Critical thinking is the ability to be on top of one’s thinking. It includes the power to consciously examine whether your elements of reasoning and those around you are functional. This is determined by weighing the logic against widely employed benchmarks. It also involves the structured examination of sources of data. Such brooding about one’s reasoning involves the power to spot the essential elements of reasoning.
They are the focus, question, knowledge, assumption, understanding, concepts, and consequences. Using standard intellectual requirements and norms, people retain some aspects of reasoning.
Businesses that want to remain competitive and successful will need to hire employees who can think critically. It isn’t enough to land a university degree holder. New business executives will need to be curious, analytical, and good problem-solvers. Strategic or strategic thinking is the most requested skill for employers when screening job applicants, as reported from business surveys.
Research has also described strategic thinking, Investigation, judgment call, organizational planning, and risk management as essential workplace must-have abilities. Employers are demanding that graduates have more than just textbook knowledge and believe that the power to think critically is vital to job performance and career excellence. It has also been revealed that critical thinking remains the most valuable characteristic that companies need to grow. The other essential needs are simple innovations as well as increased information technology usage.
Work settings are changing rapidly, forcing employees into new job roles. Employees cannot trust others to form critical decisions and can be forced to form them on their own and quickly. Making good decisions require top-notch first-hand experience on the job. Also, asking the right questions and making the correct assumptions are all encompassed in elements of reasoning. Unfortunately, very few workers have these skills.
A survey of Human Resource professionals (SHRM) shows that a complete 70% of workers with a high school diploma were deficient in critical thinking abilities. In other recent studies, 45% of school graduates made no notable improvement in developing critical thinking or other elements of reasoning. After four years, 36% showed no significant gains in critical thinking skills. When these students leave college and enter the workforce, they’re going to be unprepared to meet the work environment’s challenges. Managers have declared that candidates who have taken time to develop all their reasoning elements are highly valued.
Candidates with these invaluable abilities are going to be in demand and will be hotcakes. Critical thinking skills have become invaluable. Fast-paced work setting and skillful ability to adapt will be critical attributes of fully functional elements of reasoning. Human resource professionals and recruiters will be screening candidates for these characteristics during interviews. Building these critical thinking skill sets of the current workers will also become necessary and vital.
HOW TO IMPRESS THE HUMAN RESOURCE PERSONALS
The use of thought evaluations in initial hiring is an excellent approach for human resource professionals. People who perform well on these assessments show superior analytical abilities, reasoning, decision-making, and overall results. They also show the power to gauge the standard of data presented, are creative, have better job knowledge.
They mainly raise the hierarchy in such companies. Some assessments are reserved for managerial or professional candidates that evaluate hard skills. Research also shows that higher-level management positions require sound elements of reasoning. Therefore, finding things out quickly and processing information accurately should not be found wanting. Your elements of reasoning must be richly endowed.
Organizations that include both critical thinking and personality tests in hiring processes will have complete executives. Organizations that use either personality or critical thinking assessments alone may not be able to match up.
HOW TO ASSIST YOUR STAFF TO BECOME HIGHLY COGNITIVE IN THINKING
Helping employees become strategic thinkers or higher-order thinkers is often done by introducing questioning techniques. Better questioning helps them visualize and synthesize information more effectively. Through practice, this process can become automatic, and it will assist them in developing their reasoning elements fully. The majority of programs instruct people to be effective listeners, not good thinkers or questioners. Passive learning doesn’t necessarily develop cognitive management skills or changes in behavior.
Showing more interest in the course of learning will be simpler and can offer more long-term results. Information learned and processed through higher-order thinking is remembered longer than traditional memorization. Knowledge is simpler to transfer and apply when your workers’ elements of reasoning are developed and well used.
This results in better problem-solving ability. Questioning then becomes an integral part of the company’s daily process. Perfecting the interactive session begins with establishing what’s known and allows the trainer or mentor the power to develop new ideas and understandings.
Questioning techniques have been proven to foster the thinking ability of executives. Create relevant questions around the task to be done. Work on the methodology for your workplace. Inspire open discussion and foster engagement of the crucial elements of reasoning. Sincere in-depth probing usually allows your workers to organize and analyze issues more efficiently.
START ENGAGING YOUR TOP OFFICIALS
The only essential elements of a talented questioner are asking short and concise questions, rephrasing, and drawing different responses from the subordinates’ answers. The practice is additionally necessary to master the elements of reasoning and their usage. Allow your staff members to practice their knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behavior changes on the job. These relevant questioning and activities that are relevant to their job specification will make them think.
