But I Don’t Know How to Network with People!
At a recent event, someone I hadn’t met before came up to me and asked me for advice on how to network. I was flattered that the person asked me. At the same time, I was puzzled. I asked him why he wanted my advice. He mentioned that he noticed how easy it seemed for me to meet people and start a conversation. He also mentioned that I looked calm, relaxed and sincerely interested in the person I was speaking with. That last comment really caught my attention and it’s something I hear often. Read more
Don’t Kid Yourself: Beware of the Chameleon Effect
You know what’s amazing? It’s the ability we all have to change our environment based upon our view of it. I’m not talking about any mysticism or hocus pocus, but a proven psychological ability that we as human beings have. It’s called the “Chameleon Effect”, also known as the “Pygmalion Effect” or the Rosenthal effect (after the researcher Robert Rosenthal who first studied it), it deals with our natural sense of value attribution and how it affects our lives. People tend to superimpose or imbue things with certain qualities or characteristics based on how they initially perceive them. Our initial impression of something or someone will lead us to view it in a way consistent with that impression.
On a crowded subway platform in Washington D.C., Joshua Bell (a Grammy Award-winning violinist who plays to sold-out crowds in symphonies around the world) pulled out his $3.5 million Stradivarius violin during morning rush hour, and
Thinking About the Customer Experience
“Think about the customer experience.” This is what one of my supervisor’s years back use to tell his team all the time. It has stuck with me since that time because it is such a simple yet powerful statement. Whether we work for ourselves in an entrepreneurship or work for someone else within a company, understanding the experience of our customer is key to being successful at what we do. Read more
