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Enrico Varella Articles

Guest post by: Enrico Varella

Working Across Borders - Click To Read Article
Have you worked overseas before? What as that like? Have you considered how you would enhance your conversations with your colleagues, customers and consumers? What would it be like to engage in conversation with somebody who leads with a different life, culture, mindset and attitude?

Mapping Your Week on Monday - Click To Read Article
Monday does not need to be coloured the traditional black or blue. We have so easily bruised it with our off-coloured perceptions. This day has been tainted with the premise of contusions where staff tenderly look forward only to Fridays – TGIF.

Powerful Small Business Names - Click To Read Article
It’s all in the name, but don’t believe the hype! That is a caveat to live closely with. Many online sales letters push their introductory content through the threshold of credible to incredible, and amazing to the absurd. In print media, we stick to the principle of ‘KISS’ – less can be more readable.

Positive Word of Mouth Marketing - Click To Read Article
“First, much of modern-day marketing is about creating illusions of products, variously known as product image, positioning, brand identity and other buzzwords. There is nothing wrong with that, since much of life is about creating legitimate illusion. For instance, all art is illusion. A painting is only smears of paint. But what smears!”

Examples of Eye-Catching Words - Click To Read Article
Do words matter in your website, PR kit, and Facebook page? Yes, they do however there are some guidelines before you go overboard with ‘an intoxication of the exuberance of your verbosity’. Psychologically, some words are weighted more in your favour than others.

Carving Corporate Slogans - Click To Read Article
‘Love all. Serve all.’ The Hard Rock Café slogan sticks like taffy on our minds upon our enthusiastic exit from the rock-themed restaurant. The anecdotal origin of this slogan was that the founders of HRC asked the late-spiritual guru, SB for some kind words and the latter scribbled these words on a piece of paper.

Pushing Dailies: Extending Your Company’s Potential - Click To Read Article
Pushed to the limits. What about pulled to the limits? We can force people to work against their will, enforce rules, and forcibly remove people from their creature comforts. However, how effective are these interventions? Do they last? More importantly, with such forceful practices, will these companies last, and outlast others?

Enhancing Your Value: Staying Employable in the 2010’s - Click To Read Article
A look at job advertisements may be a startling revelation: How is this New Economy everyone is talking about going to impact us? Armed with an arsenal of digital equipment, how will we brave the new world order that is driven by compression technology and information overload, and assured by a false sense of virtual communication?

Leaders Are Fairly Outnumbered! - Click To Read Article
There are more managers and supervisors out there than leaders. And, there are even less practising leaders out of this smaller group. A formal title of ‘Team Leader’ or ‘Manager’ needs to be backed up by behaviors that demonstrate your competency, clarity, confidence, credibility and commitment as a leader (the 5 ‘C’s). It takes a lot to live up to the ‘L’ word.

Enhancing Your Business Language - Click To Read Article
What we say matters in communication. How we say it is just as important. According to Albert Mehrabian, 7 percent of face-to-face communication is words (language), and tone (38 percent). Over the telephone, words hold more weight because if we don’t understand the language used (foreign), then tone becomes irrelevant. Monotone languages (like Malay and English) are easier to learn, whereas multi-tone languages (Mandarin, for instance) is harder to master as there are four tones.

127 Hours & The Notion of Valuing Time - Click To Read Article
Endurance sports can teach us much about time. Not just about timing, but the value of time, right up to the second. Every step is equivalent to a unit of time. When qualifying (BQ) for the Boston Marathon, every second counts. I knew my chances for Boston 2011 was dashed at the three-quarter mark (of the Berlin Marathon 2010) when my pace dropped significantly.

10 Ways To Get Attention & Action For Your Cause - Click To Read Article
Do you have a cause that you strongly believe in? What have you done to promote it to a wider audience? With a plethora of Social Media tools readily available, what have you done to harness the power of positive word of mouth marketing, also known as tribes and trending? Have you considered having your communities to sneeze for you?

What Makes You Think I Owe You? - Click To Read Article
What makes us ‘owe’ you? Isn’t that about obligation? When somebody says ‘much obliged’, it has a different meaning to ‘obligated to you’. Do we need to be obligated to anyone? What about the notions of ‘paying back what I owe you’ and ‘paying the debt’? Why should it be ‘you owe me’?

Pushing Potential - Click To Read Article
When was the last time you nudged your potential? Potential – that elusive thing that is just out of your reach and that which raises your value and enhances your substance. Move from ‘what if?’ to ‘what could be’ to ‘what is’.

The Perception Principle Powers Positivism - Click To Read Article
Once upon a time, a potential client informed me: ‘Although you are, probably, the most suitable for this job, our senior management would prefer somebody older.’ I was shocked! I was denied the opportunity because of my youth.

Never Frown on the Small Business - Click To Read Article
A new business startup can be a hairy and hoary proposition. There are many indicators to consider, and there are countless variables that can jeopardize any creative attempts. You may have heard about painful and disappointing closures of businesses that began with an optimistic premise. Animated conversations revolved about supporting a cause, a purpose – altruism and philanthropy as part of the company’s philosophy for business – however faded into obscurity and oblivion.

