Posted on March-29-2017
We know our mind can change our body, but can our body change our mind? According to Amy Cuddy, and other researchers before her, it absolutely can. We admire Amy Cuddy; we show her Ted Talk, discuss her book Presence, and reference power posing during our workshops. We see tremendous value in what she’s made accessible to the public: the ability to use our body to effectively change our state of mind. Amy Cuddy’s Ted … Continue Reading
Posted on November-22-2016
The paradox of this election is how President-elect Trump defied gravitas, a defining quality of presence and leadership, and managed to survive a succession of socially inept blunders. Bullying, arrogance and racial slurs are typically career-destroying missteps and yet, instead of ambushing his campaign, these indiscretions somehow reinforced his “authenticity.” The rationale that he called-it-like-he-saw-it absolved him of every gaffe, excused his lack of empathy and provided cover for dishonest statements. Despite his blunders, the … Continue Reading
Posted on September-14-2016
Earlier we wrote about Hillary Clinton. This week, we will shine the spotlight on the other front-running presidential nominee: the notorious Donald Trump. This post is neither meant to promote Trump nor the opposite – so don’t worry, feel free to read on. Rather, this post has to do with the influence of personal branding and how the creation and consistency of Trump’s personal brand has been so influential in his rise to presidential nominee. … Continue Reading
Posted on September-7-2016
As we’ve discussed in many of our previous blogs (like here and here), body language is not something to be overlooked, taken lightly, and certainly not ignored. Body language speaks emotion, and therefore it never lies. We are at a distinct advantage if we understand not only this, but also how we can use body language to our benefit. The flip side is when we miss body language cues or make mistakes – these small … Continue Reading
Posted on April-5-2016
Alas, we’ve reached the last blog in our series on The Secret Handshake: Mastering The Politics of the Business Inner Circle by Dr. Kathleen Reardon. In last week’s post, we discussed how to become a politically astute negotiator in the workplace. Being able to engage successfully in negotiation tactics will get you one step closer to the business inner circle. Dr. Reardon expresses concern in the last section of her book that she feels as … Continue Reading
Posted on April-2-2016
The end of our series on The Secret Handshake: Mastering The Politics of the Business Inner Circle, if fast-approaching. We have covered the majority of the book thus far, and have looked at topics ranging from how to read between the lines to last week’s post on how to cultivate influence. Taken together, these topics are the stepping stones on your path to being able to access the secret handshake. This week, we will be … Continue Reading
Posted on March-28-2016
We took a break last week from our Secret Handshake series to talk about personal style and branding. This week, we will continue our series with a post on how to cultivate influence. All of the previous posts from this series, from enhancing your personal power to dealing with conflict, are all of significant importance when it comes to accessing the secret handshake. However, if you are not capable of influencing others, it does not … Continue Reading
Posted on March-4-2016
Power is a term that we’ve discussed over the last few weeks as it relates to attaining the secret handshake. Last week we looked specifically at how to enhance your own personal power. One way you can enhance your personal power within an office setting is learning how to manage the micropolitics of conflict. According to Dr. Reardon in her book The Secret Handshake: Mastering the Politics of the Business Inner Circle, “You could adopt … Continue Reading
Posted on February-24-2016
Power. What does it mean? If you don’t naturally possess it, can you attain it? How will increasing your power help you access the secret handshake? There are two full chapters in The Secret Handshake: Mastering the Politics of the Business Inner Circle by Dr. Reardon that are dedicated to power, which is indicative of its significance within this context. In our last post, we explored how to create positional power. One of the major … Continue Reading
Posted on February-23-2016
There is no doubt that at some point in your career, you will encounter people who will use malicious, sneaky or rude ways to get ahead. Last week we discussed how to spot these moves as well as how to diffuse them. This week, in continuation of our series on The Secret Handshake: Mastering the Politics of the Business Inner Circle by Dr. Reardon, we will be exploring how you can create positional power, and … Continue Reading
