I popped into a Kebab restaurant in Paris suburb Vitry-sur-Seine last week with a friend. I must admit the Kebab was nice and we were served large portions of grilled meat, fries and salad. We decided to eat in rather than take away so that we have some time to discuss. We were about to finish our dinner when we overheard the boss and a young man having an argument. Trying to figure out what the matter was we started to pay attention to the conversation as the boss did appear friendly to us.

The shop owner was furious because the guy brought only coins of 10 and 5 cents in a small plastic bag for a total of 4,5 € to buy a sandwich. He was upset that the customer didn’t ask him before if he could buy with these coins. The guy said he didn’t know this would be a problem and assure that next time this wouldn’t happen. The kebab man didn’t want to hear anything and took the money from the man and asked him to go and find ‘real’ money. The situation was getting hotter after almost 20 minutes of argument when my friend handed a 5 € note to the merchant in exchange of the coins so that the young man visibly hungry could have his sandwich.

I was amazed at my friend’s attitude and mediation. It was a win-win-win: the young man left with his sandwich, the shop owner got his money in the form he wanted it and my friend…well she found herself with a small bag filled with coins but happy to have been able to solve a situation that could have become nasty.  

I thought the behavior of the shop owner was outrageous: why is it a problem to accept the coins when there is exactly the right amount for what the customer is paying?   Which kind of customer service is this in an era where it’s becoming a real business differentiator?

Perhaps you think the shop owner was right to refuse the coins? Should the young man have asked permission to pay with the coins? Was the mediation of my friend something you would have done?

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Have a very productive and positive week.

Warmest

Francine

For more information visit www.nucleusofchange.com

I was invited by a friend last Saturday during my visit in Paris to join her and another friend to watch Miss France  election. We’ve ordered pizzas from the local restaurant for home delivery to eat whilst we sat comfortably for the evening.  As you could imagine the 16 finalists were glamorous as they turn up in beautiful long dresses, in a one piece swimming suit and in hot bikinis. Selecting the winner from these French beauties appeared to be a very difficult task until the interview session with the candidates.

The classical request to introduce themselves to the public proved to be something to get rid of as quickly as possible instead of a powerful communication weapon. There wasn’t much to grab the viewers’ attention until Miss Alsace arrived. She talked about herself, her engagement with a charity she is passionate about and why, and how proud she was to represent her region. Her pitch was the most captivating as she took the time to present interesting aspects of herself despite her obvious nervousness. Surely this impactful presentation did play a key role in being elected Miss France in addition to her natural beauty.

Where am I getting at? The question for the candidates to Miss France is an obvious one but it was surprising to see that not much thought has been given by the candidates to use it strategically to get an advantage. It was as if that question popped out of the blue.

In our business, our job or our life there are answers to some questions that could make or break our dreams. So which are those questions and how prepared are you to make an impactful presentation that will separate you from the crowd?

Have a very productive and positive week.

Warmest

Francine

 For more information visit www.nucleusofchange.com

Danilo Rizzuti @ freedigitalphotos.net

For the past few years I’ve been involved in various projects with varying level of satisfaction, commitment, and success. Although all these projects were exciting I find somehow that they were unrelated and some of them even distracting until I realised with amazement how well linked these projects were. I admit it took me some time to reach this level of awareness and understanding. Two most important acknowledgments were the necessity to undertake this journey but also to know when the time has come to back off and let go.

I realized how these experiences were perfectly orchestrated and the parts of a big and amazing puzzle. Suddenly I have gained a renewed boost of energy and the momentum to build the masterpiece! Life is only full of contradictions when we don’t know how to tune into what at which time! Sometimes we don’t need any strategic thinking to find the solution because it’s lying right in front of us. Taking the time to relax and let go can produce the most amazing revelation.

What is it you are frustrated about and don’t seem to find a suitable solution for? What is it that the more you think about it, the less you know what to do about it?  Take some time to meditate (not to think) and let go. The answer that has always been there but you seem too busy to find will eventually pop in the forefront of your awareness.

