A Story of Influence
When it comes to influence one thing is certain. One’s ability to create and maintain a positive relationship is a must have skill. Without the ability to have a relationship with someone, there is absolutely no way to have influence. 
One can argue that power (through the manipulation of money and/or violence) can allow a person to have influence. I say that is simply not true influence but more so an investment and use of fear. If given the choice, a large number of leaders would prefer to use the power of influence over the power of fear in order to get things done.
It All Started with a Visit
A few years back I was visiting the headquarters of a very well-known international computer consulting firm. This particular firm serviced my company on many occasions and I was always happy with how their consultants handled my company’s requests. An acquaintance of mine, Larry, was one of the company’s management. While I was there, I noticed that many of the members of his team Read more
A New Perception Can Alter Your Reality
What are you doing right now? What are you thinking about at this moment? How do you perceive the challenges you’re facing today? If you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that you could change something for the better, would you go ahead and do it? The outcome of something is greatly influenced by the perception a person has towards it. Even though I may be beginning to sound like a Pollyanna at this moment, there is definitely some truth in the foolishness that some people take to be part of being a severe optimist. Perception is controllable and alterable.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, the word “perception” comes from the Latin words perceptio, percipio, and means “receiving, collecting, action of taking possession, apprehension with the mind or senses.”
In philosophy, and psychology, perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information. Perception is perhaps one of the oldest fields in psychology. The oldest quantitative law in psychology is the Weber-Fechner law, which quantifies the relationship between the intensity of physical stimuli and their perceptual effects. The study of perception gave rise to the Gestalt school of psychology, with its emphasis on holistic approach. Read more
Don’t Know Where You’re Going? It’s OK. Like it or Not…You’ll Get There Anyway!
How does it happen? You wake up one morning and you discover that you’re in a place you didn’t expect to find yourself. I’m not talking about any of those movie scenes where the character wakes up in a strange bed after a wild bachelor party, even though it’s happened to some in real life. What I’m talking about waking up one morning (or sitting in an office or doing some particular chore or job) and having a minor epiphany of your life. You discover, or rather yet remember that when you were younger you imagined yourself living another kind of lifestyle or doing something completely different than what you’re doing now. What happened? Why did you end up where you are right now and not where you thought you’d be? Read more
