Your negotiation strategy can make or break a deal. Learning negotiation tactics is key to becoming a more strategic negotiator. Over the years, I’ve learned some great negotiating techniques and tactics. I’d like to share them now. The Invisible Man The first is called The Invisible Man. You can use this technique when you’re in the heat of a deal and you don’t want to give an answer right now, or you don’t like the position that the other party is taking. Read the rest of this post at thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World ..read more

Depicting change—from projects evolving to shifts in perspective—adds depth and relatability to thought leadership content.  Today’s post is by Rhea Wessel, author of Write Like a Thought Leader. In thought leadership, storytelling is not just a tool—it’s a fundamental element that breathes life into ideas and concepts. One of the most compelling aspects of storytelling is the depiction of transformation. Whether it’s a project that evolves from inception to completion, or a shift in perspective brought on by a pivotal experience, transformation lies at the heart of engaging and impactfu ..read more

Learn about four of the most common obstacles to creating a high-performance culture and how to overcome them. You’ll face many common obstacles on your path to building a high-performance culture. Legacy culture issues, associates who resist the new culture, and processes or behaviors that don’t yet exist are going to slow you down. You need to work through these counter-culture moments and issues if you’re looking to change the overall culture of the organization.  Read the rest of this post at thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Rea ..read more

One of the first steps you can take to create a high-performing culture is to assess what is and isn’t working in your current culture. An assessment of your current culture gives you an understanding of the starting point for your journey toward building a high performance culture. This assessment includes evaluating what your current culture stands for, how people behave, and the incentives you have in place to drive behavior. Read the rest of this post at thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World ..read more

  Knowing the behaviors you want from your team and how they link to results is one of the keys to creating a strong culture. Leaders who create a strong culture of outstanding performance will find that performance strengthens their culture. By strengthening the culture, the likelihood of better results and performance increases. This is known as a virtuous circle. You need to be careful though—the dynamic works in the opposite direction as well. Read the rest of this post at thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World ..read more

Learn how to build and maintain your organization’s culture by studying these six components of high-performing cultures. A high-performing culture is one where people drive performance because of the right behaviors. They’ve embedded these behaviors in their everyday life. People in high-performing cultures require less supervision. They’re empowered to achieve goals that are consistent with the organization’s direction. As a leader, you need to understand how to build a high-performing culture and your responsibilities for making it happen. Read the rest of this post at thoughtLEADERS, LLC ..read more

  James Harold Webb shares his top three tips for becoming a successful business owner. Today’s guest post is by James Harold Webb, author of Redneck Resilience: A Country Boy’s Journey To Prosperity. Growing up poor in a rural community in the South, I learned early in life that if I wanted more than just food on the table and clothes on my back, I had to earn it myself. Read the rest of this post at thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World ..read more

It’s easy to neglect your core responsibilities as a leader when it involves having uncomfortable conversations. Learn how to develop a maxim to overcome uncomfortable situations. As a leader, one of your chief responsibilities is developing the members of your team. Great leaders build more leaders. You have to commit to their growth and create new opportunities for them to expand and learn new skills. That’s hard to do because for somebody to learn a new skill, you’re going to have to create an opportunity for them to do something they may not have done before. Read the rest of th ..read more

R. Barbara Gitenstein offers leaders ten pieces of advice for improving their organizational communication. Today’s guest post is by R. Barbara Gitenstein, author of Experience is the Angled Road: Memoir of an Academic. The famous line from the 1967 movie Cool Hand Luke seems to resonate with special urgency today. Today’s failure to communicate is most apparent in the public arena, but there are similar problems in the workplace. Read the rest of this post at thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World ..read more

Treating your people like individuals makes them feel seen and improves their performance. Learn how to develop a maxim for treating your team members as individuals.   No one wants to be treated like a faceless cog in the machine. We all want to be known as individuals. We want to feel like our wants and needs are important, especially to our leaders. The members of your team expect the same of you. Read the rest of this post at thoughtLEADERS, LLC: Leadership Training for the Real World ..read more