Wow Factor : The 33 Things You Must (And Must Not) Do to Guarantee Your Edge in Today's Business World

by JONES, FRANCES COLE

• ISBN13: 9780345517890
• ISBN10: 034551789X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-09-01
• Publisher: Ballantine Books

Summary

In today's volatile business world, success requires an edge, a factor that sets you apart from the crowd. Corporate coach Frances Cole Jones understands that challenging times demand immediate solutions, and The Wow Factor provides vital information that will help you rise to the top--fast. Who needs the Wow Factor? Executives seeking to reinvent themselves, recent graduates facing fierce competition, entrepreneurs looking for funding in a world where funding is seemingly nonexistent, or anyone who has been downsized, outsourced, or simply blindsided by harsh economic realities. In her proven Search and Destroy format, Jones shares thirty-three things you must (and must not) do to survive in a moment that demands solutions, shortcuts, and less sugarcoating. You'll learn how to: identify and transform the qualities that dull your edge, restore your confidence in these days of look hungry, go hungry, target your dream job, outprepare your interviewer, and get your resume to the top of the pile, fine-tune the soft skills that will amplify your network, perfect your written communications (text, email, snail mail), follow the Do It, Delegate It, or Delete It Rule, get the ten worst business sayings out of your vocabulary, implement the Six Layers of Why for maximum impact when interviewing, branding, or selling, and leverage the value of timing, silence, and the verbal one-two punch. Through critical, perfectly timed advice, amusing anecdotes, and proven strategies, Frances Cole Jones gives you the tools you need--daring, fluidity, and mental strength--to stay afloat in a sink-or-swim environment. The Wow Factor will help you ensure that your ideas and skills remain both timely and timeless, so that you'll have the confidence to wow everyone, every time.

Author Biography

Frances Cole Jones founded Cole Media Management in 1997. From the beginning, the company’s focus has been on cultivating clients’ inherent strengths to develop the communication skills that will enhance their professional and personal performance. The scope of Jones’s work includes preparation for television and print interviews, IPO road shows, meetings with potential investors, and internal meetings with partners, sales staff, and in-house personnel. She also provides presentation skills seminars and speechwriting. The author of How to Wow, Frances Cole Jones lives in New York City.

Excerpts

Section One

Practice

In sports, the ability to shave a hundredth of a second off your time can be what determines the difference between the gold and the silver medal. In turbulent economic times, the same is true-getting the job, the deal, the account is determined by the smallest of degrees.  

How, then, can you ensure you're standing on the winning platform? The same way athletes do: by developing the habits, skills, and disciplines that will stand you in good stead, regardless of the state of the playing field. And in the same way their training routines and practices are designed to leave nothing to chance, you must ensure that your habits keep you in the best shape possible.  

When you're called into the game, you need to be at the top of your game.  

What are some of the qualities that dull your edge? Everything from the seemingly innocuous unexamined habit, through disorganization and trepidation, all the way to the flat-out fear that paralyzes your thinking, not to mention your ability to act in your own best interest. For myself, I know that when I'm off my game I tend to adopt the coping skills of Lucy Ricardo-changing what might have been a manageable situation into an operatic showdown at the Copacabana.  

Given this, over the years I've developed, discovered, and learned from the brightest stars with whom I work a number of ideas, habits, and tools that help me present my best self regardless of the circumstances. For example, I've learned how to actively create camaraderie in meetings, strategically choose projects that guarantee the biggest bang for my buck, and consciously create customer satisfaction along the entire chain of my business.  

The tips and tools offered in this section, then, are things you must do to fine-tune how you show up every day-mental weight lifting, if you will. And, in the same way those seemingly pointless bicep curls and leg presses you do in the gym ensure you the necessary physical strength to carry your kids to safety if your house is on fire, these tips and tools ensure you the mental strength you'll need when your interview gets moved from tomorrow to today, your colleagues are gunning for your job, or your boss has been asked to put together his "early retirement" short list. Armed with up-to-the-minute technical acumen and finely honed people skills, you'll be poised to instead grab that promotion.    

1 Retrain Your Brain  


"That's one small step for man..." Most of you are likely able to finish Neil Armstrong's sentence regarding his first step on the moon: "...one giant leap for mankind."

  I propose that mental strength, and its twin brother, confidence, are gained in much the same way. While I am intent on avoiding the obvious Lao-tzu quote (journey/thousand miles/single step/etc.), I think the sentiment is one it's important to remember. Circumnavigating, removing, or changing your attitude toward the obstacles you currently face is far more manageable if you break it down into discrete steps. And the fact is that even small changes begin to retrain your brain. This phenomenon, called "neuroplasticity," is a burgeoning field in brain research, and thanks to the latest brain scanning technology, it is increasingly clear that adults can-and do-sharpen their brains, heal learning problems, and more.

  In short, you can teach yourself resilience.   Should you be skeptical, here's an immediate, tangible example of simple brain retraining: Stop reading this and interlace your fingers. Now, unlace them and relace with your other index finger on top.  

If you are like most people this switch will feel awfully peculiar. The reason for this is that we generally interlace our fingers with the index finger of our dominant hand on top-it's our body's habit. And, like so many habits, we accep

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Excerpted from The Wow Factor: The 33 Things You Must (and Must Not) Do to Guarantee Your Edge in Today's Business World by Frances Cole Jones
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