I`m thru debating ... I need leadership and selling skills

Off Topic
1

I am at a point in my career where I need to stop being the NiceGuy encyclopedia.

It`s up to the point where I doubt competence is the most important skill: people skills are. For example, leading, selling, and schmoozing.

You know that loner whiz kid or techie in your company? The guy in the corner you can always count on? The same guy who`ll stay there his whole career? The Charlie-Sheen-before-being-transformed-by-Gordon-Gecko in Wall Street?

Well, I don`t want to finish like that.

I am also tired of seeing less competent, but better politician, people leaving me in the dust.

I need to become like them. Or at act and talk like they do.

I need to upgrade my leadership skills.
I need to upgrade my selling skills.
Now.

Any good books, websites, programs or good references? Thanks in advance!

2

Dan C…good post. And I know exactly what you mean. I just finished a course on leadership…we used the book The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner. You can find it Borders, I’ve seen it there. It was okay…a lot of sort of common sense stuff, but some goodness.

3

The Mentor by Jack Carew

4

Harvard Business Review series…

Check out “Leadership” and “High Performance Manager”.

BullGrap

5

“The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, by Stephen R. Covey and “Principle-Centered Leadership” by the same author are extraordinary books.
-Try and surround yourself with the kind of people from whom you can learn what you seek.
that’s about all i have for ya.
Good luck.

-Jason

6

These suggestions are all good. But keep in mind:

Reading about this stuff is like reading about weight training. Its important but by itself doesn’t do anything.

One thing that helps:
Strike up a conversation with five strangers a week. They can be male, female, young, old – try for a diversity.

Try to get a good rapport with them, and to see things from their perspective. See if you can make them laugh.

If you’re at the bank, don’t stand there like a lump. Use it as an opportunity to tell someone a funny story and get them to laugh.

If you do this over time, you’ll see your skill improve at it.

-Dutch