The Relevance & Reality of Education - Click To Read Article
We cannot deny that education is important and useful. A good education is critical for navigating through today’s, often times, confusing world. A better quality education may spell the difference between more opportunities and missed opportunities. Education arms us with the knowledge and know-how, married with the know-who we will build and develop. Education helps eradicate ignorance, and the prejudices and discrimination that it breeds.

Leadership Branding (Redux) - Click To Read Article
Since you began your small business, franchisee, or investment how focused have you been on your unique brand of leadership – be it, direct or indirect approaches? To lead others around you is to express and assert your influence. Influence is about applying your ability to persuade via facts or education.

Company Retreats: A Move Forward or Backward? - Click To Read Article
Love it, or hate it – corporate retreats are an intrinsic part of organizations. What are the common objectives of such off-site events?

Dampening Disappointments - Click To Read Article
Bouncing back from non-starters, disappointing results and criticism are part of our maturing process. Sure, these can hurt us emotionally yet they are bound to occur, at the most unexpected moments. These can be prevalent in performance appraisals, sales interviews, and business proposals.

Working the Angles - Click To Read Article
Predictable can be safe, but boring. In the fastidious and fickle-minded world that we live in, consumers want to do more with less, preferring convenience with lower risk. However, this may lead to depreciation in value. More customers will be asking the question: What makes you different from others? How can you make the difference in our business?

Working in Wicked Way - Click To Read Article
Being wicked may not be a useful personal or professional core value. Instead, be wickedly creative or wickedly funny (when things do not go as you have planned it). Be wickedly friendly when others play stranger, or a wicked leader when a meeting goes nowhere and you take charge of getting the results.

When You Need Help, Seek The Experts - Click To Read Article
Experts have more than knowledge. They also possess tacit experience and tacit wisdom. They are regarded as experts because they know more, have expertise, and can make recommendations based on their area of specialty and passion. Experts can help us think and do outside the box. Thus, the roles of coach and mentor have their relevance in both the corporate world as it does with our community, family and our friends.

Writing Your Lust-For-Life List - Click To Read Article
Some refer this as the Bucket List; meaning the things you want to do before you ‘kick the bucket’ and leave this Earth. The ‘Bucket List’ was a film, starring jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, and it initiated a flurry of interest for writing such a collection of dreams and desires.

Recycling Your Working Cycle - Click To Read Article
Even though cycles are predictable, these can be re-programmed. Patterns of behaviors can be reformed, just as we can learn new skills if we decide and commit to it. Some business cycles are functional patterns, whereas others may be destructive ones.

Walking Your Talk & Running Away With Your Ideas - Click To Read Article
Eric Clapton sang the definitive song ‘Change The World’. It is about making way for your dreams and aspirations. The Buddha taught: ‘Do good. Be good.’ How do express your ideas and business intent?

Steady – One Thing At A Time In Business - Click To Read Article
A lot can happen at the last moment in business. Crises and exigencies can surprise us like digital ambushes from cookies and pop-up screens. It is not that these startling events that tend to throw us off kilter, but rather how we respond to these challenges and distractions

The Need For Proper Positioning - Click To Read Article
Sigmund Freud did state that a cigar is a cigar, unless you attach alternate meanings to that ‘fire-stick’. However, in today’s context a watch is not exactly a watch: it is a brand! A brand has a name, and consumers identify with it in an emotional and intellectual way. The way a watch is positioned, dictates its pricing and audience. A product or service can be mainstream, high-end, or for a niche.

Service Over! - Click To Read Article
When was the last time you experienced excellent service? Seriously. What has the last two decades yielded with the plethora of service training opportunities? We talk about service standards, moments of truth, customer satisfaction and excellence, yet we experience more disappointments than fulfillment.

Presentational Strategies for Leaders and Professionals - Click To Read Article
Do you communicate to express or impress others? How do you know if you are being effective in your communication?

The Question of Self-Employment - Click To Read Article
Here are 10 reasons for some reasons for being self-employed.

Nine Perspectives Towards Balancing Your Professional Views & Opinions - Click To Read Article
Mind what we say, or do. How do you build an opinion about something? How do you make yourself heard, and responded to as a consultant? How do you form an informed decision at your next committee meeting?

Get Ready and Be Ready In Business - Click To Read Article
Completing a triathlon, marathon and any endurance sport is akin to taking an examination. Much can happen at such an event, for you have to deal with unexpected and expected outcomes. Problem solving and decision-making are two core competencies that can deliver you from unfortunate turns of events. How do you stay ever-ready for business challenges and crises?

Muscle Memory & Learning About Business - Click To Read Article
Do you take a while to learn something physical? Does it take you many sessions to learn new psychomotor skills? Learning about running a new business is similar.

Accurate & Acute Correspondence: From Tarzan to Trazan, From Karma to Crabman - Click To Read Article
Have you carelessly sent out an e-mail, only to discover later your spelling mistakes? Have you subjected a person’s name through a spell-check, and dismembered them from their attention?

