In the late 1870s, A Dublin-based shoe company sent 2 salespeople from their head office to a new territory in rural Africa. The two salespeople, Willy and Jimmy, travelled out on boat, trains and foot to reach the rural African areas that was to be their new sales area. 2 months later, 2 telegrams arrived … Read more
Warren Buffett, when asked: “what is the biggest mistake you have made?” has an interesting answer. He says that he has taken many poor decisions in his life, but these errors are nothing in comparison to the decisions that he did not take. It is the investment opportunities that passed by and he didn’t pay … Read more
Michael asks “What should you do when you don’t know what to do?” In the times when he felt lost, out of his depth, uncertain, unsure whether he was the right person in the role… All the great moments of self-doubt that I know I share… His mentor’s answer? “Do the next right thing.” The … Read more
This is a guest post from Emily Matthews. Emily is currently applying to masters degree programs across the U.S., and loves to read about new research into health care, gender issues, and literature. She lives and writes in Seattle, Washington. Elvis and Self-Confidence Elvis Presley is a man who radiated sexuality and confidence. Early interviews … Read more
How should you listen to a speech? What is the most valuable attitude to develop as an audience member? Decide you are going to ask the first question at the end of the talk. Listen to the speaker and look for your question. There are three important benefits of asking the first question at … Read more
“Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.” Lao Tzu Soft Power is part of Leadership Soft Power is necessary … Read more
Experts get it wrong. The price we pay in trusting experts to take the important decisions for us is huge. We don’t like uncertainty. Experts give us a sense of certainty. I don’t know what to do with my savings. I go to a financial “expert”. He tells me what to do. I hand it … Read more
We know what to do to achieve what we want. We could make a list of the steps. We could do each of the steps. But we don’t. Some people do. But most don’t. I include myself. Why don’t we do what we know we need to do to achieve the things that we feel … Read more
I have prepared a series of short videos for my IESE courses this year. This is a 3 minute video outlining the 4 ways that you can handle anxiety or performance nerves. (The video is here on my blog). I spoke about the 4 ways of handling anxiety in a previous post 4 ways to … Read more
The nice people at Virgin Media Pioneers asked me for some thoughts (in video) on the need for entrepreneurs to be confident, or at least appear confident. “Authority is 20% given, 80% taken” Peter Ueberoth. Your confidence is a big part in getting others to treat you as a leader, to accept you as an authority. … Read more