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Empathy – The New Sales Edge

January 18, 2013 in Attitudes & Behaviours, Brain Science, Complex Selling & Transactional Selling, Emotional Intelligence, Life Skills, Mindful selling, Neuroscience

Late last year we published the 12 Sales Trends Report for 2013 and released a brief summary of each sales trend in December.  Over the year we will delve a little deeper into each sales trend.  To kick off the New Year we will focus on the Sales Trend Empathy.

This sales trend is seeing smart businesses making it a priority to redress the balance and develop our brains’ Interpersonal sensitivities: our empathetic side to take into account the needs of others as well as our own needs.  We will see people working more in collaboration for the mutual benefit of each other while maintaining the best of analytical thinking and risk taking. 

Why?  Well, 2 reasons:

  1. Sadly, for some years now the business world, by and large, has been worshipping at the corporate alter of Profit which has created an Empathy deficit… and most people (read employees, customers, communities, etc.)  do not like it.  It’s not sustainable by itself.
  2. There has been, and still is, a shift away from product as central to the complex sale with businesses and markets becoming more intertwined, and people now featuring at the heart of viable business relationships.   
emotional-intelligence

emotional qualities such as compassion, empathy, and benevolence can be trained

And the good news is that the emotional qualities such as compassion, empathy, and benevolence can be trained: they can be proactively developed and mastered.

Effective selling and building profitable businesses in 21st Century is all about developing viable relationships based on real value and substance which is a combination of the tangible and intangible.

The challenge will be to reconcile the prevailing norms of the cool headedness of the analytical thinking brain and the risk taking brain of the ‘cowboy’ entrepreneur with the empathetic moral compass brain as we navigate and manage the impact of our decisions on individuals, customers, suppliers and communities.

However, making Empathy a priority is not that easy.  A lot of emphasis has been placed on the importance of being ‘analytical’ in business, being rational, yet the newspapers are littered with stories of CEOs and leaders whose rationality and analytical thinking was of the highest order yet the decisions they made failed to consider the people factors, at worst, put the lives of people and communities at risk, destroying or severely eroding their business brands and future viability as well, creating horrendous consequences for those affected by their decisions.

We also read countless stories of risk taking entrepreneurs who are lauded as business celebrities one day for the way they have taken a business from zero to hero faster than the speed of light and then canned the next when their venture takes a dive leaving people jobless and out of pocket, and investors poorer for the experience.

Interestingly, in this increasingly complex world, capabilities such as empathy, compassion and benevolence are emerging as critical qualities of highly successful people, teams, organisations and communities. Even in the highly competitive world of business and selling, it has been found that those sales people and leaders who are able to incorporate these qualities into their daily work and personal lives are finding greater levels of success. This is coming in the form of better sales results and healthier, more prosperous client relationships as well as better personal health, resilience, and overall job and personal satisfaction.

Numerous articles and books are written about that ‘One thing’ or that ‘Secret to Success’ that will solve all your issues – and what happens? It doesn’t work by itself – it needs to work as part of a system.   And so it is with the brain.  The brain is a complex network and being able to access and develop key areas of the brain allowing them to work in concert and counterbalance each other for positive outcomes is the key. 

If you want to understand more about Empathy as a powerful societal force you may enjoy watching a very interesting video (see below)  about a concept called Outrospection by philosopher and author Roman Krznaric who explains how we can help drive social change by stepping outside ourselves. 

Now is the time to reconcile and place equal importance on developing the empathetic parts of our brain as our new sales and business edge.

If you would like to you can purchase and download the detailed 49 page report of the 12 Sales Trends for 2013 now to see which sales trends will have the greatest impact on your sales optimisation efforts in 2013.

 Remember everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au 

The Sales Brain – using neuroscience to sell

November 16, 2012 in Attitudes & Behaviours, Brain Science, Neuroscience, Neuroscience in Sales, Resilience

The science is clear, our success resides in how we use our brains – our brains can continue to learn, grow and adapt until the day we die. In 2012 and beyond we are seeing neuroscience and neuropsychology become the topics du jour for sales teams.  Learning how to train and in many instances, retrain our brains to incorporate effective thinking and habits will see brain smart sales teams forging new neural pathways leading to greater sales success.  ‘The Sales Brain – using neuroscience to sell’ was voted the 10th sales trend for 2012 from The 12 Sales Trends of 2012 by our readers.

