Emotions Matter!

Are you an emotional decision maker?
All of us make decisions – everyday, whether at home, work or simply just socializing. There surely can be no doubt that this is a key skill to master.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming or NLP tells us that there are primarily four types of people:
• Kinaesthetic
• Visual
• Auditory
• Auditory Visual

The name Neuro-Linguistic Programming was invented in the early 1970’s as an attempt to describe in a succinct manner the scope of this extensive body of insights and skills:
• Neuro refers to how the mind and body interact

• Linguistic refers to the insights into a person’s thinking that can be obtained by careful attention to their use of language

Programming refers, not to the activity of programming, but to the study of the thinking and behavioural patterns or ‘programmes’ which people use in their daily lives.

Dependant on what NLP category you are likely, (not always) but more often likely to make decisions based on:
• What you feel and sense and can physically touch
• What you can see
• What you can hear
• What details, facts and figures there are to help support your decision

Clearly the latter category makes decisions on less ‘emotion’.

Neuroscience
Although neuroscience has built a strong body of evidence over the years to demonstrate the inextricable link between reason, emotion and decision-making most of mainstream culture is still not on board with it.

As a management trainer I often recommend keeping emotion out of decision-making and that professionals leave their feelings at home when they are at work. There are some that still believe that women, especially, wear the mantle of emotionality in the workplace and that these women still feel the need to compensate by subduing the expression of their feelings and thoughts. This surely cannot be healthy.

Although neuroscience has built a strong body of evidence over twenty-five years to demonstrate the inextricable link between reason, emotion and decision-making most of mainstream culture still doesn’t get it.

Mainstream thinking about reason over emotion is generally based on two assumptions:
1. That we have a choice whether to feel or not
2. That emotional “suppression” works.

Hooray! – The brain does make decisions based on feeling
Research has found that there can be significant consequences when you try to push away thoughts and feelings; a ‘rebound’ effect. Simply put, these strategies often backfire and result in an increase of the intensity of the thoughts and emotions that are being suppressed.

In the book: “How we decide” by Jonah Lehrer; it the case that rationality depends on emotion. Motivation is driven by feeling, not intellect. Lehrer points out, “Emotion and motivation share the same Latin root, movere, which means to move. The world is full of things and it is our feelings that help us choose among them.”

Avoiding analysis-paralysis
Many of us try to rule out the emotional side of decision-making only to find we become stuck in so-called analysis-paralysis. We often avoid making decisions or make them hastily because we want to skip the feeling part, not only unavoidable, it’s short-sighted.

There continues to be a protracted controversy between pundits over reason and intuition, which is another version of the ancient reason over emotion battle. Lehrer makes the critical point that our emotional brains are deeply empirical and that every time you make a mistake or encounter something new, your brain cells are busy changing themselves. Emotions are profoundly smart and constantly learning, they are not simply animal instincts that must be tamed.

Balancing 7 + 2
What is known as the “7 plus or minus 2” rule is based on the research that short-term memory capacity varies from being able to hold between 4 and 9 bits of information at one time. When faced with too many variables, the brain simply makes the wrong decision because its resources are overburdened.

The Chunking Principle:• Chunking is a principle that applies to the effective communication of information between human beings.
• It is particularly useful in the domain of written communication.
• It was first put forward in the 1950s by George A. Miller.
• Miller studied the short term memory.

In 1952, George A. Miller published a paper titled:
“The Magical Number Seven; Plus or Minus Two”

Today chunking is a term used in NLP to describe the process of grouping items into larger or smaller groups (or “chunks”) Chunking helps you to organise your thinking in order to better handle information and make decisions. So you need to make sure that you can optimize your decision-making process but not taking on too much.

Left and right brains
You have to build capacity in both your left and right brains; in other words the rational and the emotional. They are magically interlinked to ensure that we maximize the understanding of the world around us and the world within ourselves.

Emotions matters!
And finally, remember……. Emotions and feelings are not a luxury; they are a means of communicating our states of mind to others. But they are also a way of guiding our own judgments and decisions. Emotions bring the body into the loop of reason. So if you make decisions ‘with emotion’ then give yourself a pat on the back!

If not and you would like to learn more then please contact us.
Trisha Proud
Partners in Solutions Ltd
http://www.pins.uk.com

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Balancing Reciprocity

The meaning of reciprocity….
We all want the people that we come across in life, especially in business, to know and understand the meaning of “reciprocity”….and more importantly to practice it!

