE doing is… Signed _____.”
Step 3:
In each smaller group, each participant completes the above sentences using one post-it for each participant in the group. Once all participants in a group are done writing, they deliver the feedback, one-by-one, verbally, handing the post-it note to its addressee afterward.
Course Manual 10: Social Influence
Why do people conform to social norms? Why do we submit to authority figures? How does your social status influence your behavior? And how does the pressure to conform sometimes lead to negative actions?
Psychologists have spent decades researching the power of social influence and how it influences people’s opinions and behavior. Social influence, in particular, refers to how individuals change their ideas and actions to meet the demands of a social group, perceived authority, social role, or a minority within a group wielding influence over the majority.
On a daily basis, most of us are subjected to various forms of social influence. A student, for example, may modify his or her behavior to match that of other students in a class. The majority viewpoints of a group of friends are likely to influence the viewpoints of new members to that social group. Furthermore, we are influenced by requests from people perceived to be in positions of authority. For example, an employee will obey his superiors’ orders in order to please them.
Why do people accept social influence?
People allow social influences to influence their thoughts and behavior for a variety of reasons.
Group Influence or Conformity
Social influence manifests itself in many ways. Conformity is one type of such influence, in which a person adopts the opinions or behaviors of others. This is common in groups when an individual conforms to the social norms that a majority of the group’s members adhere to.
An individual may conform to a group’s opinions and values. They express support for group-accepted viewpoints and will refrain from criticizing group norms. Behavioral conformity can also influence a group member’s actions: a person will behave similarly to other members of the group.
One reason for this is that we frequently conform to the norms of a group in order to gain the acceptance of its members. Supporters of a football team wear their team’s shirts voluntarily in order to feel a part of the group. Friends may also dress similarly to their peers in order to feel more at ease and to emphasize their shared ideas.
When attempting to achieve a common goal, group conformity can also encourage cooperation. When an individual has a minority influence over a larger group, he or she can persuade that group to work together. For example, charity organizers seeking new volunteers advocate for improving their community (e.g., litter picking) in ways that a single person acting alone cannot.
Cooperation, on the other hand, can lead to a conformity of viewpoints, resulting in a phenomenon known as groupthink. When this happens, team members adopt agreed-upon views and actions in pursuit of a specific goal, but they reject criticism from individuals who oppose or question the group’s behavior. This lack of critical thinking can have a negative impact on a group’s performance because it makes it difficult to evaluate its own behavior and adapt to changing circumstances.
Furthermore, group conformity promotes a sense of cohesion within a society. Laws prohibiting violence and theft help to protect all members of a community. Such laws, however, rely on people adhering to the norms of the larger group by acting as law-abiding citizens.
While social influence can have a positive effect on behavior, its disadvantages have motivated psychologists such as Stanley Milgram to conduct research on conformity.
Conformity to a limited set of behaviors and viewpoints can stifle the development of new ideas that could improve the lives of a group. It can discourage its members from questioning and debating the majority of a group’s beliefs and practices. This behavior has been observed in cults, where members are often afraid to publicly question the group’s authority for fear of being rejected by their peers.
Conformity between the public and private sectors
When a person conforms to the social norms of a group, they may disagree with the opinions they express or the actions they take, but they nonetheless adopt the expected behavior.
Public conformity entails matching one’s behavior to the expectations of others while privately holding a different opinion. A student, for example, may express a preference for a rock band because all of his friends enjoy it. He may dislike their music in private, but he conforms in front of his friends to gain their acceptance.
When a person internalizes the views of a group and adopts a majority opinion as his or her own, this is referred to as private conformity. For example, the student may listen to music by a certain artist. He gradually realizes that he, too, enjoys this type of music. Private conformity has occurred as his private opinion has changed.
Minority Influence Minority Influence
While conformity is typically exhibited in response to the norms of a majority – other members of a social group – individuals or minorities within a group can also exhibit social influence. This is referred to as minority influence.
When an individual expresses an opinion that differs from that of the majority, this is referred to as minority influence. Because this opinion is novel and contradicts group norms, other members’ attention is drawn to it, and they are led to consider the merits of the minority opinion.
It, has also been used for malicious purposes in the past. Leaders’ followers, such as Adolf Hitler’s, accepted and frequently internalized the Nazi leader’s fascist views without question.
Following WWII, German officer Adolf Eichmann attempted to justify his participation in the Holocaust by claiming that he was simply “following orders” from perceived authority figures: in Eichmann’s case, his commanders.
Because minority influence contradicts a group’s accepted beliefs, it cannot rely on normative influence to persuade other members to comply individuals tend to hold a majority-held view in order to feel like they are part of a group. A minority viewpoint, on the other hand, usually needs to be informative. A minority can persuade other members to reconsider their position by presenting new information (e.g., a key fact) as having been overlooked by the majority. This is referred to as conversion. If a minority influence is successful in converting a sufficient number of members, the viewpoint will eventually become the majority opinion held by the group’s members.
Many social and political movements, such as the American civil rights movement, make use of minority influence to change the views of the wider population. Minority influence is more effective when the person expressing the view displays consistency.
Case Study: Minority Influence
Moscovici et al. (1969) conducted an experiment in which they asked a group to identify the color shown on a series of slides. When a minority of confederates in the group consistently answered that the slides were ‘green,’ other participants were more likely to be influenced than when the confederates were inconsistent in their responses.
People conform for one of two reasons: to act on a more informed perspective (informative social influence) or to match the views and behavior of a social group (normative social influence):
Informative Social influence (or social proof)
People have a desire to be informed by accurate information, and when they lack confidence in their own knowledge, they turn to others in the hope that they will provide them with accurate information. Accepting this information, regardless of its accuracy, exposes the person to social influence.
Case Study: Informative Social Influence
Muzafer Sherif, a social psychologist, demonstrated informative social influence in an experiment using the autokinetic effect.
Sherif (1935) put participants in a darkened room and then projected a single, stationary light onto the wall opposite them. When a person is unable to see another object to judge the light’s relative position, the light appears to move, according to the autokinetic effect.
Then, one by one, each participant was asked how far the light had moved. They reported that the light had shifted widely varying distances based solely on their perception.
A second group was also asked how far the light had moved, but their answers were given in front of the other members of the group
Sherif discovered that while participants who gave their answers in groups provided varying distances, the reported movement eventually fell into an ever-smaller range. In other words, when participants were unsure about the movement of the light and information was available from other members of the group, they used their answers to inform their own opinions, resulting in participant conformity.
Social normative influence
The normative social influence is a second type of conformity. People want to ‘fit in’ with their friends and colleagues, as well as be liked and respected by the rest of their social group. They value other members’ opinions and work hard to maintain their position within the group. As a result, individuals will modify their attitudes and behaviors to conform to the group’s accepted norms.