For years, scientists and psychologists have heralded the application of neuroscience’s tools and processes as a pathway to wellness and success. The amount of knowledge we have discovered about the brain in the last decade alone surpasses anything that we knew before.

Now, it’s finally and officially arrived on the doorstep of sales and marketing professionals. If you are not training your sales, marketing, service and leadership teams in neuroscience and neuropsychology you could be left behind in 2012 and beyond.

Why focus on the brain?

focus brainThe brain is known to be like an electro-chemical machine and it’s our thoughts that affect the flow of our neurotransmitters across synaptic connections, especially the likes of adrenaline and dopamine. This in turn affects how we manage ourselves, make decisions and even recover from adversity. The brain is the key to developing our motivation and resilience levels.  

People who achieve their goals and sustain success over a long period of time have learnt how to manage their emotions and energy levels through good times and bad. They learn that it is important to pay attention to feedback and learn how to adapt and adjust to setbacks. By paying attention to their thoughts, feelings, emotions and behaviours they are able to develop in the following areas:

  • Self awareness
  • Social and Other awareness
  • Self Management
  • Relationship Management
  • Motivation & Resilience

All areas which are critical to leading a successful career in sales and sales leadership.

As the world becomes increasingly complex we are seeing people being further challenged to do more with less in the pursuit of productivity and profit – yet our pursuit for more with less is leading to erosions in productivity, poorer sales results, lower margins and more distressed employees.    Research shows that our attempts to multitask are creating performance issues – after all our brains are best designed to focus on one task at a time. An essay titled ‘Recovering from information overload’ from the McKinsey Quartely states “When we switch between tasks, especially complex ones, we become startlingly less efficient: in a recent study, for example, participants who completed tasks in parallel took up to 30 percent longer and made twice as many errors as those who completed the same tasks in sequence.  The delay comes from the fact that our brains can’t successfully tell us to perform two actions concurrently.4  When we switch tasks, our brains must choose to do so, turn off the cognitive rules for the old task, and turn on the rules for the new one. This takes time, which reduces productivity, particularly for heavy multitaskers—who, it seems, take even longer to switch between tasks than occasional multitaskers.5

In practice, most of us would probably acknowledge that multitasking lets us quickly cross some of the simpler items off our to-do lists. But it rarely helps us solve the toughest problems we’re working on. More often than not, it’s procrastination in disguise.”

In short our Conscious Brain is also every easily overloaded. 

brain overloadOne of the biggest detractors from achieving effective long term success in anything including sales performance is being in a distressed state for a prolonged period of time, reducing one’s ability to bounce back from adversity, make effective decisions and manage ourselves. Putting ourselves (or being put) under ‘constant pressure’ to achieve results (e.g. sales targets) with no consideration given to time allocation, preparation and resources can quickly lead to poor quality decision making, poor overall performance and unhealthy life practices. The resulting negative behaviour then probably contributes to the prevalence of poor sales results.

Why is this happening to us?

If we are constantly working under distress with increasing feelings of pressure to perform job related functions at a high level the brain and the body have no chance to return to “normal operations”. The feedback process that stops the fight and flight mode is inhibited.

When we live a life under constant pressure (stress) we are unable to engage the frontal cortex, because our emotional energy levels are drained away from our conscious brain and the unconscious part of our brain will run the show. We live on auto pilot and in a constant state of distress. If the hippocampus is damaged through such prolonged stress, the attribution of positive or negative events in life might be disturbed, we can become even more negative in our view of the world – a vicious cycle can begin.

And the really scary news which is backed up by huge bodies of research is that staying stuck in these flight and fight fear states can also lead to heart disease, strokes and brain disease. Not good for anyone and definitely not good for sustainable performance of any sort.

With business expecting us to do more with less, organisations are inadvertently setting themselves up for sharp declines in productivity and performance, leading to business decline and additional OH&S issues as distress becomes the norm.

Smart companies, leaders and individuals are taking charge of their destinies

Smart businesses are creating working environments where we can operate in the prefrontal cortex (the front part of the brain) with the time and value given to thinking and reflecting and working at more manageable pace (not operating on high intense speed all the time): this space for thinking and reflection allow us to think more clearly, make better decisions, listen more attentively, see other people’s points of view, come up with better ideas to problems and work together more effectively and more efficiently.  Overall the paradox of slowing down and taking time to think and act rather than panic and react will actually make us more productive in the short and long term leading to better outcomes for all – clients, sales teams, staff, leaders included.