This complicated word describes a great and effective approach to our relationship with the world and those who we encounter along the way. But is it really that complicated?

According to the ancient philosopher Confucius, reciprocity signifies “mutuality, interchange, duality, interdependence.” Derived from Latin, “reciprocus” has the connotation of altruism, making a sacrifice, alternation.

Or put very simply…. it is the art of give and take. Life becomes unbalanced when we do more giving and others do more taking.

The art of reciprocity is extremely powerful
Never doubt how powerful the art of reciprocity is and how by not adopting its principals it can adversely impact on business relationships.

It is often said that ‘what goes round, comes around’ and the basis of this saying can be found in the law of reciprocity.

So ask yourself, what are you prepared to offer your business partner, collegue or to other people around you? How far are you ready to stretch yourself in order to reach out to these people? What do you ask for as compensation or as thanks in return?

Our reciprocity needs
It is obvious from the experiences that we have in life that, consciously or subconsciously, having given to another human being, we anticipate a favour in return for when we need it. Disputing whether this is right or wrong would be fruitless, as for most people and in most circumstances, other than charitable giving, and help or support for the needy, reciprocity is something we have inherently come to expect. That said it is also about balancing our reciprocity expectations and questioning whether or not they are realistic.

True and genuine people
A true and genuine person is open to the world and cherishes their relationships. Gracious, giving and protective of their own families, friends and lovers, but yes the flip side is that they expect the same from others……in the form of reciprocity…. and when it comes to business relationships reciprocity under these circumstances is not unreasonable.

Playing by the reciprocity rules
Reciprocity could be described as “playing by the rules”, allowing for “fair game”, and in an ideal world should form part of your business relationship ‘guiding principles”…
– Meet me halfway, as we are there waiting for you
– Nurture our relationship, as what we reap ….we shall sow
– Be insightful and considerate, as we are to you
– Aspire with us and our shared dreams will come true faster
– Cheer for us and we will double our victories
– Rejoice with us and our celebrations will multiply
– Live, achieve and prosper with us
– The objectives become closer when we walked and work together
– Reciprocate to us as we have pledged our reciprocity to you

Key to reciprocity relationships
Reciprocity is the key to good business relationships, but remember that it is always better to give than to receive…..and also at the end of the day a real, true, genuine life lasting ‘business relationship is all about ‘balance’ as well as reciprocity.

Does the business partner you work with practice reciprocity?
If not then please contact me
Trisha Proud
Partners in Solutions Ltd
http://www.pins.uk.com

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Beauty of knowledge

It is said that we are all masters of our own destiny……

Knowledge is an acquired quality
How many times in your life have you regretted that you did not know enough, have not read more to show your intelligence and enhance your image and confidence in a business conversation or situation? It happens to the best of us; however how many of us become determined to educate ourselves, to be wittier, better informed, and faster thinking.

Knowledge is an acquired quality – it is not inborn.

You choose
The choice to be educated or not, to be on top of things, is always ours to create and make. Some people make it earlier, some make it later, and sadly some don’t make it at all. Yet, let us be honest about it and admit it, if only to ourselves, there is no better reason for self-content and pride, than the feeling that you can carry on an interesting or important conversation, operate and utilise the facts, understand your counterpart, and stand steadfast on your own.

The beauty of knowledge
Intelligence is a chosen path for those who appreciate the importance and beauty of this personal skill. It becomes a part of who you are, the image you project to the world, an inalienable ingredient of your own self-perception. Obtaining knowledge is a matter of choice and, in fact, a simple thing to acquire, when you have made your decision to acquire it, committed to it and, once commenced, you never abandon the process.

Here are some simple steps to you get started:

Tip 1: Have ‘vision’ and stay focused
Whatever business situation you are in have a ‘vision’ as to what you personally want to achieve from it and equally important stay focussed on that vision. Take in and absorb all the information and process it. Try to analyse it yourself and make your own decisions. When talking on a subject, do not lose the topic; rather, stay on it until you have finished or the discussion is over, or at the very least agreed an outcome. This will help you to consolidate your thoughts and allow your listeners to come up with any comments or arguments unencumbered.

A focused mind is able to expand and store new information more effectively.

Tip 2: Be mentally active
As a trainer, business coach and mentor I always encourage my mentees to have the brightest mind. This is a matter of personal choice, whether you are an avid stamp collector; love reading or are a film buff, train and exercise your brain, every day. Remember the smallest details of a conversation or task and analyse the ideas, complexity and outcomes.

