What does it take to become an Optimal Sales Professional? What does this even mean? Think about sales people you know who are really at the top of their game on a consistent basis. What are some of their unique characteristics? Why does selling seem so easy and natural to them? The answer to this question lies in understanding the three contributing factors to optimal performance. Though this will be illustrated in the context of a sales professional, the same Read more »

Recent research conducted by Genos and Quantas Airlines suggests that sales people who demonstrate emotionally intelligent behavior have an edge. In this study it was shown that a group of 40 sales people out performed a comparable controlled group by 12% following their developmental experience with EI (Jennings and Palmer, 2007). So what does a salesperson do who demonstrates emotionally intelligent behavior?

The following is a sample of 4 skills and associated behaviors that can enhance any selling process.

1. Self Awareness

How you show up and present yourself (look, Read more »

Coaching skills provide a tremendous framework for improved communication and also inspire and implement the action necessary to achieve a desired result. In an effective manager / report relationship what would it take to make this interaction even better? How about a manger who demonstrates emotionally intelligent behavior working with a report who is highly motivated? This surely feels like “Coaching Utopia” with all the ingredients present for a successful outcome.

Of course you might be thinking that this is not realistic and rarely would you Read more »

Our perceptions about other people are very much influenced by availability of information or ease of access to it relative to that person. Whether it’s what we were exposed to growing up or the constant flow from the media, our brain becomes wired to deal with certain people based on these experiences and consequently we very often make some key decisions literally “without thinking”.

According to Dr. Mahzarin Banaji of Harvard University, it turns out that however fair-minded we like to think we are, we make snap judgments Read more »

Employee engagement is the collective level of intellectual and emotional commitment employees have toward their work and organization. More and more organizations are embracing this as a means to understanding how they measure up from an engagement perspective. Consequently many different types of tools and surveys are now being accessed to help create some objectivity as to how people feel about their work.

Once these surveys are undertaken and organizations wish to elevate their engagement score, three areas where significant developmental opportunities exist are:

Emotionally Intelligent Leaders

Do qualities Read more »

Through various research studies the inherent link between employee engagement and emotional intelligence has become quite accepted. However what is also emerging is that by placing the emphasis entirely on leadership demonstrating emotionally intelligent behavior in pursuit of the “engaged workforce”, an important element is being overlooked.

What about the “disengaged” employee? Are they influenced solely by how their manager behaves? Don’t they have their role to play in this as well? In addressing these questions it becomes apparent that the element that speaks to this missing link is Motivation.Read more »

1. Clear vision of the future

They have absolute clarity on where the business is heading even if unsure how and by when they will get there. They truly believe in the vision.

2. Big picture thinkers

They focus on what’s critical and allow others to manage the detail by clearly understanding the key drivers and associated success indicators. They do not micromanage.

3. Invest in their people

They see that a primary role for them is to ensure that people are performing at an optimum level. Talent management, from Read more »

Have you ever been at a meeting where there might be some tension which is contributing to a less than productive interaction?  Somebody has said the wrong thing or done something that exception is taken to and, before you know it, the meeting is going down hill rapidly.

What in fact has happened is that a stimulus, whether a word or action, has caused a drain in energy for many in the room and they become emotionally disconnected.  This manifests itself in a mood shift where people are no longer listening, not wanting to contribute and certainly not receptive to taking Read more »

According to the latest study by Genos, global specialists in the development and education of Emotional Intelligence (EI), the following has emerged:

“Leaders who demonstrate high levels of EI in the workplace drive higher levels of employee engagement as evidenced by the individual engagement levels of their direct reports.”

To those familiar with EI this comes as no surprise. But for those who may have perceived EI to this point as a “nice to have” or “soft skills” this should represent a real developmental opportunity for all Read more »

In a study by the Hay Group of Fortune 500 companies, it was suggested that Emotional Intelligence (EI) is twice as important as technical capacity in predicting outstanding employee performance and accounts for more than 85% of star performance in top leaders. This is a pretty startling revelation and points to the fundamental importance of understanding Emotional Intelligence and the impact it can positively have on an organization. Let’s look at how this skill set can actually play out in the two primary areas mentioned in the study.

Even though having a broad perspective on the various Read more »