Stop a moment and ask yourself this: has a new employee ever passed you up for a promotion? How can it be, you query yourself, that the new upstart was promoted when everyone else in the company tells you that you deserved the promotion? The new employee did not have your track record for success, did not have the necessary credentials, and wasn't even close to matching your company loyalty!

Frustrated with the lack of answers, you attempt to obtain answers from management, which only ignites more frustration because they cannot explain it logically. Perturbed and discouraged you resort back to your old patterns of long work hours and hard work, in the hopes that one day all your hard work will be noticed, while you watch the new employee move up the company ladder with tremendous ease.

What do these 'fast-tracking' employees have that lands them promotions, allows them to negotiate obstacles with ease, and charms the boss into giving them whatever they want? Do these employees hypnotize their supervisors by waving a watch in front of his or her eyes? Well, in a way...yes! A few employees have learned subtle communication methods that cause their supervisors to be instantly suggestible and receptive to covet influence.

The subtle communication skills that fast-tracking employees use don't influence their supervisors on the conscious level as much as on the unconscious level. Need proof that fast-tracking employees can influence their supervisors on the unconscious level? Here's how to do it. When the opportunity arises, simply ask a supervisor who has just given an employee a promotion, a raise, or special role within the company his rationale for the decision. If the supervisor can give you three good reasons for his decision, he probably has not been influenced at the unconscious level; this boss did his homework truly evaluated the various candidates for the job. However, if he cannot give you bona fide reasons for his decision or if he gets mad at you for questioning his judgment-it is likely that he had been unconsciously influenced by the charisma of the lucky person he had just promoted.

Now ask yourself: do you already want to learn what these fast-tracking employees know about unconscious communication? Are you desirous to learn the secrets of charm and charisma that can get you that job or promotion? Then check into Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), developed by John Grinder and Richard Bandler. They combined different theories of language and neurology to form methods that have the potential to influence people at the unconscious level. I have summarized a few of the many amazing techniques that NLP has developed.

1.) Weaving Rapport by Mirroring: Building rapport with your supervisor is more than talking about the same movie you saw over the weekend. Rapport building includes matching all your supervisor's body posture, facial expressions, energy levels, humor, styles, words, and gestures. It can also include matching breathing, inflection voice tone, and language patterns. At the advanced levels it also includes matching values, beliefs, and objectives. Matching is not mimicking your supervisor's behavior, matching involves adopting similar patterns into your own style so that they appear natural versus mimicked.

One of NLP's theories is that the mind and body are all part of the same system; therefore, if you match your supervisor's verbal and non-verbal communication patterns, you are matching his or her thinking patterns-the highest form of rapport that you can establish.

Rapport is extremely important in business because business decisions are rarely reached on the value of technical merit alone; more often than not, favorable business decisions are developed between those who have developed a great deal of rapport.

Remember this overriding rule: we like those who are like ourselves. We trust those who exude similarity with ourselves. The cliche 'opposite's attract' has never been farther than the truth. Let me prove it to you. Think of your best friend. Call to mind his many qualities. Examine them well. Give yourself a minute to do this.

Done? What have you observed? Of course!!! Your best friend shares many of your habits, mannerisms, dreams, ambitions...! Now you have the secret of getting along with anybody (not just your best friend!) Build rapport, now, by creating an apparent similarity between you and the other person. It's the secret called Mirroring.

2.) Advanced Rapport: Want to take that charisma the extra mile? Let's talk about the arcane art of ANCHORING.

Anchoring involves placing a positive feeling into your supervisor's memory about you. By definition anchoring is the association of something seen, touched, heard, smelled, or tasted, with a specific memory or sensation. When you hear an old love song you and your 1st girlfriend shared, strong emotions come rushing back... even though a decade may have elapsed. This is anchoring: you anchored that specific melody with fond old memories of love.

Now let's bring this to the business environment.

We all have people in our workplaces that cause us to cringe each time we see them or come into contact with them in meetings. People who cause us to wince have created a negative emotion anchored in our unconscious memory. As a fast-tracking employee, you cannot afford to create a negative emotion in your supervisor's memory. It is your goal to anchor positive emotions of yourself in their minds. In other words, you want your supervisor to associate you with favorable emotions.

