Body Language: Giving Good & Bad Messages

Much is made of using body language to project strength and competence in the workplace, but as any FBI profiler will tell you, nonverbal cues are an indicator of larger underlying truths that shouldn’t be swept under the rug.

Given our sometimes brief workplace interactions, nonverbal communication plays very large role in our communications.

Meetings, presentations and hallway encounters offer precious little time to present yourself, but trying to mask your deficiencies with hand gestures, eye contact or a well-timed touch on the arm is like taking Panadol not bothering to think about the reason behind your pain. Plus, you also risk coming off as inauthentic. Here are some things to look out for:

Poor eye contact: Wandering eyes suggest you may have something to hide. If you have trouble being forthright with a teammate or manager, you have to ask, “Am I representing myself honestly, or is this job a stretch for me?” (Either in terms of qualifications or interest.)

Not smiling: When you aren’t smiling very often, there’s a good chance that you aren’t at ease. Do you have enough passion for the job you are doing that you feel a connection with your coworkers? Is your manager making any effort to make you comfortable? What might that say about your working relationship?

Slouching: When people are excited to meet someone or to make their point, they generally stand or sit up straight or even lean forward. If you regularly aren’t energetic or confident when in a meeting or presentation, you should be wondering, “Have I chosen a job that is something that I’m excited to get up and do most days? Is this person (or company) for whom I’m working someone I really respect?”

Simon Turner

Zero tolerance: Drinking in the Workplace

A recent case serves as a warning to all employees to be aware of “zero tolerance” policies that apply at their place of work and ensure their conduct does not contravene those policies. In May 2007, Woolworths dismissed one of its store managers for drinking two beers during his lunch break. The store manager, who had over 20 years of service with Woolworths was dismissed because the consumption of alcohol during working hours (including meal breaks) was strictly prohibited and was expressed in several company policies as well as the manager’s employment contract. Woolworths’ decision to terminate the employee’s employment was upheld by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) in October 2007 and the application was dismissed. Woolworths’ decision to terminate was further upheld by a full bench of the AIRC on appeal in February 2008.

Does the punishment of dismissal really fit the “crime” in this instance? If you are generally an exemplary employee, in a position of seniority and have been in a position for several years, should one slight break of the rules cost you your job? In this case, the AIRC upheld the dismissal and found that it was not harsh, unjust or unreasonable because the manager had breached an express term and condition of his employment contract. This strict approach suggests that a wilful disregard of zero tolerance policies will not be viewed lightly by the courts. This decision further highlights the fact that employers are entitled to take appropriate disciplinary action when their employees are found to have breached express terms and conditions of employment.

Selak v Woolworths Limited [2008] AIRCFB 81 (8 February, 2008)

Simon Turner simon@marquetteturner.com.au

The Five Minds of a Manager

Does your management job seem impossible? If so, that's not surprising. Your many roles are so often contradictory.

You can, however, triumph over managerial obstacles, despite conflicting expectations, if you focus less on what you should do and more on how you should think. Successful managers think their way through their jobs, using five different mind-sets that allow them to deal adeptly with the world around them:

1) A reflective mind-set allows you to be thoughtful, to see familiar experiences in a new light, setting the stage for insights and innovative products and services.

2) An analytical mind-set ensures that you make decisions based on in-depth data--both quantitative and qualitative.

3) A worldly mind-set provides you with cultural and social insights essential to operating in diverse regions, serving varied customer segments.

4) A collaborative mind-set enables you to orchestrate relationships among individuals and teams producing your products and services.

5) An action mind-set energizes you to create and expedite the best plans for achieving your strategic goals.

The key to your managerial effectiveness? Regularly access all five mind-sets, not in any particular order, but by cycling through each as needed. And don't go it alone. When you collaborate with colleagues by interweaving your collective mind-sets, you--and your organization--will excel.

How To Have The Perfect Life

You already have everything you need to create a wonderful life for yourself. You know everything you need to know to be your own best friend, a gentle guide, a teacher and a helper to yourself so you can be truly happy and fulfilled. You can learn how to become your own psychotherapist for life, and how to resolve the difficulties that stand between you and personal joy.

Be Honest With Yourself
The starting point of becoming your own best friend is for you to be perfectly honest with yourself and your relationships. Refuse to practice self-delusion or hope for the best. For example, when something is making you unhappy, for any reason, the situation will tend to get worse rather than better. So avoid the temptation to engage in denial, to pretend that nothing is wrong, to wish and hope and pray that, whatever it is, it will go away and you won't have to do anything. The fact is that it probably will get worse before it gets better and that ultimately you will need to face the situation and do something about it.