Following the fashion trends that are popular amongst a group of friends, adopting the rituals of a religious group, or watching a particular TV show because classmates at college talk about it are all examples of conformity with the majority.
Social Roles
The roles that people play are another source of social influence. Each role is associated with a specific set of attitudes and behaviors, and the role to which a person is assigned can influence their actions and opinions.
At any given time, most of us are influenced by a number of roles. You could be anything from a doctor to a waiter, a naval officer to a writer. Each profession is associated with a distinct set of behaviors. People, for example, expect a doctor or a naval officer to be more serious than a circus performer, and they may try to live up to this expectation when given a specific professional role. Other types of roles, such as gender, family, and societal roles, can also have an impact on behavior.
Case Study: How Social Roles Influence Behavior
Zimbardo et al. (1973) carried out a well-known study to investigate how social roles influence behavior. Participants in the Stanford prison experiment were assigned the roles of prisoner or prison officer and asked to act out their roles in a mock prison built by Zimbardo in the basement of Stanford University, complete with cells for subjects.
During the study, Zimbardo dressed up as a prison officer to observe the participants’ behavior.
He discovered that those assigned to act as prison officers quickly changed their behavior to conform to their perceptions of the role. They would punish prisoners by making them do push-ups and, in one case, sprayed a fire extinguisher to put down a rebellion.
Similarly, prisoners adopted a subservient role to the officers, treating them as authority figures and reporting on fellow prisoners “misbehavior.’
Zimbardo discovered that participants who were assigned social roles acted in ways they would not normally. He concluded that people’s preconceptions of their assigned roles and the experimental situation in which they found themselves influenced their actions after removing participants who were likely to behave offensively from the experiment.
5 Common Social Influence Examples and How they Impact Us Daily
These social influence examples are fundamentally about how people may behave depending on the social environment in which they find themselves. An individual’s attitude can shift depending on whether the person prefers to fit in or stand out in a social group. Personal beliefs and thought processes can shift, influencing a person’s adopted behavioral patterns.
There are five types of social influence: informational influence, normative influence, conformity, compliance, and obedience influence. These social influence examples clearly demonstrate how our surroundings influence us and how important it is to be aware of them.
5 Examples of Social Influence
1. Informative
Informational social influence occurs when you make a decision based on information provided by another person. Your desire to be correct is the source of this social influence. In the hope of making good decisions, you adjust your opinions to the way people think.
2. Normative
A person’s desire to change in order to be accepted or fit in is referred to as normative social influence. One of the most common forms of social influence is peer pressure. Individuals who are influenced by normative factors are more likely to engage in vices. For example, smoking, drinking, or engaging in other deviant behavior to gain the approval of the bullies.
3. Consistency
Conformity occurs when people change their behavior or beliefs in order to be accepted, impress, or gain a sense of acceptance. To a group, it makes no difference whether a person shares the same opinions or not. The only thing that matters to them is gaining the admiration of those they hope to impress.
4. Observance
Compliance occurs when an individual alters their behavior. Compliance, on the other hand, is not synonymous with obedience. When a friend asks you for a favor and you agree, this is an example of compliance.
5. Obedience
Unlike compliance, where a person changes their behavior as a result of a peer or an equal. The power dynamics in obedience, on the other hand, have shifted. Obedience occurs when a person changes as a result of a person in authority.
Whether we realize it or not, the various social influences influence how we act. A person’s social standing can influence how much they conform to an individual. His students will respect and obey a teacher. A student will give a piece of their snack to a classmate who requests it. A general will behave differently in front of his cadets than he will in front of his commander-in-chief. A person’s behavior can also be influenced, particularly by those who are members of a group.
Existing belief systems influence the way we think and behave in society. Even our faith has a significant impact on how we act both within and outside of the religious group to which we belong.
There is still a lot to learn about social influence and its role in our society. Understanding social influence entails capitalizing on social influence tactics when developing marketing strategies. Social media influence demonstrates the effectiveness of social influence.
“Life is based on influence, what we become as human beings or what we are today. is what we were taught to be by other people which is our friends and or family or cartoons or anybody that could influence your mind…, so just to let you know, what are you going to become to be someone different not the person who your friends influence you to become…, but as someone great and will help someone to the right set of influence of their life so they can have a meaningful life and not a terrible one.” – Unknown
Top 10 Social Media Influencers of 2021
Social Media has created a powerful platform to showcase influencers. Whether you agree with their status or not theses celebrities are considered influencers in their industry and have massive following.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo is a well-known Portuguese footballer and the most prominent sports fashion influencer.
The King of football has the most followers on one of the biggest social media platforms, Instagram, with 352 million followers. He has a significant impact through his Four Champions Leagues in football, 50 award holding, dynamic performance, and Charming confidence.
Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande is one of the most well-known American singers, as well as an actress and songwriter.
Ariana Grande has recently demonstrated her worth by competing with Kim Kardashian, who has 187 million followers, and also by surpassing Kylie Jenner, who has 193 million followers. Ariana Grande has surpassed the 270 million follower mark, and she is now the most-followed woman on the world’s most popular social media platform, Instagram.
Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez is a well-known American singer, model, and actress. She displays all of her talents, allowing her to be versatile and confident in interacting with her fans on social media platforms such as Instagram.
She is one of the most followed people on social media, with a following of 266 million. She was also named a UNICEF Ambassador in 2016, and she is a PUMA brand ambassador.
Diipa Khosla
Diipa Büller-Khosla is a popular fashion and beauty figure from India. She is India’s most famous influencer all over the world. She is a fashion and beauty influencer with 1.5 million Instagram followers. She was also named in the year 2019 for Elle India’s influencer. She is also one of the founders of Post For Change. She is a star of Instagram as well.
Chiara Ferragni
Chiara Ferragni is one of the most dedicated stylists. She also launched the Chiara Ferragni Collection, owing to her enormous popularity, which encouraged her to throw her clothing. For the past ten years, she has held the title of top fashion influencer and style icon. She has also gained work experience with major fashion houses such as Dior, LVMH, Chanel, and Giambattista Valli, among others.
She also has a massive 20.2 million fan following on social media platforms as a result of her vast styling influence on the public.
Caspar Lee
Caspar Lee is a South African-born British YouTuber, blogger, entrepreneur, and actor. Caspar Lee’s YouTube channel has over 7 million subscribers, making him the most popular YouTube star in the United Kingdom. He also co-founded the businesses Influencer and Margravine Management. He also shines on other platforms, such as Instagram, where he has a 3 million-strong fan base.