In order to anchor, you simply use two very special gestures when you converse with people: gesturing away from yourself, and gesturing towards yourself. Gesture away from yourself whenever you mention something negative. Examples would be a death in the family, a salary cut, losing a job. On the other hand, whenever you discuss something positive, gesture towards your chest. For instance, you may be discussing a recent golfing victory of your supervisor, and as you praise his achievement, you subtly gesture towards your chest. In both cases of gesturing away and towards yourself, ensure that every movement is natural and spontaneous.

Here's how it works. On the subconscious level, the mind hears something positive and sees the subtle self-pointing gestures. It then creates an association of positive emotion with you. Over time the positive emotions associated with you will be anchored into your supervisor's unconscious memory. Your supervisor will think you're such a swell guy to be with and won't even know why. Try this with strangers and observe how quickly you draw them in!

The aforementioned methods should help you to hypnotize your supervisor without using a watch on a string. If you would like to know more about NLP and unconscious communication, I recommend joining our forum (it's free) and reading up on all the articles!

Article source: Free Management Articles.

What do you do when an employee disagrees with something you've written on their performance review? How can you prepare for this and deal with it effectively?

Start by listening to figure out the source of the disagreement. Is it an issue of fact (you wrote that the employee received a customer satisfaction score of 79 but the employee says that his score was actually 83), or is a matter of judgment (you wrote that the employee's customer service skills were unsatisfactory; she feels that her skills are terrific)? If the disagreement involves an issue of fact, get the facts and make any corrections necessary. If it's a matter of judgment, ask the employee for additional evidence. Then determine whether that evidence is weighty enough to cause you to change your mind, revise your judgment, and amend the rating that you assigned on the employee's performance review.

Most of the time, you have a reasonably good understanding of the areas where disagreements are likely to pop up in the course of the performance review discussion. Before beginning the discussion, re-read the review you wrote and try to spot the areas where you and the individual may not seem eye-to-eye. Then ask yourself, 'What am I going to say when George disagrees with my assessment that his performance on the Thompson project just barely met expectations?' If you've taken to time to review the appraisal you've written for potential hot spots, and given some thought to how you'll respond, you're much less likely to be caught off guard.

During the employee performance review discussion, start with your higher ratings and move toward the lower ones. Be prepared to give additional examples besides the ones you've included on the formal written appraisal. Refer back to the informal conversations you have had with the individual over the course of the year.

Of course, if you haven't had on-going, informal performance review discussions with the individual over the course of the appraisal period, then it's much more likely that disagreements will surface during the review. That's one more reason for scheduling periodic, 'How's it going?' discussions with each person on your team.

As soon as a disagreement pops up, switch into active listening mode. 'Active listening' involves allowing the other person to clarify both the facts and feelings about an issue so there's nothing left under the surface. For example, using phrases as simple as, 'Tell me more . . .' or, 'What else can you share with me about that . . . ?' or, 'Really . . . ?' can encourage people to talk more about their perceptions. Simply nodding without saying anything encourages people to expand on what they have said. It's not at all unlikely that the employee, allowed a sufficient chance to think aloud about what you have written, will end up saying, 'Yeah, I guess I see what you mean.'

In dealing effectively with employee performance review disagreements, remember what your objective in the discussion is - and what it isn't. Your objective in a performance review discussion is not to gain agreement. It is to gain understanding. If the employee agrees with you, that's great. But particularly if your appraisal is a tough-minded assessment of the fact the Charlie's contribution toward achieving your department's objectives was only mediocre, you'll probably never get him to agree. That's OK. What you want is for him to understand why you evaluated his performance the way you did, even if his personal opinion is different.

Finally, if you have several employee performance reviews to deliver, don't start with the individual whose performance was the worst and where disagreements are the most likely to arise. Start with the easiest - your best performer - and move toward the more difficult. In this way, you'll build your skills and become more comfortable with the performance review process. Remember the advice that John Dillinger, the 1930's public-enemy #1, once provided: 'Before you rob your first bank, knock off a couple of gas stations.'

Article source: Free Management Articles.

Let's talk about how to keep your postage costs down.

So far you have been following my advice and mailing to the same list more
than once. At some point you find lists that will produce returns continually, but you notice that you are receiving more returns than when you started mailing to those lists.

You may see things like 'Undeliverable as Addressed' or 'Forwarding Order Expired.' Every time you mail to an address and that prospect has moved or cannot be found for any reason, you have just paid for the postage with no possibility of getting a response.

