The week between Christmas and the beginning of the New Year can be a time for rest, relaxation and reading for many people. Some will use this week to begin planning for where they want to be in the new year; from constructing New Year Resolutions to creating a new or modified Business Plan.
If you could do just one thing to help your friends and family, customers and business associates, what would that be?
Our answer is to consider giving them a holiday gift. One of the most potent laws of influence is the law of reciprocity (http://www.lawofreciprocity.com/).
The law is that people want to repay, in kind, what another person has given to them. Reciprocity flows from the law of love (http://www.lawoflove.com/) that is “the gift of giving” without the “hope of reward or pay,” or serving others. Remind yourself that reciprocity is not about what you need but what the other person needs and how you can give that to them.
"Books open your mind, broaden your mind, and strengthen you as nothing else can.” William Feather
Finding ways to make your gift stand out takes some thought about what would make the recipient happy.
For example, my holiday gift to you and your friends on Dec. 26, 27, and 28 only at Amazon.com, is the new ebook “Ask the Coach” to download on your smartphone, eReader, tablet or computer. Please note that “Ask the Coach” is a reference book; like a dictionary or any other similar resource book that is not meant to be read cover to cover. Readers would normally look up a question of interest in the Table of Contents and then proceed to read that self-coaching answer in the book.
A decade into the 21st. century, one thing has become clear: constant change is the new normal. The question is no longer if, but rather "how." Companies that have learned to ride these waves of change are the ones that will successfully compete in today's economy and beyond.
Change essentially means to make different. Change has been a huge part of our professional lives up until now, and traditional change dynamics are still here, although their cycles have become shorter and shorter.
Today's leadership is all about asking. Not telling, asking. “Ask” is the keyword both for the leader or technical follower as coach and for the person being coached. When someone knows that the leader is ready, willing and able to take the time necessary to talk about a subject important to that person, effective coaching can happen on the dance floor of conversation.
The leader acts as engager--as enabler--and this is the role that will successfully navigate the perfect storm facing us all. Securing and maintaining the connection between the organization and the individual is the leader's new role....and like our change economy, that role hasn't been able to gel yet. We don't know for certain what is coming and what will be required of us. We don't know enough to predict or control, if we ever really did. If we don't know, we will have to find out. To find out, we will have to ask. Common sense tells us that asking works.
The insights in Ask the Coach are meant to help you develop the leadership skills necessary to become the master of yourself so you will be ready, willing and able to lead others. Leadership development is self-development.
Other self-development books to consider for your after Christmas gift giving:
John Agno: Can't Get Enough Leadership (ebook $0.99, paperback $28.99)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0978604822/selfassessmen-20 (paperback $39.95)
Barbara McEwen: Women, Know Thyself: The most important knowledge is self-knowledge (ebook $0.99, paperback $9.99)
John Agno: When Doing It All Won't Do: A Self-Coaching Guide for Career Women (ebook $9.99)
Barbara A. McEwen: When Doing It All Won't Do: A Self-Coaching Guide for Career Women--Workbook Edition (paperback $14.99)
John Agno: Decoding the Executive Woman's Dress Code (ebook is FREE)
John G. Agno: Women and Time (ebook $0.99, paperback $9.99)
John Agno: Books for Boomers: Reviews & Coaching Tips (ebook is FREE)
John Agno: Boomer Retirement Life Tips (ebook $0.99)