The Art of Listening vs. The Ignorance of Interrupting 72 Interruptions … Yes, count them! Vice Presidential Candidate Tim Kaine interrupted his opponent or the debate moderator 72 times in a 90 minute period. That’s once every 75 seconds! He wasn’t interested in debating, he had an agenda and he was driving it home. He…
Influencing Others: Outside-In or Inside-Out Your greatest ability to influence others comes from the fact that influencing others is not an outside-in job … it is an inside-out job! Before I explain why … answer the following questions and be brutally honest with yourself: In a conversation with another person, do you spend the majority…
“The single most important characteristic of any leader is self honesty; without it you can’t lead anyone.” Joe Contrera Recently I was interviewed by Dr. Mathew Norton of The Mindfluence Revolution on the topic of Leadership. If you’re interested in hearing the interview simply click here …. According to Joe Contrera, leadership is not a reward…
Bad Habits: Are You A Fixer Upper? A mentor of mine, Dr. Nido Qubein once told me … “Joe, be careful who you spend time with because that is who you will become.” There is another thought that says if you look at where you’ re spending your time and money … that is a…
Creating a Culture of Communication … Sow What? Poor Communication continues to be the single biggest factor that negatively impacts organizations. The sad thing is that it has been this way … for 100’s of years. Poor listening skills, failure to communicate important issues, misunderstandings, and improperly trained leaders, are just a few of the…
Leadership Vision … Does Your Vision Need Correction! Leadership Vision … how clearly do you really see? Poor vision typically results from one of these three causes: You may be nearsighted (the inability to see things clearly that are far away), farsighted (the inability to see things clearly that are close), or an astigmatism (a blurred…
“You are your greatest asset. Put your time, effort and money into training, grooming, and encouraging your greatest asset.” – Tom Hopkins. Sometimes it may be a mental leap to think of ourselves as our greatest asset. That said … here are a few questions to get us grooming our minds to think differently …
Non-verbal communication can be more powerful than a thousand words. Have you ever received “the look,” from a spouse, parent, teacher, colleague, or boss? Did you notice the feeling in the pit of your stomach or the clenching of your fists in response to that look or something they did?
A wise mentor once told me that in order to have success, I needed the ability to repeat the processes that were creating success in my business and my life. In other words … systems for success. This was difficult as I don’t naturally think in a process and procedure way. However, after he spoke, I realized that I needed systems in my life if I wanted to achieve a higher level of success.