CA Preethu Jayaprakash

Proud of her. She completed CA degree despite of so many barriers. A living example. CAs know how difficult it is to clear. Hats off. #Respect She is CA Preethu Jayaprakash. She is suffering from a rare genetic disease. Her brother was also suffering from the same, who passed away at the age of 16. She did her schooling and college from home as she wasn't able to go. Most of the times she was Hospitalized. I am so inspired. Her story gives me strength, I'm sure you will also feel the same. Nothing is impossible. Let's appreciate her in the comments. God bless her. Please like and share this post to inspire your connections. #JaiHind #JaiBharat #CA

Source: LinkedIn

Promotions Aren’t Just About Your Skills – They’re About Your Relationshipsby Amii Barnard-Bahn

Have you ever been told, despite hitting or even succeeding at your performance goals, that you “just aren’t ready” for a promotion?

I remember hearing those same words early in my career. It’s vague, frustrating feedback — and it isn’t actionable.

Most of us hit a point in our careers where the emphasis we’ve placed on accomplishing goals doesn’t return the same rewards. We’ve crossed an invisible line, and we usually don’t know it until there are repercussions.

After more than 20 years as a Fortune Global 50 executive and coach to the C-Suite, I can tell you that this type of feedback often means that you’ve spent too much time building your skills — and not enough time building relationships.

What can you do to set yourself up for success? Here are five actions you can take right now and throughout your career to strengthen your relationships and put you on the path to promotion.

1) Know what makes you great at your job — and share your gift with others.

To be considered for promotion, senior management needs to see you’re able to work well with others. After all, companies don’t succeed through individual effort; they achieve results through collective leadership.

Chances are there’s something special about the way you go about your work. Perhaps you think more strategically than others on your team, seeing trends and connecting seemingly unrelated pieces of information. Or maybe you’re a clear communicator, saying what needs to be said in a way that ensures everyone will hear it and take action.

To identify what sets you apart, ask yourself: What you are known for? What types of problems do people frequently come to you to help solve? Take that skill and find a friendly way to share your gift with others to build relationships and add value to the team. For example, if you’re good at presentations, offer to provide feedback on a colleague’s dry run before their next big meeting. Or host a brown bag roundtable on best tips for presenting to executive management, where your team members can share their top recommendations.

If you can start demonstrating this capability now, management will more easily think of you in a role with additional responsibility.

2) Understand how others see you — and shift your perspective from “me” to “we.”

As you grow in your career, find opportunities to get feedback on how you show up to others. This will help you become aware of behaviors that may be decreasing your effectiveness and avoid blind spots in self-awareness that can slow your career progress.

Let’s review a previous client of mine, Aaron, who was told by his boss that he “just wasn’t ready” for promotion despite consistently exceeding his goals.

When I interviewed his colleagues, I discovered that Aaron was being blocked for a promotion two levels up in his organization by an executive who believed Aaron “wasn’t a team player” due to the way he’d led a turnaround. Aaron had been handed the leadership of a highly tenured and underperforming team with a mandate to “fix it,” and he went to work like a steamroller, reengineering operations and successfully hitting goals. But his success came at the expense of several long-time employees leaving and slamming Aaron’s reputation on their way out. The executive with the power to promote Aaron now viewed him as a “lone wolf” achiever.

After Aaron and I worked together on how he achieves goals, he is now involving his team on strategy planning, listening more, and talking less — and the senior executive is noticing his shift from “me” to “we.

3) Mentor others to develop your leadership skills.

As the great Jack Welch said: “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”

You may not be managing a team yet, but your earliest opportunities to lead others could come from volunteering. We learn best when we are teaching others.

One easy way to do this: Reach out to a person outside your business unit that would welcome your help and commit to spending an hour with them once a month for a year to work on an issue they raise. A few years ago, I mentored a young woman who was brilliant — and painfully shy. From a different business unit, she approached me as a safe confidant. She recognized that her lack of assertiveness was impacting her ability to influence and be heard. Over a monthly coffee, we worked out an action plan with small behavior changes to increase her confidence and executive presence that really added up over time. She was ultimately promoted, and I enjoy following her continued success.