If you have stories to share I would love to hear them.

Have a very productive and positive week.

Warmest

Francine

For more information visit www.nucleusofchange.com

freedigitalphotos @ renjith krishnan

I went in a shop last friday to buy some DVD R for a digital product I have just created. A shop assistant who surely wanted to help came to me and asked if I wanted DVD–R or DVD+R. I looked at her puzzled as if she was speaking a foreign language to me. She went on to explain there was a difference between those 2 types and some machines would burn on the DVD–R and others on DVD+R but couldn’t give me satisfying extra information.

Hold on! I’ve been burning CDs and DVDs since 1995 with different brand of computers and have never made any difference about the type or disk I was using except the quality and here I was suddenly faced with this question. What made it an even more difficult choice was that this time, the burnt DVD would be sold and I needed to ensure the highest compatibility with DVD players.

Well this is not a topic on technology but I would like to highlight that I froze in my decision of buying because of the question I have been asked. If she had shut up I would have picked a pack and left the shop. Now here I was thinking deeply, evaluating, weighting my decision and finally left without buying anything. I went on to google the whole thing and made an informed decision to purchase on Amazon… and cheaper than in that shop.   

So what kind of unnecessary questions do you ask that generate objection, confusion and doubt in the mind of your prospect, your boss, your spouse or any other person ? Think carefully about those questions and if you need to ask them be prepared to provide full information that will help make an informed decision.

Have a very productive and positive week.

Warmest

Francine

For more information visit www.nucleusofchange.com

Freedigitalphotos @ Danilo Rizzuti

Imagine yourself going to the airport. You arrive at the checking desk with no prior flight booking, no money to pay for the flight and no passport but tell the checkers that you are looking to fly to Barbados to enjoy a nice one-week holiday. What will happen?

I have come to realised that there are many people who genuinely want to succeed in business or in life in general but aren’t willing to pay the price to get there or perhaps aren’t aware there is a price to pay. This means they don’t do the ground work necessary to get to where they want to go.

Someone I have known for a few years simply told me that he was giving up trying to make things work in his life. He is overwhelmed by the amount of work needed to succeed in his endeavour. The naked truth is that, unfortunately, there is no short cut to any success. There are however three key factors that when observed sooner or later get us there:

1. Having the right mindset or attitude to do whatever it takes to succeed
2. Having the skillset needed to accomplish our desire or asking for help
3. A tremendous amount of elbow oil

Have a very productive and positive week.

Warmest

Francine

For more information visit www.nucleusofchange.com

freedigitalphotos @ simon howden

I was helping a friend who was speaking at a conference two weeks ago. At the end of her presentation my friend offered a programme to people interested to continue their learning with her. A lady came towards me explaining how she would love to join the programme but was unable to afford the investment needed by giving me a string of reasons why she didn’t have the money required to join that business programme. I listened to her with attention and asked what she would be able to afford. I was trying to help but she didn’t want to say how much she would be able to commit to yet she wanted me to tell her what we can do for her.

This person wanted some help but was unclear about what exactly she wanted to negotiate. In the end she left with nothing.

My perspective:

1. When looking to negotiate we need to be clear about the results we want to get
2. We also need to think about what we might give in exchange of what we are asking for.
3. Ask with conviction that we will receive it; being hesitant send a signal to the other person we don’t know what we are doing and they are unlikely to give us what we want

Have a very productive and positive week.

Warmest

Francine

For more information visit www.nucleusofchange.com

digitalart freedigitalphotos.net

I had a conversation last week with someone who is starting a new business. This person has 16 years’ experience in designing and making jewellery working for a company. She now wants to use her skills to teach people how to make jewellery and also use it as a team building exercise. She is certainly very competent in what she is doing and it seems very logical to start a business doing what she knows best. The only problem and why most would be entrepreneurs fail is that being good at your craft and running a business are two different skillsets and having one doesn’t imply the other. The competencies are only one of the 9 key components to build a solid and profitable business model and many small businesses are often ill equipped with the other 8 aspects. To take a quick FREE healthcheck of your business model go to www.nucleusofchange.com/freebiztest

Have a very productive and positive week.