Think of a scenario that builds on what they already know when contemplating cases to implement on your new employees. It is often as simple as reading a policy, giving a real-life example of a circumstance, remarking something on a spreadsheet, or face to face. Then, model a challenge or task showing the right thought processes for healthy elements of reasoning. Suggest a task that will be solved jointly or by talking about the scenario. Again, for investigative questions, use your query technique.
What would happen if? Inform me what just happened? What strategies worked well or didn’t work in all situations? What would you do next time? What can we assume? Maybe have a debate. Predict what is going to happen next. Finally, provide some feedback or create the chance for self-assessment. Utilize this feedback to create upon your next task, and always remember to reward creativity.
Workers won’t want to repeat exceptional values as dictated by their reasoning elements if they do not feel valued. Workers with highly efficient elements of reasoning and higher- thinking order will most likely perform excellently well. Such members of staff will be ready to go all the way to distinguish themselves at work. They’re going to rationalize or explain why an answer will work and may see different angles or sides to issues.
This will help you solve real-world problems in your company or business. Encourage your workers to believe the strategies that you introduce but never force them on them. If organizations encourage their workers with these abilities and utilize the art of questioning very well, their employees will display well-groomed reasoning elements at all times. Critical thinking will become invaluable for your organization’s future success.
There is a strategic advantage for businesses that attracts and engages creative thinkers. Employments these days favor workers with the ability to develop this talent in the workplace. Just like the workers will stand out, it will rub off on the organization too. Not too many workers are recruited with this kind of rare talent, but the few who have them will sure stand out in the workplace.
All reasoning is an effort to work something out, settle some questions, and unravel some problem.
Every reasoning is founded on assumptions.
Every reasoning is done from a particular standpoint,
All reasoning is based on reality, knowledge, and proof. All reasoning is articulated from many viewpoints and formed by them.
All reasoning includes assumptions that we conclude.
Each reasoning leads somewhere, with potential consequences.
CONCLUSION
Every individual is blessed with a brain capable of solving any problem whatsoever. It’s generally believed that we are only ready to use a tiny part of our brains in our entire life in all humans life. The more we engage in critical thinking, the more developed all the reasoning elements in our brain parts become developed and highly classified. Critical thinking isn’t naturally developed; instead, it is developed by conscious efforts to groom and nurture them.
Although, there are times when people can have a period of reflection once unplanned or unexpected changes prompt them. Thinking also becomes critical when individuals do not depend on perceptual filters to work out what’s accepted as true and proper. Your elements will be at work when you have a willingness to gauge your beliefs and alter them once they find compelling and convincing evidence.
Critical thinking is often most effectively taught by utilizing an in-depth explanation or time to practice what’s being learned. Direct application of these skills to issues and problems makes you master all your elements of thinking.
What is the Difference Between Influence and Persuasion? In the social media world, we often hear of influencers who subtly promote products or brands to their followers. This phenom has taken the world by storm in the last ten years. As a member of the Black Sheep Community, we are often seen as either influencers or persuaders. This means we, through our communication, sway the non-member public to our point of view.
But what is an Influencer, and how does it differ from a Persuader? How closely are these two concepts related? Regardless of the leadership position you are in, understanding the distinction will mean the difference between failure and success.
Firstly, the two concepts or terms are most certainly related to each other. Being able to influence people is often misconstrued as persuasion and vice versa. Secondly, they both have pros and cons.
The Difference between Influence and Persuasion can be understood by knowing its terminology.
The terminology of the Difference between Influence and Persuasion is given below.
Here I’m going to explain The terminology of the Difference between Influence and Persuasion is given below.
Influence
the ability to present a case or statement so that the other party has the information to change their point of view themselves. This means that you use no force or cohesion to sway them; through listening to your statement or argument, they reach their conclusion and change their opinion—a long-term change.
using your communication skills to temporarily change the opinion of others to achieve a short-term goal. Persuasion is getting people to take action, such as in sales and politics. The buy-in is most certainly short-lived, and often there is a feeling of change again, such as buyer’s remorse.
How Does the Difference Between Influence and Persuasion Apply to Being a Thought Leader?
When you want to get your point across to an audience, you need both these skills. You must be able to influence and persuade at the same time. The required measures of each are dependent on the situation, and it is your primary job to understand when to use each. Creating lasting change in any environment requires you to use the two communicative styles in unison.