A bonus — when you help others, you’ll feel great, and they will thank you for it. I love receiving notes from former team members and colleagues about what they’re doing now and how our work together helped them. It’s one of the reasons I became an executive coach.

4) Learn how to work productively with personalities you find difficult.

Each of us has preferences in working and communication styles, and usually there are some people that we have greater difficulty working with than others. The earlier you can identify the specific personality characteristics that are challenging for you, the more time you have to develop strategies for working effectively with them.

This is important because until you do, history will repeat itself. The triggering traits will resurface in other colleagues. When you take accountability for getting along with coworkers of all types, you eliminate friction and make it easy for management to promote you.

Remember, too, that relationships change over time. People mature, get promoted, and go on to work for other companies. One day you may find yourself reporting to your frenemy. Or they may leave to go work for your dream company, where you’d love an introduction. Take the long view and invest in your relationships — even those that don’t come easily.

5) Set healthy boundaries in your work relationships.

It can be easy to fall into the trap of believing that extra hours will get you that promotion. However, to advance and take on more responsibility, it’s really not about saying yes to everything. Rather, know which things to say no to. Be judicious and diplomatic, and learn to delegate.

Some things you should say yes to: Volunteering for cross-functional task forces and other opportunities to broaden your network, learn new skills outside your comfort zone, and earn the support of other executives outside your direct reporting line.

But be intentional; aim for projects that are revenue-generating or strategic, such as those that will increase the efficiency and output of your organization. Avoid purely social ones (like the office party) or those that lack the necessary sponsorship to get off the ground. Start forming your diplomatic “no” skills early. Just because you may be more junior in seniority does not mean you need to take on everything that comes your way.

Once you’re consistently achieving results, your promotability comes down to relationships. If it’s clear to management that you attract followership among your colleagues and achieve results through others, the next time a promotion opens up, they’re likely to bet on you.

Source: HBR

Passionate Employees Become Quiet

When your most passionate employees become quiet, it’s a signal that something is out of alignment. People don’t lose their motivation and inspiration overnight; it’s always a combination of small and big things that creeps into the organization slowly and consistently over time. 

 Has the company moved away from its purpose and vision? Is there open and honest communication? Has the leadership stayed true to the values of the company? What about empathy? Does the leadership value empathy and recognize this as a critical aspect of their leadership? 

When you have a team passionate, inspired, and motivated to help the company achieve its vision while fulfilling its purpose, you must do everything in your power to ensure that this team keeps this vibe. Otherwise, you run the risk of pushing away great talent while settling for mediocrity.

#leadership #team #motivation #people #people #communication #inspiration Source: Leadership Net

The Man Behind Nirma Washing Powder

In the memory of his loving daughter, a doting father created an empire of Rs. 7000 Cr & brought his daughter's legacy to life.

Here's their incredible story 👇 👇

In 1969, Karsanbhai, the son of a small farmer, worked as a lab technician at the Gujarat Govt. Department of Mining and Geology.

Flexible work hours and job security in a government sector allowed Karsanbhai to explore his passion for Chemistry after job hours. He picked up a project to create a high-quality yet low-cost detergent powder.

This was when Hindustan Unilever Limited's Surf was a market monopoly. Surf was a luxury item, costing Rs. 13/ kg.

Karsanbhai started testing with soda ash, and after much trial & error, conjured a formula that would dominate the market.

After office hours, Karsanbhai cycled around the neighborhood, selling homemade detergent named after his daughter, Nirma, for Rs. 3/Kg. 

Karsanbhai had recently lost his daughter 'Nirupama' in a car accident and named the product after his daughter. His dream was to give his daughter good education and have a worldwide name. 

Therefore, he decided to make his daughter's name famous through Nirma washing powder and keep her immortal.

By the early '80s, Nirma conquered the market share in Gujarat. Seeing this potential, Karsanbhai left his government job to pursue it as a full-time venture.

Patel began working on the supply chain to sell Nirma across India.

But he noticed that retailers outside Gujarat were hesitant to sell it since buyers were unaware of its existence. This resulted in delayed payments, negative cash flow, and high losses to Patel.