Tip 3: Stimulate your brain
Load your mind with analysis and decision-making even in simple everyday situations. Take an unusual task to resolve, stay on it, and celebrate the results that will follow. The satisfaction you will experience will be very rewarding. Our mind needs a constant challenge to stay on top of the game. The routines we are accustomed to at work do not do the job. Challenge your brain with cross words, puzzles and games, like Sudoku or chess, etc.

Tip 4: Get trained, get a coach or a mentor
There comes a time in everybody’s development when they need support to improve their knowledge. This is perfectly normally and when that time arrives should not be ignored, as this is the time when many managers reach their peak and will not develop further without training or the wise advice and support of a coach or mentor. Everybody, not matter what level they are in business needs a mentor.

If this is you….seek training and support now!

Tip 5: Be your own master – make your own decisions
There is nothing wrong with seeking an advice. But doing it on a regular basis might be damaging for your mind, self-growth, and ability to make your own decisions based on your own analysis. Face the challenge by yourself and only after the decision has been made, bring it to the table for a discussion…… if you want to. Stand by your decision and defend your point of view. Even if you lost and opted for another solution, you have just acquired a priceless experience and your brain has gone through a very good and useful exercise.

Tip 6: Read, read and read
If you are reading this blog then well done! Stay informed on the latest happenings in the world, expand your vocabulary, stimulate your brain with the masterpieces of world literature, enrich your erudition, and put it to use whenever you have an opportunity. Reading good books is a rewarding way to expand your knowledge, boost your intelligence and please your heart and soul. Good books stay with you forever, and once in a while, as you go through life, you return to them. And guess what – it is amazing how your perception changes as you read the old book anew! You know why? Because you have changed, and the ways you perceive and analyse information will have been modified as well.

Positive outcomes
Last but not least. Obtaining greater knowledge helps you enjoy your times with yourself. Consequently, it boosts your self-esteem and you acquire a great new business partner …. your improved knowledgeable self. And what can be better than being content with who you are, the way you…….a more intelligent you!

Do you need help improving your knowledge?………then contact us today.
Trisha Proud
Managing Partner
Partners in Solutions Ltd

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Are you built to succeed?

Have you ever wondered what qualities successful people have or why so many people struggle to make their dreams come true? Well here are a few top tips to help you on the road to achieving success.

Vision
Only you can truly visualise your success; therefore you need to sets goals and systematically works towards them. If you want to achieve success, you must define your main objectives. Then, break it down into few simpler ones……and set about working on them as they won’t happen by themselves!

Self-discipline
You need to be self-disciplined to plan your day and the actions you need to do to achieve success; and then follow through the tasks you have set yourself.

Confidence
Successful people believe in their skills and talents. Their self-esteem is high. If you don’t believe in yourself you cannot expect others to!

Determination and Optimism
The road to success is never easy so in order to prosper, you need to be utterly determined and develop an optimistic positive view of the world in equal measures.

Patience
Timing it is said is everything; therefore it is obvious that ‘patience’ should be a key quality of successful people. Patience is the ability to wait for the fruits of your labour to ripen or for a favourable moment in important negotiations. Knowing when to strike is an important part of practicing patience.

Be a risk-taker
If you are afraid of failure and risk, you will never succeed. At the same time, don’t make hasty decisions. Trust your intuition and weigh up all pros and cons. And if you finally choose risk, take it easy, do it with no fear or regret. There are very few successful people that have not taken risks.

Ownership
Take ‘ownership’ of what you do and why you do it and become the master of your life in order to create your profit and the life and success that you have always dreamed of.

Emotional Intelligent and Resilience
Ability to control your own emotions and also be able to understand others emotions particularly under stress together with the ability be resilient to stress, is absolutely pivotal for someone who wants to succeed.

Vitality
Vitality and enthusiasm are qualities that are absolutely essential for successful. They help drive you forward towards your goals. You need energy to succeed. Successful people have high energy. So take care of your health, eat wisely and exercise regularly.

Diligence
Quite frankly, if you are a lazy coach potato, if you delegate tasks believing that you have abdicated the responsibility, then it is highly unlikely that you will achieve success. Action and consistent hard work is what counts and what at the end of the day pays off.

Are you built to succeed?
If not and you would like some training, coaching or mentoring then please contact me

Trisha Proud
Partners in Solutions Ltd
http://www.pins.uk.com

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Handling opposing opinions with humility

Stupid idea…???
How often have you been in a business brain storming meeting and thought: “What a stupid idea” as you listen to your colleague, or thought: “That will never work.”