Firstly, your influencing skill will be tested as you will have to present your cause with facts and context. This strategy often gets you in the firing line. In other words, you must be able to stand firm as your opinion gets scrutinized by peers and detractors. For you to increase your influence on a specific topic, you would first have to establish trust. This trust will begin to build your credibility with your audience.
Credibility comes from four core aspects, Integrity, Intent, Capabilities, and Results. These core characteristics will show your ability to back up your opinion.
Integrity
Can only be displayed by being honest. Honest about shortcomings and achievements. In the world today, your life is on show permanently using social media, and any disparity from your cause will hurt your ability to influence.
Intent
Your intent must be clearly understood. You must show your desires (intent) by meticulously spelling out your motives and what you want to achieve.
Capabilities
You will not influence if you cannot show that you can do what you want yourself. By leading from the front, you will have more influence over your audience.
Results
Your track record will speak volumes. If your historical results show that you are not capable of results, you will have very little influence over your audience. To expand your influence, you will also need to engage and connect with your audience. This engagement will get your audience involved with your cause. Your audience will have various opinions about the project or cause, and these should be understood and possibly integrated into your process. This sincere interaction with the people around you will increase the level of influence that you can exact.
Your clear vision and defined results will also give you more influence over your audience. Let’sLet’s be clear if you are standing on the soapbox and trying to motivate your audience to action. Yet, the desired results are not clear and defined, and you will not get the dynamic response you desire. In any social environment, people will only take action once they understand what they will achieve by their actions.
Creating profound and lasting influence, you also need to share your passion for your cause. Your passion is what will get people to listen first of all. A straightforward analogy is if you cannot display your passion through your words and actions, no audience will follow you. Passion is not fake; it is an authentic manifestation of your belief and drives for your cause.
To be an authentic influencer in leadership or any capacity, you need to display and enact these simple principles in every action you take. This will create a profound and lasting influence on your audience over time. Actual influence does not happen overnight. It talks about time for people to process your actions and words in their world and circumstance.
Persuasion Skills
When it comes to persuasion, it is often described as the ability to sell ice to Eskimos. The sales and marketing industry most often uses the art of persuasion. As the definition above states, you will temporarily change your audience’s understanding to achieve a temporary goal. No, whether this is to sell them a product or whether this is to make them join your cause, the process is all the same.
When you first start your journey as a thought leader or an activist, you will most likely use your persuasive skills more at first. Without the benefit of trust or connection, you will have to present your case differently to your audience to get buy-in. This is where your persuasion skills, your sales skills will become vital to your success.
We have all met actual salespeople in our lives. These are the people that can present an unknown subject or topic in such a way that you start paying attention. You might even want to buy the product or start having serious thoughts about it. They can instill trust and confidence in a short time by being sincere and polite.
Persuasiveness is how you will get noticed and how you will make the initial impact on your audience. If you have not noticed it yet, actual salespeople have an excellent vocabulary and speak with authority. When you take your stand, you must be prepared to be questioned and criticized. One of the best ways to prepare is to have all your facts and arguments well planned out and ready. This will give you the confidence to speak your truth. Know When to Use These Skills in Unison.
As activists and thought leaders, we will constantly be using our effective and persuasive skills to navigate the world. People often misinterpret these skills we want to communicate with. Therefore, you need to be authentic in all your actions and words.
Human beings have the innate ability to detect when someone is incongruent and dishonest. Or at least most people have the ability. If you want to start a cause and get buy-in from your social structures, you need always to bring the actual message. Your leadership journey will forever be understood in those first few times that you stand up and make yourself heard. So, practice your influencing skills by being authentic and credible. When you take up your cause, don’t give up when you get resistance; don’t stop just because it seems complicated.
Build your image and keep the focus on your project so that you can build your credibility and trust. This might take longer than you want it to take, but you will see the results in the end.
Black Sheep Community and The Difference between Influence and Persuasion
For activists and thought leaders, there is a place where you can share with peers that have experienced much the same as you have. If you have a message that you want to share with the world and are not sure how to approach it or begin, Black Sheep Community has the answer. Here you can connect with like-minded people committed to making a difference, and you can share in their success stories. You can get directions as to how to find yours.
Make the Black Sheep Community your new base of operations and share the many skills and abilities that our members share. You will understand the power of influence and persuasion and how to use these critical skillsets to further your cause. Join us today and start your journey as a thought leader.