To tackle this problem, Karsanbhai took a risky yet pivotal step.

He came out with a brilliant plan to push his idea to the market & promote his formula, followed by massive marketing campaigns - 

🎶"Hema, Rekha, Jaya aur Sushma sabki pasand Nirma"🎶

These ads challenged the stereotype of the average Indian middle-class woman, who was formerly just concerned with the household responsibilities but is now confident, glamorous, and ready to face any challenge.

Enticed by the ads, customers flocked to stores. As the demand for Nirma peaked, Karsanbhai flooded the market with his formula, resulting in record-breaking sales.

By the end of 1988, Nirma had a whopping 60% market share and significantly outsold HUL's Surf in sales!

Today, Nirma employs over 18K+ people & is available even in the remotest areas of India.

Karsanbhai's vision to transform India through the establishment of Nirma Institute of Tech, Nirma Ed. & Research Foundation and other institutions further show how revolutionary Nirma is!

Dealing with Different Personalities

‘Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom’ ~ Victor Frankl

There are five basic ways that people behave when they respond to conflict:

• Forcing
• Accommodating
• Avoiding
• Compromising
• Cooperating

Your style may change depending on the situation you find yourself in or on the intensity of the conflict. It’s no use to judge people for their particular style. However you will find that some styles deal more constructively with conflict than others and that the consequences for your relationship with the other person and for your relationship with yourself differ per style.

The styles are linked to animals and even though we commonly use more than one style, we tend to have a dominant one.

Forcing (Shark)

If you have a forcing style you see conflict as a competition, complete with winners and losers. And because of your competitive nature, you definitely want to be on the winning side. You concentrate on your own needs and are less concerned with the needs of others. In this style you decide to go for the ‘I Win - You Lose’ option.

Your communication style will come across as aggressive and intimidating. People see you as someone with little or no respect for others.

The advantage of this conflict style is that you get what you want in a quick and easy way and it is clear for everyone who is in charge.

However the price you pay is a damaged or destroyed relationship. The other person whose needs are not met will be upset, even if they do not share this with you. They likely will hold a grudge against you, and this will fester.

People can build and hold resentment over a long period of time. However, and maybe when you will least expect it, the grudge bearer will pay you back by undermining you in subtle ways, or confronting you openly when triggered.

So your ‘I Win - You Lose’ approach can be counterproductive.

Accommodating (Teddy Bear)

If you have an accommodating style when confronted with conflict, you perceive conflict as an uncomfortable situation that needs to be resolved in a peaceful way as quickly as possible. Because conflict distresses you, you will do anything in your power to make it disappear. You have little desire to win the conflict; in fact you would rather give in than make a big fuss so that everyone can move on and go back to business as usual.

In this style you opt for the ‘You Win - I Lose’ option.

Your communication style will come across as diplomatic and friendly; you won’t ruffle any feathers. People see you as a people pleaser who goes along with the suggestions and needs of others.

The advantage of this style is that any conflict in your life is solved quickly. Also, by letting go of your own needs you don’t have to engage in difficult and painful conversations with others. You find it important to be liked by others and as long as they get their way they will like you. The relationships you have with others remain intact and all seems well – on the surface that is. 

The disadvantage is that by focusing on the needs of others you ignore your own. The price you pay is that you feel bad about not standing up for yourself. You basically sacrifice your own needs for the sake of harmony with the people around you.

Resenting yourself affects your self-esteem over time. Your failure to express your needs eats away at you and causes stress. You may feel that people use you and walk all over you. In addition, your relationships remain superficial because you don’t tell people what is important for you.

This style can therefore be quite harmful for your own wellbeing.

Avoiding (Turtle)

If you have an avoiding style when confronted with conflict, you actually don’t want to know about the conflict at all. In fact you hope that by ignoring the conflict it may just go away. So you pretend that there is no conflict by withdrawing, walking away or delaying any discussion and saying to yourself: ‘What conflict?’ You think that by being silent you can save the relationship.

By using this style you opt for an ‘I Lose, You Lose’ situation.

Your communication is virtually non-existent. You don’t talk and refrain from expressing your needs or discussing the other person’s needs.