Obviously it is a pretty big waste of money to continue to mail to this address, but what do you do about it? You could simply go into the list of names that you have purchased and delete the returns. No more bad addresses, no more wasted postage, right? That is one option but there is a better way to handle the situation.

The US Postal Service has an NCOA (National Change of Address) System that a limited number of companies are licensed to access. These companies are able to take the list that you have purchased, or compiled yourself, and check it against the USPS system. You will receive a report that will let you know if anyone on your list has moved, gone out of business, or even if the zip code that contact was in was changed by the Post Office itself. Along with the report you will receive a new copy of your list that has been cleaned and updated.

The cost for having your list checked is very economical (about $5.00 per thousand records) and will allow you to keep getting your message out to as many people in your list as possible.

At times you can see up to a 10% undeliverable rate, and it can even be higher on older lists that you have been using for a while. Average is more like 5% undeliverable so let's take a look at the numbers at that rate.

If you mail 10,000 and get 5% back for bad addresses: 10,000 x .05 = 500 pieces.

You will have paid postage on 500 pieces that did not reach their destination.

So if you mail to your list again without cleaning it you have just wasted: 500 x $0.23 = $115.00.

If you were to NCOA that list at a rate of $5.00 per thousand you would have spent: 10 x $5.00 = $50.00.

So you have three choices when faced with a list that needs cleaning:

1. Spend hours deleting every return that you receive from your list.

2. Waste $115.00 or more in postage every time you mail to that list.

or

3. Have the list checked by an NCOA service and get back in touch with customers that may have moved, for around one tenth the cost.

The NCOA service is the easiest and most effective way to keep your postage costs down.

Article source: Free Management Articles.

The footage of the US Airways jet that crash landed in the Hudson River recently made for incredible television viewing, but not just in terms of the aircraft bobbing up and down in the icy waters. It was also striking to see the immediate reactions of the organisations involved and, from a professional perspective, see how quickly crisis communications plans can be put into action.

Almost within an hour of the news breaking the US Airways corporate communications chief was able to introduce his CEO to the world's media, and give an informed and prepared statement that demonstrated a corporation reacting swiftly and competently to the unfolding incident thousands of miles from the airline's Arizona base.

This reaction was no accident. Airlines, like many other organisations across every sector, regularly practise responding to emergency situations. They never know when an incident is going to happen, what form it will take and how bad the crisis might be (imagine if the US Airways plane had crashed into buildings in Manhattan) - but they do know they will need to respond quickly, calmly and effectively demonstrating that they on top of the situation and responding appropriately. And they need to focus on communicating as much inside their organisation as they do externally.

Crises can come in any shape or form, usually when you least expect them. And they can hit any organisation, whatever the sector. Whilst
airline disasters will be very public and high profile events, professional services firms can also be impacted by events that can quickly turn into a crisis.

Indeed, the crisis may not even come from an isolated situation but perhaps from a sudden change in business conditions - witness the number of well known retail brands going into administration right now - or other adverse trading conditions. Any firm that operates in the property sector will be considering all eventualities at present, with increasingly large scale redundancies being announced almost every week. For many no doubt their situation can be described as a crisis.

How the firm deals with a crisis will say a great deal about them - particularly to their employees. Recent years have seen a long period of business growth and relative prosperity. Many internal communications messages will have been bullish about the outlook, excited about the potential of the business and challenging employees to achieve great things in the future.

When we at Gatehouse talk to our clients we now advise that the messages need a different tone, a dose of realism, sensitivity, empathy and an appreciation that many employees will be most concerned about whether they will retain their jobs. In these times the firm needs more than ever to be open and honest with its people and live up to the values it espouses - the danger for not doing so is that trust will be lost and take years to build back up.

Effective internal communications has as important a role to play in protecting your business - and your reputation. But how do you make sure that you are ready to address such a crisis? Outlined below are some of the 'dos' and 'don'ts' of communicating internally during a crisis.

Dos:

1.agree key messages - and stick to them :Agree what your business stands for, what it believes and what it wants others to know about it. A clear articulation of your key messages will help your leaders stay focused and consistent - whether they are talking internally or externally, and will support your front line staff who will need to fend off client enquiries. Your brand and your reputation depends on it.