Komal Pandey
Komal Pandey is one of India’s most popular fashion bloggers and YouTubers, with a large fan base. She was also a prominent fashion stylist at the online fashion community POPxo for women. In 2016, she was also named the most stylish blogger. She now has a fan base of 1.5 million on Instagram.
Dolly Singh
Dolly Singh, a viral Internet sensation, is a fashion blogger, content creator, and social media influencer with 1.4 million Instagram followers. She is also a well-known iDiva content developer. Aside from that, she has her own YouTube channel, where the character ‘Raju Ki Mummy’ is well-known. You must be kidding if you haven’t watched. She also posts funny vine videos and fashion trends on social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube, making her one of the most influential people on the internet.
Ajey Nagar
Ajey Nagar, also known as Carry Minati, is one of the most popular YouTube influencers in India, with over 31.3 million subscribers.
He has been uploading videos that are streamed from his home since he was ten years old. He dropped out of high school to pursue a career as a YouTube content creator, but later returned to finish his studies. He has also dedicated the Carryislive channel to gaming video uploads and live streams. Carry’s work has also been recognized and rewarded with: TIME’s ten Next Generation Leaders, as well as 5 YouTube Creator Awards and two Silver Play Buttons CarryMinati has two golden play buttons and one diamond play button.
Exercise 6:10: Profile Interview
In this profile exercise, participants interview each other as if they were writing a magazine article.
Objective: Get to know each other better as a potential leader of influence.
Instructions:
Have participants partner with someone.
Interviewers can ask questions such as:
• What is your proudest accomplishment to date?
• What does your morning routine look like?
• What do you credit as the main cause of your success?
• Which book, show, or movie most influenced you?
• Who was your childhood hero?
• What part of your upbringing most influenced your adult life?
• What is the most important lesson you have learned so far in your life?
• What is a fact about you that would surprise most people?
At the end of the activity, interviewers create a profile article based on the conversation. Share your partners answers with the whole group.
Course Manual 11: Growing Influence
You might believe that only powerful leaders have influence. For example, Oprah Winfrey, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Warren Buffett. But the truth is that anyone can create it. In this lesson we will share specific examples of key influence traits and steps you can take to grow your influence!
What factors contribute to a person’s influence?
Most commonly, influential people have these key traits:
• They use emotional words.
• They’re not afraid to go against the grain.
• They remain optimistic.
• They take the lead.
• They build consistent routines.
• They add on to what others are saying.
• They use body language to show they’re engaged.
• They lean in to add importance to they’re words.
Let’s take a deeper look at these traits, with real-life case studies to back them up.
Oprah Winfrey is well-known for her sense of humor and her enormous influence in the talk show industry. And, yes, she uses more emotional words than the average person in her speech.
According to Zandan’s experiment, the top 10% of influential leaders use three times more emotional words than logical words, including 62 percent more personalized language.
Influential people can sway audiences and manipulate emotions. They have an incredible ability to make others feel special and important.
For example, let’s take a look at Oprah’s USC commencement speech. She uses powerful personal pronouns like “you” and “we” and “our” when she talks, like when she says, “The truth has always been and will always be our shield against corruption, our shield against grief and despair. The truth is our saving grace.”
“Use emotional words like you and we to create impact.” – Oprah Winfrey
Arnold Schwarzenegger didn’t become a world-class bodybuilder, famous Hollywood actor, and governor of California without lots of uncertainty. People in Hollywood said it would never happen because of his accent, because his body was too muscular, and because of his odd-sounding name.
Influential people are able to see past the noise and naysayers. They carve their own path, even if it means going against the grain.
“Ignore the naysayers, go against the grain.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
Most people associate “Warren Buffett” with money and investing.
Sure, Warren Buffett is one of the wealthiest people on the planet, but few people realize that it was Warren’s unwavering attitude during difficult times that truly demonstrated his influence.
In a study of Buffett’s shareholder letters from 1977 to 2016, data scientist Michael Toth discovered that Buffett remains upbeat even during difficult times, such as the 2008 financial crisis.
Influential people maintain a sense of calm and realism. They can tell when something is going wrong and aren’t afraid to tell the truth. The key point here is that influential people remain optimistic during these difficult times while others panic.
“Weather the storm even during tough times. Remain optimistic.” – Warren Buffet
Dwayne Johnson takes conversations by the reins. He doesn’t only let others take control of the flow of conversation. He asks questions, compliments people, and isn’t afraid to interrupt in a friendly manner.
Influential people take the lead. They aren’t afraid of stating their opinions, setting the mood in a conversation, or even interrupting others.
Dwayne Johnson has the ability to lead a conversation. Dwayne compliments the interviewer allowing them to relax and open up.
“Take the lead in conversations, don’t be afraid to compliment.” -Dwayne Johnson
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey gets out of bed at 5 a.m., according to Business Insider. He then meditates for 30 minutes before doing a 7-minute workout three times. He finishes his routine with a cup of coffee and gets started on the rest of his day.
Influential people have success routines, or things they can do to boost their confidence. According to research, what makes people influential is confidence, and having a success routine is part of developing that confidence.
“I look to build a lot of consistent routines. Same thing every day.” – Jack Dorsey
Sophie Turner, the famous English actress who starred in Game of Thrones, does not appear to be the most powerful person. She even admitted, “Yeah, I’m spotty.” I am overweight. “I’m a terrible actress.”
Even if she has her own issues (who doesn’t?), Sophie has a unique ability to contribute to conversations. This is a critical skill that most powerful people have mastered.
When powerful people speak to others, they always try to add to what the other person is saying. They are not subtractors; rather, they are complainers, negative Nancys, or judgmental individuals. They have the habit of asking, “What can I add to this?” rather than “What don’t I agree with?”
“Add on to what others are saying, don’t subtract or be negative.” – Sophie Turner
Want to know an easy, quick way to win show you’re engaged?
Simply tilt your head. This is a nonverbal way of showing you are engaged and actively listening.
When speaking with someone (especially in a loud room or restaurant), occasionally encourage them by giving them a head tilt to show that you want them to keep talking.
If you learn to master your nonverbals, you can influence on a deeper level than simply speaking words.
“Tilt your head to show your engaged.” – Anne Hathaway
Ed Mylett, a master motivator, wields power through his body. Ed, an avid gym-goer, understands how the body influences the mind.
In this case, Ed uses his body to lean in, filling the gap between himself and his conversation partner and increasing his influence.
Leaning in immediately increases the intensity of a conversation. So, if you’re already conversing, a subtle lean can elevate your words to a higher level.
