Tag Archive for: Building Relationships

Connectedness Is Coming In Vogue

Money and you brings a new conciousness

The world is ready for the work of Consciousness.

As a “Mentor of Nurturing,” and having worked in the Asia Pacific Region for the past couple of decades, I bring back good news… Yes, the world is ready for the Consciousness work that we have had an opportunity to enjoy and teach so readily for the past three decades in North America…

In my work as a Management Consultant for large companies in the Far East – I was happy to receive the title of “Mentor of Nurturing” from some of my clients. This credit comes from all the work we do and the programs our company has offered and pioneered in that part of the world which are unique in the way we teach. The result of our emphasis on connection, building relationships, and the win/win principles that become so obviously attractive through our games, appeals to all cultures, ages, and levels of experience.

All our transformational/entrepreneurial education programsMoney & You, the Excellerated Business Schools for Entrepreneurs and our other related courses – plus many of the courses our graduates go on to teach – create learning environments that encourage and make being “connected” not only appealing – but safe. For many of my clients and our course participants, we provide their first actual experience of safety in sharing which allows them to be able to openly give and really let in positive feedback from others.

I have learned that no matter how profitable a company is, there are always “people challenges.” And the more disconnected they are – the less opportunity they have to create that safe space together at work – the more problems, projections, lack of communication, conflict, upsets, separation and disconnection they experience. Even when they succeed financially because their products and services are in demand, no matter how much money they are making, their daily lives are filled with stress. There is a sense of lack of satisfaction and fulfillment, and they literally experience what some would call “a living hell.”

In our early days of consulting and doing our programs, we were invited to work with mainly entrepreneurial companies whose biggest challenge was mostly around their people systems. We know that all companies have people-challenges, but in the authoritarian/submissive expectations in the Asia culture, they would describe it differently to us – more like “how do we handle a sense of conflict, unruliness, and a desire to challenge authority?

However now, and since so many companies have been impacted, either directly or indirectly from the type of programs they received from us, the word “connectedness” is actually being used. They now ask for support in helping their people to have a greater understanding of each other, to “see” into each others’ minds and hearts, and to not only to create results for their companies, but also to do it while enjoying each other. They are actually beginning to use the word “happy” – and not just happy with bonuses, with incentives, with time off, but happy on a daily basis.

I am brought in at times to do “my thing” – sometimes they even call it my “California thing” (they find that my accent is because I was born in Chile but from 12 years old on I grew up in Southern California.) And once we do the work which has been so familiar to us for so many years to us here in the USA, the results they experience is an amazing shift (to them) in more open communications, more productivity, profitability –and, of course, more connectedness.

Who “woulda’ thought”!

It is very satisfying to be able, from my own proven experiences, to be encouraging any teacher of consciousness to travel the world and share their principles of consciousness that have come so easily for so many years to many of us. And as long as we do it appropriately, it represents our way of being and our home country well.

People who do and teach transformational work are becoming “Ambassadors of New Thinking” which, in Education, is considered “New Education”. They always ask, “What do you mean by ‘New Thinking?” This is the opening to share about your knowledge… your hard-earned way of thinking that truly brings peace to the world. And once people see it can eradicate conflict in people’s daily lives, they then can transfer it to the whole…

We are encouraging people to think of themselves as “new thinking” global citizens – people who speak the language of crossing cultures, religions and beliefs.

I always like to share that one of the most exciting things that happened to me when I first started spending long periods of time in Singapore in the mid-1990’s and had a growing network of interested entrepreneurs, hungry to learn more about American business thinking. So at dinner I would often find myself with people from many religions at once – Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Spiritually-aware businesspeople and professionals. As we talked, they could suddenly see that they all were interested in the same thing – improving their business and relationships. So as a result of coming together at dinner like that, they also started doing business with each other, with complete respect for each other’s backgrounds.

Common goals and respect for differences is truly World Peace at work.

As Lynn Twist, the author of “The Soul of Money” shares, many people are living a “Committed Life.” I realized through the years that this is what many of us have been and are still teaching. So we continue going out to the world – like good old fashion missionaries – spreading the word that anyone can live an awesome life; to be abundant, wealthy, sexy, and conscious all at the same time – and make a difference in this world.