2.be sure you know how to get in touch with your people quickly :
It is one thing agreeing what messages to send out but can you be confident that your distribution channels are sufficiently robust? If most of your communications are currently sent via email or intranet but a crisis meant people couldn't get to the office and won't have access to blackberries or laptops do you know how you will contact them? Ensure that channels such as telephone cascades and emergency hotline numbers are regularly updated and can work at a moments notice.

3.make sure internal and external channels are aligned :You only want one articulation of what is happening and what you are doing about it. The credibility of your internal channels will soon be lost if the firm is saying something else in the media.

4.be creative and use the best channel for the situation:Consider every scenario, however unlikely and ask yourself whether your existing channels are sufficient. A crisis can actually provide an opportunity to use new channels, especially social media, as you might find you need to keep people aware of what is happening more frequently than the daily intranet news headline that you are used to posting. You might think about starting a blog that can be updated quickly and easily or creating a message board to encourage colleagues to share their feelings, ask questions or offer support.

5.keep communicating:Once people know their firm is going through a crisis they will want to know what is happening - constantly, until the crisis is resolved. And they will, before long, want to know the longer term implications.

6.offer a place to go for answers:Offer people a place to go for answers or reassurance and then listen to what they tell you. You will need to be able to respond quickly your people will thank you for it.

7.ensure your leaders are leading: Leaders set the tone - without their buy-in your communications can only go so far. Leaders have a prominent role to play internally as well as externally. Involve them in your plans as they need to know in advance what will be expected of them and how they need to react at such moments.

Don't:

1.think it won't happen to you :Crises can come in any shape or size without warning. They can happen to anyone. I worked for a large financial services organisation in the 1990s whose head office was blown up by a terrorist bomb - it could have been any bank or any building.

2.leave it till tomorrow :There will always be something more pressing, something needed yesterday. Unfortunately the crisis won't wait quietly in line. Your people won't thank you if you were too busy to be ready.

3.'sugar coat' the message :There will always be a temptation to tell everyone things are under control even when they are not. Honesty normally pays. Remember people may see events unfold on television or through the newspapers. If you are giving a different, more positive perspective of what is happening then make sure your messages are rooted in reality.

4.restrict communication to those directly affected:In these days of global firms, your colleagues in other offices across the world will know you are suffering a crisis. So will their clients. Don't forget them - they will be concerned about people they know, people they are working with and want to help.

5.assume people know what to do;Most crises are one-offs that will suddenly strike. Employees will look to the organisation for guidance - that means you. Never assume the solution is obvious, particularly during times of stress.

6.panic :You need to be calm even in the eye of the storm. Be like the vice-president of corporate communications at US Airways, take responsibility, be in control of the situation. If you can do that, when the crisis passes your senior management will thank you and the reputation of the communications department will be greatly enhanced.

Author: Howard Krais

About the author:
Howard Krais is an experienced internal communications specialist who has spent many years working in and advising the professional services sector. He now works with leading internal communications consultants Gatehouse group.

Article source: Free Management Articles.

What are Articles of Incorporation?

Articles of incorporation are needed when a business decides to incorporate. Articles of incorporation are a set of rules that determines how a corporation should be managed and they are filed with the government in your area. In order for a business to become a corporation, the Articles of Incorporation must be filed with the appropriate agency. It is important to know that in, they may not be called Articles of incorporation in your area. They may also be referred to as Certificate of Organization, Certificate of Formation or Certificate of Organization.

Where do I file the Articles of Incorporation?

Articles of Incorporation must be filed with the government in the area in which you intend to incorporate. Typically the forms are filed with the Secretary of State. However, if approved you may use another regulatory agency or company. There will be a fee associated with filing Articles of Incorporation and this will vary depending on where you live.

The forms needed to file the Articles of Incorporation should be readily available to you from a variety of venues. You can obtain them by printing them on your computer from the web site of the Secretary of State. You can also obtain the forms needed by writing to or calling your Secretary of State and asking them to mail the form.

What information is contained on the Articles of Incorporation?

There is a variety of information that is required when you file the Articles of Incorporation. These are the basics in all areas. However, your local government may require additional information. It is important that you conduct full research on what your area may require.

The first piece of information to be listed on the Articles of Incorporation includes the name of the corporation. This will be the legal business name under which the corporation will conduct business. This should include any designators at the end such as Inc. or Corp.

