» Short pieces

I know I go on a bit at times! Each short piece is strictly restricted to 300 words, and each is about a single key topic in the worlds of emotional intelligence or work or both. In time, there will be dozens, if not hundreds, of short pieces.

See also What does it all mean? for brief definitions of terms.

The titles are named for Krzysztof Kieślowski, who directed a couple of excellent films in the eighties with the name, A short film about…

Short pieces

A short piece about the strength of business relationships

In his book, Business by referral, Ivan Misner identifies three levels of networking relationship, defined by their strength: visibility, credibility, profitability.

A short piece about telling stories well

Here are some tips to productive story telling as part of your promotional activities.

A short piece about telling stories

Stories are memorable in ways that dry factual statements aren’t, particularly when you need to remembered in a crowd and other people are listening to other people telling

A short piece about being «good enough»

When I encounter resistance to this phrase (which is surprisingly often) it is usually, I feel, because people misunderstand it. It’s almost as if they think it means “not

A short piece about perfectionism

Perfection is actually a way the mind has of stopping us moving forward. “I can’t take the next step because I haven’t done this one perfectly yet”.

A short piece about finding out what the prospect actually needs

1 You need to adopt a coaching approach to finding out what the prospect really needs. You don’t have to be a coach, but you need to ask the sort of questions a coach would.

A short piece about selling

Don't! Many people confuse “sell” with “get client” (or “convert prospect to client”).

A short piece about business coaching and mentoring

This piece is about what you do and do not get from business coaching and mentoring.

A short piece about the «facilitating environment»

Creating a “facilitating environment” is a key component of leadership. And, as I suggest leadership is an approach, an attitude, rather than a job description, it is

A (very) short piece about the stages of a work relationship

The five stages of a business relationship

A short piece about the principles of networking

These ten principles of networking (particularly aimed at startup businesses) have been developed from thirteen years of networking, coaching and teaching about networking and

A short piece about elevator pitches

The idea of an ‘elevator pitch’ is that you get into a lift (elevator) only to find that inside is the very person whom you need to persuade to help your business. What do you

A short piece about intention

Having previously said that I don’t recommend having expectations, it may seem perverse that I am suggesting that intentions are fine. But these really aren’t the same thing.

A short piece about (un)conscious (in)competence

A useful model of how we learn. It applies to any other skill in which there is a strong behavioural component which is also restricted in the choices of behaviour possible.

A short piece about judgement

When we judge someone we apply a label to them that is very hard for them to remove. Our judgments are often ill informed—or at least under-informed—and we naturally fill in

A short piece about the precepts and principles of leadership

Here are precepts and principles of leadership which we find are the most useful

A short piece about what managers who are leaders do

Leaders differentiate themselves from others in four ways. It is important to see that these people are leaders not because they behave in this way: they behave in this way

A short piece about being right

Being right can be a big problem for people in charge—and indeed for people whose quality of service relies on their capacity to give good advice: accountants, financial

A short piece about scarcity models

A scarcity model—as opposed to an abundance model—is a belief that there is not enough happiness, not enough recognition, not enough love, not enough money, not enough work,

A short piece about anger

We get angry—for example, if a stranger attacks my child—and it is a visceral, instinctive response. If I am still angry about the situation two hours later, or two years

A short piece about how we interpret communication

The meaning of a message is what the recipient makes of it... The outcome of any communication is what we intend it to be

A short piece about the comfort zone

It is a natural behavioural strategy to avoid situations which are stressful or have the potential to be stressful. Of course, one person’s stressor [condition which causes

A short piece about being assertive

Being assertive means respecting yourself and other people; seeing people as equal to you, not better than you or less important than you. The goal of assertive behaviour is

A short piece about being the change you want to see in the world

Attributed to Gandhi, Be the change you want to see in the world encapsulates the idea of responsibility. If, as a leader, we see that something is needed in our business or

A short piece about how we process information

In 1928, Carl Jung identified that people receive and process information in four ways: thinking, feeling, intuition (which I refer to as ‘knowing’ because that’s the word

A short piece about fear

In 1987, Susan Jeffers published her book, Feel the fear and do it anyway. Such a good title. Indeed, such a good title that you don’t really need to read the book: it is

A short piece about dealing with difficult people

In a webpage that I will elaborate and extend any day now, I give no fewer than thirty tips for dealing with difficult people. However, the three top ones are:

A short piece about dealing with one’s expectations

We have expectations about our experiences, and expectations of others and ourself. In all cases, we have a (hidden) demand that we, things, life, or other people should be

A short piece about nature versus nurture

One still comes across, with depressing frequency, articles which ask whether nature or nurture is responsible for a human trait. The writer posits some debate or argument

A short piece about expectations

Broadly there are three categories where we have expectations... Of course, some things, like family holidays, can be a letdown for all three reasons.

A short piece about why we behave the way we do

We invariably behave in a certain way at every moment in our lives for reasons. We might believe it is the right thing to do. We might feel that acting in this way will

A short piece about going to networking events

Before you go to a networking event, you need to find one that is worth going to. You need to know why you’re going—in other words, your purpose. You need to know what you

A short piece about your purpose

Whether it is a meeting, a conversation, a business, a job, a holiday—absolutely any human activity—it is worth asking: “What is the purpose of this meeting, conversation,

A short piece about emotional intelligence

IQ, or ‘conventional’ intelligence, is too narrow a concept with which to understand how and why people can be successful. It ignores essential personality, character,

A short piece about business networking events

There are many opportunities for business people and others to go to networking events. Whether these are any good, is a matter of opinion.

A short piece about well formed outcomes

If you are seeking to solve a problem, what do you want to have happen? A well formed outcome is one that is achievable and purposeful and which satisfies all the following

A short piece about problems

Whenever anybody tells me they have a problem, all I know at that moment is that that is not the problem.

A short piece about disputes

The problem with disputes in relationships is that they are never about what the people in dispute think the dispute is about.

A short piece about making the other person more important than you

This means : Think and feel about other people, behave towards other people as if they were more important than you.

A short piece about leadership

Leadership is an attitude. An approach to people. It’s a way of relating to other people which can be practised by everyone—not just "the boss".

Short pieces

Further reading