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… from emotional intelligence at work

Newsletter 15 : 23 april 2009

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Greetings
Welcome to our newsletter, particularly if you’re a new subscriber. Our policy is to offer a change from other newsletters which do demand an awful lot of reading…

Issue of the week

“I… love my work. I am proud of the results I deliver,… [but] I keep falling out with clients. This has led to feedback that I can be too aggressive, argumentative or forceful. I have accepted that I can sometimes push a little too hard for things to be done a certain way, but am finding it a real challenge keeping this impulse in check.

I do not cause difficulty for the sake of it; I am doing it because I am passionate about delivering the best results. The easier route would be to do what the client says, whether it works or not, and take the money. I could never do this. But I’m worried that if I don’t change my approach I am going to get into trouble, or worse.”

Once more, we look to the Guardian’s Dear Jeremy (no relation) column. This time a particularly relevant question. What’s going on here? How can the questioner convince his clients that his ‘difficult’ path is the right one? Or, is it right? If not, why not – is his description of the alternative to his approach the only one? What would you advise?

Trainers of the week

Here at emotional intelligence at work, we believe that relationships are at the heart of business. Good business relationships mean good business. This attitude is equally applicable to the process of getting clients. The Referral Institute teaches proven techniques by which businesses can generate streams of clients through a set of referral relationships with trusted advocates. What sets the RI apart is the detail of its approach. So confident are they of it that they offer a money back guarantee (if that’s the sort of thing that interests). Whatever. As they say, “To grow your business, it isn’t necessarily what you know, but who you know… You can have the best product or service out there, but if no one knows about it, you can’t expect your business to grow on its own. That’s why it is so important for any business to develop and maintain a strong network of professionals who can help spread the word about its products or services, and refer new customers to the business.”

Video of the week

Do schools kill creativity? “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original”, Sir Ken Robinson’s funny and moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

Quotations of the week

When the sea is calm, everyone is a great sailor. It is only when the storms come that real leadership counts.
Old saying (apparently), quoted by René Carayol

If only we can give them faith that mountains can be moved, they will accept the illusion that mountains are moveable, and thus an illusion may become reality.
Benito Mussolini, on his strategy for motivating the masses. He was, of course, Italian fascist leader in the second world war, so no relevance now, then.

Leadership has a harder job to do than just choose sides. It must bring sides together
Jesse Jackson, American civil rights activist

First and last Google maps curiosity of the week

Atlantis?
No, but a strange underwater pattern off the coast of Spain, 100 miles across, 17,800 feet deep

Book of the week

Mind over mood
Dennis Greenberger and Christine Padesky

“Change how you feel by changing the way you think” it confidently asserts on the cover. It’s actually a mainstream book on cognitive therapy – the difference being that it’s a workbook, and we recommend it because people find it actually works. Useful for reducing stress, anxiety, depression and so on.

Contributions always gratefully received.

If you have been, thank you for reading this
Kay and Jeremy