Deal With Your Problem at a Higher Level
There's an old saying that you can't solve a problem on the level that you meet it. This means that wrestling with a persistent problem is often fruitless and frustrating. For example, if two people who are in a relationship together are constantly fighting and negotiating and looking for some way to resolve their difficulties, they may be attempting to solve the problem on the wrong level. Dealing with the problem on a higher level, those people would ask the question, "In terms of being happy, is this the right relationship for us in the first place?"

Find the Right Job For You
Many people work very hard and experience considerable frustration trying to do a particular job. However, in terms of their own happiness, the right answer might be to do something else, or to do what they're doing in a different place, or to do it with different people-or all three.

Here are a few questions for you to answer in this arena of happiness. Write them down at the top of a sheet of paper, and then write as many answers to each one as you possibly can.

What Would It Take?
The first question is: "What would it take for me to be perfectly happy?"
Write down every single thing that you can imagine would be in your life if you were perfectly happy at this very moment. Write down things such as health, happiness, prosperity, loving relationships, inner peace, travel, car, clothes, homes, money, and so on. Let your mind run freely. Imagine that you have no limitations at all.

What is Holding You Back?
The second question is a little tougher. Write down at the top of a page this question: "In what situations in my life, and with whom, am I not perfectly happy?" Force yourself to think about every part of your day, from morning to night, and write down every element that makes you unhappy or dissatisfied in any way. Remember, proper diagnosis is half the cure. Identifying the unsatisfactory situations is the first step to resolving them.

Determine Your Happiest Moment
The third question will give you some important guidelines. Write down at the top of a sheet of paper these words: "In looking over my life, where and when have I been the happiest? Where was I, with whom was I, and what was I doing?"Decide What to DoOnce you have the answers to those questions, think about what you can do, starting immediately, to begin creating the kind of life that you dream of. It may take you a week, a month, or a year, but that doesn't matter.

Every single thing you do that moves you closer to your ideal vision will be rewarding in itself. You'll become a more positive and optimistic person. You'll feel more confident and more in charge of your life, and you'll achieve true peace of mind.

Action Exercises
Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, examine your business and personal relationships carefully. Is there any situation you wouldn't get into again if you had it to do over?

Second, make a list of every single thing in your life that would make you happy and then think about what you could do to begin achieving them.

Third, allow yourself to dream and fantasize about your ideal life, what it would look like and feel like, and then do something every day to make it a reality.

Brian Tracy is the most listened to audio author on personal and business success in the world today. His fast-moving talks and seminars on leadership, sales, managerial effectiveness and business strategy are loaded with powerful, proven ideas and strategies that people can immediately apply to get better results in every area. For more information, please go to www.briantracy.com

To Hire or Not to Hire

During the first few minutes of meeting a potential employee you tend to get a “gut feel” as to the suitability of a person within your organisation.

There are no guarantees to say this person is perfect in every way for the role, however if they have the right attitude, and the skill set that you need, or the ability to learn, chances are they will be a good match.


With the shortage of excellent candidates in today’s market, don’t take too long to make your decision. Often, in the time you take to make up your mind, the candidate has been offered and accepted a job elsewhere. The message here is simple, if your gut instinct says it is right, act upon it quickly.

Christine Watson christine@marquetteturner.com.au

Internet Excitement: Senior Managers Lack Interest

Companies are having a tough time persuading their senior managers to take advantage of online training. According to studies, 90% of managers have Internet access, but most don’t find the time to participate in e-learning or other Internet-based training.

About 67% say they spent 30 minutes or less last year using intranets or e-learning to solve business issues. Slightly more than half (54%) have capitalised on available online management resources.

Time constraints and lack of engagement are stumbling blocks. 46% say they have “too many distractions” to use computer-based learning, while 20% claim the learning content “fails to engage them.” The conclusions were drawn from responses of nearly 1,000 managers.

In a separate survey, however, consulting firm McKinsey & Co. reports that executives see the value of advanced Internet technologies that promote self-paced learning and collaboration.

These tools include items such as peer-to-peer networking, blogs, podcasts and social networking. According to McKinsey, half of the 2,847 executives surveyed “are pleased with the results of their investments in Internet technologies” made during the past five years. Three-quarters of companies plan to either increase or at least maintain their investments in so-called Web 2.0 technologies.

Christine Watson christine@marquetteturner.com.au

What Generation Gap? The Young & The Old Have Similar Career Objectives

Staffing firm Robert Half International is throwing cold water on the widely held perception that Generation Y workers have different concerns and wants from those of older workers.

According to research by Half and Yahoo HotJobs, younger employees “share many of the same concerns as more tenured workers when it comes to saving for retirement, finding a solid health care plan and achieving work/life balance.”