This might sound like a weird fear to have, considering that if you are fear of lies, you might as well not lie. But in life, you can never really tell if someone is lying to you, nor can you avoid the occasional “white lie” slipping from your mouth. There are very few people that can testify to never telling even the smallest lie in their life.
The thing about lying is that we all step into that trap as kids, and we often get caught out by our parents, yet we never really learn the lesson. Have you ever been brutally honest with your friends and family? It does not always work out so well. So why are we afraid of lying if being honest is not that easy either?
The Origin of Lies
Or rather, why do people lie? The reasoning behind why we lie is not so difficult to understand. We have all experienced the lies told by political figures or even in the workplace. For many of us, the first experience of lies goes back to our childhood days. Everybody has had a moment when you have done something, and you told a little fib to cover it up, like coming home after your curfew or even why you did not do your homework. We develop a fear of lying because we don’t like it or we don’t know how to get out of the lies.
The little lies we often overlook because of the context in which they occur, but there is a valid reason for them at the time. In the examples given, we have genuine reasons we might have fibbed, but we also experienced times when the lies told did not have an apparent reason behind them. These are lies that were told just because we did not remember what happened or because we felt pressured to have an answer. Hence, we build up a fear of lies.
Nobody enjoys being lied to, and very few people get any pleasure from lying. So, the question remains – why do people have a fear of lies? The source of lies is as varied as the lies themselves.
For all the reasons we might have for telling lies, there is one reason why all these other reasons are secondary. Control. People tell lies to enact a certain level of control over a situation where they feel out of control. Whether it be control of their actions or in control of others’ actions, lies are about control. It’s very selfish reasoning. Yet we often rationalize it by saying we did it to protect others from the truth.
Truth does harm, not can it be dangerous. Truth is real. Lies are not. The fear of lying, however, is. To explain this, I will use a handy real-world example. Politics is all about getting the public to vote for you; first, you need their support to stay in power. So, politicians often are caught in their lies. It seems that they do not have a fear of lying almost. There are even agencies that now fact-check our politicians to keep them honest. Gone are the days of Honest Abe.
So, when you listen to politicians now, you are already thinking in the back of your mind whether or not you should believe what they are saying. We all understand that this is a horrible situation to be in, but we accept it. Because that’s just the way, it is. We don’t want to be lied to, but we don’t take action to try to eliminate them from our lives. So we look past our fear of lying.
This is also true in most relationship contexts; we are so scared of being lied to by our partners who always check up on them and the things they say. This behavior is damning to ourselves and the relationship. Because we will not outright question the person because we don’t want to the right or wrong. Yes, you read correctly. You don’t want to be right about the lies because that would be seen as a failure on your behalf. Again, we look past our fear of lying to our loved ones.
You also don’t want to be wrong because you would have shown that you don’t trust your partner who might lead to a breakdown in your relationship. Trust is the victim of lies. The fear of lying is the perpetrator. Without Trust, we, as human beings, often don’t have any quality of life. And this is how we start acting weirdly around our partners, which causes you both pains, which is all because you fear lying and lies.
Of course, when the story comes out that you have questions, you will possibly blow the situation out of proportion to make your actions seem understandable. And there we are right back to tell little lies to cover things up that might present us in a bad light! Yet, we still have a fear of lies.
The reasons why we tell lies are mainly based on keeping up with our inner picture of ourselves. If we don’t want to be seen as this or that, we will quite possibly tell little “acceptable” lies to maintain our self-image. And the same is true for other people. They will tell little fibs to keep you happy if they think the truth will cause you unhappiness.
Why are we always fighting for the truth, yet we fear lying in the same regard? To be clear, we fight for the perception of truth. To have a feeling of truth is what most of us end up with at the end of the day.
What is Truth?
Truth is what we are all after. Then how do we always end up with a watered-down version of the truth? The problem is a systemic one; we have been taught to accept what sounds like the truth. Yet never question it as it supposedly comes from a trusted source. Suppose you are looking for truth in your life in all things you need to start with yourself. Conquer the fear of lies internally. Songs have been written about it; start with the Man in The Mirror!
We are so scared of having lain in our lives from external sources that we never take the time to evaluate our own “truth-telling.” This is the main reason why we have a fear of lying. We have done it, and we know the type of damage it can do, so we don’t want that for ourselves. But we very possibly might be ok with others getting damaged by lies, whether our own or someone else’s.