The advantage of this style is that you fool yourself for a while into the belief that there is no conflict.

The disadvantage is that it is frustrating for everyone involved. By not engaging with each other nobody’s needs are expressed or met; neither your own needs nor the needs of the other person. The result of such non-communication is that the already shallow relationship suffers a serious break-down.

In this situation all parties miss out. Not just you but also the other person as it is frustrating for them not to have an opportunity to clarify issues and talk about needs, no matter how hard they try.

As for you, you know deep down inside that avoiding the conflict does not make it magically disappear. Like the accommodator you will feel bad about not being able to stand up for yourself and express your needs. This will have a negative impact on your self-esteem and self-worth and you worry that people may perceive you as weak.

So this ‘I Lose – You Lose’ approach is disadvantageous for all involved.

Compromising (Fox)

If you have a compromising style you do acknowledge conflict and you are keen to solve it, sooner rather than later. You believe that in every conflict people have to give and take a bit. If the parties can meet halfway you can all agree and move on while the relationship remains intact. Because of your eagerness to find a quick solution you look for different options and trade-offs that can be used to satisfy all.

This style’s slogan is ‘I Win Some - I Lose Some / You Win Some – You Lose Some,’

Your communication style is fairly shallow because you don’t truly connect with the other person as you are so focused on finding solutions. So there is no clarification about your own needs and the needs of others.

The advantage of this style is that you solve the conflict in a relatively quick process:   there is a conflict, people come together, meet each other half way, give a bit and take a bit, find an agreement and get on with their lives.

The disadvantage however is that although it may look as though the conflict has been resolved, in the end neither party actually knows what the other party needs. Another disadvantage is that nobody got what they need and each has settled for less than what they hoped for. So in fact there are winners and losers on both sides.

So this ‘I Win Some and I Lose Some – You Win Some and You Lose Some’ approach can be disadvantageous for all involved.

Cooperating (Owl)

If you have a cooperating style you see conflict as an opportunity to clarify issues, to learn from each other and to grow as an individual. It is important for you to not only explain where you are coming from and what your issues are, but also to fully understand what is vital for the other person. You prefer an open and honest conversation so everyone’s needs are integrated. The relationship is important and you wish for a win-win outcome for everyone.

You opt for an ‘I Win – You Win’ approach.

As a co-operator your communication style is assertive and open. You are not afraid to stand up for yourself and your needs in a respectful way and at the same time you are willing to respectfully listen to the other person and their needs.

The advantage of this style is that it is beneficial for relationships as parties respect each other and all needs are equally valued. The open and honest communication allows both parties to gain a better understanding of all issues at play.

The disadvantage is that it can take a long time to discuss all issues. Also some people may misconstrue your consulting approach as that of a ‘weak’ leader who can’t make decisions..

Summary

There should be no judgment about the different conflict styles, they simply are. It may not come as a surprise that the cooperating conflict style is preferred. However it is not always appropriate or feasible to use this style and there is a time and a place for each conflict style.

For example, in case of an emergency there is a need for a forcing approach to conflict. In some circumstances it is best to avoid conflict altogether, or to accommodate people. Furthermore in some situations a compromise is the most feasible solution.

It is essential to recognise and understand the different conflict styles and their consequences. The style you choose has certain consequences for your relationships and your self-worth.

When you know your dominant style it may be worthwhile at times to move out of your comfort zone and adapt your style to avoid escalation of the conflict or to handle it more efficiently.

Equally if you recognise the style of the other person you may be able to adapt your strategy how to deal with the conflict.

This is an amended extract of  book Dealing with Conflict at Work (You can download the kindle version via Amazon)

SOME SOCIAL RULES THAT MAY HELP YOU:

SOME SOCIAL RULES THAT MAY HELP YOU:

1. Don’t call someone more than twice continuously. If they don’t pick up your call, presume they have something important to attend to;

2. Return money that you have borrowed even before the person that borrowed you remember or ask for it. It shows your integrity and character. Same goes with umbrellas, pens and lunch boxes.