Happy Sales Team

Happy Sales Team

The benefits of a healthy functioning brain

Smart companies, leaders and individuals are recognising that maintaining healthy levels of motivational energy (raw physical energy) and developing our Emotional Resilience is vital to our well-being and our overall functioning as human beings.   They are making time to educate and encourage their teams to use their brains more effectively with the following becoming a reality:

Increased Self Awareness & Personal Growth 

  1. Experiencing more positive emotions & less distress in their lives
  2. Increased desirable (wanted) behaviours & decrease unwanted ones
  3. More effective as leaders, sales people, partners, parents, friends, team players, etc.
  4. Managing the effect of emotions on personal level as well as at a team work, client engagement and leadership level.
  5. Feel happier more often
  6. Feel fitter, healthier and better able to handle challenging situations.

For more information on how to train your brain to healthier and more profitable outcomes take a look at our Functioning Brain Workshop, The Optimistic Professional workshop  and our Brain Science page contact us on 03 9533 0000.

For further reading on the Brain you may find these articles useful also:

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au 

Watch who you let near your mind…again!

October 5, 2012 in Attitudes & Behaviours, Brain Science, Brand & Reputation, Ethics & Values, Life Skills, Neuroscience

In early 2008, as the GFC (Global Financial Crisis) loomed, I wrote ‘Watch who you let near your mind’. This was a timely reminder about the importance of maintaining a healthy mindset, looking for the facts for an accurate read on what is happening in the market place so you can make wise decisions. It served to warn about falling into the trap of relying on innuendo, hearsay and group think to define your future success. Guess what? I find myself again talking about the same issue in 2012, even when Australia is in pretty good shape.   

True, it’s hard not to notice the world’s issues and financial crisis that continues in Europe and USA. It wouldn’t be wise if we didn’t examine the consequences and impact of these events on our own lives and businesses. That seems smart.   But the fact is Australia has remained relatively unscathed by the GFC and its after effects. A well managed banking systems, stable government, diverse economy – remember the mining sector contributes around 7% to our GDP and the foundation of the Australian economy is built on SMEs. 95% of all businesses in Australia are SME.  

So why so much doom and gloom lately?

there-are-more-opportunities-ahead

there are more opportunities ahead than the media shows

According to the six-monthly Ipsos Mackay Report, obtained by The Age, many Australians are supposedly more pessimistic about the future and increasingly worried about their job security; they are feeling disenfranchised and distrustful of the Federal Government and the Opposition. Many are saying they feel the same or worse than they did 12 months ago – and fear what will happen when the “mining boom” ends.  

The amount of toxic talk swirling around the ether (i.e. social media, news media, businesses, market places, etc.) is incredible.  The vitriol, the pessimism, the fear is palpable.  It seems the facts have been lost in the turmoil. We need look no further than the current state of leadership and level of debate in Federal and State politics to see how not to lead, debate or create a future for Australians to follow.  By continuing to behave in this manner our political leaders are inadvertently creating a climate of fear and worry based on Effect not Fact that is influencing our confidence to do business and be a vibrant, resilient community.

What about our own businesses? Are we as leaders also contributing to the issue?  What are we doing to present the facts, design strategies and create climates of opportunity for our sales teams, customers and suppliers across the value chain?  Are we choosing instead to listen to a narrow band of information that feeds our anxieties and further erodes our business confidence and success?  

The Ipsos Mackay Report compared the global economy to a hospital, saying: ”Europe’s on life support, the US is in the general ward and Australia is in the ward for hypochondriacs.”

So are we indeed a bunch of hypochondriacs?  Have we let ourselves be held hostage by hearsay? Do we ever ask ourselves ‘How much of this worry is actually true, real and justified?’ Without facts to guide us, this negative sentiment can turn falsehoods, innuendo, hearsay and groupthink into realities perpetuating our own demise. Negative talk is very contagious.

wired-brain

We are wired for flight, fight or freeze

This is why it is so important that we watch who we let near our minds!

The human brain is wired to primarily pick up on signs of danger, caution and risk. We had, after all, to look out for the sabre tooth tiger. In the absence of physically life threatening danger, we inadvertently pick up on other perceived threats and pay attention to what can look like risky i.e. bad news. And with so many of them around and the continuous negative talk, it affects our ability to see and take advantage of the opportunities that are right in front of us.  Because the fact is there are plenty of opportunities to do business in Australia.

