Tuesday, November 24, 2009

The Power of Persuasive Communication


“Persuasion is the art of guiding one’s mind through a field of ignorance, misinformation, or misunderstanding to a destination where there is enough information and understanding to make a logical choice to do what is in the best interest of the person being persuaded.” – Steven Scott

Today it’s simply not enough to be effective communicators. More than that, we need to be able to communicate persuasively – not manipulation for our own selfish interests, but rather to possess the power to persuade others for their benefit. People we need to communicate persuasively to everyday: bosses, subordinates, spouse, kids, family members, friends, colleagues, clients, prospects… just about everyone!

Undeniably, communication skills are the first skill set we must include in our arsenal of skills to take with us on our journey to success.

To communicate persuasively, we have to move that person to take action. Now for that to happen, again, there are various tools we can use based on different circumstances – as the saying goes, different strokes for different folks!

It’s really such fun and almost magical when one becomes adept at using all the wonderful tools available. You wish to convince your boss to give you a well-deserved pay rise, no problem? Dread talking to that irate customer who looks ready to burst a blood vessel? No problem, you can cool him down and even turn him into the most loyal customer. Wondering how to convince your child to sit still and study for next week’s examinations? You’ll be amazed at how you can do that by communicating persuasively.

For more information on the Persuasive Communication workshops run by Image Coach International, go to: http://www.complete-health-guide.com/persuasive-communication.html
or email coach@imagecoach.com.sg for a copy of the brochure.

Staying Young in Body & Mind


My chronological age is 48. My biological age is 26/27. My psychological age is 28. As I intend to live to at least 100, I will celebrate my second rebirth in 2011.

What about you? How old are you? How old is your body in terms of critical life signs and cellular processes (your biological age)? How old do you feel (your psychological age)?

Many people accept aging as an inevitable process: “We all grow old, our body breaks down eventually due to wear and tear, and we will die.” Yet, how true is this? Thousands of years ago, a great Indian sage, Shankara declared, “People grow old and die because they see others grow old and die.” It has taken us centuries to even grasp this extraordinary insight – that the aging body is simply responding to social conditioning. We have a choice – to age well because we believe we can; or to suffer the “inevitable” maladies that accompany old age: growing feeble and weak, blood pressure rising, growing deaf, cholesterol levels rising, immune system declining, and so on.

So the first step to aging well is having the belief that you can. If you believe you do have choices that can take you into a healthy, old age – regardless of genetic family history and what society around you suggests, you will of course, then exercise those choices.

What are these choices? For the full article please go to: http://complete-health-guide.com/free-health-ezine-8.html

To check what your biological age is, email to coach@imagecoach.com.sg or sms to +65-8228 8938 for a free test (Singapore only).

Monday, April 6, 2009

Get the PERKs!




Before you start job-hunting, here are some tips that will get you all the PERKS and job satisfaction to boot!

P – Purpose and Passion
You’ve got an engineering degree from a prestigious university… stop, before you start writing in job applications for positions that requires your academic qualifications! You don’t want to waste more precious years in a job that is not your passion; there are enough people out there who hate their jobs so they don’t need you to join their club.

So before you embark on this journey of getting the perfect job, may I suggest that you get real clear on what you really want for your life, what you don’t want and what you have settled for. Ask yourself, are you on track to live the best life you possibly could?

In this fast-paced world where we are surrounded by big bucks advertising, it’s not easy to clear our minds of the “stuff” that’s not really important to us and make out what we really want for ourselves. We are surrounded by other people’s ideas of what to strive for in life – smart advertising executives, our parents, friends and peers.

This has been, and still remains, the perpetual question that has followed many individuals through time immemorial: What do I really want? Do I want to be rich? Or do I just want to be happy? Do I want to achieve greatness? Or am I contented just being? And the list goes on.