Doing Business With Extra Speed - Click To Read Article
Transitions – the brief break between the swim and ride, or ride and run – can save us time if we eliminate wasteful actions.

Creating Business Presence & Pleasance - Click To Read Article
Do people notice you in a crowd? Do you connect with others in public? Do people remember you enough to actively stay in touch with you? What do you stand for? What do you stand out for?

Developing Business Acumen & Business Sense - Click To Read Article
Are you excited about Mondays? Or, are you excited by the notion that the workweek begins today and you have to plough and slough through today? If you say ‘TGIF’, you may be missing the point.

Business Success: Book Smart or Street Smart? - Click To Read Article
Billionaire-TV celebrity, Donald Trump based his award-winning series The Apprentice on the premise of the nature-versus-nurture debate. Will the ultimate apprentice he selects prove that street smartness triumphs over academic intelligence? That’s where the politics plays out in the challenges and dysfunctional team dynamics. Having business acumen and entrepreneurial spirit, is relevant to a staff as it is to an entrepreneur.

Are You Ready For The One-Hour Challenge? - Click To Read Article
One hour, albeit short, does allow much to be accomplished if we focus on disciplined efforts. The results can be revealed as a sense of accomplishment and achievement.

Entrepreneurs and the Entrepreneurial Spirit - Click To Read Article
There are distinct differences in being self-employed, running a small business, starting a new business, and being an entrepreneur. Entrepreneur simply means ‘first to enter’, or the person who takes a plunge into a business venture, which can be in retail, services, or manufacturing. In other words, an entrepreneur is a leader, not a follower or imitator. Can entrepreneurial spirit be taught? Can we educate a population of entrepreneurs that reflect the likes of a Sim Wong Hoo (Creative Technologies) or a Sir Richard Branson (Virgin Group)?

Being A Silly Billy in Business - Click To Read Article
If you openly act your goofy side, how does this affect you? Will your reputation be tarnished? If you hold back your genuine self (because of business expectations) would that help your business progress?

7 Ways to Lead With Your Time Instead of Time Management - Click To Read Article
I have been intrigued and excited by the many executives I have met over the years who seem to use their time well. The ones that amaze me most are those who can fulfill more results in each day. It is not that they have more time (24 hours is maximum), but how they utilize each packet of time.

10 Ways to Generate An Optimal Working State - Click To Read Article
Energy is the source of life. Our body produces and harnesses it. When we are fresh and energized, we can do much more than when we are fatigued and drained. Here are some ways to stay energetic and alert for the stresses and challenges of this new, year.

Business Communication With PowerPoint Slides - Click To Read Article
Where do you stand on-stage or in the boardroom for maximum influence and impact on your audience?

Cleaning House: A Metaphor for Deeper Issues? - Click To Read Article
How often do we clean out the clutter? Oprah Winfrey once featured the issue of clutter and hoarders in an episode of her popular talk show. Clutter is stuff we accumulate through time? Hoarding is a mental disease that reflects our dependency to things that we have difficulty letting go of.

How Would You Start A Coaching Business? - Click To Read Article
These days, coaching seems like the way to go. There are new professions linked to coaching: sports coaching, online coaching, personal coaching, fitness coaching, spiritual coaching, business coaching, Solutions coaching and life coaching.

Patience As Your Virtuosity - Click To Read Article
What does sport have in common with running a business? Does this analogy still work?

How You Stand Out: The Need For Proper Positioning - Click To Read Article
Jack Trout and Al Ries – marketing gurus – wrote the definitive book ‘Positioning - Battle of the Minds’ which has become a must-read book for those practising marketing and branding. It can certainly be extended to business leadership.

Acting On Your Marketing Actions - Click To Read Article
Marketing is a complement to selling. Often associated with ‘push and pull’ factors (although neo-marketers dispute this Newtonian comparison), marketing has been perceived as the costlier distant cousin of the Spartan member called selling.

Business Focus – Leading One Thing At A Time - Click To Read Article
Running a business is about leadership. Only you can mind and mine your own business as clearly as you can envision the future of your business.

The Significance of Your Company Culture - Click To Read Article
Company culture is the spirit, attitude and character of its people put together. Although products or services are the backbone of business, the working culture of staff and its management matter. A happy staff is a productive staff.

How to Demonstrate Commitment to Others - Click To Read Article
Commitment is a core value that is endearing and enduring to others. It reflects other values like trust, honesty and integrity. To do as you say you would, is a demonstration of commitment.

Good Goals for Business - Click To Read Article
Why would you start a business? Beyond making money and being profitable, which are your other business goals?

How to Develop Referrals - Click To Read Article
How would you like to stay in business exclusively through referrals, recommendations and positive word of mouth?

10 Good Goals for A New Business - Click To Read Article
How new, small businesses can create a continued sense of purpose.

10 Reasons To Partner Up In Business - Click To Read Article
Build your business by creating strategic partnerships and alliances





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