Unable or unwilling to distinguish FACT from EFFECT we get stuck in Flight, Fight or Freeze mode, we become chronically distressed and ineffectual thus limiting about ability to think clearly and make wise decisions.  

As business leaders and salespeople we need to deal with uncertainty and probability as we navigate the ever changing world of business and sales.  We rationally know that we need to develop strategies, do research and look for evidence of opportunities and then pursue them with confidence. Yet so many people still fall into the trap of believing the negative talk and losing sight of opportunities. In times of change and uncertainty, when people should be excited about new ideas, concepts and horizons, many become fearful.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.  I know. I recall in my recruitment consulting days (late 80′s and early 90′s) the economy was much worse than it is today. Unemployment and job redundancies were really high and interest rates were 17.5%. Many recruitment consultants were going out of business because they were scared and got caught in the Flight, Fight or Freeze mode, not knowing what to do.  Instead of falling for the group think, some of us looked at the market and said: “Just because jobs are harder to find doesn’t mean there aren’t any jobs. Companies still exist. Someone will be in business and someone will want to hire good people so let’s get prospecting and find those companies who still want to hire staff and be in business.” By taking that approach and having a positive, determined attitude, my colleagues and I had some of our best results ever. We looked for opportunity and it was there. Whilst everyone else was in despair and whinging about how hard it was, we were getting the work.

I did the same thing in 2008/09 and we are doing the same thing today.  Good business management is a sensible mix of cost control and growth management. It’s not only not necessary, it’s highly discouraged to leave your sales opportunities to chance or to let fear rule you.

Many years ago I was shown the following and feel that it is as appropriate today as it was then. When you look at the word F E A R the acronym stands for:

False
Evidence
Appearing
Real

There is no denying that we live in challenging and uncertain times what with climate change, the digital revolution, issues in the Middle East and the financial market ups and downs just to name a few, but in midst of all of this there are so many opportunities that businesses can develop and take advantage of.  If we live with our heads in the sand all we will get is a swift kick in the butt as those who can see the future forge ahead.

glass half full

You need to see this glass half full to stay in business

So let’s get our leaders and salespeople out looking for the evidence and talking with our respective customers about their priorities, goals and opportunities. Let both them know that we are in business and there to help them move forward and be successful. By being visible and letting our customers know we are there to help them do business we will begin to dispel negativities and create more opportunities. The reality is that in Australia we have a lot to be thankful for.

Our economy and community are in much better shape than the media, politicians and other naysayers would have us believe.   

If you are looking for an antidote to all that negativity, need a little inspiration and would like to see what other proactive, positive people are doing to make a positive difference to the world, here are some great online “Good News” sites for your reading pleasure:

•    Yes magazine
•    Ode Magazine for intelligent optimists
•    Huffington Post Good News 
•    Positive News
•    New Economics
•    The case for optimism by  Bill Clinton

As Norman Vincent Peal said: ‘Change your thinking and you change your world’

 

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au  

What’s influencing your customers’ buying decisions?

May 24, 2012 in Attitudes & Behaviours, Brain Science, Communication, Customer Service, Education in Sales, Neuroscience, Sales Results, Sales Strategy, Strategy

Product demand and brand scores are down and the reasons are tough to manage. There are a multitude of factors influencing buyers, some are within our control and many are not. Factors such as bad experiences with retailers and intermediaries, mediocre service levels, the increasing number of competitors with similar products and brands, cheaper pricing are just some of the causes. The tricky global situation is also creating a more conservative spending climate where saving is now the prevailing consumer mindset.

With all of this how do we influence our customers so that they want to buy from us? How do we successfully compete for their time and attention?

brain prioritising information

brain prioritising information

To try to understand what influences people it helps to understand how the brain prioritises information and how that influences behaviour. The brain is continuously receiving enormous amounts of information via our five senses and cannot process all this information consciously so much of the information is sent to the subconscious for storage and automatic retrieval.