We are bringing in the ultimate gift of our programs, products, and services: Higher Consciousness.

What are you willing to do to really “spread the word”? What I am a bit disturbed is to find that in our so-called “civilized” countries – not only in our own home, the good ol’ USA, but also in countries like Singapore and Malaysia – many people have reached high levels of success and then stopped sharing with others because this is was their biggest goal – to make it big. But something happens when they reach the level of success that they want. At that point some just get greedy, wanting to make more and more money so they can spend, spend, and spend some more, competing with others to get bigger. But then they start looking for “something else” because they feel no satisfaction. They have that yearning to do more – but they don’t know what to do with it. They start having feelings that they are so unfamiliar to them – so while it is not like something the rest of their neighbors, peers, associates, friends and family may be experiencing – that confusion starts setting in.

Here is where our WORK – yours and ours – becomes so valuable and it is so welcome…

The longing of the heart is happening more and more as the world becomes abundant for one segment of the population and so fiercely scarce for so many others.

Even Mother Nature and our world is going through its shift. If you notice, now it is becoming in vogue for the mega-rich to invest in environmental causes (See BusinessWeek August 14, 2006 “Tree Huggers on Wall Street”). The fact is even the richest man in the world and his wife, Bill and Melinda Gates, be retired in 2008 and his goal is to transform the American educational system.

I don’t have to tell you how excited I was to have this couple demonstrating so publicly a similar mission to mine – to transform educational systems around the world in order to eradicate poverty and hunger. They have chosen the American educational system and are starting at home. And even more of a miracle, he attracts another of America’s richest men, Warren Buffett, to donate the bulk of his wealth to this work!

Where does that come from?

It comes from Heart, from Spirit… and when you begin to really touch your heart, you can’t help but realize that all the material goods in the world will not bring you that peace of mind – the satisfaction of that yearning. It is a calling in your heart that has been there all along!

It is time to make public and spread the Consciousness Principles that so many of us have been practicing daily. People want that knowledge; they want that connectedness.

Who knows why it is happening? It was written about years ago in “The Aquarian Conspiracy” and I know some of my Spiritual Teachers tell me that this awareness is coming in very strongly into the world as the collective consciousness evolves. Human beings are beginning to remember their Spiritual roots and Spiritual Responsibility is beginning to set in. It could actually mean true “heaven on earth”.

It couldn’t be happening at a better time in history. So for this great news, we are thankful and proud to be a part of it! And there is still MUCH, MUCH work to do.

The world is actively looking for the tools, the principles, and the Consciousness work so join us – go out there and share your knowledge.

The world is ready for it…!

Please accept a gift from me to assist you in achieving your business results.

DC Cordova,
CEO/Co-founder Excellerated Business Schools/Money & You Program
http://www.excellerated.com

Creative Commons License photo credit: h.koppdelaney

Why Some (Sales) People Think LinkedIn Doesn’t Work

Fortune: New Possibilities

Why Some (Sales) People Think LinkedIn Doesn’t Work For Them

LinkedIn is a very powerful tool that can support us when we want to get in touch with potential customers – from all around the world.

However many salespeople tell us LinkedIn doesn’t work for them. In this article we talk about the three most common misconceptions.

      1. Though crafting a good Profile helps people find you based on your expertise, products or services (via Linkedin or via Google or other search engines), this is not where the power of LinkedIn resides.
      2. LinkedIn is a very powerful tool for salespeople who are proactive and don’t wait till someone contacts them.

“I have made a Profile, now potential customers will contact me one after the other.”

