Credibility Part 2 – The 11 Essential Components – How many do you have? by Matthew Hill

If you haven’t got cred, why get out of bed?

Whether you are a university professor battling your painful way up the academic ladder, an independent trainer providing stimulating sessions in a classroom, or, a coach drumming up new clients, there will be one thing that walks into the room before you do – Your Credibility.

It is the label that attaches to you. If you are late for a dinner party or social gathering you will be introduced with that label or property – “Sarah Smith is coming, you know, the one who XXX.” Where XXX represents your reputation / key knowledge asset or the story that sticks to you most.

In the next post – Credibility Part 3, we will outline the key actions you must take in order to boost your credibility to the max and escape any negative aspect of your reputation that is holding you back.

So, what are the components of your credibility? Let us skim the surface with just 11.

*1. Skills and competence – We would not be having this conversation if you were not talented, brimming with potential and waiting to add value to various groups and communities. It is the things you know, can apply and that have an effect that are important.

Skill after skill after skill

Action – Make a note of all the skills, competences and value you have and can bring to a group. When you carry out this exercise with true diligence, the breadth of your list may surprise you.

2. Benevolent energy – Basically are you a nice person, doing nice things for people who have a clear need? It is the opposite of malevolence – wanting something bad to a happen to a group of people – Imagine the rare instance of a racist politician (hard though that is to imagine.)

Action – Take a brief look in the mirror and ask yourself if you want something good for your target audience? We wish you well with your answer.

3. Consistency – When you keep your promise, show up on time and deliver results, your credibility will skyrocket. It is simple, though many fail to recognize the importance of this component.

Action – Honesty test – Are you a woman / man of your word?

4. Look and smell like a winner. As I write this piece it is London Fashion Week (It seems like it always is.) Magazines, Hollywood gossip or Friday night at the pub – The focus is on outer appearance. We are simple forest creatures and we pick our mates and leaders visually. So, you do need to look the part. Tall people do better. Blondes outscore brunettes and bald men are paid less that the lion maned – Nobody said life was fair.

Action – I did attend a serious conference in Germany a few years back that included a specialist on this topic and she concluded that we should all rush out and get a lift, tuck and liposuction! Food for thought…

5. Eloquent Connecters – We have included two components here for expediency. If you can start with your audience – Work out who they are and communicate effectively with them, you will gain great credibility rapidly. It is less about you and more about them. On top of this if you have a memorable and effective public speaking style, then you will gain bonus credibility points and will experience more control over your own destiny.

Action – Study influencing techniques, learn advanced presentation skills and book yourself some singing lessons this week.

6. Quality – “Good is not longer good enough. You now have to be remarkable.” (Seth Godin) Excellence is the new normal and we all have to step up in ALL areas. Charm will take you just so far (my spelling mistakes are charming to all those who are not full-on OCD.) Taking your work and output to a new level of accuracy, depth and style will make a big difference.

Action – Use editors and designers, and, practice your pitch in front of constructive critics to take your game up a level.

At the top of your game

7. Be a problem solver (and not the problem) The parenthesise refer to Princes and Princess who are perceived as being high maintenance. This becomes their label and overshadows talent, value and core message. There is nothing more attractive to an audience than a fixer, travelling through work and life being willing and able to untangle cables, solve the issue with the numbers, and, move on to deliver results, solve the puzzle and allow others to win.

Action – Please attempt to be user friendly. Practice root cause analysis and problem solving. Learn how the world works and give away your victories.

8. Reframe pessimism as optimism – Are you a radiator or a drain? Do you suck the life out of a room or illuminate the space in front of you? When you replace low energy passivity with realistic enthusiasm, you will be loved. When you take the negative and reframe it positively, you will be respected. It is easy to join in with a depressed bunch and chime in with the collective moaning – misery loves company. Please do not be tempted to do this. It will become your label. Whinging Winston / Wendy. Nobody will want you at their party.

Action – Practice reframing low energy, blocked and negative group input constructively and positively, adding energy and inspiration into the mix for good measure.

9. Become the Go To Expert GTE – Taking a couple of the points above, there is a space waiting for you as a Subject Matter Expert – SME. This is about depth and breadth –Mastery of content. When you get there you will, automatically become the GO TO EXPERT person. Is that what you crave? Can you handle the pressure? Are you prepared to step up, take on the role? And deliver?

Action – Study, learn, read, ask to become an SME in your chosen field.

10. Opinion Leader – Subtly different from point 9. Being an OL is a specific role that combines expertise with communication. It is the embodiment of Credibility in action. It actively connects the value that you have with the attention, need and desire of your audience to engage with you, follow you, relate to your purpose and DO WHAT YOU SUGGEST. When you are at this level (the top of the mountain), you will have the power to drive audiences to take meaningful action. You will be able to direct attention to a fruitful and ethical agenda, and, you will be able to make a leveraged difference through the crowd you have gathered. It is an awesome space with a large quotient of moral responsibility. SO – PLEASE – USE YOUR PLATFORM WISELY.