Certainly it’s not gong to be an easy process to answer these very perplexing question. People have been known to pay a fortune and some have spent many years while others have literally gone to the ends of the world to search for their purpose, their whole reason for being. So I’m certainly not going to purport that you will your purpose just by reading this one chapter of my book, but what I do hope is that it will start you on the journey to searching for it!
The first thing we must realize is there’s no right or wrong answer. We may very likely not even find the answer! But the very process of asking the question and seeking the answer is a great start.

E - Evolve

Once you know what you want for your life, you have to then evolve – grow, develop, expand – yourself so you can emerge into whom you want to be. As it’s often been said – awareness before change (ABC). Once you know what you want, then it’s simply a matter of determining where, if at all, you fall short and then, work out a plan how to bridge that gap. Sounds simple enough, right? The one thing you do need is: D - determination.
Whatever the adversity or obstacles you believe faces you now – believe you me, other achievers have been there before and overcome them. So can you. I’ve met some pretty incredible people in my life that have convinced me that we can achieve whatever we want, if we set our minds to it. One such person was trainer and author John Foppe, born without arms. I had breakfast with this amazing guy some years back, and listening to his story as I watched him enjoy his Eggs Benedict with his feet, waving one foot around to emphasize a point… I knew challenges can only exist in our minds.
John had a mentor who saw his potential and gave him the opportunity to rise above his disability – the legendary Zig Ziglar. Get yourself a mentor in the field you want to excel in; you’ll be surprised, all you need to do is pluck up the courage and ask!

R - Resources
“Remove the limit of your limited resources and multiply your potential – infinitely!”

One thing we must realize – in order to move forward, it’s not just about what we know but who we know. We do not live on island by ourselves – we need the help of others who may have skills and talents we do not possess.

The questions you need to constantly ask yourself are:
 What are the resources you need?
 Who can help you?
 How do you identify and recruit the right resources – mentors, coaches, partners, outside experts, etc.

I was very fortunate when I first started working as an editor – there was this trainer/author Tom Barry who came to me and offered to be my mentor. Of course I said, yes, please! He was a real inspiration to me. Subsequently, I had the wonderful opportunity to learn from and work with great trainers/authors like Chin Ning Chu, author of bestseller “Thick Face. Black Heart”, motivational guru Zig Ziglar, and of course Robert Kiyosaki, who acknowledged me in his book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”.
Yes, simply believe you can attract the resources that you need, and you will.

K – Knock them out!
Now, you have sorted out your mind, you just have to go out and that interview so you can knock the socks out of them! Who else would they give the job to but YOU?
Knockout techniques you need to develop – how to dress for Maximum Business Impact (MBI, a term coined by a friend of mine); how to impress them with your savvy communication skills and confidence; how to network effectively so you can be at the right place at the right time.
So, if you have a dream, give it a chance to happen!

To register for the “Get the PERKs” workshop for fresh graduates, call Sam at 6336 6281 or sms PERK to 8228 8938 or email jessica@imagecoach.com.sg. Website: http://www.imagecoach.com.sg

Stand Out from the Crowd


Let's face it - this is not the time to take your job fro granted. Jobs that were aplenty in Singapore are now dwindling as more companies are downsizing, or should we say “rightsizing”, and merging; some even closing down “overnight”. The Straits Times reported on 29 October 2008 that economists expect that the jobless rate will reach 3 per cent by end 2008 and early 2009, rising close to 4 per cent towards the end of 2009. No, I don’t intend to be a harbinger of doom, but let’s face it – dream jobs will be harder to come by, and you would need to have a foolproof strategy to get the job you want… and keep it!

First and foremost, you’ve got to start crafting out a personal brand for yourself that will set you apart from other job seekers. You need to stand out so the interviewer would notice you, and hopefully give you that dream job with the big fat remuneration package.

Personal branding used to be a nice-to-have edge, rather cool for the Oprah’s and Beckham’s, but not for the ordinary man or woman on the street.