3. Never order the expensive dish on the menu when someone is giving you a lunch/dinner.

4. Don’t ask awkward questions like ‘Oh so you aren’t married yet?’ Or ‘Don’t you have kids’ or ‘Why didn’t you buy a house?’ Or why don't you buy a car? For God’s sake it isn’t your problem;

5. Always open the door for the person coming behind you. It doesn’t matter if it is a guy or a girl, senior or junior. You don’t grow small by treating someone well in public;

6. If you take a taxi with a friend and he/she pays now, try paying next time;

7. Respect different shades of opinions. Remember what's 6 to you will appear 9 to someone facing you. Besides, second opinion is good for an alternative;

8. Never interrupt people talking. Allow them to pour it out. As they say, hear them all and filter them all;

9. If you tease someone, and they don’t seem to enjoy it, stop it and never do it again. It encourages one to do more and it shows how appreciative you're;

10. Say “thank you” when someone is helping you.

11. Praise publicly. Criticize privately;

12. There’s almost never a reason to comment on someone’s weight. Just say, “You look fantastic.” If they want to talk about losing weight, they will;

13. When someone shows you a photo on their phone, don’t swipe left or right. You never know what’s next;

14. If a colleague tells you they have a doctors' appointment, don’t ask what it’s for, just say "I hope you’re okay". Don’t put them in the uncomfortable position of having to tell you their personal illness. If they want you to know, they'll do so without your inquisitiveness;

15. Treat the cleaner with the same respect as the CEO. Nobody is impressed at how rude you can treat someone below you but people will notice if you treat them with respect;

16. If a person is speaking directly to you, staring at your phone is rude;

17. Never give advice until you’re asked;

18. When meeting someone after a long time, unless they want to talk about it, don’t ask them their age and salary;

19. Mind your business unless anything involves you directly - just stay out of it;

20. Remove your sunglasses if you are talking to anyone in the street. It is a sign of respect. Moreso, eye contact is as important as your speech; and

21. Never talk about your riches in the midst of the poor. Similarly, don't talk about your children in the midst of the barren.

22.After reading a good message try to say "Thanks for the message".

APPRECIATION remains the easiest way of getting what you don't have....

Book Summary - Ichie Go Ichie

Don't read just for sake of reading. IT'S MUCH MORE!!

This book will help you in every way, everyday: especially during these days when people are constantly complaining about everything. Read the book and you'll learn to value these moments too. Ichigo Ichie 🖤

Ichigo Ichie is a japanese concept meaning 'once, a meeting', also 'In this moment, an opportunity'. The moment which will never come again. This concept was started through Wabi-Cha , a tea ceremony introduced by a tea master Yamanoue Soji in 1558. Many other concepts in Japanese culture are connected to an Ichigo Ichie experience.

Here are the 10 principles that sum up this Japanese philosophy: 

1) Don't postpone special moments. Each opportunity presents itself only once. If you don't embrace it, it's lost forever. Life is a question of now or never.

2) Live as if this were going to happen only once in your life. That's why it's inspiring to greet and say goodbye to our loved ones with "Ichigo ichie," to make us aware of the unique and once-in-a-lifetime nature of each meeting.

3) Dwell in the present. Journeys into the past and the future are often painful and nearly always useless. You can't change what happened. You can't know what will happen. But here in this moment, all the possibilities in the world are alive.

4) Do something you've never done before. As Einstein said, you can't do the same thing over and over and expect different results. Another way of achieving an unforgettable moment is by giving yourself over and allowing something new to blossom inside you.

5) Practice seated meditation. You can sit on a meditation cushion or just sit down and observe the miracle of life. The simple fact of stepping away from the daily whirlwind of hurry and obligations will open the doors to well-being.

6) Apply mindfulness to your five senses. Train yourself in the art of listening, watching, touching, tasting, and smelling to give each moment the richness of human perception. This will also allow you to be more alert to others and increase your level of empathy and influence.

7) Notice coincidences. Being aware of coincidences helps us get better at reading signs sent by the universe. A journal in which we keep notes of these moments of daily magic will increase our ability to follow the invisible threads of reality.

8) Make every gathering a party. Don't wait for the right circumstances—a vacation, a trip, a birthday—to experience extraordinary things. With the right frame of mind, every day can be a celebration.