What is important here is that you don’t let these inner thoughts allow you to slip into being disrespectful in that moment. By saying “That’s a stupid or silly idea,” is disrespectful. Saying, “That’s an interesting idea,” is dishonest.

Jean Piaget (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget) studied how human beings grow up. He tested children through a block painted green on one side and red on the other. Facing the child, he held the block between them with the green side pointed toward him and the red side pointed toward the child. When he asked, “What color do you see?” the child always answered, “red.” Then Piaget asked, “What color do I see?” Most children younger than 5 years old answered, “Red.” They were incapable of recognizing that other would see something different from them. Older children gave the correct answer. They understood that while they saw red, Piaget saw green. They demonstrated a sense of perspective, the ability to appreciate another’s point of view. Many so-called grownups have never developed this skill.

Many people have forty+ years of experience in being three.
An adult child never questions their perspective; because they believe that they are right, and whoever disagrees with them is wrong. It is their way or the highway.

True employee engagement
Businesses that have true employee engagement have a culture that ‘no idea is stupid’. “Stupid” is an arrogant opinion, an unskillful way of expressing that an idea is not liked, understood or see the potential in the idea has not been seen. Whatever the reason, you can be sure that its proponent does not think the idea is stupid.

Arrogance vs. humility
The opposite of arrogance is humility (from the Latin “humus,” meaning ground.) A humble person does not place themselves above others; they do not pretend to hold a privileged position. Humility is the acknowledgment that you do not have a special claim on reality or truth, that others have equally valid perspectives deserving respect and consideration. Successful businesses have mature teams that have and understand the importance of humility.

Different persepctives
There are many ways to look at the world, and each way has its brightness and its blind spots. Only humility can integrate diverse perspectives into an inclusive view. Humility makes sense intellectually, but it is not our natural attitude. It requires, at least, the cognitive development of a six-year-old.

What age is the humility in your business?
If you feel that it needs to mature then please contact us.

Trisha Proud
Partners in Solutions Ltd
http://www.pins.uk.com

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Link-up or Lock out?

To coin a phrase from the gorgeous Chris Evans….”Here’s the thing”……….
I recently attended a women’s networking event; which was all rather strange in itself as this was advertised as a Women in Business Event but actually had men attending! This piece is all about inclusion and embracing the people you meet, so good on them, how brave I thought; albeit I also thought it rather belied the name and purpose of the event and in some cases diluted the messages of the lady speakers. After all this was a women’s networking event and I (and I know others) did find it a little disconcerting to have a man touting his wares and using the event to flog his services!

No matter, back to the plot….to “here’s the thing”………one of the break-out workshops was a session on ‘Personal Branding’ which unbeknown to me I had been assigned to attend. The speaker was fun and engaging but most definitely could not be described as a professional speaker; maybe it was the swearing that gave it away! Nevertheless this did not distract too much from the key messages she wanted to deliver.

There were of course all the usual personal branding messages about appearance, smiling, being open etc and also about how important it is to network, to get your brand ‘out there’; to create a good first impression. This speaker made a great play at not being afraid to take the bull by the horns and be master of one’s own destiny. As an example of this she stated firmly that when attending any networking event you should never leave a person you might have ‘touched base’ with, or been involved with in a longer conversation without exchanging business cards. Therefore when we met in the bar afterwards I thanked her for her interesting talk and gave her my card.

The next day she invited me to join her on Twitter and LinkedIn which I was more than happy to do. But ‘here’s the thing’……….when I accepted her LinkedIn invitation I noticed that she had ‘hidden’ her contacts from me. Now I always find it really odd that people join a business networking site and then ‘hide’ their connections!

I know and appreciate that LinkedIn has the facility to do this, however this lady met me at a networking event, she had spoken at some length for an hour in fact about personal branding and networking. I therefore don’t feel that I am being unreasonable to think it odd that she would hide her network from me. In my heart I don’t believe this is quite in the spirit of how LinkedIn is supposed to work!

Furthermore I truly believe that if one is brilliant at their job, if you have created a good first impression and people generally like you because you are open, honest and genuine and embrace the people you meet and do business with then nobody being invited into your network is surely a real threat.

I guess that there are givers and takers in this world and that when people who profess to be active net workers, purporting to be givers when in reality they are really takers, then sadly people like me get mugged, which is most irksome. As part of her talk this lady spoke about the importance of making a good first impression, well all I can say is that she has left a lasting impression on me. With one quick click of the ‘hide my contacts’ button this lady has wiped out all the good messages she had delivered in her talk, and in doing so has told me all I needed to know about her……..I will let you guess whether this was a good or bad first impression!

