Professional Development

When you feel empowered, you can accomplish anything you desire. Empowerment for women doesn’t mean you have to burn your bra or spit at the end of the bar. It doesn’t mean you need to be aggressive or stare down the nearest competitor with vigor. But there are a few things you can do to set yourself on the road to empowerment.

1. Value relationships where you are an equal. This applies to both personal and professional relationships where you are respected and valued as a person for what you believe, and the ideas you bring to the table.

Marketers have been using logic and emotion for years in selling their products and services. So how does this work? It’s all about the decision-making process. and the triggers that make a difference between yes or no. Sometimes these triggers can be impulses, or they are coupled with logic, or they relate to your emotions.

The principle of reciprocity is a powerful way to influence. It’s one of the six psychological principles of persuasion. It’s a means of give and take. Sort of a "you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours" thinking. But there’s another expression you’re probably familiar with … "You get what you pay for!" It’s all about how you give, and the quality of your intention.

Self-discipline is the skill to get yourself to take action in spite of your emotional condition. It’s about willpower, persistence and hard work. The pivotal point of self-discipline is when you make a conscious decision, it is virtually guaranteed that you will follow through with it. The self-disciplined person loses 20 pounds. The self-disciplined person runs the marathon. The self-disciplined person creates wealth. The self-disciplined person finds real love.

You’re walking into the boardroom. All eyes are on you. You take a seat. Take a deep breath and WHAM – now you’re on. What’s next?

Every day leaders are made, deals get sealed, and negotiations fall through.. So what separates the ‘made’ deals from the ‘broken’ deals? Following these simple yet forgotten ‘seal the deal’ rules:

What business do negative people have in your life? Why are they there in the first place? Because you let them hang around. Could it be you hang around them? What happens when you are surrounded by even just one negative Nellie? Your whole day, attitude, perspective, and direction changes - for the worse. Before you know it there's a pattern that goes like this: "I know she's negative but she has some good qualities, too." Then, "I can fix her negativity." Next, "She really isn't THAT negative." Lastly, "What? She's negative? I didn't notice."

Manipulation, Influence, Persuasion. Control. They are all words used to describe how one can ‘navigate’ a situation, person, or event to their advantage. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily if you know the difference between the traits and how they are being used.

So how exactly are the control freak and the manipulator related?