Posts Under: Personal Branding

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.


The Four Greatest Emotions of the Heart

April 19, 2010 Personal Branding 4 comments

What emotion is she displaying here? (Designed by Freepik)

As a fairly prosaic person who thinks more than he feels, I am not naturally given to bursts of extreme joy, anger or sorrow.

Adopting a rather Zen-like philosophy in life, I try to stick to the middle path. If a particularly contentious issue comes my way, I normally try to resolve it in the most amicable and least conflicting manner.


Lessons in Leadership from Don Quixote

March 22, 2009 Personal Branding 2 comments

Don Quixote Attacking The Windmill

Don Quixote Attacking The Windmill (source of image)

What could a short-sighted, slightly insane and fictitious “knight” from Spain teach us about leadership? Quite a bit apparently, especially if your heart for leadership has grown cold.

One of the greatest fictional works in the late 16th century by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote told the story of a seemingly deranged middle-aged retiree in his 50s who became obsessed with tales of knighthood, fantasy and chivalry.