9) If you don't like what there is, make something different. Human beings are transformative by nature and have the power to reinvent themselves as many times as it takes. If your reality is too dull and predictable to live with ichigo ichie, you have the opportunity to create another.

10) Be a hunter of special moments. As with any activity, the more you practice, the better and more abundant the results will be.

Book Review : Ikigai

Ikigai means "Life to be worthwhile" or 

"Purposeful Life" 

Japan has highest life expectancy in world and a region named Okinawa in Japan even have higher life expectancy than national average. There is a town in Okinawa named Ogimi also known as Village of longevity where if someone has 80yr of age then people will say ये तो बच्चा है अभी 😂 because touching 100 is norm there and this book Ikigai study lifestyle of people of Japan/Okinawa/Ogimi 

So why they live longer 🤔.. and one thing that is common is they have purpose in their life 😀, they have found their ikigai which give meaning to their life. Although there are other factors too but finding life's ikigai is most important. 🤗.. 

Book includes interview of people who have age of 100yr or more and that part of book is very beautiful. Those rich minds give very basic advises about life which help them in living longer...

• Most Important :- Find something which you love doing.. whatever it is... This is secret of long life, doing things you love... that is your ikigai 😍

• Stay close to nature 

• socialize with people whom you love or who loves you👥👫

• always eat 80% of hunger 🍝

• never retire in your life even if you have retired professionally 🕺🕺

• keep smiling 🤣🤣

• eat vegetable🍇🍈

• keep moving/exercise because sedentary lifestyle accelerate aging process. 🏃🏃

• 1 day fasting in a week

• 1 day detox in a week from SocialMedia/Smartphone

and finally a beautiful quote from book that sums up all ... 

"Life is not a problem to be solved. Just remember to have something that keeps you busy doing what you love while being surrounding by the people who loves you" 

just enjoy your day & keep smiling  and one beautiful thing about future is.. it comes one day at a time.. so enjoy the day.... 

 

Further a book never disappoints like Bhai (बोलो राधे राधे 🤣🤣🤣)...

#ikigaibook #ikigai #reading #knowledgesharing

Note: Please understand the fact that reading a book summary is not a replacement for reading the book. This is just my version of understanding the book. By making this summary, I want to encourage you to read this book.

https://amzn.to/3KpGesY

Goal setting- Seven-Step Process

The Seven-Step Process There is a simple seven-step process that you can use for setting and achieving your goals for the rest of your life. It is powerful, proven, and practical. 

1. Decide exactly what you want. Be specific. Don’t make the mistake of saying things like, “I want to be rich. I want to be happier. I want to be healthy. I want to travel.” These are not goals. These are wishes, illusions, and fantasies. A goal is something that is clear and specific. 

2. Write it down. Only 3 percent of adults have written goals with clear plans to accomplish them. These people earn, on average, ten times as much as people without written goals and plans. 

3. Set a deadline. Determine a specific date for when you wish to achieve your goal. If it is a big enough goal, set sub-deadlines. 

4. Make a list. Write down everything you can think of that you can possibly do to achieve your goal, and keep adding to the list until the list is complete. 

5. Organize the list. Create a checklist of the things you need to do, and in the specific order that they need to be done. What do you need to do first? Second? Third? And so on. A list of activities organized into a checklist becomes a plan of action.

 6. Take action on your plan. Do something. Do anything. But take action immediately. Taking the first step is the most difficult step. The hardest job, it’s said, is the one on which you never get started. 

7. Do something every day on your most important goal. Do something seven days a week, thirty days a month. Never let a day go by where you don’t do something that moves you at least one step forward toward something that is important to you.

