It’s the wrong question because it’s based on a belief.

Beliefs are hard to change and they can never be wrong. Beliefs are bound up in what we think about ourselves (I’m a rational person), our biases (I don’t have any – I’m fair to all), what we think people like us should think (everyone knows this!).

Many sales people go into a sales call with the wrong focus. This incorrect focus happens because it’s easy and is common place. But it hurts sales and causes sales people to offer a discount to win the deal.

Earlier this month I was lucky enough to spend a week in #Abidjan, Cote d’ivoire – West Africa – conducting my Position | Engage | Influence course for @Caterpillar Inc. Being on the other side of the world and in a completely different culture, I was expecting to see something very different.

Later this month, I will be working with Caterpillar Inc in Cote d’Ivoire, West Africa.

As part of the preparation for this trip, I’ve had to review all my slides, materials and the stories and anecdotes that I tell.

Last week I was in the Blue Mountains working with a client from the tech industry. The client had rented a small conference venue complete with open fires, communal living areas and basketball courts. It was a great place to shift behaviours.

Humans have a tendency to have a grandiose opinion of themselves. We like to think that we are better than the rest.

There is an old saying that you are the average of the 5 people you hang out with. We are social creatures and we take on the social norms of the group of people we hang around.