If you have a fear of lying or being lied to, then the process starts with you. It would help if you analyzed where you might have lies in your life and put an end to it. That is the only way that you can congruently put a stop to lies in your life. They might be small or big, but they are justified to you by your reasoning.
You will have compelling reasoning for the lies you tell, no matter how small they might be. For the record, the reasoning is consequential only to you. The minute you put the reason for your lies up for analysis by others, they will fall flat on their lying faces.
Common reasons for fear of lies are things like avoiding punishment or concealing reward and benefit. Ever told a police officer that you did not have a drink before you drove home? Or maybe you said your phone was on silent when you missed a call? The lies in our lives are often tiny and insignificant but can often lead to severe pain or discomfort when caught out. Yet we often look past our fear of lying.
In truth, there is nothing that we can do about other people’s lies. We can rarely spot the lie in the act. And we only cause ourselves pain and suffering when we go searching for them. But that does not mean that we should not be insistent on having truth in our lives. But truth starts with you and not with other people, not your spouse and not your leaders. It starts with you.
You need to understand your fear of lies first. If you want the truth, then you must be willing to do the work to find it and nurture it. Or you would be forever in a place of yearning for truth while holding on to lies, not to mention living with your fear of lying every day.
Black Sheep Community and fear of lies
The Black Sheep Community could very well be the place where your journey into truth begins. In our community, we strive to reveal the truth behind whatever we are working on. Our fear of lying or lies is often put under the spotlight to conquer it. Whether it be the climate or politics or just understanding the latest trends on social media.
So, if you want to share your truth with people that will respect and honor that truth with their truth, join the Black Sheep Community. Our commitment to truth and openness will surprise you and maybe teach you a couple of things you did not know!
Big Head Egos, we all know them. We don’t all like them. But is there a place for a big head ego in the world? Does society at large reward a big head ego? Well, the answer is more complicated than you might think. Suppose we look at the last 100 years of history.
There are examples of big head egos and humble people who have significantly impacted our lives. There are also many examples where having a big head ego created success for individuals. Likewise, again where being humble did the same. Each one of these has its followers and detractors. So, the question then remains, is there still a place for Big Head Egos in the current world and social structure?
What is Big Head Ego?
Well, the concept is just what you think it is. It describes the people we know that are out there, prominent personalities that thrive on others’ admiration. But most importantly, these individuals have an enormous view of themselves. They believe that they have all the answers and all the right questions. They do not see why they would fail, and they always see themselves as just a little better than everyone else.
For the record, there is nothing wrong with having an ego. Having pride in yourself and your accomplishments is healthy. It’sWhen you force it on people, it will become a problem for you and those around you. As a leader in your community, you need to have humility more than being egotistical. A Big Head Ego does have a few advantages, though. In certain circumstances, you do need a larger-than-normal ego to survive.
Big Head Egos of Today
To understand the concept of Big Head Egos a little better. We need to look at the life of a certain ex-president of the USA. You know the man I am talking about. Yes him. Throughout his life, he has always been known for his larger-than-life Ego. Up until a few years ago, this characteristic served him well, for the most part.
As a businessman, he had some great successes earlier in life. This is where the ego attitude was born and bred. It is also where we can see the potential positives of a big head ego. Here is a man surrounded by a whole team of people who all worked on various projects and for his companies. Yet when there were any accolades to be handed out, he was the only one that would stand up and receive them.
With the many properties that his company developed, he even went as far as placing his name on the buildings. This is not necessarily evidence of a big head ego; however, if you add the persona of the guy to the mix, that is when the real truth comes out.
Significant head ego individuals don’t do everything themselves; they surround themselves with people that are willing to do their bidding without question. If you take a closer look at his life and how he got to where he is today, you will see the charismatic effect that a big head ego can have on people.
Modus Operandi of Big Head Ego
A big head ego wants to be the main character in their legend. They will display their achievements and material property in the public eye to get praise and admiration. In the public eye, this guy would be flaunting attachments like his model wife, business success, basically anything that would make him stand out from the crowd.
The psychology behind a big head ego is one of narcissism. The definition of narcissism is in love with the idealized grandiose image of self. This means that you always want to project the brand image that you have in your head about yourself to the world. If we look at our subjects’ lives, we can see how this has played out over the years.