Action – Decide upon a utilitarian path, do the work to get to the top, use your powers for good, and, DO NOT BELIEVE ALL THE HYPE.

Conclusion

You will have noticed the common themes of selflessness, great communication, inclusion of others, putting in the work and keeping to an ethical stance. The rest is up to you.

Question – What will precede you into the room in one year’s time? That depends on what you start doing now.

About the Author – Matthew Hill is a trainer, coach, facilitator, author, public speaker and broadcaster, helping executives and leaders to uncover their soft skills talent, strengthen their competences and, whilst reaching their own potential, benefit their teams and their environment.

 

Collaboration Part 2 – 4 Tools To Create Constructive Collaboration by Matthew Hill

Most people, most of the time, are not in collaboration mode – They are pursuing a totally different agenda #cooperation #collaboration #teamwork #virtual #remote #culture #conflict #output Tool 1 Active Listening Before you dismiss this with a, “ ‘been there, …

Book Review DIY Mediation – The Conflict Resolution Toolkit Book by Marc Reid – Review by Matthew Hill

Kill the monster whilst it is small

Marc Reid has produced something of substantial value to the wider business (and intercultural) community.

Context

The old world of HR seemed to recoil from conflict and wished to avoid all drama, only to be called back to the matter when things had escalated to a level requiring on the record, expensive and time consuming action – mainly tribunals and litigation.

Mediation and pre mediation intervention aims to kill the monster whilst it is small, keep the proceedings off the record, and, allow marginal characters to gain a voice and have their say when they are feeling aggressed, disrespected or bullied.

Easy to read and easy to apply

The book has a gentle gradient, starting with what is conflict, the stages of escalation, observed behaviours and their consequences, and, peaking with the AGREE model – a process that can be used to grab hold of the issues in an intelligent way, and, move the parties towards resolution quickly, and with minimal cost, time and residue left at the end.

Models

Marc has made a sometimes complex subject easy to follow and easy to apply. He breaks down larger topics with handy acronyms and provides completely pragmatic advise on those hard to reach areas such as remaining free of judgment and partiality. My two favourites were the 3Fs – Facts, Feeling and Future (when exploring the circumstances of a conflict) and the HEAR method for assertive communication – Happening – establishing events on a timeline, Effect – describing impact, Acknowledge – outlining the scenario from your point of view, and, Request – stating what you, as a mediator, would like to happen next.

Written in plain English and aimed at the average corporate HR professional, this tome will be of use to anyone in business or in a broader organisation who wishes to grasp the nettle of conflict, grow their own competence and awareness in holding challenging conversations, and, who is passionate about ethical early interventions to prevent exhausting escalations in the workplace.

No book is perfect and Marc has walked into the Mehrabian trap – taking this model as an example of how little language conveys in communication. (Mehrabian himself went to great lengths to correct this misapprehension.)

Conclusion

The book provides an accessible and vital tool for HR professionals and a wider audience who wish to move from avoidance to a more collaborative and inclusive approach to handling conflict, and, who wish to pick up and use a no nonsense approach to get the job of conflict reversal in hand in their organisation.

About the reviewer – Matthew Hill is a facilitator, trainer, speaker, author and coach working to build collaboration in international teams for the SME and Corporate sector.

Purchase

To buy the book go to Amazon UK; https://www.amazon.co.uk/DIY-Mediation-Conflict-Resolution-Toolkit/dp/1785893114/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1540458765&sr=8-1&keywords=diy+mediation+reid

Felicia Schwartz SIETAR UK Talk; Cultural Insights and Marketing, 6th November 2018

The talk on 6th November 2018 will focus on cultural insight and food marketing : the importance of cultural insight when localizing products, as well as local foods going global. 

TO GET YOUR TICKETS : https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cultural-insights-and-marketing-tickets-48269215523

About the speakers:

Felicia Schwartz has pursued an international career in branding working for global communication agencies Ogilvy and Dentsu. Her work took her to China, where she spent 13 years and specialized in strategic planning and consumer insights.
Currently based in London, Felicia helps brands and companies understand the Chinese consumer through cultural insight research and achieve effective business objectives through cross-cultural communication training. She has experience across a number of sectors such as automobile, luxury, cosmetics, retail and fast moving consumer goods.
Felicia is a graduate with Dean’s list merits, from Duke University in North Carolina, USA. She obtained her Master’s degree from Sciences Po, the prestigious Institute of Political Science in Paris, France.

Serdar Patkin is a semiotician and strategist providing brand semiotics, concepts and meaning as well as creative strategies for communication at PAKT insight+imagination. As Co-founder of Temaset Event Agency, he takes part in creating gastronomical movie experiences under a multi-sensory format: Tasty Cinema.
He worked as a cultural/political editor for magazines such as Arena and Luxury Files, and contributed as a writer to GQ, XOXO, Akşam, Yeni Harman, and Perspectives magazines among others. His articles have been published in academic books such as Internet and the Streets and Inter@aktivist. He speaks and trains at conferences and private training institutions. He also teaches 2 courses at Kadir Has University, “Online Reputation Management” and “Communication for Social Good”.
Serdar received his Bachelor’s Degree from the American Studies Department of Dokuz Eylul University in Turkey and studied for his Masters as a Fulbright scholar at The New School for Social Research in New York.

