Posts Tagged "Assertiveness"

Is there anybody out there?

Posted by Ian and Steve on Mar 2, 2012 in Uncategorised | 1 comment

There is no doubt that compared to say 10 years ago we have a much greater capability today to contact other people.

We have mobile phones, tablets, wafer thin laptops, voicemail, text messaging, Skype chat, Instant Messenger – the list goes on.

Paradoxically it is becoming increasingly harder to talk to people in real time.

So voicemail is becoming the default – with your crisp, to the point, message logged onto their system in the hope that the recipient accesses the message at some point in the next few days and responds back.

I don’t think so.

Accepting that people are very busy and bombarded with data/messages/Spam it now seems the default is to not respond back at all.

I have been following up on leads over the last two weeks and experiencing the “dark side of the moon” contact phenomenon.

In fact when I find somebody at the end of the phone I am so shocked that I almost need a script to get the conversation off the starting blocks.

So the deal should be …, if you are not available it is fine to leave the phone off but accessing your messages and responding should be the quid pro quo.

Even better, if you are not interested in what the other person is offering just say “No” and avoid the fishing analogy where the line is in the water and of limitless length and the poor person is cast off after a journey lasting months which should have been nipped in the bud in less than 5 minutes.

I can handle “No” albeit with some tinge of disappointment.

I am finding I cannot handle being kept on hold for months because the person has not mastered the art of courteous communication mixed with an adequate amount of assertiveness.

Now this Useful Guide should be standard issue and would be far kinder to the environment.

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Being assertive …

Posted by Ian and Steve on Jul 6, 2011 in Hints and Tips | 0 comments

Gautama Buddha’s preaching was interrupted one day by a man unleashing a flurry of abusive invective. Calmly waiting for his critic to finish, Buddha asked: “If a man offered a gift to another but the gift was declined, to whom would the gift belong?”

“To the one who offered it,” the man replied.

“Then,” Buddha declared, “I decline to accept your abuse and request that you keep it for yourself.”

A Useful Guide to Assertiveness is our most downloaded Useful Guide.

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It’ll be alright on the night …

Posted by Ian and Steve on Jun 8, 2011 in Hints and Tips | 0 comments

We went to another one of Ian’s play productions last Friday.
I have always enjoyed the theatre so when opportunities like these present themselves we look forward to the event.
I knew Ian was heavily involved in the play – he had a major part and was looking after lighting and sound too.

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A Tale of Two Daves … Dave II

Posted by Ian and Steve on Mar 1, 2011 in Hints and Tips | 0 comments

We always look forward to our recording sessions. We are fortunate to know a recording engineer called Dave who knows his stuff but also plays the drums (and we are short of a drummer) and he has had significant playing experience.

As a relative novice band it was invaluable for us to have someone like Dave to act as coach, mentor and advisor.

Unfortunately this week our vocalist, Janet, had suffered a complete loss of voice on the Friday, the day before our session.

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A Tale of Two Daves – Dave I

Posted by Ian and Steve on Feb 24, 2011 in Hints and Tips | 0 comments

Last Friday I was checking the TV channels and stumbled across a programme on Custom Car Building.

 

A US Company, successful on the West Coast, had branched out into Europe and set up an outlet in Berlin.

Their products were superb, masterpieces even, and the challenge in their new location was to bring the US experience across using German specialist workers.

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