Where the divide apparently surfaces is in what these newcomers expect from company leaders. In fact, they rated “working with a boss they respect and can learn from as the most important aspect of their work environment, ahead of having a nice office space, a short commute or working for a socially responsible company.”

About 60 percent of Gen Y’ers also expect to have meaningful interaction with their managers “at least once a day.”

Christine Watson christine@marquetteturner.com.au

Take Charge of Your Life

One of the things you must always remember in your adult life, is that no one is there to rescue you – everything you are or want to be is up to you.

You cannot change anything that has happened in your life, whether it happened years ago or seconds ago.

There is absolutely nothing you can do to change that. So don’t dwell on it. What you can do is change how you handle and feel about things that have occurred in your life and to some - this may include taking some responsibility.

You need to take charge of your life and be aware that if you want things to be different and change in your life, you have to make those changes – they won’t occur just because you want them to.

There is an old Confucian saying “if you don’t change the road you’re travelling on you’ll probably end up where you’re going”.

Most successful people in this world today are successful because of the decisions they have made and the tough steps they have taken to get there.

Christine Watson

How To Become a Public Speaker (and get paid for it!)

Here are 12 steps to become a great public speaker and get yourself booked!

1) Define a niche. Instantly set yourself apart: identify the topic or issue in which you're willing to do endless and ongoing research for a market with the means to pay you.

The next challenge of course is to become known in your niche.

When you become the leading authority in your field, people seek you out. There's no point in being a fine marketer until you have expertise to offer.

And your expertise has got to be in a specific niche. A niche where the public with cash to spend recognise your value and are willing to invest in what you know.

2. Free to Fee. Speak for free in places likely to have people who could hire you for fee. Often there are people in these audiences who could hire you. Check your local Lions Club, Chamber of Commerce, and Rotary clubs.

Think about it: if someone hasn’t seen me speak in person, it’s less likely that this person will contact you, and even less likely they’ll pay for your services. Get out there!

3. Attend Events. Go to the events that your ideal clients attend and mingle with the decision makers who could hire you.

Research the event ahead of time. Know who will be in attendance. Have a hit list of people you want to connect with. Ask first what THEY do so you can tailor your 30 second pitch to address how you can help with their specific needs.

4. Speaker Directories. There are websites that list speakers for a fee. Meeting planners sometimes go to these directories looking for a speaker on a certain topic.

5. Smile and Dial. Flipping the pages of a meeting planner directory and cold calling can drum up business. Most speakers who use this approach successfully make 40- 50 calls everyday. If you are smart and committed about finding the right targeted leads to call, this is especially effective.

6. Ask for referrals right from the platform. Keynote speaker and master certified coach, Rich Fettke says when he speaks to groups, “As you can tell, I am really passionate about what I do. If you know of a group who could benefit from this message, please hand me a business card afterwards.”

7. Referrals. Ask for referrals from existing clients who have hired you to speak. Make sure you ask for letters of recommendation and referrals as part of the deal.

Let your clients or customers know they are rewarded for referring folks who invest in what you offer. Reward referrals generously.

8. Get on Your Prospects Radar Screen. Top of mind status comes from word of mouth of your clients, being "seen" in the pages of print media, and from testimonials of audience members.Know where your audience goes and be there.

This includes your prospect’s newsletters, clubs, organizations, bulletin boards, and magazines.

9. Speaker Website. An effective speaker website gives a meeting planner everything they need to decide that you are the perfect speaker for their event.

You’ll want to include a brochure to download, testimonials, program descriptions, media coverage, results gained for other clients, and your speaker video.

10. Join organizations where people can hire you or might be able to refer you to people. Review your organization memberships at the end of the year before you renew to make sure that the fees was worth it.

11. Invite prospects as your guest when you speak to groups. That way they can experience you firsthand. After they experience the power of your speaking, they are likely to hire you or even refer you to others.

12. Building relationships. Keep in touch with your clients and prospects. Sends articles to them to let them know you’re is thinking of them, and send cards and call them from time to time. Never let them forget your name. You want to be top of mind when they are ready to hire.

Simon Turner

Turbo-Charge Your Goals

We know the importance of setting goals in the fulfillment of our dreams in life.

But what if I tell you that there's a very powerful formula that will allow us to achieve our goals much faster? In fact, this formula is going to turbo-boost goal realization to the highest level!

Here's the formula:

Be positively obsessed with what you want. It's not enough that you want it, you got to desire it so much that you feel it flowing in your veins and you think about it every day and night.

You talk about it every chance you get and you see it in every situation you're in. If you're not fired up every time you think about it, then you're not serious enough.

Re-evaluate your goal and make sure that it is your passion, your fire, the very thing that makes your body tingle with life and excitement.