Not anymore, says Tom Peters in his book Reinventing Work: the Brand You 50 – it’s now life or death. If we don’t start planning our personal reinvention N-O-W, we’ll be left far behind in the corporate world. We simply can’t afford to be ordinary anymore; ordinary has become a formula for disaster.

Here are some quick suggestions how you can get noticed:
1. Passion Sells!
-assion for your job gets you noticed and takes you places. Look at Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Barack Obama and countless others who have caught the world's attention. the one thing that people who are Brands have in common is – Passion. Passion for what they do, passion for life, passion to make a difference.

Have you ever wondered why the world’s richest and most successful people keep on working? Bill Gate’s net worth runs in tens of billions and even if he and his wife spend $100 million a year, it would take them hundreds of years to finish off just the principal sum. The same goes for people like Oprah Winfrey, Anthony Robbins, Steven Spielberg, Bill Cosby and countless others. They still go in to work most days of the week, and in fact, I’m certain if you were to follow them around for just one day, you’ll be exhausted by how long and how hard they work.

There’s only one logical answer: Passion! As another of my favourite authors Steven Scott says, (people who are passionate) love what they’re doing so much that even when they could put their life on cruise control, they never take their foot off the accelerator. You will be hard put to find a dream-maker who does not have an all-consuming passion for his or her dreams.
Passion is the fuel that keeps us going, no matter what adversity we encounter, what obstacles come in our path, what pot-holes we see on the road to success. It is what drives us to take that few more steps, exhausted though our bodies may be, battered though our emotions may be. It is the one secret shared by every great achiever who has reached out for the stars and got it.
So if you are searching on what is the one thing that could help you stand out from the crowd, that could set you apart from your competitors, the answer could be found in your passion!

2. Craft out your USP
Let’s take a closer look at YOU. A good personal brand for you may be something which works just for you and no one else. That’s because all of us are unique. Madonna created a fantastic brand that has spelt great success for her. But if someone else were to come along and copied everything exactly as what Madonna does, and is – dressing as she did, even singing the same way; they would be doomed for failure.

So although each of us will have our role models to look up to and emulate; we must still work on a brand that truly belongs to us and no one else. And the best way to do that is to look at what our unique selling proposition or USP is.
In sales, the USP can be defined as why your customers buy from you and not your competitors.

Now, before you say, “Oh, but I’m not in sales” let me assure you that yes, you are! Every one of us are in sales if we want to be successful in life – every day of our lives, we are, or should be, selling ourselves and our ideas, if not actual goods and services.

* If you are an employee, write down why your employers hired you instead of someone else.
* If you are a wife/husband, write down why your spouse/partner chose you instead of someone else.
* If you have ever won any competition, write down why you won instead of someone else.
* If you are someone’s best buddy, write down why you and not someone else?

3. Look good, feel great!
It’s time to quit looking sloppy! Unless you want to stay mediocre for the rest of your life. If not, it’s time to start paying attention to how you look and the image you present to others. Now I’m not asking you to start splurging on expensive clothes, or take drastic measures to look like Miss Singapore or James Bond ( whatever is the male equivalent of Miss Singapore).

Simple things you can do: Start wearing colours that suit you; you can’t get noticed if you’re wearing safe black or grey everyday. Get an updated hairstyle that suits your face shape. Learn to dress for your body shape. It’s a simple philosophy that I subscribe to: when you look good, you will project yourself well; when you project well, people respond positively to you; when that happens, you feel great; and when you feel great, you look good! This is called the Circle of Success.

Article was featured in The Straits Times Singapore on 17 March 2009. To register for the Get the PERKS workshop or coaching, sms PERK to 8228 8938 or email jessica@imagecoach.com.sg. Website: http://www.imagecoach.com.sg

Sunday, January 18, 2009

A Guiding Hand


Published in Straits Times Saturday 17 January 2009

One person who inspired and set me on the journey of being a professional coach is Fiona Harrold, bestselling author of Be Your Own Life Coach. When I first read her book several years ago, I thought to myself, “Wow, what could be more fulfilling than to help others live a more worthwhile, meaningful, satisfying life!”

