Week of September 26, 2016

” ‘This time, it’s different’ are the four most expensive words in the English Language.”

Ludwig Von Mises
Economist, Leader of the Austrian School of Economics
1881-1973

PRE-suade before you PER-suade

“What’s well begun is half done” advised the Roman poet Horace. That certainly
applies to our attempts to persuade others to our point of view. However, most of us are so concerned with “closing the deal” that we neglect the art of “opening” it in a way that will serve our ends.

Dr. Robert Cialdini became famous as the author of “Influence,” a book that explained in laymen’s terms the compelling research regarding getting others to agree to your proposals. That book alone would increase your odds of getting your way; but if you’d like even more an edge, check out his new book “Pre-Suasion” in which he makes the case that what we do before attempting to persuade is as important as the act of persuading itself.

For an interesting summary of his book, check out this 8 minute video interview on PBS “Newshour” with Dr. Cialdini (and make sure your sales team watches it too!).

Authority vs. Autonomy

If leadership were easy, the world would be full of leaders. But it isn’t …..and one reason is that many leaders desire authority but the followers want autonomy, and both fail to manage the tension between them and the implications of picking a particular style.

Understanding and coping with this tension is essential to good leadership. The graphic shown below is from the Australian Leadership Foundation and does a neat job of placing various leadership styles in a matrix determined by authority and autonomy and the expected effects on efficiency (time and output) and engagement (team and ownership).

Which style is yours…and is it working for you?

Meeting Survival Tricks

We’ve all been in meetings where our bodies were in the room but our minds were someplace else (on vacation, the weekend, playing CandyCrush, anywhere but here…). Here’s a few tricks to save yourself if you get caught…and to know when your team is using them on you!

Econ Recon

“Crisis? What Crisis?” Late last June the voters of the UK unexpectedly voted to leave the European Union. Many predicted that the “Brexit” vote would sink the island nation. It is happening? Alan and Brian Beaulieu of ITR Economics serve up the facts as to where the UK (and the US) are headed (Hint: It’s not DOWN).

A Glass Half Empty: The economy has produced mixed signals of late. Economist Brian Wesbury takes a hard look at the data and remains optimistic….but cautiously so. Find out in this one page recap why he thinks the glass is half empty