Intercultural Training Channel Webinar, 16th October 2018, Marketing to Get More Training Days with Less Hassle and No Hustle

Or, “I am now a Good Independent Trainer – So, What Do I Have To Do To Get More Days And Charge A Better Rate?”

You are passionate about helping executives resolve their issues and help themselves by applying new skills you will teach them. You have accumulated hard won international experience and wish to realise your dream – becoming an effective and profitable independent trainer/coach. So –

– How will you now build up and complete your independent trainer or coaching business?

– How will you network to grow your list of useful and high value contacts? And,

– How will you get your name and message out there using Social Media to generate qualified and appropriate interest and response for your independent training and coaching services?

Fear – You dread the idea of becoming an isolated star trainer with next to no clients – unwittingly keeping all your much-needed talent away from individuals in need – the very people that could so easily benefit from your experience.

Wish – You know what you dream of;

– Receiving warm enquiries from people who ALREADY know who you are, respect what you stand for, and, are willing to pay a premium to access your independent training and coaching services…because they work.

– You wish to spend less time hustling for business and more time in the flow – Conducting successful group and individual training and coaching sessions.

Action – Join Our Webinar, 6PM UK, (7PM Paris time) on, 16th October 2018, Marketing to Get More Training Days with Less Hassle and No Hussle 

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5002826678569069827

In this 1 hour and 20 minute, high energy, content rich and interactive web based seminar, we will cover the 3 areas you need to invest in, if your Independent Training or Coaching service is to grow;

1) Activity  – Remember – No effort – No outcome – No income. We will show you where many new independent trainers and coaches go wrong (and reveal the worst crime of all), and list the strategies, tactics and moves you must make in order to succeed.

2) Organisation  – Building your identity and passion-based professional BRAND by marketing like a pro and learning the structures and processes required.

Most people fail with their own attempts or give up before they have built up their complete Brand. We will show you where NOT to waste your time and where you need laser focus and discipline to generate engagement (its all about getting to the higher levels of engagement.) And, you will learn to build IP assets / informational products using your existing knowledge, qualifications and experience. Informational products that stand out from the crowd; gain you a reputation as an expert, and, command attention on Social Media, even as you sleep.

3) Dynamism  – We will shake you from your current state of cultural modesty (“I couldn’t possibly do that”) to having you OWN your personal experiences and articulating your deal sheet of past victories in a media friendly way that generates results – incoming warm enquiries. We will make comfortable networking a reality for you and provide solid marketing methods, structures and ideas. They will work for you, giving you the chance to access our step-by-step process that’s going to take you from “I don’t know how to do that” to, “I have just completed my amazing product, pitch or plan.”

Take Away – By the end of this informative webinar, you will be given at least 3 effective marketing tactics to work on. When you implement them, you will benefit from their proven power. And, we will give you the chance to acquire our Independent Trainer / Coach Business Growth Accelarator Bundle to guide you along the sure and enjoyable path to informational products, an outstanding professional identity, an effective brand, positive networking and the generation of valid warm incoming training and coaching enquiries.

It’s not for everybody…

We want to speak with the people who will get most benefit from the webinar so, please do NOT join if you;

– Don’t have a sense of fun and adventure

– Have zero intention of investing in yourself to grow your independent trainer service business

– Possess a closed mind when it comes copywriting and social media. Or,

– Think that clients will find you by magic and telepathy, so none of this is necessary

– Love your poverty just a little too much 😉

Still reading? Good.

Matthew – Matthew has built up international clients relationships using the marketing activities that he teaches and has won business from Governments and Global companies. He has worked in 30 countries and with the best; Jaguar Land Rover, Unilever, Danone, General Electric, SAP, REPSOL, Telefonica, Electrolux and Heineken. He has more than 9 years webinar, train the trainer and trainer coaching experience and was president of SIETAR UK for more than 5 years.

No Cost – There is no fee for attending the webinar and we only have limited places. If you wish to expand your independent trainer or coaching practice and are ready for the challenge. If you believe in yourself, and want to follow our proven step-by-step guide, then there is only one place to be at 6PM UK time on, 16th October 2018 – (7PM Paris time) – 1PM New York – Register now to attend the Marketing to Get More Training Days with Less Hassle and No Hustle Webinar. Click here and follow the instructions;

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5002826678569069827

We look forward to speaking with you on, Tuesday, 16th October at 6PM UK, (7PM Warsaw / Paris time. 1PM New York.)

Thanks,

Matthew

Matthew Hill

+44 7540 65 9995