If you have an important point to make or agree with what they are saying, lean in and agree with them. This acts as a nonverbal exclamation point and improves connection. Alternatively, if you have something particularly juicy to say, lean in.
“Lean in to add importance to your words.” – Ed Mylett
When was the last time you considered how you influence others, how you change minds, shape opinions, and persuade others to act?
One of the most important skills for leaders at all levels is the ability to influence others. It’s more art than science, and it can be difficult to grasp. However, the bottom line is that influence is important. And it will become more important as we continue to morph (at breakneck speed) into an interconnected, interdependent, increasingly global workplace.
Power is typically based on position in traditional hierarchical organizations. The more power you have, the higher you are on the organizational chart. There are clear, top-down rules, and the person at the top makes the final decision. The person who wields power wields influence.
Organizations are increasingly adopting flatter, matrixed, and team-based models. According to the theory, with change and complexity comes the need to be more agile, inclusive of diverse thought, and collaborative. Power in this model is defined as the ability to influence and get things done outside of traditional reporting lines. In other words, the person who wields power has influence.
To be a successful influencer, you must have both substance and style. Even the most interpersonally skilled leaders will fall short without a solid foundation of credibility. On the other hand, highly credible people who do not understand the interpersonal dynamics at work may struggle with influence.
Discovery Learning, Inc. and Innovative Pathways conducted research to identify and measure influence styles in 2009 and 2010.
They established FIVE categories to Measure Influence:
Asserting: you insist on having your ideas heard and you question the ideas of others.
Convincing: you present your ideas and provide logical, rational arguments to persuade others of your point of view.
Negotiating: entails seeking compromises and making concessions in order to achieve outcomes that are in your best interests.
Bridging: you connect with others and build relationships by listening, understanding, and forming coalitions.
Inspiring: you advocate for your viewpoint and encourage others through a sense of shared purpose and exciting possibilities.
Depending on the situation and people involved, each of these styles can be effective. A common blunder is taking a one-size-fits-all approach. Always keep in mind that influencing is highly situational.
Here are five steps to increasing your influence.
1) Recognize your influencing style. Everything starts with self-awareness. What is your dominant personality? Do you assert, persuade, bargain, bridge, or inspire? Do you take the same approach to every situation and person? Understanding your natural proclivity is a good place to begin. If you are unsure, consider conducting a quick assessment. The Discovery Learning Influence Style Indicator is a good one.
2) Assess your current situation. Who are the key stakeholders you need to win over in order to achieve a goal or overcome a challenge? Which influencing style do you think will be more effective as you interact with them? Consider using a convincing approach based on logic, data, and expertise if you’re dealing with a tough-as-nails CFO. An assertive style may be more effective in a crisis situation where people rely on you to be decisive and quick on your feet. A bridging or negotiating style may be the way to go if you’re working cross-functionally and need to gain the support of a peer.
3) Determine your gaps. Determine where you’re on solid ground and where you need to shift gears and use a different approach to be more effective once you understand your natural orientation and the appropriate styles to influence those around you.
4) Construct a plan. After you’ve identified your gaps, look for ways to grow in those areas. It could be a workshop, coach, or internal role model who exemplifies the style you’re attempting to develop. Find a learning partner – someone with whom you can role-play to gain confidence – as an added bonus.
5) Put your skills to the test. Begin with small steps – low-risk situations where you can put your new influencing strategies to the test. Choose a person or situation where you want to achieve a specific result, consider the influencing style that will work best in that situation, and give it a shot. Examine what works and what does not. As your capability and confidence grow, progress to higher-stakes scenarios.
To be successful, whether you are leading, following, or collaborating, you will almost certainly need to influence others. Influence strategies can include everything from relying on position to education, encouragement, and collaboration. Knowing which approach to take in a given situation is critical.
How to Influence Your Colleagues
No matter how smart and hardworking you are, getting what you want in your career can sometimes be a matter of influence. Soft skills such as listening, persuasion, and small talk are essential. When you own a business, your professional relationships become even more complicated. To be a good leader, you must be able to influence your colleagues and employees rather than simply command them.
Consultation
Allowing colleagues to influence you is one of the most effective ways to influence them. You will make your colleagues feel heard and valued if you establish channels for effective consultation and feedback on regular business processes or changes that are being considered for the company. This will instill a sense of ownership in them and help you gain respect as a leader.
Recognize Motivations
Naturally, your employees’ concerns and motivations will not always coincide with your own. If you can put yourself in their shoes for a short period of time and understand what motivates them, you will be in a much stronger position to influence their behavior. Speak to them in ways that show you care about their concerns.
Persuade
Don’t impose your will on others. Bring your colleagues along on the journey you took to arrive at your idea if you want to make a big change in the workplace. Present your case to your employees and demonstrate why it is a good idea step by step. Outline the research that supports your hypothesis.
Rewards
Positive feedback is far more effective than negative feedback. Rather than imposing sanctions for undesirable behavior, reward and praise desirable behavior. Consider the career goals of the people who work for you and devise strategies to assist them in advancing professionally. Celebrate with them when they complete each goal.
Social Contact with Others
One way to strengthen bonds with coworkers is to socialize with them outside of the workplace. This must be carefully managed if you are the boss. You must maintain your authority but getting to know your coworkers socially has numerous advantages. This type of connection, as well as mutual knowledge of each other’s lives, fosters trust and cooperation.
Exercise 6:11: Magazine Story
Who wouldn’t want to be featured on a magazine cover?
In this activity, each team has to create an imaginary magazine cover story about a successful project or business achievement. They have to get the right images, come up with headlines, formulate quotes, etc. A great exercise in creativity that can also inspire your team to think bigger.
Number of participants: Any
Duration: 60-90 minutes
Objective: Visualize future success, motivate team members and encourage them to think big
How to play:
1. The goal of this game is simple: get players to create a magazine cover story about your company or project (choose either). The players don’t have to write the complete story; they only have to write the headlines and create images, quotes, and sidebars.
2. Divide participants into teams of 3-6 players. Give them markers, pens, and anything else they’ll need to create a fictional magazine cover.
3. Create several templates for different elements of the magazine story. This should include: a) magazine cover, b) cover story headline, c) quotes from leaders and team members, d) sidebars about project highlights and e) images.
4. Distribute these templates to each team. Ask them to create a magazine story, filling in each template and focusing on the project or business.
5. Choose the best magazine cover.
Strategy:
Seeing your project or business’ success featured in a magazine is the high point of any organization. This creative exercise helps your team members think big and visualize their future success. It can also be a powerful motivational tool.
Course Manual 12: Body Language
Did you know that our bodies speak louder than our words? Body language training can help you identify hidden emotions in others and even make you feel more powerful, attractive, and charismatic.