So …”here’s the thing”……..what is your view….Link-up or Lock out?

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The Pretty Women Effect

The story of the film “Pretty Woman” centers on the down-on-her-luck Hollywood prostitute Vivian Ward, played by Julia Roberts, who is hired by a wealthy businessman, Edward Lewis, played by Richard Gere, to be his escort for several business and social functions, and their developing relationship over the course of Vivian’s week-long stay with him.

There cannot be many women out there that can fail to remember those infamous scenes in the movie, where Julia Robert’s character (Vivian Ward) walks into a shop on Rodeo Drive. The shop assistants look her up and down disdainfully instantly adopting the “you don’t belong here” attitude, making the very attractive Vivien feel extremely venerable and out of place. Vivien leaves the shop with hurt feelings and no self-confidence.

There can be no doubt that many women will identify with this. Surely in today’s world every person, every customer should be treated equally as if they were royalty in fact! It really shouldn’t matter what you, or your bank account looks like. Sadly though we see the “Pretty Woman Effect” all too often; people judging other people by the first impressions they have of them or by their outward appearances; as in the case of this movie.

There are many people though that relishes these experiences, saying that it makes them spiritually stronger. They are of the belief that there are no such things as coincidences that every interaction such as this, everybody we meet, we meet for a reason, and that it is just a simple case of discovering what that reason is. This of course is not as easy as it might sound, particularly if you are being ridiculed like the character Vivien Ward in Pretty Women.

When interviewing women for my novel “Soulmate” several of them mentioned that they had experienced the ‘pretty women effect’ when searching for their “Soulmate”. When, as part of my research, I probed further I found that women more than men believed in this spiritual ethos. Women will readily tell you that they have experienced times when they feel alone and venerable or are alone in a room but just know instinctively that they are not alone, because they have an absolute sense of some unexplained spiritual awareness.

Through my research I discovered that the majority of people did not believe that spiritual awareness was related to any religious belief, as one might first assume; but moreover as alluded to above that it is based on the belief that that there are no such things as coincidences; as the Richard Gere’s character (Edward Lewis) explained in the film, endorsing the fact that he was meant to meet Vivien Ward (Julia Roberts), and as such they were meant to be together.

Fascinated by this belief that everybody you meet you meet for a reason, as additional research I read other books on spiritual awareness and started to believe in this principal even greater after reading The Celestine Prophesy by James Redfield, which had such a profound affect on me that I have followed the principles within this book ever since. I also believe in “Karma Neutral”; by this I mean what you give is what you get, this belief also is partly based on my reading The Celestine Prophecy.

Although a work of fiction, The Celestine Prophesy attracts many readers because it deals with spiritualization, growth and even our reason for being here. This may at first be seen as quite “heavy stuff”; the learning though is interspersed within the story. In brief, this is the tale of a man who goes in search of ancient manuscripts in the rain forests of Peru, having been told about them by a friend. The book then follows his journey and as he finds each manuscript, he shares the insights and messages with the reader.

The Celestine Prophecy contains secrets that are changing our world and the way we think. Drawing inspiration from ancient wisdom, the book urges the reader to make connections amongst the events happening in their own life right now, which the book describes as not a mere coincidence, but a message or indication from a different energy level.

There are several insights that build on the above, below are the key ones that most of the women I interviewed resonate with:
1. Everything happens for a reason, there is no such thing as coincidence
2. We should keep ourselves open and should be ready to receive from others
3. Think about every meeting we have and be aware of the energy we give out and take from others.

So next time you experience or have a ‘‘pretty women’ moment just stop and think why it might have happened. Who is it you have met through this experience and why have your paths crossed. You never know you might meet your own Richard Gere…….your very own “Soulmate”

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Givers and Takers

As a general rule of thumb it is said that it is better to give than to receive; this ethos presumably supports the notion that we all follow the principal of treating others as you would wish to be treated ourselves.

Within my novel “Soulmate” I have research various ‘life lessons’ on false flattery, betrayal, injustice, deceit and the hardest lesson of all of course, the lesson of love; one aspect that quickly became clear was that without exception there are most definitely two types of people in life…”Givers”….and “Takers”

“Givers” are not only generous people by nature not limited to particularly in financial terms, but they ‘give’ endless, of themselves, or their time. We can all most probably think of the “Givers” that we know and have met through our lives. We remember “Givers” with a warm heart as their kindest stays with us long after they have left. We all like to think of ourselves as “Givers”. Every women I interviewed who was searching for her ‘soulmate’ wanted to meet a “Giver”.