The first question many would ask is, “Why do I need a coach?” That’s easy to answer… let me put it this way – your coach is just your “conscience”. It is your life, your goals, your aspirations that you want to work towards. The job of your coach is to “coax, cajole, persuade and sometimes push you to the best you can be.” But some of you will protest, “My life is fine as it is. I’m happy with what I am, I don’t need a coach!”

If you were tempted to say that, pinch yourself now! Wake up, for goodness’ sake, and ask yourself, “Am I making the most of my life, of every moment?” As Harrold says, “There doesn’t have to be anything wrong with you to want to run a check and make changes if you have to.” Even Plato – over 2000 years ago – knew that an unexamined life is an unlived life. Your coach can do wonders just by being your sounding board, to help you discover hidden passions, put form and structure into mere aspirations or simply be your cheerleader.

The most successful and wealthy people know the value of a coach. Tiger Woods may be the best golfer in the world but he knows he needs his coach. Even Presidents and top corporate and political leaders work with coaches.

There are many different type of coaches - started with sports coaching, and now one of the hottest and fastest growing professions is the executive or business coach. There are also the life coaches and of course content coaches, who specialize in different fields – like a financial coach, property investment coach, or like myself, an image coach as well as an infopreneur coach. I call myself an evangelist for success – out to inspire people to Be more, Do more and Have more in life. I believe in head-to-toe transformation, starts with the mind, all the way to the feet taking those I coach where they want to go.

In general there are two schools of thought as to the roles of coaches:
1. Transference, where one person who has prior knowledge or experience can impart this wisdom to others with a goal to optimize performance.
2. Discovery, where the coach’s role is to help others release untapped capability and potential, to help them achieve peak performance.
As you can see, one is more directive in nature while the other is more supportive and empathetic in style.

Discovering Your Passion
As renowned British filmmaker John Boorman once said, “What is passion? It is surely the becoming of a person. Are we not, for most of our lives, marking time? Most of our being is at rest, unlived. In passion, the body and the spirit seek expression outside of self.”

The sad fact is 90% of the people out there are not living their passion – some simply because they don’t even know what their passion is and others because they don’t know how they can do that.

The coach’s role is to help you unearth and discover your passion – what you would love to do even if you don’t get paid for it! It has been said that “our passions are the winds that propel our vessel. Our reason is the pilot that steers her. Without winds the vessel would not move and without a pilot she would be lost.”

If we want to live a happy and fulfilled life, we must take time to discover from where “our winds” blow and have a great pilot to guide us!
Unleash Your Potential
So what’s stopping you from living the life of your dreams? Fear of failure? Fear of being laughed at by our friends and family? Fear that you are not good enough?

I’ve met so many people who gave up on their dreams even before they got started because they judge themselves purely on their current state. They forget that everyone has the capacity to grow. As Zig Ziglar says, “Go as far as you can see and when you get there, you will always be able to see farther.”

Whatever you feel you lack, understand that you can only get better at it otherwise there’s always the option to leverage on others who have what you don’t have.

It makes me feel sad to see so many people who are what I call “living dead” – they are not really living; they are just existing, what I call, occupying space. If you look at the life of someone who is just existing, it’s very much like watching a soap opera. You may not have watched it for some time, and when you tune in again after a few weeks or even months, much of the same stuff is still going on. Same old, same old.

Finding Your Purpose
What is your purpose? What is your dream? If you don’t know yet, or are struggling to rise above the winds, it may be time to reflect and work with a coach who can help you develop a clearer vision and a sharper focus to propel you towards the life you want. You’ll be surprised – it’ll probably cost you no more that a massage or a night out at the pub… but what you will benefit may be a life well lived!

Article is contributed by Jessica See, a coach with the Institute of Business Coaches, which conducts the Certified Professional Coach programme. To register for a free introductory seminar on coaching as a profession, email ibc@masteryasia.com. Website: http://www.institutebusinesscoaches.com

Thursday, January 1, 2009


Today, I would like to share an insightful little poem I came across by Portia Nelson Autobiography in Five Short Chapters found in her book There’s a Hole in My Sidewalk.