In this lesson you will learn the fundamentals of body language, including how to use it in your daily life, the most common gestures you’ll encounter, body language rules, and more!
“Body language is the closest thing to mindreading and a skill ANYONE can learn.” – Vanessa Van Edwards
What if you can get almost anything you want? For example:
• knowing what someone is thinking in secret
• obtaining a raise without having to work any harder,
• having your date never forget you, and desiring more
No, we’re not referring to some sort of magical superpower… although some may refer to it as such. We’re talking about body language.
5 Reasons Why Body Language is Important
#1: Body Language Reading is a Super Skill
Superman possesses superhuman strength, the Flash can run at speeds of up to thousands of miles per hour, and Aquaman can breathe underwater.
And humans are capable… Does this qualify?
But if we have any superpower, it’s the ability to read body language.
It’s also not quite a superpower.
Now the truth is, ANYONE can learn to read body language. Even the old granny who can’t see well (hint: body language exists in vocal variations, too).
#2: Nonverbal Communication Is More Important Than Verbal Communication
“93 percent of communication is nonverbal!” you might have heard. However, this figure is incorrect and out of date.
Famous silent characters such as Charles Chaplin, Silent Bob, Teller from Penn & Teller, Wall-E, and Courage the Cowardly Dog can portray the entire human emotional spectrum—and tell compelling stories—without using words at all.
So, while there is no exact percentage, we do know that nonverbal behaviors tell a far more complete story than words.
Most people can choose their words carefully, but they can’t choose their body language (unless they’re a politician, of course).
People only pay attention to their body language in three situations:
• when they’re trying to get away with something
• when being filmed or in front of an audience
• when they’re trying to impress others, such as a cocktail party or date
Many body language cues are, in fact, genetic or inherited. And they develop into automatic reactions to stress or the environment.
For example, I went to a nearby coffee shop today and saw a woman twirling her hair while talking to a guy, a man on the phone discussing a business deal suddenly bouncing his feet up and down, and even a guy on his laptop nervously biting his nails off—all without thinking about their nonverbal behavior!
You can deduce from body language that the woman is attracted to the guy, the businessman is excited about a deal, and the guy on his laptop is nervous about something.
This much information says a lot without them saying anything!
#3: Use Your Interactions to Develop a “6th Sense”
Have you ever asked someone how their day went, and they replied, “It was fantastic!”
But then you notice their tired eyes as they drag their feet to walk past you? This is a dangerous sign of toxic positivity, but it’s also something that even the most oblivious person can detect.
But what about other possibilities?
• the boss with a Stone Face who is difficult to read
• the date who is sending you mixed signals
• the car salesperson who claims to have the “best deal” on the market
How can you tell what people are saying in these situations? True, it may be more difficult at first… However, even the most botoxed faces will reveal a hint of the deeper emotions that lie beneath the surface.
Body language analysis is useful in almost every situation, regardless of who you’re talking to. There are even universal body language cues found across cultures and in the most remote tribes.
Most people, however, miss these cues, even when they are displayed in plain sight by the other person. Body language is not taught in traditional schools either. As a result, learning body language is akin to unlocking your sixth sense of intuition.
These “subtle displays” become obvious with body language skills. You’ll be astounded to notice how your nostrils flare, cheeks turn pale, and torso shifts away slightly when someone is angry, while your clueless friend turns to you and says, “I have a strange feeling about him, but I don’t know why.”
#4: Master Your Relationships, Negotiations, and Career
So, what are the best ways to profit from all this juicy information? Apart from working on your own nonverbals (more on that later), the big three I discovered that most people use their body language skills with are:
• Relationships
• Negotiations
• Career
Relationships:
It’s important to be comfortable in your relationships. That applies to both romantic and friendly relationships. Knowing where to stand, how to appear open, and even how to appear welcoming so that others approach you is critical to developing meaningful relationships that last.
Negotiations:
Every interaction in life is a bargaining game. A power, money, and status bargain. We are always in a negotiation, no matter how you look at it, and whether you win or lose that negotiation has a big impact on how much you get back in life.
Career:
Having difficulty opening up to a difficult employee? Do you have a difficult boss who won’t listen? We’ve got you covered, whether it’s at the office or during a meeting – confident body language can help you ease through these situations.
#5: Establish Yourself as the Most Powerful Person in the Room
This may sound cheesy, but body language can help you become the person you want to be.
Let’s explain.
Many people who feel “restricted” or “held back” in their lives. Perhaps it’s due to societal conditioning, an overly strict household, or xxx, but they want to be free of these emotional chains.
With body language knowledge, you can identify and replace negative body language cues with positive, confident ones.
“But I don’t just want to appear confident!” I actually want to be self-assured!”
That’s completely understandable! However, many people don’t realize that your body comes first, and your brain comes second.
Your mirror neurons are responsible for this working.
Mirror neurons are neurons in the brain that fire whenever we see or do something. Depending on the behavior, different mirror neurons fire. You can also directly change your mood based on the “feeling” of the behavior. These are among the most potent weapons in your arsenal.
Right now, you can activate your mirror neurons! Make a strong, confident pose. Lean back in your chair, arms behind your head, chest expanding outward. Alternatively, if you’re standing, widen your stance and place your hands on your hips (aka the Superhero pose).
Do you feel more powerful and confident? Although you may notice an immediate effect, true, long-term changes require practice, practice, practice until your knowledge becomes ingrained in your personality.
This brings us to your first exercise…
I’d like you to film yourself for at least 10 minutes. Simply grab your phone or camera, press record, sit in front of a mirror, and talk about whatever you want.
Why?
Because this video recording will serve as your own baseline—a starting point from which you can assess your progress throughout your body language journey.
Body language students are frequently astounded by how much more confident they appear in their progress videos, or how their vocal fluency has gained a depth that they never had before.
Some people can see a huge difference in just minutes by changing one simple gesture!
Become a Master Connector
Do you want to learn how to connect with people? With these key body language principles, you can learn to be likable, have great interactions, and build strong relationships.
It’s not so much what we say as it is how we say it. Our voices are distinct:
According to scientific evidence,
• Depression can be detected simply by hearing our voice.
• Even newborns can recognize their mother’s voice.
• Many banks use voice biometrics to identify their customers.
What exactly is paralanguage? (Definition)
The physical mechanisms that produce nonverbal vocal qualities and sounds are referred to as paralanguage. It is similar to prosody, which describes all variations in voice that accompany speech and aid in its interpretation.
As humans, we react to and recognize the importance of a person’s voice.
In a large radio study, 4,000 listeners heard 9 different speakers and guessed their characteristics:
While age and gender could be guessed with high accuracy (not surprising), what was surprising was that a speaker’s job or occupation could be guessed with high accuracy.
