I’ve been working with someone I’ll call Marco, a wealthy business owner and managing director who mentioned recently that he doesn’t really know how to send emails. When he meets people, he gives out the email address of his assistant. Or he directs customers and other contacts to the relevant directors within his own business.

He doesn’t know how to use Excel, PowerPoint or Word to create spreadsheets, presentations or … Read more

Having run a series of in-depth workshops with job hunters recently, I thought I would summarise three of the commonest mistakes that job hunters make when being interviewed.

1. Assuming that you can just turn up to an interview and ‘be yourself’
Some candidates think that they don’t need to prepare before interviews. And they are the ones who probably get rejected time after time.

Whenever I coach job hunters, … Read more

Imagine you’re trying to sell something that you own, something like an older computer, for example. Consider the two ways that you could phrase your request:

1. “I’ll offer you my computer for £600.”
2. “I’d like £600 for my computer.”

The two statements mean the same thing, right?

Yes, of course they do. Both imply that the buyer will get your computer in exchange for £600.

But it turns out that … Read more

Do you ever get into arguments? Perhaps you and someone at home don’t agree about who should do how much housework and when. Or you and a colleague disagree about the best way to tackle a new project.

Culled from psychological research, here are 5 straightforward tips to winning more arguments.

1. Check your emotional state
Strong emotions such as anger, sadness or excitement may impair your ability to negotiate. … Read more

The media has shown a great deal of interest in the content of my book How To Stand Out: Proven Tactics For Getting Noticed. I’ve been featured in The Times, The Sunday Times, The Daily Record as well as on TV and radio shows too.

But this was one of the more insightful interviews that I did.  Some of the highlights to take away from the video:… Read more

I think we can all agree that most workplaces are at least somewhat political.  It’s also true that some people get involved in politics in a nasty way: putting others down, spreading rumours, keeping secrets and so on.

But I have helped more than a few clients to discover that they can get ahead without doing anything underhand.  I suggest a change in mind-set.  Just think about two steps:

• Spending

Do you see the world as black-or-white or in shades of grey?

Some years ago, I did some research and discovered that shades of grey (SOG or ‘soggy’) thinking was associated with higher performance in the workplace. It helps people to be more persuasive. It may also help people to be more creative too. Separate research also suggests that people who engage in a lot of black-or-white, binary thinking may … Read more

It’s pretty much a fact that the cleverest, most skilled people don’t always get to the top. One of the key skills that helps people to succeed is being able to influence and persuade others.

So how persuasive are you? Are you genuinely assertive or perhaps a little too aggressive? Or are you insufficiently assertive and end up being taken advantage of by others?

Click the image below to bring … Read more