You must also complement your obsession with two powerful techniques: visualisation and affirmation.

You must have a crystal clear mental image of yourself already in possession of the thing you desire, or already doing/enjoying the very activity you want to do in life.

You must also consistently repeat saying what you want. If you want to be a singer, say "I am a professional singer performing in front of a large audience that is so amazed by my performance." As you say it, feel the happiness and excitement, and see yourself doing exactly the thing you say. Imagine the audience applauding you.

Write down your goals on a post-it note, then stick it in a place where you can see and read your goals daily.

It is also vital for you to think and say your desires most of the time, but sometimes we get very busy with other tasks. Therefore it is highly recommended that you engage in imagining, affirming, feeling, and being one with your dream at the most effective times of the day.

Do it 15 minutes before you go to sleep and 15 minutes within the time you wake up. This is very important. Your subconscious is in its most responsive state 15 minutes before dozing off. So before hitting the snooze button, feed it with clear pictures/images, powerful affirmations/commands, and emotions so intense you could experience the happiness and excitement right at that very moment.

Do it also 15 minutes within the time you wake up. Your mind is fresh, energized, and focused at this time, so utilize its power to your best advantage.

When you are relaxed, the mind is very receptive to your commands and mental images. Go to a beach or resort, walk around the park, go sight-seeing, or just lie down. Relax and allow yourself to get involved with your dream.

Relaxation can also allow you to think of creative ideas to reach your goals and ways to solve your problems.

Michael Lee is the author of "How to be a Red Hot Persuasion Wizard... in 20 days or less", an e-book that reveals mind-altering persuasion techniques on how to tremendously enhance your relationships, create unlimited wealth, and get anything you want...just like magic. Get advice at: http://www.20daypersuasion.com/. He is the Co-Founder of http://www.self-improvement-millionaires.com/

Simon Turner

The Secret to Success

Success is connected with continuous action.

It's largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.

You're not finished when you're defeated, you're only finished when you quit.

The most important quality essential to success is perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.

You can have a fresh start any time you choose.

Failure is not in the falling down, but in the staying down.

It's not over until it's over.

If you've got the courage to stick it out, you'll attain your goal.

Winning isn't everything, but wanting to is. If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again.

How To Find The Ideal Company To Work For

We continually hear about “hiring the right people” for roles. People are an employers’ best asset”. This is definitely true from an employer prospective, but as an employee – how do you know the organisation is the right company for you?

Best practices in recruitment and selection when hiring staff have been around for a long time. No doubt we have all been through that dreaded interview where we have been asked the questions about our long term goals, where we see ourselves within the company, what we hope to achieve, etc. etc.

However, what should you, as an employee be looking for and what questions should you be asking of a potential employer?

Often we can be and are seduced into believing the company has loads to offer and it’s usually not just a good salary package. With unemployment statistics showing there is almost a 0% unemployment rate in the skilled market, companies are doing whatever they can to hire staff.

Today’s workforce is made up of permanent, casual, contract and self employed workers. Not everyone wants to be a permanent employee – probably because the days of having job security have long gone. The days of being able to choose what suits you are now available to us.

Some areas you need to consider include asking yourself and researching – is this an employer of choice, or is it company of mediocrity that touts they are an employer of choice? Questions you need to ask should possibly include:

- What are the company’s development and training processes
- How can they demonstrate to you their workplace culture and environment
- Is their Management style and structure what you want to work with
- Are the hours flexible to suit your family needs and lifestyle
- What are the company’s perceived values and ethics
- Are there other benefits as well as a salary package such as child care, healthcare, gym, share schemes, paid maternity leave, discount cards
- What reputation and prestige does the Brand have – is it a Brand you want to be associated with Do you believe in the company and/or its products
- Can working from home be an option

Are these things going to sway your decision making process? Is your value system similar to that of the company you are looking to work with? How does the company motivate their staff, what are their expectations of you? Are they expecting you to micro manage people or perhaps be micro managed? What are the company’s views on authority and how much authority will you have in your role? How comfortable do you feel with the person you will be reporting to?

Often the interview process involves a number of meetings. The person you will be working for or with, are they someone you would like to work with – how do you feel about them? Sometimes this will mean spending more than the usual one hour interview with that person to get to know them. Then go with “your gut feel” – it is usually right. Christine Watson

hired

hired is Marquette Turner Consulting's online service for those seeking to enhance their career and ENTER a new phase of job satisfaction.

Marquette Turner Consulting offers an advisory and consulting service to individuals and businesses alike, and our personal attention to each client is second to none.

With a a huge array of industries catered for, we look forward to assisting you to enter a new, satisfying and exciting phase of your life.