Chapter One
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost .... I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter Two

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend that I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in this same place.
But, it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter Three
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in ... it's a habit ... but, my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

Chapter Four

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

Chapter Five
I walk down another street.

As we enter 2009, full of hopes and dreams for this year and the years to come, are we going in, carrying the same bag of beliefs and habits, or are we ready to start making new choices?

What is the hole in the street that you keep falling into? Is it that piece of cheesecake that you simply can't resist? Or that cigarette you simply must light up, though you know it's only going to get into that same deep hole again. What harm can one piece of cheesecake or one cigarette do, you ask. And you walk into the same hole again...

All it takes is a decision to just walk another street... yes, it is as simple as that. Countless people I coach have done just that and so can you. Stop lying to yourself about some of your self-sabotaging behaviours. You can take control of your actions and you can make the choice to have the life of your dreams! Just do it.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Learning from Brands of the World



I had the opportunity to spend the past two days with branding and marketing experts from around the world at the Global Brand Forum Malaysia.

Today I will share with you what I learnt from Joanne Ooi, also known as the “Turnaround Queen” for China’s first luxury brand, Shanghai Tang. This lawyer-turned-fashion maven took a luxury Chinese brand from clichéd to fabulous and raised the status of “Made in China” to a whole new level.globally.

So how did she achieve that in the plethora of choices available at just about every corner of a shopping centre in any major city of the world? In short, what makes a brand a Brand? Says Joanne, The high end consumer is definitely looking for an emotional connection to the shopping experiemce. Why do we yearn for that Louis Vuitton bag or that pair of Jimmy Choo shoes?

 Idiosyncracy, humanity, personality are to be cherished. The customer seeks a dream, rather than a collection of products pre-ordained by what sold best the last season.

 Customers are looking for identification and aspiration. That’s why it’s important to stick to a clear message when you are a brand.

 The customer regards the best brands as unfailing dispensers of a certain philosophy of beauty, luxury, experience when you shop within their walls. Says Joanne, do not disappoint that customer!

A brand is often seen as an “oracle of wisdom”, the club that one aspires to belong to.

How can we learn from these lessons as we move on the path of developing our own personal branding?

As I’ve always stressed, the three keys to branding yourself successfully is Clarity, Consistency and Authenticity.

Starting with authenticity first, the undeniably best way to remain authentic and true to yourself as a brand is to build it on the premise of your personal Passion, not from some beliefs that you borrow from someone else but something you feel truly passionate about. Passion sells. When you have a dream, much like Martin Luther King did, others will buy in to you and your dream.

Next, is of course clarity. You can’t be a personal brand if you are no6t even clear about who you are and what you stand for! And to top that of, you have to be consistent in your message as to what you stand for in every interaction you have with others. Do not disappoint those who believe in you.

In other words, you have to stick to your guns where your personal vision and mission is concerned. The moment you relax and say, never mind, let’s just compromise, then you will lost the trust of those who believed in you.

I learnt this lesson years ago when I was running a magazine for working women. We had a strong vision and unshakeable concept that I was truly passionate about. But I recall at one of our internal meetings, I wavered, and was immediately corrected by one of my staff, an advertising sales executive who had a strong belief in what the magazine stood for. I think that day, I fell many notches down his ladder of respect, something I truly regretted. He’s not with us today, and I just want to digress a moment to say, I loved you Pito, you were a wonderful person and I will never forget you.

Now back to personal branding. What I learnt from the Global Brand Forum is there is really not much difference between branding a product and a person. As long as you have a good product (that’s you) that delivers on what it promises, a great story to tell, a passion that can ignite other people like you, people will want to be associated with you and what you stand for… and that’s when Brand You is born!

Picture is taken from www.shanghaitang.com