8 tips to charm your way to the top

Do you want to use charm and charisma to advance your career?

Although difficult or even impossible to define accurately (due to an abundance of wildly diverse criteria in regard to the trait), charm is often used to describe an elusive, even undefinable personality trait that often includes the seemingly ’supernatural’ or uncanny ability to lead, persuade, inspire, and/or influence people. It refers especially to a quality in certain people who easily draw the attention and admiration (or even hatred if the application of such charisma is perceived to be negative) of others due to a ‘magnetic’ quality of personality and/or appearance.

“You know what charm is: a way of getting the answer ‘yes’ without having asked any clear question.” – Albert Camus

Here are eight easy ways to charm your way to the top:

1. Inspire people

Think Martin Luther King. Appeal to people’s emotions by showing them how it could be if only they dared to dream. Your optimism will pull people in.

2. Share your passion

If you can’t find enthusiasm, find an angle. Link the new performance-management system into how you helped your son transform his grades, or how your football team shot up the league. Showing you care brings a topic to life.

3. Surprise ‘em.

Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev banged his shoe on the table in response to a speech criticising the Soviet Union’s role in eastern Europe. Unconventional responses to familiar situations get our attention.

4. Create empathy.

Give natural synergy a nudge by consciously matching others. Try speaking at the same volume or pace, and reflect movement. Be subtle though. You’ll know it’s working when you laugh and they laugh too.

5. Add some sparkle.

Use words that express emotion [excited, nervous, thrilled), evoke sounds [crash, whoop, boom) and are descriptive [immense, shimmering, fierce).  Be a wordsmith: use language to change how people feel, not just what they think.

6. Captivate your audience.

Draw people in with positive comparisons: Just like you, Ben's always coming up with solutions.' A little flattery goes a long way.

7. Be generous.

Give answers that go beyond what's needed: 'An excellent book - practical as well as an easy read, rather than 'It was fine'. Interesting people share colours and flavours.

8. Tell stories.

In his victory speech, president-elect Barack Obama told how 'change has come to America' through the eyes of 106-year-old Ann Nixon Cooper. He took the audience on her journey. We felt the 'heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress' that she did. Next time you hear a good story, note it down. It could come in useful.

What do you think? Have I missed any points? Please leave your comments below:

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Originally posted 2009-01-02 22:48:40.

8 simple ways to be more decisive … I think?

Being decisive means knowing what you really really really want. When you have crystal clear clarity of what you want to accomplish, you will most certainly achieve it.

Anthony Robbins … A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken a new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided.

1. Get started

Ask yourself: ‘Can I resolve this here and now?’ If so, do it now. If not, follow Einstein’s approach: ‘Make it as simple as possible, but no simpler’.

2. Define the problem

Write down what the crux of your problem is in one sentence. If you’re being headhunted do you actually want a new job?

3. Explore what’s involved

Who and what will be affected? When and where will the outcome be implemented? Why do you need to make the decision? Delve deep so nothing is overlooked.

4. Consider different perspectives

What would your competitor do? Get creative: how would a doctor or a five-year-old child view the dilemma? Approaching the problem from different angles will help you understand the facts objectively.

5. Visualise

What does your ideal future look like? How can your choice bridge the gap between where you are now and where you would be ideally?

6. Make sure your decision is foolproof

Whatever your decision it will affect other people. Have you checked if everyone involved wants the same as you or not, or if it is even feasible?

7. Just do it

Nothing can ever be 100 per cent so after careful consideration make your decision by simply going with the best-looking option.

8. Make it happen

Be flexible and strike a balance between planning and adjusting. Whatever you do it is not the end of the world. Respect your decision but don’t be beholden to it.

What do you think? Have I missed any points? Please leave your comments below:

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Originally posted 2008-08-09 15:13:29.