On the other hand “Takers” are basically only interested in themselves, they only contact you when they want something and will rarely, if ever ask how ‘you’ are. They are by nature intrinsically insincere and will often display a very different persona in private to the one they show in public. “Takers” like to talk about themselves and have this somewhat unique and rather irritating technique of being able to turn any conversation, on any subject matter back to them and their needs.

Utterly ruthless, in both persistence and pursuance “Takers” chew away at the bone like a rabid dog until they get what they want.  The old adage of if you cannot say something nice then better not to say anything at all does not appear in the “Takers” mind-set. They speak negatively about people who don’t or won’t do what they want or who challenge them in any way. 

As hard as it may be to believe “Takers” are more often than not insure. They will endeavour to disguise their insecurities by being full of their own self importance, name dropping whenever possible to raise their perceived level of importance; because they like to talk about themselves they will brag about whose company they have been in, who they know and what they have done.

The bragging does not stop there as “Takers” truly do believe in their own propaganda, if they say that they are an expert, they believe it! It is rare for a “Taker” to wait for a compliment or acknowledgement of their skills because before you can comment they will have told you just how wonderful they are!

On the flip side they will compliment others; however such compliments are often regarded as ‘over the top’. “Takers” love a touch of ‘false flattery’, but beware as compliments deliver this ways will almost certainly be followed by a request for one favour or another. “Takers” are not ‘joiners’ and if they do join social or business groups it is to be seen to do so, they will rarely, if ever actively make any real contribution to blogs or debate. One of the prime reasons for this is that they find it almost impossible to ‘actively listen’.  “Takers” find it difficult to physically demonstrate that they are listening to play back their understanding of what has been said; to identify body language and gestures; to have any ability to ‘read between the lines’ and hear what has not be said and this is because “Takers” are so insular and myopic.

In my novel “Soulmate” there are “Takers”, both male and female. One character in particular I refer to as “Charm Syndrome Man” or in others words a “Taker”…an ‘emotional manipulator’.  These type of people are so hard to spot particularly as they think that they are normal and don’t believe that they are doing anything wrong.  What you have to remember about “Takers” is that at the end of the day they are only really seeking your opinion in order to valid and confirm theirs. “Takers” have an inbuilt sense of entitlement in order to get their own way……… no matter what.

So if you are dating or working with somebody that talks constantly about themselves, that never really appears to be listening to what you have to say, or that is always reliant on you for some favour or other then beware as you will most certainly be dating or working with a “Taker”.

So are you a “Giver” or a “Taker”?

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Management Lessons – The Apprentice Final

Apprentice Final

With the Jubilee celebrations behind us perhaps it is time to reflect on the Apprentice Final and what the last programme of this 8^th series has taught us in terms of management skills.

Overall Lord Sugar and his team covered most business bases bringing to the fore within the weekly tasks key management skills from ‘active listening skills’ to ‘decision making abilities’ whilst also identifying those with true entrepreneurial spirit and flair.

So to remind ourselves the four remaining candidates remaining were: Nick Holzherr, he of the ruffled hair look; Ricky Martin, the wrestler with those enlarged biceps; Tom Gearing, who only appeared to speak when spoken to, and Jade Nash, the last lady standing who always has plenty to say. (Picture left to right: Nick; Jade: Ricky and Tom)

Many viewers they say that they find the Apprentice Final quite boring because it tends to centre on a series of one-to-one interviews and a strategic, but insightful probing of the candidates “Business Plan”. Let us not forget that Lord Sugar has pledged £250K to the successful winning candidate to invest as an equal partner in a new business venture. For others, like me, it is the best show of all because the interviews get into the ‘under belly’ of how the candidates really tick, and how business astute they really are.

The Business Plans  – The final four candidates were called to theInstituteofDirectors, where rather like giving an ‘evaluator speech’ Lord Sugar asked them to pitch their “Business Plans” concepts right there on the spot.

Nick Holzherr: His plan was to set-up an online website where you enter whatever recipes you want to have for the week, and it purchases all of the ingredients for you.

Ricky Martin: Questioned by Lord Sugar when he first tried to describe his plan was to set-up a recruitment agency concentrating on recruiting technical and scientific skills.

Tom Gearing: Rather sensibly Tom decided to stick within his broader area of expertise and proposed a plan to set-up a wine-related hedge-fund.

