The 4 P's of Persuasion

Employees should understand marketing methods. The 4 P's of Persuasion is a framework to formulate persuasive written messages in a sales pitch or when pitching an idea.

The 4 P's are a method of written communication in marketing, advertising and corporate communication. They are a persuasive technique that stresses some critical points; to generate convincing, forceful, powerful, seductive and strong messages.

Three Keys to Success

Success is a goal for everyone and elusive for many. Your future, your family, and your employers are all depending upon you being successful. The interesting thing about success is that when we are successful, everyone around us benefits.

Another thing about success is that everyone has a different idea about what success looks like. What it means to be successful to me may not be the same thing to you. It is important to develop your own definition of success, then write it down. Let it become your personal missions statement.

What is Organizational Culture and Why is it important?

There have been many changes to organizations in the past couple of decades. Many organizations have not kept up with the changes and are operating like a Ford Model-T in an electric-hybrid consumer world. This is seen in the culture of an organization.

In Edgard Schein's book, "Organizational Culture and Leadership," he defines culture of groups as a pattern of shared assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaption and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to problems. In a later publication, he defines organizational culture as the basic tacit assumptions about how the world is and ought to be that a group of people are sharing and that determines their perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and their overt behavior.

Understanding Power

The essence of leadership is the use of power. Company leaders usually begin as regular employees and most employees eventually reach a place of leadership and power to some degree. It is important to understand from where power comes.

"Power" is a complex and elusive topic to understand. Power was once open and easily recognized. In the modern age, power is often nuanced, covert, and hidden. Good leader's use their power to make others and society a better place, but Lord Acton reminds us that power is easily corrupted. We should all be so lucky to work for servant leaders, but many leaders use their power to manipulate or force their subordinates to action.

It's a Thing! A Learning Organization!

"It's a thing" is a series that highlights concepts that employers and managers use and sometimes evaluate employees with that they may not be aware.

A learning organization is the business term given to a company that facilitates the learning of its members and continuously transforms itself.

Develop by Overcoming Personal Constraints

One of the best ways to develop one's self is to discover and overcome things that hinder or constrain you from advancing. The Flipside (2007) gives you strategy for overcoming your greatest constraints.

The Strength’s Finder 2.0 has been criticized for only focusing on a person’s strength and the Flippen Profile has been criticize for focusing only on a person’s weakness referred to as constraints. The commonality of both assessments is that they both acknowledge that a strength or a weakness used to an extreme becomes the opposite. The Flippen Profile (TM) identifies behaviors that constrain a person from fulfilling their greatest potential.

Discover and Develop Your Strengths

Good employees proactively develop themselves personally and professionally. It is important to increase knowledge and skills. "Hard skills" are learning specific things such as new computer programs, marketing, accounting, working on cars, laws and regulations (e.g. OSHA, HIPPA), styling hair, medicine, operating machines, etc. "Soft skills" include listening, communicating, managing emotions, time management, leadership, team building, empathy, self-motivation, goal setting, etc. Developing soft skills are as important as developing hard skills.

Many companies have development programs. Most development programs exist to develop skills that address the organization's needs. Employees should also manage their development separate from development for the company. There are many ways to develop yourself, one is to discover your strengths and develop them.