EXPAND YOURSELF

EXPAND  YOURSELF

Be a hundred times more worth to fellow human beings . You will earn a hundred times more .

Expand your knowledge and skills to give more . Be of real value , deeper value to increasing number of people , and you will prosper . ( Apply your mind consistently to find out more and more new ways to do that . )

Take health , happiness and prosperity in the life of everyone you meet .

“ You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you . ”

We must meet our moral and spiritual needs even if it brings us pain in the short-run .

If you are in the game to win , play it full swing . Be willing to feel stupid , be prepared to try things that might not work  ---  and if they don’t work , be always ready to change your approach .

Live life ‘king-size’ while you are alive . Experience everything good that life has to offer . Have fun , be crazy , go purely mad ! Be spontaneous . Be silly . Discover the forgotten joy of being a kid once again !

HOW TO KNOW HOW WELL YOU WILL GET ALONG WITH SOMEONE

                            

                                      VALUE-METRICS

Arrange the undermentioned values in the table given below  in order of priority in your life :

[ Note against 1 whatever is of prime importance to you .

Note against 10 whatever is of least importance in your life ]

*LOVE    *POWER    *FUN    *MONEY      *FREEDOM    *HEALTH    *SECURITY   

*ADVENTURE    *FAME    *STATUS .

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Now , ask someone else to fill up the above table without seeing the one that you have filled . This person could be your girl/boy friend , your would-be life-partner , your would be room-mate , or your colleague or boss : someone that you want to know how well you are likely to get along with .

When you match the two tables now , you will know how your priorities and ways of looking at life compare with each other . If they mismatch very much you will need to compromise on a daily basis , and both of you will feel deeply frustrated . If they match well you will get along smoothly with each other .

The table will also give you a fair idea as to in which areas you are likely to clash and in which areas you will naturally gel with each other .

Value-metrics is a psychometric tool , simple yet very useful !

AN EFFECTIVE FORMAT TO DELIVER A BUSINESS PRESENTATION

AN  EFFECTIVE  FORMAT  TO  DELIVER  A  BUSINESS  PRESENTATION
                                        
                                                by  S. K. SENGUPTA

STEP 1 : Plan a formal and effective opening to your presentation .

STEP 2 : (a) Give an outline of your entire presentation in a picture form . Be creative for that . (b) Now give a Punchline to your audience , which should be simple , eye-raising and should hit the bull’s-eye of the purpose of your speech .

STEP 3 : Next , tell the audience What Is In It For Them . Tell them how going through the presentation is going to immensely benefit them . For that you have to look at your presentation from their point-of-view .

STEP 4 : Now deliver your presentation point-by-point , section-by-section . The presentation has to be sober and professional , yet full of showmanship and enchanting . Show them something interesting and appeal to natural human emotions . You must know how to drive home your central points .

STEP 5 : (a) Now summarize your main points . (b) Also sum-up the benefits that are going to occur to the audience .

STEP 6 : (a) Now repeat the Punchline . (b) Finally appeal to the action that you want your audience to initiate . 

A great presentation does not just happen . It is a matter of art and techniques , and demands a great deal of sensitive hard work .

SOME ADVANCED NOTES ON MARKETING

SOME ADVANCED NOTES ON MARKETING

By  S.K.Sengupta .

         I.      Obtain 360 degree Market Information and develop the ability to act on it quickly .

          II.       

§        Ask yourself why your product might fail . Ask why the customers might not like it .

§        Brainstorm what to do . More brains , better results .

          III.       

            §        When market is changing fast , if you wait for a trend to evolve , it will be too late . So , develop intuition and a sense of urgency .

            §        Imagine ( based on 360 degree market analysis ) the likely future possibilities . Then plan suitable responses for each .

            §        Identify signs that could indicate that a particular possibility is unfolding .

           IV.      Convert Corporate Strategy into simple and straightforward actionable agenda .

            V.      Inspect  ,  not Expect  , to get Results .

           VI.      Calculated Risk-taking and Innovation are essential for breakthroughs . Have 

            lots of ideas , experiments , ventures , and new business concepts on your 

            mind .