However to function effectively the brain needs to prioritise information so it can make decisions about what it needs to focus on at any given time. The human brain is designed to pay conscious attention to four key areas and they are organised in order of priority:

1. Risk
2. Important
3. Pleasurable
4. Engaging

The conscious brain will pay immediate attention if something is a Risk or dangerous, this overrides everything and prioritises the actions of the person concerned. Given the current economic climate perhaps many people are now prioritising Risk as their many influencing factor. Moving to a more cautious approach they are scrutinising the ethics, viability, etc. of organisations.

Given there is very little differentiation between comparative products themselves and in the absence of other value added differentiators Price becomes Important to buyers.

Determining what Buyers or Customers see as a Risk and Important is critical for any business because this is where our brains focus. If the areas of danger and importance can be satisfied then we are in a position to focus on Pleasurable and Engaging.

So what exactly is influencing your customers and prospects?

The digital revolution and the explosion of social media have profoundly changed what influences customers as they undertake their purchasing decision journey. When considering products and services, consumers now read online reviews, compare prices and have easy access to literally hundreds of alternative sources of supply. This information is constantly interacting with our brains and causing us to reprioritise our Conscious Brain’s priority ranking system.

Once face-to-face with salespeople, customers are putting themselves in a strong position to drive hard bargains. Many of their Conscious Brains are being programmed by this information to look for bargains. And after the purchase they become reviewers themselves – demanding ongoing relationships with suppliers who they pressurize for added attention, incremental service and support levels, fundamentally changing the scope of the primary activities in a value chain.

What is surprising is that although sales leaders have access to terabytes of data about buyer behaviour many still can’t answer the fundamental question: “How exactly are customers and prospects being influenced and what is a priority to them?

How do you get your buyers’ attention?

how to get your product to stand out in the sales jungle

how to get your product to stand out in the sales jungle

One way to change this stereo-typical thinking is recognising that social media can be harnessed as a sales tool, rather than a sales enemy.

One of our clients – a global fast moving consumer goods producer – relied heavily on traditional marketing as its push, and traditional sales as its pull through strategy. Awareness of social media resulted in a shift from above-the-line television and newspaper advertising, which had become white noise and no longer a priority to their buyers Conscious Brains, to Internet-based social interactions with its consumers where interactions were much more important, delightful or interesting. This organisation then coupled this social media interaction with in-store promotion and support to the retail channel by their salespeople.

Sales no longer attempted to sell product. Once listed (at head office level), sales assisted store managers to determine the most effective in-store locations, shelf-space and promotions (in other words – sales focused on providing priority solutions, rather than just products). This change in mind-set and activity resulted in an increase in buyer spend, in spite of the premium prices charged by this FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) company.

Beyond direct value/volume measures, there is a simple three-step approach that should be considered when developing the sales strategy that drives sales measures:

• Measure the impact of sales effort on “consciousshare of mind” of customers and prospects
• Measure the prospects’ awareness of the organisation’s value proposition – is it a priority to your buyers
• Measure the call-back that salespeople have had with specific prospects

A simple tele-research campaign with well constructed questions will soon tell sales management how well the sales force has managed these three activities and managed to capture our client’s conscious brain’s share of mind – either of the organisations current customer base or prospects in a territory.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au

How Meditation Can Make You a Better Salesperson

May 17, 2012 in Attitudes & Behaviours, Brain Science, Emotional Intelligence, Life Skills, Neuroscience, Neuroscience in Sales, Resilience, Sales Results, Self Development, Success, Wellbeing

In this increasingly complex world emotions such as empathy, compassion and benevolence are emerging as critical qualities of highly successful people, teams, companies and communities. Even in the highly competitive world of business and selling, those sales people and leaders who are able to incorporate these qualities into their daily work and personal lives are finding greater levels of success. This is coming in the form of better sales results and healthier, more prosperous client relationships as well as better personal health, resilience, and overall job and personal satisfaction.

Not on the usual business checklist of qualities to be proactively developed and mastered, neuropsychologists have demonstrated that emotions such as compassion, empathy, and benevolence can be trained. What’s more, as soft as it may sound, a growing number of companies are buying into the notion that developing these qualities through meditation can alter the brain in ways that drive important organizational outcomes.

connected brain to the surroundings

brain connected to its environment using empathy, compassion and benevolence

So how do you develop these qualities – empathy, compassion and benevolence – and incorporate them into your daily life? And why should you bother?

