Posts Under: Personal Branding

The Parable of the Pump

January 21, 2012 Personal Branding no comments

Zig Ziglar Parable of the Pump
Zig Ziglar (courtesy of Decisive Minds)

Zig Ziglar (Hilary Hinton) may be 85 years of age, but he sure packed a lot of punch in his speeches.

A highly respected motivational speaker grounded in Christian values, Zig is known for his fiery workshops and power-packed programmes focused on motivation, success and salesmanship. He is also a champion sales trainer, having mastered the art of selling.

In a recent podcast I listened to, Zig spoke about the story of the pump.


The Power of Visualisation

April 6, 2011 Personal Branding 1 comment

The Power of Visualisation

Courtesy of About Health

“Begin with the End in Mind”

That’s one of the immortal “7 Habits” created by the late motivational guru Stephen Covey as one of his cardinal 7 Habits of Successful People.

However, what happens if you keep imagining all the possible things that can go wrong in your minds? What sort of end would you have?


6 Lessons in Japanese Resilience

March 27, 2011 Personal Branding no comments

Japanese Resilience Tsunami 2011
Against the cataclysmic forces of Nature, few have responded as well as the Japanese (courtesy of Joseph Friedman)

Have you wondered what made the Japanese such a resilient and robust group of people? How do they overcome the challenges of living in one of the most disaster prone areas of the world?

Often, it is in the worst of times that you see the best in people. Nothing is more true than how the Japanese faced the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on the Northeast coast of Japan.


Giving and Getting the Right Signals

March 11, 2011 Personal Branding no comments

Giving and Getting the Right Signals

Reading the right diving signals can save your life (courtesy of A Nice Gesture)

What’s the similarity between body language, hour of the day, voice level, “weather”, and tone of email? Give up?

Well, they provide perceptual cues on how somebody is feeling and are useful in determining whether you should “go for the kill”, wait for another opportune moment, or adopt a different strategy altogether.


The Three Key Drivers of Motivation

February 11, 2011 Personal Branding 1 comment

daniel pink photo

Photo by Kris Krug

If you don’t already know it, paying people more money – at least beyond a certain point – will not result in better performance. In fact, the old carrot-and-stick approach to management is broken.

That’s what bestselling author and careerist Daniel Pink claims. According to the motivational speaker and writer, higher financial incentives only work for traditionally mechanistic roles – manufacturing tasks, book-keeping, software programming and the like.


Nothing Beats Sheer Hard Work

September 11, 2010 Personal Branding no comments


Thomas Edison worked endlessly to become the world’s greatest inventor, with a record 1,097 patents to his name (picture source)

There are no secret potion you can quaff for instant riches. Nor will that two day workshop bring you instant fame and glory.

Our world is full of shamans, witch-doctors, snake-oil salesmen and ‘gurus’ encouraging people to take short cuts to success. We are relentlessly bombarded with pitches to instant riches, fame and glory.