How do you prepare for an important business engagement?  Do you prepare as you might have during your school days with an all-nighter?  Or do you spend several days studying your topic, deep in research, maybe conducting a bit of intelligence gather…

 Your demons will rule your life if you let them.  What are the demons?  A chemical that turns your life upside down, that makes you ill, that causes you unhappiness is a demon.  A person who leads you into negative situations is a demon.   I obs…

As the meeting of business owners began, the speaker asked this question:  “Are you finding that it is difficult to convince people to spend money these days?”  Everyone agreed that it is difficult to convince people to spend money these days.

…

I read an article and watched a video, both of which moved me in different ways. 

The article was about the “preppers,” a group of people preparing for the end of America as we know it.  They believe that the collapse of the economy is inevit…

Kiefer Sutherland will soon return to television in a drama called “Touch.”  He will play the role of the father of “Jake,” a 10-year-old boy who does not speak and doesn’t communicate in any traditional way, according to an article in the N…

Kay Betz, MBA and co-founder of Outfluence, loves to speak about what she calls The Seven Attributes of Contemporary Communication.  In this the first Pearl of the Week of year 2012 I thought I would share some of her wisdom. 

Communication is fas…

I decided to attend the family church service on Christmas Eve.  Kay was singing with the choir, so I sat alone and observed while also participating. During her message, the Pastor invited the kids to join her at the altar.  Pastor taught them the m…

Among life’s little challenges is getting, and keeping, a job.    

In Workplace ROI, we coach people to view employment as an investment.  People enter the workplace for many reasons but we all desire the same result:  a return on our workpla…

An author described this scene as she departed a social event at the Tower of London:  “As I walked down the winding stairs of the Tower, I realized that I was the last person to leave.  It was very quiet except for my footsteps.  As I rounded the s…

What do you say when you aren’t even talking? You might be surprised. 

The way you act, look, sound, dress and even move tells people more about you than words ever could. If you are like most people, your silent message changes depending on who …

The economy is getting slightly better.  Job opportunities are opening up a bit.  Here is the first in a series of Weekly Pearls that we published several months ago.  We called the series The Job Seeker. 

Laura Bristow, Director of Education at…

365 Thank Yous is the name of the book.  The back cover describes it as an “inspiring, true story about how a simple, old-fashioned act – writing thank-you notes – led a hopeless, angry, middle-aged man out of despair and into a wonderful life.�…

Business leaders agree that relationships are everything.  If you want to sell your products or your services, it is essential to network and to make friends.  It is important to be tenacious in pursuing business relationships.  Tenacity must be acc…

Can you recover from a faux pas?  Of course you can.  The mechanism of recovery is appropriate communication delivered in the form of a quiet storm of friendship.

Your customers understand that best efforts don’t always lead to successful conclu…

Kay and I were in South Bend for the Notre Dame vs. Navy football game on Saturday.  As we toured the campus, everyone we met greeted us with a big smile and with the words,  “Welcome to Notre Dame!”  Parents of students were  thrilled that their …

This week’s Pearl is all about jobs.  The job market is not easily reached by the undereducated, the uninformed, the unmotivated, or the unskilled.  Jobs are also not found by those who educate themselves in topics for which the job market is barre…

I am in your head.  How did I get there?  Why am I in your head?
It’s the marketing paradigm for the 21st century, and it’s called Constant Messaging®.  It’s also the silent determinator of relationships, and it’s controlled by our silent…

Envision your life in three segments.  The first segment is your youth, from birth to age 15.  The second segment is your personal development from age 16 to age 35.  The third segment is your family and your career from age 36 until you retire, and…

Albert Schweitzer was one of the 20th Century’s most influential thinkers, honored by the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952.  Look at these amazing words he wrote years ago.

“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into …

People are asking, “What do I need to do for my business to grow in this economy?”  That question is similar to the one asked of the great entertainer Steve Martin.  Fans ask him, “What do I have to do to be successful in Hollywood?”  Steve and I an…

No matter how many sales presentations you’ve given this week, no matter how tired you are, no matter how many miles you’ve traveled, it’s important to be sensitive to the situation of the audience in front of you at the moment.

United States Tr…

September 11, 2001, Dan Lee was a passenger on Flight 55 out of Boston.  It never made it to Los Angeles.  He never made it home to see the birth of his second child.

I had the privilege of meeting his wife and daughters a couple of years later wh…

Labor is serious business but it sure can be fun.