Warmest

Francine

freedigitalphotos.net graur codrin

I encounter so many people who have the best intention to keep the promise they have made to themselves and to others for the goals they want to achieve, to make that decision that would make a difference in their lives, and resolve to start that programme. Yet days, weeks and months pass and still no change has been made. It almost feel that an invisible force greater than their mind is dragging them back. There is no shortage of excuses why it hasn’t been done: lack of time, recession, lack of energy, etc.

In my seminars, workshops, coaching, mentoring and training I emphasise the power of action. No amount of learning will ever change anything without action.  I find that what is often missing is to make that decision and commit to it with discipline.

This free resource can help you with useful strategies to finally master self-discipline to make that change http://tinyurl.com/6kvlxfz.

Have a very productive and positive week.

First of all let me confess there is no such a thing as a snake living in uncertainty! Come on, did you really believe this? Since you are reading the article now, you might as well explore with me some of the options to live better in our uncertain world. 

Why anyone needs to embrace uncertainty when we are so eager of having much of certainty? Here are some reasons:

The first reason is that we have no other choice! This is the obvious one. We do not choose to live in uncertainty. Life is uncertain by nature and we either learn to navigate with it and adapt or die!

Secondly, there are immense benefits with uncertainty . Not knowing what tomorrow will bring to us is what give life all its drama and flavor.

Imagine you knew when you woke up this morning in a very good mood that someone was going to ruin it for you. Imagine that you knew exactly every single day what the day will look like  with no room for surprise (good or bad). How boring life will be. Imagine that you knew when you said ‘yes’ to your gorgeous spouse, you will get divorced a year later in one of the most nasty ways. Would you have gone ahead and do it with that at the back of your mind? Imagine that you knew that in a month from now it will be the end of the world. What would you do? Worrying about how to spend your last month on this planet?

We learn to appreciate the good times when we have faced some tough ones.

Third, your neighbor has no clue either! Perhaps this would make you feel better.  Analysts, experts and gurus of all shapes and forms deliver their predictions and forecasts for what is coming next. The truth is that they have no idea! It is pure speculation based on past events. Nobody can predict the future. You might have by now made your mind up regarding the weather forecast for example when a bbq summer is announced and the next day the sky opens up its widest rain tap!

What about the more sophisticated scenarios planning to help us make sense of the chaos? Of course they don’t pretend to predict the future and you still don’t know which scenario will turn out to be the right one. Will it be your preferred one? The one you fear the most? A mix of both? Or something completely different? This is very much like preparing for a job interview; you spend hours rehearsing all the possible questions you think could cross the mind of the most ‘perverse’ recruiter to actually find out in the hiring room that none of your planned questions were asked! (This is by no mean a suggestion to stop planning and prepare your interviews and your life!)

Make yourself a big favour. Do not take what experts say, predict or forecast as a gospel.

So where does that live you? Who to turn to during uncertain times? Well there is God. But he/she has certainly other requests to deal with and yours might not be on the priority list. That lives you with …YOU.

You are the only person that has the power to choose your action and your reaction to any event. Learning to discover and master yourself is the only guarantee and safest bet of all. Like the snake you need to be wise and learn to live harmoniously with uncertainty.

The certain future is the one that you build. Why don’t you start to expect the best for the future and do something towards it now? Why don’t you become the catalyst of change in your family, in your work, in your industry or in your community?

You have more power to shape the future than what you were led to believe. You can write the story, your story.  Join me on a live Free webinar, How  to Make Uncertainty Your Best Friend, Wednesday 05^th October 2011 at 8 pm BST, 7 pm GMT, 7 pm UTC for an evening of exploration where you can start to take more control of your life. Book your free place now.

http://www.nucleusofchange.com/events.html