For example, actors and clergy members could always be identified simply by hearing their voices.
In another study, a single sentence was enough to correctly identify 8–10 coworkers with greater than 97 percent accuracy.
A third study found that 29 familiar speakers had 83 percent accuracy.
“The voice can tell you where someone is form and what they’re like. It’s a unique fingerprint everyone has.” – Vanessa Van Edwards
Recognizing specific vocal cues can help you pinpoint exactly what changed, rather than simply “feeling” that something is wrong.
Prosody refers to all variations in voice that accompany speech and aid in conveying its meaning.
The physical mechanisms of producing nonverbal vocal qualities and sounds are referred to as paralanguage.
22 Confident Body Language Cues Every Woman Should Know
Women need ways to show their confidence in the dating scene, the business world, and in social situations. Body language is an excellent tool for asserting control and communicating strength and power. What actions should and should not be taken by women in terms of body language?
This lesson will teach you:
• why the way you hold your purse can reveal a lot about your personality why pointing can make you feel insecure (and what to do instead)
• how to instantly connect with anyone by simply shifting your feet
• three effective power poses for boosting confidence
Let’s look at what makes people feel confident.
The Science of Self-Assured Body Language
First, what makes someone powerful? These are the five characteristics of powerful people:
• They physically enlarge themselves… but not too much.
• They are more outspoken.
• They are more assured.
• They have more testosterone… this applies to both men and women!
• They are less sensitive to stress.
So, how do you GET these 5 characteristics? While you are not doomed to a life of doom and gloom if you lack confidence, power posing can help you gain confidence in as little as 2 minutes.
So, what makes power posing effective?
As mentioned earlier our bodies, have mirror neurons that activate when we use confident body language. Power posing can boost your confidence levels in the same way that smiling can.
Researchers at Harvard Business School discovered that when people posed in expansive high-power poses (putting their hands behind their heads and feet on the desk or leaning over a desk and planting their hands far apart), they had higher levels of testosterone and lower levels of stress in as little as 2 minutes. This also resulted in increased feelings of power and tolerance for risk.
Here are some tips for women on how to use body language to increase their power:
Did you know that you can GAIN confidence, but you can also easily LOSE it?
Avoid these self-defeating, awkward body language cues, and stop them as soon as you notice them:
Body Language Don’ts
Don’t Overnod Your Head
Overnoding is a common body language error made by women. This occurs during conversations when a woman nods in agreement or congeniality as the other person speaks. From a distance, this appears to be a bobblehead doll. While it can indicate friendliness, it can also indicate a pushover. So, nod only when you truly agree with someone, not by default.
Don’t Fake Smile
Women have been taught since childhood to “smile and nod” during conversations in order to be liked. The issue is that fake smiling is not only a sign of weakness, but it is also deceptive.
Instead of smiling all the time, save your pearly whites for when you first meet someone and when you find something agreeable. This will make people notice your lovely smile.
Don’t Peer Over Your Glasses
Judge Judy’s signature move is to look at the people in her courtroom with disdain through her glasses.
This is a nonverbal cue of superiority and scorn. If you wear glasses, avoid looking at people through them. It makes you appear distant and snobbish!
Don’t Self-Touch
When women are nervous, they tend to tuck their hair behind their ears or fiddle with their jewelry. These are low confidence, submissive gestures.
When flirting, women also toss their hair or touch their neck, which exposes the armpit. This stimulates sex hormones, accentuates the neck’s curvature, and highlights shiny, healthy hair. This is NOT something you want to do in a business setting because it is the polar opposite of displaying professional power.
Don’t Purse Block
When you hold your purse in front of your body, you are purse blocking. Famous people, such as politicians and movie stars, may subconsciously replace one nervous cue with another by holding their purse in front of them or blocking their body with their purse in order to appear less nervous in public.
Avoid the following other similar blocking cues:
• keeping your briefcase in front of you
• playing with a bracelet, watch, shirt cuff, or other object near your arm
• holding a glass with both hands
Don’t Mis-match
Dr. Spencer Kelly, a neuroscientist at Colgate University, conducted a study and discovered that when we hear someone say words that do not match their gestures—for example, “You have to go left,” but points to the right—our brain “hiccups.” When we mismatch, it takes time for the brain to process the meaning of gestures and words, and comprehension suffers.
Women, in particular, may struggle with this issue because we may be nervous or unsure about making confident gestures. But you don’t need permission to be self-assured!
I want you to know that it’s perfectly fine to make large, sweeping gestures if that’s how you feel. Avoid the mismatch by observing how you gesture with friends or recording yourself giving a brief 5-minute speech. Does it appear natural? Are you saying you’re confident, but your hands are too close together? You’d be surprised how often you say one thing, but your body says the opposite.
Don’t Wrist Pop
Women enjoy standing with one hip or one wrist out to the side. Surprisingly, a limp or exposed wrist is a sign of submission, and both women and homosexual men do it subconsciously when they are in a room with people they want to attract.
As a result, many women who smoke hold the cigarette with one wrist turned out and exposed. Don’t expose your wrists if you want to project power.
Don’t Point
When making a point, avoid pointing at people or up in the air. It frequently conjures up images of a school memory or a nagging mother.
Instead, use an open palm or the OK thumb-to-index-finger gesture to gesture while speaking. Psychologically, it is suggested that by lightly resting the thumb and index finger on your leg, you can subtly use the OK sign to let others know you’re confident and self-assured. This will subconsciously cause your conversation partner to believe YOU are confident.
The open palm and the OK gesture are both positive nonverbal cues and help you look more approachable and confident.
Confident Body Language Do’s
Point Your Feet
The feet are a direct reflection of one’s attitude. When one’s feet are pointed directly at another person, it indicates genuine interest.
If, on the other hand, the feet are pointed away from or toward the exit, this may indicate that the person is more interested in leaving than in talking to you. When speaking with people in positions of power, make sure to point your feet toward them to demonstrate your interest and respect.
Claim Your Territory
Did you know that the average stance for women is less than 6 inches, but 6 to 10 inches for men2? Taking a wider stance can make you appear more powerful and send the message that you will not be pushed around. This “claiming of territory” sends a subconscious message to men that you are confident.
When women are nervous, they cross their legs and tuck their arms into the chair or fold them over their chest, but this appears weak. If your ankles are crossed and you are nervous or anxious, uncross your feet, place them on the ground, and squeeze your toes to release the tension (nobody will know but you).