Jade Nash: Completely left field Jade’s plan was to set-up a UK 24/7 cold-call sales centre.

 The Interviews – As always it was straight down to business with four interviewers namely, Margaret Mountford, Lord Sugar’s Company Secretary and trusted side kick, along side telecoms entrepreneur Mathew Riley, Chief Executive, Mike Soutar; and tough-talking trouble shooter Claude Littner all conducting their own individual one-to-one interviews. These four advisors scrutinised the candidate’s suitability to go into partnership with Lord Sugar. The candidates faced the ultimate grilling as their CV’s, ‘Personal Statements’ and Business Plans were criticised, picked through and generally blown apart by the interview panel…….Did this final teach us anything, oh yes indeed it did!

 1)      Don’t lie or exaggerate on your CV or Personal Profile – In any job application or career move one’s CV and/or covering letter, (in this case ‘personal statements’) are your face, and the very first thing an interviewer or prospective employee will see. Surely therefore you would expect that the candidates, knowing the format of the show and interview element, would want to create a good first impression. Well clearly not!…..

During the interviews there were a number of instances where the candidates were caught out ‘stretching the truth’ with regards to their CV’s and ‘personal statements’. Jade is an example of this as when she tried to imply that she had already set-up and ‘owned’ a number of website domains. Whoops, she was later caught out when interviewer, Mike Soutar went and purchased the same site for himself!

Then there was Ricky who, when being interviewed by the lovely Margaret Mountford, a woman who can destroy an overconfident apprentice with just the quiver of an eyebrow, admitted he was embarrassed hearing his ‘personal statement’ read back to him by her, in which he described himself as demi-god Thor.

Lesson learnt: As Managers one of the first attributes we need is to be ‘credible’, no matter what business you are in. Therefore claiming to be something or somebody you are not, or over embellishing your accomplishments simply aren’t going to cut it, and claims such as these diminishes your credibility.

 2)      Know how to construct a Business Plan – In show two I highlighted that several candidates had difficulty understanding the numbers, I referred to this at the time as ‘cringeworthy number crunching’. For Jade, of whom I have constantly said, ‘does not listen’, the lesson learnt on that show clearly passed her by. As the screen shot showed her Business Plan was literally full of holes, as in zeros! She had not amortized any income or expenditure across the length of her plan, simply showing one figure of revenue. Neither had she produced a cash flow forecast, fairly pivotal in any business, let alone a ‘start-up business’ being started in the middle of a double dip recession.

Lesson learnt: Not all of us want or need to have the same skills as an accountant, however if you are pitching for £250K investment common sense surely tells you that you need to table your finances in the appropriate way. Therefore the lesson learnt here is that if you don’t have the correct style of accountancy skills for the pitch don’t be too proud to ask for help when developing your plan.  

 3)      Know Client and Customer Base – Over the course of the show all the candidates have perpetually being telling us what good ‘sales’ people they are. You would think then, in this last task that they would all be brilliant at ‘selling’ when it came to the one-on-one selling of themselves, and their plan. This sadly was the case.  

Nick Holzherr: I believe Nick is a true entrepreneur having already set-up and successfully run his own coffee cart. What possessed him to think that Lord Sugar would be interested in his online recipe website? This was never going to grab Lord Sugar’s attention. That said Nick did get the IT element of this initiative right, which I rather suspect originally caught Lord Sugar’s eye, but regrettably Nick got the overall concept completely wrong. In my view he should instead market that idea somewhere likeAmerica.

Jade Nash: Her idea of setting-up a UK 24/7 cold-call sales centre was completely wacky and had no substance. It was so ‘left field’ of anything that Lord Sugar might even be remotely interested in that he probably never even gave it a second glance. Lord Sugar acknowledged in the Board Room just how much he himself hated the cold calling of cold centers interrupting his dinner and the like; and went on to say that he had no desire to inflict that type of misery on anybody else!

Tom Gearing: As stated previously Tom decided to stick within his field proposing a plan to set-up a wine-related hedge-fund concentrating on fine wines.  I have made no secret of having a soft spot for Tom. His Business Plan was so good that the nasty Claude Littner didn’t actually believe that he wrote it himself. Tom’s mistake was that he simply had not done his homework on Lord Sugar. If he had, he would have realised that Lord Sugar never puts other people’s money at risk; he only ever uses his own money to make money; as so many of the tasks show the delegates. This aside had Lord Sugar not been such a high profile public figure I rather suspect he might have had a punt on this idea.