  1. “I have sent some potential customers an Invitation. However they don’t accept the Invitation or don’t respond to my messages to buy my products or services.”
    1. LinkedIn is a NETWORK tool and not a SALES tool. LinkedIn helps to build relationships with people. If you use it like a “cold-calling machine,” the reaction of people will be the same as with a “cold-call”: no reaction or even rejection. Not only is this not effective and not very efficient, there is also another danger: LinkedIn has tools available to indicate you are a spammer. If you get too many of these “flags”, your chances of fostering a connection and building rapport with others will be greatly reduced!
    2. It’s About the Relationships! The golden rule of Bob Burg always applies: “All things being equal people do business with and refer business to people they know, like and trust.” LinkedIn offers you the opportunity to increase these 3 factors if done in the right way. Crafting a good Profile, helping others in Discussions and Answers and not pushing your products or services you already helps a lot, just like in “real life”.
  2. I use the “Get Introduced To” function to get me referred by my network to potential customers.
    1. Though this approach might get you some results, it is not always the best option… and your own network doesn’t always forward your messages and the prospect doesn’t always reply (or read unknown senders’ messages, for that matter!). There might be several reasons for that, but the reasons most people don’t think of are: your contact doesn’t know the prospect well enough, your contact doesn’t know you well enough or your contact thinks that your message is too pushy.
    2. Instead use LinkedIn as a research database to discover the relationships between people and then proceed outside of LinkedIn. Call your contact and explain him the situation. If he responds positively, ask him to write an email to introduce you and the prospect to each other. In this way your prospect receives the message from someone he already knows and trusts. If you use LinkedIn, you are the one who takes the initiative, which is much less powerful.

About the Author

Jan Vermeiren is the founder of Networking Coach. Following on the best seller success of his first book “Let’s Connect!” , in his second book “How to REALLY use LinkedIn” he reveals even more the dynamics of networking and tools that anybody can immediately apply.

Together with his team at Networking Coach, Jan gives presentations and training courses in the field of networking and referrals. Customers are large organisations like Deloitte, Dupont, IBM, ING, SAP, Sun Microsystems and Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School , as well as small companies and freelancers.

Get your free light version of “How to REALLY use LinkedIn” at: http://www.how-to-really-use-linkedin.com

Creative Commons License photo credit: zzzack

Hamburger Heaven: What Mustard and Ketchup Did for Me

mustard

Hamburger Heaven: What Mustard and Ketchup Did for Me

I found the secret to creating Heaven on Earth in the oddest of circumstances: A backyard barbecue.

While setting the table with condiments for our hamburgers, my friend Cherrie said,

“Don’t put the mayo out for me; I don’t use it.”

“Me, neither,” said Jim.

“It’s for Glenn,” I replied, as I placed it on the table.

Next, I put out the ketchup and barbeque sauce.

“Just mustard for me,” said Jim cheerily.

“Me, too” said Cherrie.

“Mustard? Really?” I said wide-eyed. How interesting. I never think of mustard when I’m constructing a delicious, juicy burger. Hot dogs, yes, hamburgers, no. Hmmm… So, ok, I got out the mustard.

Ketchup for me. No… today I think I’ll use Thousand Island dressing. Mayo and barbeque sauce for Glenn. Mustard for Jim and Cherrie. Okey dokey.

That’s when the BFO hit me. (BFO: “Blinding Flash of the Obvious”) What would life be like if I could view all choices people make with the same interested yet dispassionate way as I did with choices for hamburger toppings?

“I’m going to the XYZ church/mosque/temple this weekend,” someone might say.

“How interesting,” I would think.

“I don’t know much about that denomination. What’s it like?”

When I hear, “I think the federal government should stop funding education/nuclear weapons/environmental controls/business loans,” I would say, “How interesting. Where else could the money come from, or are you thinking that we don’t need…”

“I’m Pro-Choice/Pro-Life.” “How interesting,” I’d say.

“Do you mind sharing your thoughts on that?” (“Get rid of the labels!” I remind myself, thinking of some labels that have been laden with inaccurate and hurtful assumptions about me.)

This condiment-approach to others’ choices opens the door to building relationships beyond labels, beyond stereotypes, beyond pre-conceived notions of what someone is like. It replaces self-created drama, angst, and negative thoughts with an unattached interest in another, opening unlimited pathways to expanding my world.

Please note this distinction: Honoring others’ choices is about being accepting of others, not dispassionate about life. I’m not suggesting that we become disinterested in issues of importance to us. As rEvolutionaries, we are called upon to offer our thoughts, feelings and actions to make our world a better place. Now, with this hamburger helper, I can do it even better by forwarding positive ideas without making anyone else wrong.

How interesting.

By Marian Head, 1985 Money & You® Graduate
Reprinted with permission from Revolutionary News (www.RevolutionaryAgreements.com/news)

Creative Commons License photo credit: greenkozi