Leaving behind the energy draining need of ‘striving for perfection and approval’, competition at all costs, and focussing on obtaining status via material possessions and power, all potential hallmarks of a 20th century ‘me’ focused culture, many people are coming to realise that practicing empathy, compassion and benevolence is allowing them to accept themselves as they are which in turn is allowing them to free up energy to accept others too. They are finding that practicing ‘self’ and ‘other’ acceptance is the basis for all healthy and productive relationships – at work and home.

Alongside a growing body of research, and a couple thousand years of anecdotal evidence (see Buddhism, Yoga, Sufism, and other spiritual practices), neuroscientists Antoine Lutz and Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin-Madison demonstrate that meditation can help with “positivity” training since it stimulates the area of the brain associated with emotions such as empathy or compassion. To verify this, Davidson mapped the brains of employees at a bio-tech company where more than half of the group completed 3 hours of meditation training. After meditating, participants noticed an elevation or boost in their mood and a decrease in anxiety. Davidson was able to vividly show that meditation produced significant increases in activity in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for positive characteristics like optimism and resilience, as well as “higher” executive functions as decision-making, judgment, and planning.

When we operate in the prefrontal cortex (the front part of the brain) we are able to think more clearly, make better decisions, listen more attentively, see other people’s points of view, come up with better ideas to problems and work together more effectively and more efficiently.

By contrast, staying stuck in the amygdale -the primitive, reptilian (hind) part of the brain- where our Flight & Fright response resides, we risk jamming our senses, limiting our thinking, and end up creating personal and work settings revolving around constant fear and distress. It is not to say we should avoid the amygdale at all costs – that is unrealistic too. The Amygdale is an important part of the brain, designed to help us deal with ‘life threatening’ situations which, under normal circumstances, only occur in short bursts. However the 20th century’s ‘Me’ focused culture has inadvertently set up ‘lifestyle threatening’ situations and management-by-fear business cultures leading many people to operate in the amygdale for sustained periods.

I want

... possessions, status ...

Worried about holding on to their possessions, status, and jobs, this striving for self preservation has led to many to experience a sense of entitlement (without responsibility) which, sadly, breeds the opposite of empathy, compassion and benevolence. The pressure of ‘keeping up with the Jones’, and striving for external validation of one’s worthiness is leaving many people suffering from sustained distress – not a condition of general life contentment.

And what’s worse, medical research is confirming that living in a constant or sustained state of fear – flight or fright, is leading to adrenal fatigue, lower immune responses, dramatic increases in heart disease and early onset dementia. In addition to the stark medical news, if we operate from a constant state of fear we see a reduction in feelings of empathy, compassion and benevolence across all walks of life. This can in turn lead to outcomes such as increases in road rage incidents, alcohol and substance abuse, relationship breakdowns, depression and other mental illnesses to name a few.

A recent US study estimate suggests that distress; operating from a place of constant fear, costs companies about $200 billion a year in increased absenteeism, tardiness, and the loss of talented workers. Not good for anyone, any family, business, or community.

What this study also revealed was that practicing meditation can increase job satisfaction and productivity. Rather than coming down hard on employees and sales people pressuring them to produce more or sell more with less with constants threats and fear of job loss, a number of companies are encouraging employees to take up meditation practices. This in turn is reducing distress and increases wellbeing which ironically helps people be more effective and productive. Working from a ‘can do’ approach, more leaders and their teams are finding better pathways to successful outcomes in this complex, busy world and rewiring their brains and their lives to suit.

office meditation

office meditation

Some MBA programs are even jumping on the meditation bandwagon as well. At Arizona State University, for example, Meditation in a New York Minute by Mark Thorton is on the required book lists for leadership electives. It also offers a ‘Neuroscience of Leadership’ course in its Business Masters degrees. Their challenge is to move beyond ‘fad’ status. As a practitioner of meditation and yoga for more than 20 years I can attest to the effectiveness however like anything it requires regular practice and attention.

So instead of living in constant fear of achieving our sales budgets, keeping our businesses afloat, and all that goes with it, maybe we could take some time out of our busy days and, at the very least, start to meditate, finding space in for reflection and contemplation – giving our brains and bodies space to be at rest and clear the daily distresses. By practicing meditation we can train our brains to start working in the prefrontal cortex and tap into our creativity and quality decision making, as well as our empathy, compassion and benevolence which clears a pathway thus allowing people to work together and co create, finding better more effective and efficient ways to be successful.

Remember everybody lives by selling something.

Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au

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