Supplier Relationship Management

Thursday Thoughts on Thriving: What’s the Need?

In the workshop I give on negotiations, one of the topics I teach about is the power of understanding the other person’s (or other business’s) interests versus their position. What interest is driving them to take the position that they are taking? Many times their interest is driven by a basic human need. Next time you struggle to understand: “Why won’t they agree or even consider my perspective?” One of these needs may be at play: security, economic well […]

Thursday Thoughts on Thriving: How to Trade Words for More Thriving 2

One of the areas that I talk about in my coaching and negotiations workshops is the power of language and how switching a few words in your communications or thoughts can have a big impact on thriving. Here are some of my favorites: Instead of saying, “I don’t care” say, “I am not attached (to that opinion, that idea, etc…)” Shift your thinking from, “I have to….” to “I get to….” Rather than say, “You should do….” say, “What […]

Thursday Thoughts on Thriving: How Likable Are You?

Your ability to be likable can make a big difference in your thriving at work and at home. And this does not mean you are that guy that has no guts to say anything, goes along with whatever you say and then is passive aggressive later (you know he is more slippery than likable). I came across this article, “6 Habits of Remarkable Likable People” on INC’s web site and loved Jeff Haden’s points, especially about how to ask […]

Thursday Thoughts on Thriving: Negotiating with Escaping Elephants

In my prior “Hearts and Minds” post I explained the importance of understanding the emotional motivations for change along with the logical. In John Haidt’s book,” The Happiness Hypothesis” and he uses the great metaphor of an elephant for our emotional mind and the rider as the logical mind. Chip and Dan Heath  borrowed this metaphor from Haidt (with his permission) for their great book, “Switch: How to Change When Change is Hard.” I am referring to these resources […]

Revealing the Secrets of the Big Corporate Buyer

This is a special post to let you know that I’ll be giving a speech, “Growing Your Sales: Revealing the Secrets of the Big Corporate Buyer” on April 20, 2011 (next week)! One of my small “secrets” is to really do your homework on the business you are selling in to. “Well, duh, that is no secret!” you may be thinking. But sad to say, in my corporate buying experience I built up a level of disdain toward salespeople […]

Minimizing Obstacles on Your Path to Success

Let’s face it, obstacles happen. How you deal with and plan for those obstacles is what sets you or your business apart from the competition. Imagine this scenario, you are having a great morning, all goes well at home and you sail through the morning commute and arrive at your office. You are greeted with this message, “Our supplier’s Asian facility burnt down last night and all of our prototypes are destroyed; I don’t have any additional information but […]

Creating Strong Connections for Success with Less Stress

How are your relationships?  Both business and personal connections play a key role in navigating to success with less stress.  I credit my success at moving up the corporate ladder with cultivating strong connections as much or more as my working hard to perform well.  You can be the best at what you do and yet be unsuccessful due to your lack of strong relationships.  Having a healthy social life with strong connections has also been shown to have a direct correlation […]