Pro Tip: Avoid staring at your phone. When introverts are nervous, they tend to check their phones, but this immediately puts them in defeated body language. So, if you want to feel confident, avoid checking your phone; and, once again, try to relax and be expansive. I know someone who carries a newspaper around with him because it takes up less space.
Speak Loud and Low
According to scientific evidence, people who speak louder are perceived as more dominant. I’ve seen women speak as if they’re asking for permission rather than giving it. Because women with lower voices are perceived to be more dominant, it is best to speak louder and lower for maximum confidence.
Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, underwent a remarkable vocal transformation. Her voice used to be very soft, but after a few years, it shifted dramatically to a deep and authoritative tone. This helped her gain competence with men in her political career:
Try these vocal tune-ups in addition to a deeper and louder voice:
• Maintain your voice’s fluency. When you can avoid it, try not to pause.
• When taking turns speaking, shorten your pauses.
• Increase the variety of vocal pitch.
• Try speaking a little faster than usual.
While making these minor changes, keep in mind that your goal is to sound natural and relaxed. So, if you start sounding like an annoying monkey, you should probably use your normal voice.
Carry 1 Item
According to studies, people who carry more than one item, such as a purse and a briefcase or a briefcase and a coat, are perceived to be less organized and forgetful. Lower-status individuals also carry bulky briefcases, indicating that they have a lot of work to do.
Higher up, slimmer briefcases show that only essential papers are carried. So, before entering a meeting or event, make sure to consolidate your bags and briefcases, leave extra items in the car, and hand your coat to the receptionist to hang so you don’t have to carry it in.
Control Your Breath
We’ve previously discussed the power of meditation and the calming effect of the breath. Whenever you feel nervous or anxious, imagine a string pulling your head up, but stay grounded. This will cause you to breathe more deeply on the inhale, making you feel more positive and confident.
Steeple
When someone steeples, they bring their hands up in front of their chest and press the tips of their fingers together. This is a confident and self-assured gesture. This is a simple way to boost your own and others’ confidence before or during a meeting or event.
Back Step
Radboud University researchers discovered in a 2008 study that taking a step back may improve your ability to deal with difficult mental situations5. This is also true for those anxious, difficult times. I wish I’d known this trick in high school! When you’re stressed out from a presentation or on stage, take a step back. This will help you ground yourself and feel confident by taking a “mental” as well as a physical step back.
Use Your Good Side
Do you prefer to interact with people on your left or right side? This is a little-known psychological trick, but many people may feel confident and amazing when conversing with people on one side of their brain, while conversing with people on the other side of their brain may make them feel weak and anxious.
Over the years, I’ve discovered that I prefer people to be on my left. When they’re on my right, I feel awkward and a little uncharismatic. So, how about you? Use the “good side” technique by positioning people on your preferred side.
Gesture in the Truth Plane
The horizontal area of your belly that extends from your navel is known as the TruthPlane. The lower dantien, or red field, is a powerhouse for pure energy in traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts, located a finger width below the belly button5. Using hand gestures in this area builds trust and communicates to the audience that you are genuine. It also has the additional benefit of making you feel calm, in control, and collected.
When we are nervous, our hands tend to move closer to our bodies. Large arm movements may not be the “default” way to gesture for women in particular. However, if you’re nervous, gesturing in the TruthPlane is a great way to feel grounded and confident.
Use the Triple Nod
The nonverbal equivalent of the ellipses or three periods is the triple nod. It is a nonverbal cue for someone to continue speaking.
If you are shy and have trouble starting conversations, you should encourage the person you are speaking with to continue. When they finish speaking and pause, nod three times quickly and they will often continue. If not, you can pick up where the conversation left off, but this is a great way to demonstrate interest and lengthen a conversation.
Make Extra Eye Contact
Do you pay enough attention to others during a conversation? Eye contact is a sure way to convey confidence. People with more dominant personalities, people who initiate more speech in groups, and people who advance in groups are less likely to be the first to break eye contact. 3. During business meetings, nervous women don’t make enough eye contact, which can be a deal breaker that says, “I’m unconfident!”
Observe the eye color of everyone you meet as an effective way to make eye contact. You don’t have to say it aloud or remember it; simply notice it.
Another quick tip: Make an extra 1-second eye contact after parting ways or exiting gracefully. Just enough to say, “I’m sorry to see you go.” The increased eye contact conveys warmth and confidence, and you’ll make a more lasting impression.
Anchor
An anchor is an object, experience, or sensation that brings back memories of your past. You can find random objects associated with positive stimuli and use them to anchor yourself before an important event. You can use the following anchors:
• consuming a Tic Tac
• Wearing your favorite perfume or scented lotion
• listening to your favorite song
• viewing a powerful image
• reciting a positive affirmation
• or even squeezing your toes in your shoes
Jordan Belfort, a Wall Street tycoon, uses essential oils as an anchor to prepare himself for selling. Whatever anchor you choose, use it only when you absolutely need to be certain.
Victory Pose
A victory pose is defined as when a person raises their arms in the air. When a football (or soccer) player scores a goal, they will strike this pose.
They may also leap into the air or make a downward beat with their right fist raised. This is to “mimic” and symbolically demonstrate beating down on the opposing team’s heads4. Alternatively, you might see someone dancing in the victory pose:
Do the victory pose to feel as if you’re basking in your victory. Consider all the times in your life when you truly felt victorious—an example is when I my book become an Amazon best-seller Woohoo!
The Catapult
Catapulting is defined as placing one’s hands behind one’s head with their elbows flared out. They could also be leaning back in a chair, legs splayed forward.
Catapult your confidence and sense of control. This may even come naturally to you if you’re the boss or manager! Catapulting is probably the last thing that comes naturally to you if you’re around superiors. This is because this pose makes you physically large and is generally reserved for people of high status.
The Superwoman Pose
The superwoman pose is when you stand straight and tall with your feet wide apart and your fists on your hips, as if you’re ready to take on the world.
Warning: Take care not to overuse this one. Overreliance on this pose can exaggerate your power and have negative consequences, similar to oversteepling. When used incorrectly, it can instantly destroy rapport. For example, if a sad, grieving employee confesses a mistake she made, but the manager immediately goes into a Superwoman pose, this can give the manager too much power, making the manager appear to be a bully. She already has the advantage.
How to Dominate Any Interaction:
You want to be the biggest, baddest woman in the room at times. Here’s how to dominate any interaction, whether you’re trying to show who’s boss, playing “bad cop” in a negotiation, or even a mother trying to calm down her aggressive child.
