Most control freaks aren't aware (or won’t admit) they are, well control freaks. They fail to see how this type of behavior alienates others, and lessens their interest in working with them.
Dr. Shelley Prevost, co-founder of Lamp Post Group, a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based venture incubator, offers eight signs of controlling behavior in an article in Inc.
She contends control freak symptoms mask the true underlying condition in control freaks, “their own anxiety has run amuck.”
Instead of addressing our own patterns of irrational thinking, Dr. Prevost says, “We attempt to control the situation, usually by trying to control other people.”
Are you wondering if you might be a control freak? See how many of the following behaviors ring a bell for you:
A control freak is convinced that changing another individual’s behavior will make them feel more fulfilled. “You make someone else responsible for how you feel,” Dr. Prevost notes.
To break this self-defeating cycle, you have to understand “the road to better relationships always starts with you.” How can you create a 2.0 version of yourself?
“If you work on your own improvement instead of trying to control others,” Dr. Prevost notes, “healthier relationships at work, as well as everywhere else, will then come to you as a result.”
How do you cope with your own inner control freak?
Thanks to NLP Center for the image.
Richard Branson
knows a thing or two about leadership and success. He has pieced together an empire that has earned him a fortune and a knighthood. “He has become an icon in the eyes of many aspiring business owners,” said Jason Fell, contributor to Entrepreneur.
At the ripe age of just 22, he opened a chain of record stores later known as Virgin Megastores. The brand grew rapidly during the 1980s as he set up Virgin Atlantic Airways and expanded the Virgin Records music label.
Today the Virgin brand boasts dozens of companies and his net worth is estimated to be more than four billion.
Fell provides some lessons in leadership from Branson we can take and apply to the auto industry.
Have Courage and Follow Your Instincts
You have to do something radically different to make a mark today. The successes of the future will not rely on old ways of doing things. Think outside of the box, embrace change, innovate, and take risks.
Branson’s board members were skeptical when he set up Virgin Atlantic Airways, but he saw an opportunity and stuck to it. Now Virgin Atlantic carries more than five million passengers every year.
Be Open to Change
Technology evolves at a rapid pace and change happens whether you want it or you don’t. Life is always fresh and new so bring that to your business, as well. Fells says with Virgin Records, Branson mastered how to navigate change. He transformed the business model a number of times before he sold the company to EMI in 1992.
Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Help
Business leaders will need advice on how to improve their business throughout their career. Know when it’s best to turn to people you know and trust for advice and/or assistance. Branson says, “Thinking back to 1969, my mother’s common sense advice would have been just the thing I needed to hear.”
That was the year Branson was caught smuggling records through customs, for his mail-order record business, without paying taxes by British officials.
Connect with Customers
When you connect with your customers, let them know you listen and you care about their needs. This give you feedback and ways to improve your products and services. Branson says, “Through customers’ comments, we started learning about issues with our products and services more quickly than ever before.”
Encourage Teamwork and Fun
Play hard, work hard is an ethic that permeates the Virgin culture. Happy teams work well together and accomplish goals. The Virgin Group celebrated the summer Olympics by taking part in fun races. “Events like these can help to break down departmental barriers and foster better teamwork as employees get to know each other in an informal setting,” Branson said.
Whether you love him or hate him, Branson has shown us you can go wherever your imagination takes you. He made Virgin a global brand with a distinct personality which spans retail, music, airlines, telecommunication, media, drinks, energy, and even space tourism.
What else have you learned from Richard Branson that has helped you build your business?
Image courtesy of Tequila Partners via Flickr
Email overload is a huge problem for business leaders. If we're not careful, we can spend half our day sifting through our inbox. It can end up leaving us frustrated, and unproductive.
The truth is, email can be little more than a distraction. When we're always checking to see what is in our inboxes, we can't focus on the bigger picture. Yet it’s hard not to look when you hear that ping sound or see the mail icon in your dock.
Dmitri Leonov wrote a guest post for Venture Beat in which he provided a list of tips to help busy people manage email overload.
His number one rule? Don’t make clearing your inbox your top priority.
He says, “When you let other people set your priorities, you’re not in control of your time, and this should be a deal-breaker for entrepreneurs.”
Email overload is never going away completely. That said, you can make a dent in how much time and mental space it takes.
The first thing you may need to do is change your big picture approach to email. Be okay with the fact that some emails will never get a response. Do, however, respond quickly to those who need your attention.
Also, remember that the more email you send, the more you will receive.
You offer a great product or service, but somehow your sales team cannot close the big deals when it should. The problem might be your salespeople are so focused on the sales pitch they are not explaining in a way that makes sense to customers.
One thing is for certain—customers won’t buy what they don’t understand.
So says Lee LeFever, founder of Common Craft, and a contributor to HBR Blog Network. He contends we have to “think differently about how we explain ideas” during the sales process.
He likens the sales process to the famous line from Glengary Glen Ross: Always be closing. But suggests we change it to "always be explaining." He says effective explanations must come if you want to make the sale.
Think about how often you go into a meeting, armed with your curse of knowledge and your company jargon. The prospect rarely wants to ask you what you mean when you say you want to "socialize an idea" because they do not want to look dumb, but they will remember how you made them feel after you leave.
LeFever goes on to say how important it is to make prospects feel like they are the smartest people in the room:
Understanding the basics of explanation can serve as a remedy for The Curse of Knowledge and help us think differently about how we explain ideas. This is especially true in the sales process. Whether it is on the convention floor, in the executive suite, or during a product presentation, honing your explanation skills convinces your audience that you understand their needs.
Following are six tips to create effective explanations. (more…)