As I said before, for the most part, this was a successful strategy for him. He had many successes and even had a career on tv as a reality show host. There is much to be said for the success that he has had in the past. Yet he also had many failures, and the real test of a big head ego is how they deal with failure.
Any success will be blown out of proportion and will be pontificated from the rooftops. Yet failures will be explained away, and responsibility will be laid in front of other people or circumstances door. If whatever they were doing goes well, it was all because of their leadership and input. But when the project fails, they have 101 excuses as to why it did not go well; sometimes, he even stated that he did not believe it would work from the get-go.
The downfall comes when the big head ego attempts something that needs more than just Ego and past skills. When you are so used to your environment, you do not see the need for growth or learning. You attempt to become the leader of the free world.
Unless you have been living under a rock for the last five years, you will surely know what I am talking about. Our subject became the American president, based on principles that only spoke to the egos of others. I will not get political, but as I am sure the audience is firmly divided on our subject, I will delve just slightly.
Our subject’s political promises and commitments made played into an untapped ego psyche of the American people. In the land of the free and home of the brave, you need a little ego to survive. Fortunately for him, there was more than enough of it to make him president. As a leader, he excelled at doing the unpopular popular thing, trying to fulfill his outlandish promises, and stoking the fires of separation. See, a big head ego needs to be admired and praised, and this will only happen if your admirers are in your camp, especially at this level of leadership.
The behavior of the big head ego is always about strutting and prancing. I say that because you will never see big head egos walk into a room looking down. They will always walk into a room, eyes up and looking straight at the room and sizing you up. Bighead egos arrive; they don’t join. Bighead egos expect that you must be in awe of their presence and hang on to their every word. No matter how insensible it might be.
Over the term of his presidency, there are many examples of how the big head ego that might have served him well in business made him the laughing stock of the world. People in America and throughout the world would weekly discuss the latest act of big head ego and how it just does not do any good. Except for maybe himself. He was surrounded by people that would do his bidding. And the minute they spoke against him, they would be removed from the spotlight and replaced.
The final failing of big head ego was during the last year when COVID struck. If you look at the rest of the world’s response to the pandemic and how the USA responded, you see the effect that a big head ego can have on situations. The American response is arguably the worst in the world. And this is not talking about all the other examples of how big head ego would not accept the facts and started making them up to suit himself and his narrative.
Authentic Ego
In contrast, if you examine the president before our big head ego, you see what an authentic ego looks like. A man that came up just like we all did work hard and won the office on statements that included the people around him. He worked tirelessly to achieve what he truly believed was in everyone’s interest. He invoked trust and confidence when he spoke, and he never lied. The contrast to big head ego is also Ego. But an ego that is founded on humility and compassion. Where big head ego is one founded on self-idolism and self-importance.
Being part of the Black Sheep Community means you must be strong and able to defend yourself when tested in social surroundings. Your cause, whatever it might be, will get scrutinized and your opinion will be questioned, and your Ego will take a beating. Ego is part of us all, and we must be mindful not to let it get out of hand and nurture it to be strong. Your healthy Ego will give you the ability to persevere and make it through whatever you need to. Be surrounded by like-minded people, and you will see the effect of a robust and authentic ego and how to nurture it in your life.
HOW TO TELL YOUR STORY? An essential aspect of becoming an entrepreneur is excellent writing. We have a unique tale to write, as your narrative links you to your audience and potential customers as an entrepreneur. For any entrepreneur, the power of sharing your thoughts is an important instrument. Your own extraordinary stories differentiate you from anyone else.
This difference is the stuff we share with others to know who you are, what you stand for, and what your would-be clients stand to gain from you. Every successful entrepreneur and speaker shares his or her story with the world. Telling your story helps us to bridge the gap between our thoughts and our emotions. A powerful story will touch other people at their core. A good story will pull the listener in and create some reactions. Your story is what people will remember and repeat to others repeatedly while facts and figures are soon forgotten.
This piece is out to inspire more storytellers out of the world community of entrepreneurs. It is meant to teach the rudiment about storytelling and how to go about it while attracting millions of followers and fans to yourself. How to tell your story that it becomes effective?
EVERYONE LOVES A GOOD STORY.
Against most people’s belief that your audience may not be interested in your story, everyone always falls in love with great stories, especially when the story is a true-life story. Whether to move people or it’s for a cause you are deeply passionate about, a product very dear to you, or a service you hold in very high esteem, your story shares your passion and your message more powerfully than anything else. Most successful speakers, entrepreneurs, and authors do well in telling their stories.