After a 30-minute commute, I arrived in downtown Baltimore, parked my car in the garage and opened my trunk to retrieve my bags.  “Meow,” said Kitty, sounding confused.  I was able to grab her …

Failure presents an opportunity to change course and improve performance.  But we have to have the inner strength to stop, look and listen before we destroy ourselves.  We have to stop our current behavior, look at the cause of our failure, listen to…

“They used to tell me my face was, well, weird,” says Gisele Bündchen.  But “by 2009, with an estimated personal worth of $150 million, she had banked more than any other mannequin in history.”  This month’s edition of Vogue Magazine featu…

The incongruity of it is stunning.  Michelle Rhee, a young professional, apolitical, courageous, with a passion and a commitment to kids, turned around the failing DC school system.  In the 40 years prior to her arrival 60,000 students had gone throu…

70% of communication occurs silently.  Outfluence coaches and trains individuals in the awareness of silent communication in the job-seeking process.  We also coach individuals in the thoughtful, purposeful and genuine application of silent communica…

The last few weeks of Pearls have been focused on stress in anticipation of the release of my new e-book tentatively titled Outfluence for Positive Stress.

I was in Las Vegas last week and I marveled at the silent communication tools the casinos use…

We have been focusing the recent Pearl of the Week on issues of stress in preparation for the release of our next e-book this Fall, Outfluence for Positive Stress.

According to the book Leadership in Action published by Harper Collins, “life is fu…

Phil Mickelson lost his final round lead in the British Open golf tournament to the eventual winner Darren Clarke.  Mickelson bogied 5 of the final 9 holes, leading to his third place finish.  In an interview shortly after his loss in the PGA’s thi…

I ran into an old friend recently.  He has been through a few significant health problems, one or two family problems, business setbacks.  Through it all, he maintains a positive attitude and wears his smile like a badge of honor.

Now, he’s a guy …

An important question these days . . . how do we deal with stress?  First, we have to understand that there are two kinds of stress, called enstress and distress.  Enstress is positive stress, the kind that motivates you to perform at your best.  En…

Freedom of speech.  Important.  I get it.  We express our freedom in many ways.  An unspoken responsibility, at least it never needed to be spoken before, of freedom is that we express ourselves respectfully, always bringing honor to ourselves and…

Outfluence in the Sales Environment IV
Outfluence is a communication model that emphasizes an others-focus along with awareness of our personal silent communication, the silent communication of others, and a commitment to inspired performance. This se…

Outfluence in the Sales Environment III
Outfluence is a communication model that emphasizes an others-focus along with awareness of our personal silent communication, the silent communication of others, and a commitment to inspired performance. This s…

Building Trust
Outfluence is a communication model that emphasizes an others-focus along with awareness of our personal silent communication, the silent communication of others, and a commitment to inspired performance. This series on Outfluence in a …

Let’s assume that the product or the service that you are selling is of a high quality and that it is desired in the marketplace. Let’s also assume that there are many other people in the marketplace selling similar products or services.

W…

The Job Seeker, Part VI, Branding Yourself
Congratulations!  You have been hired as a permanent staff member in the job of your choice in the company of your choice.  Nice going.  Now what?  How are you going to make certain that your position is …

Your new employer asks you to attend a networking event at the Chamber of Commerce.  She wants you to meet people, put forth a positive attitude, and let people know about your place of employment and what your company does.

The first thing you do …

This six-part series of daily pearls is designed to give the job seeker an edge in the highly competitive job market.  We have talked about the basics – preparation, removing distractions, Constant Messaging®.  We have gone through the interview p…

I watched the first two broadcasts of the “new” American Idol.  I enjoyed both the contestants and the judges.  The contestants have always been emotional; they wear their hearts on their sleeves.  Past judges would occasionally let their emotio…

Interviewing for a job is serious business.  You present yourself at a place of business that someone started and worked hard to build over several years, maybe many years.  A loyal customer base counts on this business delivering a consistently high…

Today is a great day to look for a job!  Here’s what you do:  put on a conservative, professional-looking set of clothing, shine up your shoes, and head out to a coffee shop or a mall area where you know local businesspersons frequent.  Get yourse…

There she was, walking along in the mall, focused on the cell phone in her hand. The security camera was watching as she approached the area of the fountain and the pool filled with water. Other shoppers were in the area but they too were focused –…

“What time is it!?”

“Game time!”

The undisputed leader of the Baltimore Ravens football team, Ray Lewis, starts every game with his famous pre-game dance and chant.  Fans love it.  Teammates respond to it.

But now that the Ravens are…

On a 3-hour drive from Richmond, Virginia to my home in Maryland I listened to the Motown channel on XM radio.  I was coasting along I-95 at a leisurely pace within the speed limit when James Brown joined me in the car.  Do you know people used to s…

9-year-old Christina Taylor Green had lofty dreams.  She wanted to help other people.  She traveled with her neighbor in Tucson, Arizona to see her Congressperson, a woman, a role model, someone from whom she could learn about public service.  You …

Long-time readers of the Pearl of the Day know today’s Pearl to be true, but a little reinforcement is a good thing. If you’re new to the Pearl, this is a great time of the year to experience this message. Yesterday I walked into a meeting and one of…

The scene reminded my son Matt of The Ant Attack, a Tom and Jerry cartoon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaDS6lxPGYs&feature=related. I was walking on the track at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. There were the usual half-dozen other walke…