1. Set up a barrier, such as a desk, between you and the others.
2. Elevate your physical position. If you have time to prepare, make your seat higher than theirs.
3. Sit in a comfortable position and press your hands behind your head (catapulting).
4. Take up room. Place your objects on your desk, splay your legs, and invade the space of others.
5. Avoid smiling too much. Maintain a neutral expression and avoid nodding in agreement.
6. For added effect, press your palms firmly against the table in front of you.
7. Avoid quick or jerky movements. Maintain the smoothness. If your hands are in your pockets, keep your thumbs out.
8. Shake hands so that your hand is on top of the other.
I don’t recommend dominating unless absolutely necessary. It’s not a good way to make new friends or impress others. However, every now and then, you may find yourself in a situation where you have no other choice.
Bonus:
It turns out that the most important thing you can do to look and feel confident is…
The full frontal
When your neck, belly, and privates are not blocked, you are in full frontal pose. You have an open, relaxed posture with your hands at your sides or behind your back.
The most confident person in the room uses the full-frontal gesture because they do not need to emphasize their gestures. Women who can relax are likely to be the most confident. The full-frontal gesture may even be used to describe a shy person who has mastered their own body language.
Overall, you want to ensure that your body language matches your words and personality. If you’re going to tell people you’re confident, show it.
Exercise: 6:12: Truth and Lies
A simple game to get people to open up. Teams gather together in an intimate environment. Each team member says three truths and one lie about himself. Team members have to guess the lie out of the four statements by reading their body language
Duration: 30 minutes
Objective: Break the ice and get people involved
How to play:
1. Ask the players to sit in a circle.
2. Each player has to think up three truths and one lie about herself.
3. Each player then gets up in the center of the circle and says four statements about himself (three truths, one lie).
4. The rest of the group has to guess which of the statements is a truth, which one is a lie.
5. The process repeats for all other players.
Strategy:
There is no competitive element to this game. Instead, it’s designed to get people to open up and get to know each other better and learn how to read body language. The opportunity to lie can also get some hilariously outrageous statements from players, which further improves the group’s mood.
Project Studies
Process Review
As a whole, the Women Empowerment Program aims to create a better culture and a level playing field for women in your organization. Each workshop is designed to delve deeply into a specific topic so that we have a clear understanding of how to apply the information in our daily personal and professional lives. This Workshop – Executive Presence – focuses on the Personal Presence element of the Business Transformation Process.
After completion of the Executive Presence workshop, and after going through the implementation exercises in this Project Study it will be clear to see how to best incorporate these new processes into your organization. You and your team will walk away with learn new skills to develop your executive presence and influence so you can more effectively lead and inspire your team.
This Workshop and Project Study focuses specifically on the following areas and strategies:
1. Learn a present moment meditation and how to lead a group meditation to instantly become more present.
2. 14 steps to develop a powerful executive presence.
3. How to create a strong personal brand statement and steps to develop your own unique personal brand.
4. Exact steps to give your LinkedIn Profile a makeover.
5. Tips to increase your workplace presence.
6. Strategies to strengthen your professional courage.
7. Ways to improve your professional appearance.
8. Implementing your professional values in the workplace.
9. How to influence by creating an emotional relationship.
10. Learn 10 key influencing skills.
11. Discover your influencing style.
12. Learn how to use body language to get what you want in life and at work.
Personal Implementation Exercises:
**Complete the exercises below after you complete the following courses in this workshop.
1. Course Manual 6:3: Online Presence
Personal Brand Exercise – Complete the 30 Second Mission Statement (30 Second Mission Statement Document)
2. Course Manual 6:4: Give your LinkedIn Profile a Makeover
Follow these guidelines:
• Be Yourself
• Have a fantastic headshot
• Focus on the headline
• Customize your URL
• Contribute your knowledge regularly
Be sure to look at the examples shared in Course 6:4
3. Course 6:8 – Professional Values – Click the link below and create your own Word Cloud displaying your unique personal values.
Word Cloud Free Tool – https://classic.wordclouds.com/
4. Course 6:11- Grow Influence
Top 3 Books on Influence:
• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People by Vanessa Van Edwards
Pick one of these books on influence and read it in your spare time.
5. Course 6:12 – Body Language- Study and implement your favorite Body Languages – Use the guide below:
Body Language | Science of People https://www.scienceofpeople.com/category/body-language/
Film yourself for at least 10 minutes. Simply grab your phone or camera, press record, sit in front of a mirror, and talk about whatever you want.
Why?
Because this video recording will serve as your own baseline—a starting point from which you can assess your progress throughout your body language journey.
Body language students are frequently astounded by how much more confident they appear in their progress videos, or how their vocal fluency has gained a depth that they never had before.
Some people can see a huge difference in just minutes by changing one simple gesture!
*** Share what you learned with your group. ***
Sources/Resources –
Course 6:1 – Essence of Presence
Meditation Scripts
{Download of -8 Guided Meditation scripts]
Course 6:6: Personal Appearance
Case Study: The Cognitive Consequences of Formal Clothing – Michael L. Slepian, Simon N. Ferber, Joshua M. Gold, Abraham M. Rutchick, 2015 (www.sagepub.com)
Course 6:8: Professional Values
Explore Personal Values Exercise –
17 Effective Leadership Activities and Games (That Work Online Too) | SessionLab
Course 6:11- Grow Influence
Read more at: https://www.scienceofpeople.com/increase-influence/
Top 3 Books on Influence:
*Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
*How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
*Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People by Vanessa Van Edwards
Course 6:12 – Body Language
Body Language | Science of People
https://www.scienceofpeople.com/category/body-language/
Truth and Lies Exercise: https://www.workamajig.com/blog/team-building-activities
Measuring Success:
We must use quality metrics to successfully measure the success of this program. Measures should be established and used on a regular basis at this point in the program to determine whether the program is meeting its objectives. What KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) have you implemented to track your progress?
How is your company incorporating them into your daily operations?
Once you understand where you are, you can make the necessary changes to move forward.
Program Benefits
Marketing
- Customer experience
- Sales support
- Effective communication
- Positioning power
- Market growth
- Increased ROI
- Increased productivity
- Competitive advantage
- Improved image
- Accelerated growth
- Cutting edge
Management
- Increased collaboration
- Leadership excellence
- Improved communication
- Happier team
- Empowered employees
- Positive environment
- Innovation
- Augmented skills
- Valued skills
- Increased productivity
- Increased engagement
Human resources
- Improved culture
- Happier workplace
- Greater retention
- High-impact teams
- Growth mindset
- Increased engagement
- Improved management
- Leadership excellence
- Improved skills
- Strong Communication
- Empowered employees
Client Telephone Conference (CTC)
If you have any questions or if you would like to arrange a Client Telephone Conference (CTC) to discuss this particular Unique Consulting Service Proposition (UCSP) in more detail, please CLICK HERE.