Ricky Martin: Initially questioned by Lord Sugar on his concept of setting-up a recruitment agency concentrating on recruiting technical and scientific skills, this business idea was clearly ‘in with a shout’ for two reasons:

(1) Little investment in capital outlay

(2) The ‘technical’ emphasis is a good fit with Lord Sugar’s business portfolio.

Ricky had clearly thought about his initiative and it showed; it showed in his business plan and in the overall concept and how it would be attractive to Lord Sugar and fit in with his business portfolio. Simple, some may say boring, but clever nevertheless.

Lesson learnt: As a qualified and licensed trainer of “Sigma Selling” (a strategic selling programme) a key factor is to know, and equally important understand your client/customer base, the person you are ‘selling’ to.  Jade, Nick and Tom appear to have overlooked the fact that Alan Sugar as a ‘Lord’ is a high profile public figure; let alone fully understanding the link, model and shape of their business proposal to that of Lord Sugar’s various other businesses.

Tom and Ricky made it down to the final two. In week eleven, I said that: “Team Sterling’s (Tom and Ricky) “Gentlemen’s Toiletries” branding was simply awful and that if I was being cynical Lord Sugar saved Tom and Ricky because one of these guys is going to be his business partner”. Well nobody likes a ‘smarty pants’, but I was right! I admit to being somewhat surprise at Lord Sugar’s choice to select Ricky Martin as his new business partner, but once I thought about it, as outlined above, it all made sense.

And Ricky…..

Will the winner keep his tag name of Ricky Martin, after the Latino pop star, or revert to his given name of Richard. Reading the newspapers I gather that he has said: “From now on I’m still going to call myself Ricky, because that is how I’ve always presented myself in business”.

The Winner!  – Ex-wrestler Ricky Martin, possibly the surprise winner of The Apprentice, who has earned a £250,000 investment from Lord Sugar.

Thttps://twitter.com/proudtrisha

risha Proud: Managing Partner: Partners in Solutions Ltd http://www.pins.uk.com

Selling your soul

My novel “Soulmate” focuses on love, lust and psychology! It gets into the mind of the main character, Tillie, as she experiences the highs and lows of her life, when trying to find her "Soulmate" and all that this has taught her; Lessons about ‘selling your soul, lesson on false flattery, betrayal, injustice, deceit and the hardest lesson of all, the lesson of love; Was Pluto right do we only ever have one “Soulmate”?…….

So what did I discover about the lesson on ‘Selling your soul’?

It is often said that we, inadvertently or sometimes deliberately ‘sell our soul to the devil’ but what does this mean? According to traditional this was the pact between a person and Satan, the devil, or any other demon for that matter when a person offers his or her soul in exchange for diabolical favours. Such tradition it is said is where those favours vary, but tend to include youth, knowledge, wealth, or power. It was also said that some people made this type of pact just as a sign of recognizing the devil as their master.

Likewise when lovers believe that they have found their ‘soulmate’ all too often one partner becomes the ‘master’. The master is the person that quietly and skillfully manages to take control over the others life; leaving the other person feeling trapped. Regardless, of whether this person has or has not really sold their soul to the devil the position they find themselves in is an uncomfortable and dangerous one.

People that use the phrase ‘‘selling your soul to the devil’ will often say that they believe in the afterlife, as many people do; however believing in the devil, now that is another matter entirely. One many people find a little silly. When you ‘sell your soul’, to the devil or not, you begin racking up a type of human debt that must be paid back, not necessarily with money, but to be paid back in some way. This is because you have become indebted to somebody, this person may have got you out of a bad situation, leant you money, or done you a huge favour in some way.

Numerous people will undoubtedly say that this would be too high a price to pay; to owe another person in this way. To be beholden to another human being is most certainly a big price to pay and a large cross to bear. Selling your soul can result in hellish experiences as many people who have embarked on such a route have found out to their cost.

Selling your soul is selling your integrity, your values and your self worth. So before you consider doing so ask yourself these three simple questions:
1) What is the real reason you are even considering it, wealth, fame or power?
2) Is the eventual price really worth it?
3) Will the outcome (the price) scorched itself into your brain like a soldering iron, never to be forgotten?

Oh yes there are occasions when at first glance the rewards for ‘selling your soul’ may appear very sweet and therefore attractive. But do you proceed ask yourself if you really want to live like this, and above all remember that nothing in life is free, ‘what goes around, comes around’……..Choose your path wisely.

Have you ever been tempted to ‘sell your soul’?

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