4 tips for communication

Do you provide context to team members? Don't leave them half-armed. Here are four super-practical strategies that will take communication with your team up a few notches!⁣⁣

⁣⁣

1️⃣Think clearly, then speak clearly.⁣⁣

Give context by sharing your "big picture vision". What results do you want to see - and when?⁣⁣

⁣⁣

2️⃣Know yourself.⁣⁣

What's your Unique Ability? How do you like to receive communication from others?⁣⁣

⁣⁣

3️⃣Know your team members.⁣⁣

Ask what THEY need in order to do their best work.⁣⁣

⁣⁣

4️⃣Know when NOT to communicate.⁣⁣

When you're feeling tired, anxious, or stressed, be especially careful about how you communicate.⁣

.⁣

.⁣

#StrategicCoach #Communication #Teamwork #TeamMembers #DanSullivan

Source: post of StrategicCoach

The Art of Closing the Sale by Brian Tracy (Book Summary)

Closing the sale has always been the most difficult part of selling. Thankfully, Brian Tracy, author of the best-selling “The Psychology of Selling”, wrote another insightful book. In this book, he provides a step-by-step guide on how you can improve your outlook as a salesperson, and apply some of the most effective closing techniques today.

CHAPTER 1: DEVELOPING A POWERFUL SALES PERSONALITY

Becoming excellent in closing sales begins within you. In sales, your personality is more important than your product knowledge, sales skills and product/service that you are selling.

In fact, your personality determines fully 80% of your sales success.

Top salespeople have high levels of self-confidence and self-esteem. Without self-confidence, it is almost impossible to be successful in selling and you will tend to come up with every excuse to avoid talking to prospects or taking any action where there is a possibility for failure or rejection.

There is a 1:1 relationship between being and becoming an excellent person and high levels of self-esteem. The rule is that you can never like or love anyone else more than you like yourself. So don’t expect anyone else to like you more than you like yourself.

How you feel about yourself is the single most important determinant of the quality of all your relationships, both personal and business.

Take Charge of Your Life

The biggest mistake you can make is to ever think that you work for anyone but yourself.

From the time you take your first job until the day you retire, you are self-employed.

You are the president of your own entrepreneurial corporation, selling your services into the marketplace at the highest price possible.

You have only one employee—yourself. Your job is to sell the highest quality and quantity of your services throughout your working life.

So be aggressive about learning and training. Take all the training you can get. and keep on upgrading your knowledge.

Every new skill you learn is an investment in your own future.

Develop Empathy and Understanding

Top salespeople also have high levels of empathy, i.e., they really

care about their customers.

Ambition, the desire to achieve, combined with empathy, the genuine caring for the well-being of

your customers are the twin keys to top sales performance.

The very best way to express and practice empathy with a customer, or with anyone else, is to ask questions and listen intently to the answers. Dominate the listening, rather than the talking.

Be Honest All The Time

Top-selling salespeople are impeccably honest with themselves and with others. There is no substitute for honesty in selling.

When you are completely honest with yourself and you practice the quality of empathy with others, you like yourself more, and your customers will, in turn, like and accept you.

The Magic Questions

There are two great questions that you can use to accelerate your growth toward high income in sales:

What did I do right?

This question keeps you focused on the best parts of your performance. Even if the sales call was a complete failure, there were certain things that you did correctly.

You keep yourself continually focused on the best elements of your sales activities. By reviewing these activities immediately after a sales call, you program them into your subconscious and create a predisposition to repeat these positive behaviors at your next sales call.

What would I do differently?

This question forces you to think about the positive things that you could do to improve your performance in a similar situation. Even if the sales call has been completely successful, there were still things that you could do differently in the future to make it even better.

The advantage of these two questions is that the answers to both of them are positive. Force yourself to review and mentally rehearse the very greatest ingredients of your performance. Then, the next time you are in a similar situation, your subconscious mind will pass them back up to you and make them available to you for the sales call.

The 100 Call Method

For every new sales job, you should make an effort to have 100 calls and face to face interactions as soon as possible. But put the idea of selling aside for the meantime and only focus on speaking to 100 people.

By dedicating yourself to seeing 100 people and listening to their questions and objections, you will learn more about how to sell your product.

Moreover, since you are making no effort to sell, you will make sales almost without effort. Your energy and confidence will increase with each call you make. You become more calm and comfortable towards your customers, and in return, they will feel the same way about you. They will like you and most likely buy from you.

Source: https://www.theinvestorspodcast.com/blog/the-art-of-closing-the-sale-book-summary/