You will also be required to determine the purpose of your corporation as stated by the government in your area. The name and address of the person responsible for accepting any legal notices in regards to the business named, such as an attorney.

Another piece of information that is required on the Articles of Incorporation includes the number of shares the business is allowed to issue. The type of business the corporation is conducting will determine the amount of shares issued and how many people can hold them.

The final requirement for the Articles of Incorporation are the signatures. This should be of the incorporator or any directors along with the addresses of all signatories.

Other requirements that may be required in your specific area could include the duration of the corporation, if the corporation will have preemptive right or cumulative voting and if the business will offer various classes of their stock shares. It is important that you research all areas of the Articles of Incorporation and understand what is required and what additional items may be added to your filing.

Article source: Free Management Articles.

It's not just how much money you make as a mortgage loan officer, its how you make your money

Do you own your career or does your career own you?

For most Loan officers, the business is boss. Working on evenings and weekends is common. And when they do get home, they can't sleep because they have a hundred things to do the next day to make sure no loan falls out.

We talk a lot about different marketing concepts and techniques to increase revenue, and make more money. But how we make money is just as important if not more important.

Remember a business, any business, is there for only one reason - to make you money. That's why you got in the business isn't it? To make money? And why did you want more money? To spend more time with your family, or to be able to take vacations? But guess what? The way we structure our businesses doesn't let us do any of these things.

We need to take a lesson from the banks- they are closed on the weekends. Why are you as a loan officer, open? Because the realtor might call from an open house wanting a pre-qual Sunday morning. Or a client wants to meet you but he only wants to come on Saturday so he doesn't miss work.

It all goes back to how you set up your loan officer business. If any of this seems familiar to you, get your copy of the E-Myth Revisited and read it again. But this time DO what it says. Don't just run a business, build the business you want to run.

Lester Nathan, a consultant to the pharmacy business, defines financial freedom as, 'the freedom to come and go from your business as you please, and participate in it in whatever manner you desire, while the cash keeps flowing into your pockets.'

What stage of production are you at right now?

Survival - where you barely make enough and are fighting for rent and grocery money.

Subsistence - where you make enough for basic needs and not much else

Comfort - where you have enough coming in to be middle class

Prosperous- where you are doing well

Abundance - where you have more than you need

If you are still in Survival mode, then do what you need to eat. If you are at any other level, you need to set up your business in a way that it supports you - your wants and desires.

Making a million dollars doesn't do you any good if it takes you 70-80 hours a week, and takes a toll on your health.

There's a wise saying that comes to mind - Youth is spent making money and sacrificing health. Old age is spent trying to buy your health back.

Setting boundaries is the only way to be truly successful in all areas of your life. There must be a balance. Work vs. Home. Secular vs. Religious.

So how do we keep a balance? How do we train our customers to let us have a life?

1. By being desirable instead of desperate. By playing hard to get. When you can make someone go through hoops to work with you, they will want to do it more. If you were to choose a financial planner, which one would you want to work with, the guy who will take anyone as a client, or the one who has a requirement that you have at least 1 million in assets before he will even talk to you? Now ask this question to your clients. Who would you rather work with as a loan officer, the one who answers his own calls and jumps every time you call, or the one who is always with a client when you can, but takes the time to give you special treatment?

It's all about their perception. The customer's perception of you. There are so many loan officers out there now that have no care about the way they come off to people. They dress sloppy, they act sloppy, and their work is sloppy. We need to differentiate ourselves from these bums.

2. By being the expert. If you are 'the' person to talk to about loans, people will come to you. Everyone wants to work with the best. And there are enough people out there willing to pay for it.


3. By being unique. By offering something no one else does, you stand out. The more you stand out, the more you will be remembered. Your Unique Selling Proposition is critical here. Develop a good one, and make sure to use it.


4. Work by appointment. Make it seem you are busy even if you are not. It goes back to being desirable. People want to do business with successful people. Act successful and you soon will be.


When people apply for a loan at their bank, they get dressed up a bit. They bring their financial documents with them. They come when the bank is open. You are the bank. You lend money just like the bank does. Don't let realtors and customers push you around. Set your boundaries and stick to them. If people do not respect them, replace them. There will be others to take their place.

Article source: Free Management Articles.