                                                         VII.      Develop a strong and unique Core Business . Persue coming-up opportunities which align with your Core Competency . Select expansion opportunities which add to profits as well as strengthen the core of your business . Never lose focus of the core . To arrive at Core Business idea , meditate on what you can do better than others , and what are the unresolved problems of your customers that you can solve well .

                                                      VIII.      Ask yourself : “ What are we selling ? ” Then ask the customers : “ What are you buying ? ” [ They buy benefits . ]  By asking these questions , you will learn a deep lesson as to how to grow .

                                                            IX.      Grow by :

§        Selling more to carefully selected existing customers .

§        Systematically developing new products or services .

§        Establishing control of a market , and then growing as it grows .

§        Rethinking how you can make your service or product available to your customers more conveniently and promptly .

                                                               X.      Don’t drown your head in work and forget Networking . Strategic Internal and External Networking is an essential ingredient for success .

                                                            XI.      At the heart of Growth are Five different types of Companies :  

  §        RULE BREAKERS ( Apple Computer ) .

  §        GAME PLAYERS ( Coca Cola , Pepsi ) .

    §        RULE MAKERS ( Walt Disney , Micro soft ) .

 §        SPECIALISTS ( Midwest Express ) .

§        IMPROVISERS ( America Online ) .

                                             

THE PSYCHOPATH

THE  PSYCHOPATH

A)  CORE  PSYCHOPATHIC  TRAITS :

  They are very charming in appearance .

  They are suave in the art of gentle persuasion .

  They are fearless .

  They have no empathy .

  They have no conscience .

B)  They are eagle-eyed and observe every minute detail             without any emotion .

C)  They are highly stimulated by the prospects of rewards , and care little for risk or losses .

D)  Psychopaths don’t work on things . They work on minds .

E)  They are deadly , yet they appear charming with a boyish innocence .

F)  Psychopaths possess immense poise under pressure , with a frozen mind and heart even in greatest danger .

THE ART OF ASKING SMART QUESTIONS

THE ART OF ASKING SMART QUESTIONS .

BY   S.K.Sengupta

Here are some tips so that your questions help people think , go deeper , and help you to probe and have a deeper insight :

Ask all questions that come to your mind with What , When , Why , Who , Where , and How .

Ask : “ Yes , but Why ? ”

Ask : “ What’s the use ? ”

Ask : “ Can you prove it ? ”

Ask Compare and Contrast questions .

Ask questions to test multiple abilities .

Convert lower level questions into higher level by asking for deeper thinking .

Ask clarifying questions beginning with What ( What makes you ask that ? / What bothers you about Shireen’s comment ? / What’s another way to look at this ? )

Ask unusual but important questions .

Ask probing questions .

Ask questions to check :

                             I.      Knowledge .

                         II.      Comprehension

                     III.      Application

                   IV.      Analysis ( Relationship between parts )

                       V.      Synthesis ( Forming new patterns and structures )

                   VI.      Evaluation (How can it be modified ) .

RESOLVING DEADLOCKS IN A NEGOTIATION

RESOLVING  DEADLOCKS  IN  A  NEGOTIATION

            I.      FOCUS  ON  SOLUTION  ,  NOT  ON  POSITIONS 

( Some ideas to do so are  presented below )  :

i)      Bring in a mediator .

ii)    Go for a toss .

iii) One person selects two options ( or makes two halves of a lot ) , and the second person selects one of these two options .

iv) Go for the middle or average of the two positions .

         II.      Think whether the negotiation should be taken to someone at a higher level to resolve the deadlock .

     III.      Rejection is reactive : line of communication is still open . Eliminate cause of rejection and the problem will be solved .

     IV.      Keep throwing fresh ideas and thoughts at people until something clicks .

        V.      Don’t ask WHY , ask WHAT  ( e.g.  What are the reasons ? / What has to happen ? / What if I offer you $2000 for that ?  etc. ) .

     VI.      ‘Statement questions’ are a polite way to probe more  . ( I wonder if you would like to see something cheaper . / I have liked the offer , but I don’t know much about your company . )

 VII.      Ask ‘open questions’ when the other person is not opening up .

VIII.      Paraphrasing ( repeating statement ) is also a way of asking an ‘open question’ .  ( “ I am not sure whether we should go for this offer ” , can be handled by saying : “ You are not sure ? ” )