#333: Playing hard to get on purpose
Should you or shouldn’t you play hard to get when trying to make a sale or hoping to land a job - that is the question.
I once landed a good job because I played hard to get, by accident. I wasn’t sure about the job and so I turned the tables on the interviewing executives. I grilled them about why I should take the job.
I’m not sure that strategy will work too well in today’s economy. This brings me to a story send to me by a UK executive. She recently came across a man at a conference who said that he wouldn’t sell her his products unless she could correctly answer 20 questions!
Although he appeared pleased with his negative sales pitch, he sold nothing. He was playing hard to get on purpose.
Playing hard to get can work. But only if I already know that you are one of the few who have what I want now.I’m James McIntosh at nonsenseatwork.comListen to the radio version of 'Playing hard to get on purpose'(10 most recent radio files)James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VACopyright: 2009 James Henry McIntosh
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#332: The walking health bomb
Many years ago we could not afford to eat out. However, we could afford a doctor, one who actually made house calls.Now I am living in a rich and advanced country. I cannot afford health care, but I can afford to eat out. I struggle to pay for medical service, but I can easily pay for table service.When we could not afford to eat out, we did not. Now I cannot afford to visit a doctor and so I don’t. It seems that because I cannot afford to fall ill, I stay healthy.Because I don’t have a doctor who tells me what is wrong with me, I’m ignorant of my medical needs. And because I’m unaware that I have medical needs, I don’t buy medicines that I cannot afford.I’m doing my share to keep health care costs down. So why do so many adverts try to make me feel guilty about it? You know, the ones that imply that I’m a walking health bomb?
I’m James McIntosh at nonsenseatwork.comListen to the radio version of 'The walking health bomb'(10 most recent radio files)James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VACopyright: 2009 James Henry McIntosh
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#331: Are we there yet?
Are we there yet? Every day economists and leaders and politicians and talking heads sound more and more like they are on a road trip. Are we there yet?As tempting as it is to shout ‘no!’, I think the right answer is ‘that depends’. If you are looking back, then no, you are not there yet. And if you keep looking back, you won’t be there soon. Here’s why in the words of a man who was both Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of State, although not at the same time. George Shultz once said that we tend to face the past and back into the future.What happens when you do that? Yep, you trip up and fall down.And then history repeats itself. That, according to Clarence Darrow, is “one of the things wrong with history.” If we are not careful, it repeats.So turn your back on the past, step into the future and repeat after Henry Ford: “History is bunk!”
I’m James McIntosh at nonsenseatwork.comListen to the radio version of 'Are we there yet?'(10 most recent radio files)James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VACopyright: 2009 James Henry McIntosh
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#330: Stay uptight a little longer
Here is a healthcare warning. As the economy recovers and business picks up, your health and the health of your business may suffer.Remember what often happened to you after exam time or some equally stressful period? Did you, like many others, end up with the flu or in a minor accident as you relaxed?An executive recently told me that his heart attack was not triggered by long-term work stress. He believed it was triggered because he was so relaxed after he leaving the stressful job.It seems that your body becomes so used to fight-or-flight mode that when you finally relax, it struggles to catch up on basic maintenance ignored for too long.How will you and your business react coming out of this period of stress? Have you delayed basic maintenance? Will you relax your operational and fiscal disciplines? Will you loosen up and mellow out?Better to stay uptight a little longer, I think.I’m James McIntosh at nonsenseatwork.comListen to the radio version of 'Stay uptight a little longer'(10 most recent radio files)James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VACopyright: 2009 James Henry McIntosh
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#329: Be secure or alive?
What do you really want, to be secure or to be alive? This is always a good question to ponder and not only during times of economic turmoil.Do you want security? Then commit a serious crime and go to jail. Not only will your basic needs for shelter, food and clothing be taken care of. You will also have bars on your windows and locks on your doors. You will be secure.But will you be alive? Being alive, truly alive, means you must take risks. You see, real living involves growth and development. Growth and development are acts of creation and all creative acts involve some element of risk.Yes, it is possible to feel both secure and alive. That happens when you recognize the importance of some risk taking. And when you don’t fixate on security to the extent that your growth and development stagnate.
That’s a risk you should never take.
I’m James McIntosh at nonsenseatwork.comListen to the radio version of 'Be secure or alive?'(10 most recent radio files)James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VACopyright: 2009 James Henry McIntosh
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#328: When is your business a business?
The faster big businesses shed jobs, the more we need entrepreneurs. Thank goodness so many people kicked out by big business are trying their hand at small business.
I hope you succeed.As you build it, keep this in mind. You might be an entrepreneur, but do you have a business? You have a business once your venture can continue without you. As long as you remain indispensable, you don’t have a business.As long as you are ‘the business’ you cannot go on vacation, you may not fall ill and you won’t find a buyer for it.Here’s a quick way to become a business. Stay away and watch what happens. If bad things happen, then you know what to fix in others. If good things happen, then you know what to fix in yourself - or stay away longer.Don’t try this trick if you work alone. If you do, you might have nothing to come back to.
I’m James McIntosh at nonsenseatwork.comListen to the radio version of 'When is your business a business?'(10 most recent radio files)James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VACopyright: 2009 James Henry McIntosh
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#327: Drop ego to stop falling
When does real change happen? Real change happens when real learning begins. Real learning begins when you admit that you don’t know.And what stops you admitting that you don’t know? Your ego.Remember when you first learned to ride a bicycle? At first, you did not want help, because other kids make it look so easy. But every time you tried, you fell. Soon, through your tears, you admitted that you did not know how. That’s when learning began.The same concept applies now that you are an adult. Real learning will only happen once you admit that you don’t know. This is the critical moment, because when you admit that you don’t know, you open yourself to new ideas, to weird concepts and to help from unexpected sources.This is very important during these unsettled times because the sooner you drop your ego and admit that you don’t know, the sooner you will learn, the sooner you will change and the sooner you will stop falling down.
I’m James McIntosh at nonsenseatwork.comListen to the radio version of 'Drop ego to stop falling'(10 most recent radio files)James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VACopyright: 2009 James Henry McIntosh
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