Social Media is about Relationships

“Social Media is not about technology, it is about the relationships you can form” Charlene Li, author of Groundswell. I had the privilege of having coffee with Charlene Li before she spoke to 400 people in IESE Business School’s Aula Magna in Barcelona at the HSM Social Media event.  Watch the video of our interview on the … Read more

Three Examples of Ice-Breaker Speeches

“Tell me about yourself?” How do you respond to this most simple of questions? This is the question that starts many friendships, job interviews, professional relationships and team experiences. However, in many cases… the way that we answer ruins the possibility of creating something great.  How do you answer this question? Andrew Dlugan provides an … Read more

Resources for Developing Relationships and Career Success Seminar

This is a central page with links to resources for participants in the IESE Business School Seminar: Developing Relationships and Career Management. Handouts: Career Management Survey Handout Further Discussion and Questions Networking Discussion Forum on my LinkedIn Group Articles on Networking Networking in Seven Simple Steps Nine habits to develop for Networking Success How to … Read more

How to Put People at Ease

How do you get someone who doesn’t know you to feel comfortable talking?  How do you create a welcoming impression? How another person perceives you is determined by a number of things you do before you speak. I have taken this list of steps from Keith Ferrazzi. Smile. It says, “I’m approachable.” Good eye contact. … Read more

Networking in Seven Simple Steps

This post was originally published at IESE Insight Business Knowledge Portal and is based on the longer technical note “Creating and Nurturing your Social Network: The Art of Building Long-term Mutually Beneficial Relationships” written by Fabrizio Ferraro and myself last year. Networking is like brushing your teeth. Networking is like brushing your teeth. Does it feel … Read more

Increasing connections is easy. Increasing connectedness is hard.

Just because you can measure it doesn’t mean it is more important. Quantity or Quality? More connections does not mean more connected.  Connected is a factor of quality and regularity over sheer quantity.  However, I do believe that there are ways that online can be a powerful amplified of connection. The danger is that humans … Read more

8 Disciplines of Leadership

I read Conversations on Leadership by Lan Liu when I was sitting in the IESE library recently.  He interviews some of the big thinkers and identifies 8 core disciplines of leadership. Connecting with People Learning from Failure Reflecting on Experience Thinking Deeply Storytelling Being a Teacher Knowing Yourself Becoming Yourself Further readingLan Liu is a … Read more

Upcoming Webinar: The 3 Networks of Successful Leaders

EO Core Value #4: Cool The Entrepreneurs’ Organisation (EO) will be hosting my webinar “The 3 Networks of Successful Leaders” on the 14th of October. Successful leaders build 3 carefully nurtured networks (Operational, Personal, and Strategic).  In these 30 minutes I will provide 7 simple tools to accelerate the building of your three networks. Dial … Read more

Get your customers to do your best marketing for you Part 1 of 4: Nobody talks about boring businesses

I recently listened to John Jantsch speak about his new book “The referral engine: Teaching your Business to Market itself“. This post is part of a series of 4 that provide the valuable insights that I drew from his words. The power of word of mouthJohn spends a lot of time out talking to small … Read more

A Recipe for Luck in Life

Are some people born lucky? Richard Wiseman, author of Quirkology, describes a number of psychological experiements that he has conducted to understand the role and roots of luck in people’s lives.  In each case, people were asked to self-evaluate their level of luck prior to the experiments, allowing Richard to create 2 groups – the … Read more