A powerful story will command the audience and keep the audience hanging on every word, wanting to hear more. Telling your story is the most powerful tool you can apply as an entrepreneur to catch all your would-be clients with strong and powerful messages, stimulating emotions and creating actions. The skill of telling stories is an essential must-have tool every entrepreneur must-have if you hope to achieve success and a considerable following, precisely what you need to drive your brand. Whether you are blogging for fun or a severe Internet marketer, you have a unique story. How to “tell your story” will separate you from everyone else.
WHY YOU MUST TELL YOUR STORY
Amongst several reasons you can give for telling your story, these are the few most influential of the reasons: You Stand the chance of Gaining New Perspectives.
When you write about personal experiences, you may gain new perspectives on what happened. Have you ever told a hilarious story to a friend and remembered more of what happened as you talked? Laughing from your stomach, you sit there, and then your laugh gets even more profound, and the more you remember, the more fun it is. Sharing your narrative also lets you gain even more insight into the situation. This is because you take a step back, and the bigger picture is considered. As you share, you can potentially expand your viewpoint. Why not share the laughter with someone who needs to read a funny story to lighten his or her load?
Your healing is hidden in telling your story.
Have you ever noticed that speaking helps you take ownership of your words? There’s something permanent about words traveling from the mind through the heart and speak out. Telling can uncover shame, calm anger, and bring truth to the surface. Sometimes people bury hurtful memories as a form of protection. But buried secrets are burdensome. Writing out your story can help you speak your truth. It can help you embrace what remains.
There’s a word frequently used in crisis counseling that’s appropriate here: normalize. When counselors normalize, they let their clients know that their distress is entirely ordinary considering their situation. When a person reads a memoir about someone who experienced something similar to them, it can help them feel less awkward. They can say to themselves, “It’s not just me” She had been going through the same thing, and she made it out.” You can help others heal and reclaim their own life – just by sharing your personal story.
It arouses and improves your creativity.
An alternative to writing a memoir is to write a fictional memoir. When you tell your story this way, you can make it what you want it to be. You can make sad memories humorous. You can turn average situations into intense scenarios. And you can weave historical events into creative dialogue. Creatively telling your story can still help you and others heal. You can highlight moving takeaways and place emphasis on areas you wish had been different. In this approach, you have a creative license. You are in control whether your memory made you feel in control or not.
HOW TO TELL YOUR STORY
Many people want to tell their stories and wow the world, but they feel overwhelmed even before they start. They are confused about where to start from, getting the right words to use in paining their experience, and even the sequence to take in arranging the events. The key to telling fantastic stories lies in just starting from wherever you feel most comfortable and go in any direction as you start remembering the events. With time, it becomes a part of you, and it will come effortlessly. Here are few methods to tell your stories as culled from the best storytellers around the world.
Decide what it Means to Tell A Story.
First, you have to decide what it means to tell your story. This response will be varying from person o person because we have gone through different phases in life. For some, telling their story might involve disclosing to a loved one. It could mean publishing a book, and of course, sharing their story could be more personal for others. It may involve keeping journal entries tucked safely away. Try to avoid sharing your story in a way that makes you uncomfortable. Don’t rush yourself to communicate more than you’re ready to say at a time. It would help if you chose who you want your audience to know the limit you have to go in telling your story.
Tell with Self-Compassion
Whether you choose to lock your stories away or distribute them to the world, do so with self-compassion. The Latin root for passion is suffering. When a person is compassionate, they suffer from another person. When you are self-compassionate, you suffer with yourself. You show yourself empathy. Try to put yourself in your shoes. How were you feeling then, and how can you kindly respond to yourself now? If yours is a success story, bask in the euphoria once again like you are freshly experiencing the whole event again. Laugh if it’s a humorous event.
Exercise Patience
Telling harrowing stories involves reliving past hurts. Take breaks. Please don’t force yourself to write or speak when it’s taking a toll on you. This is not how you tell your story. Forcing yourself to push through the process can spoil your state of mind, health, and even your relationships. Pace yourself. For example, if you notice that your shoulders tense up as you write, you can limit yourself to writing a certain number of words per day and then complete a stretching routine afterward. Or you can create some other system for yourself. The idea is to make necessary accommodations so that the process doesn’t frustrate you entirely and force you to quit.
Practice Self-Love
Regardless of what happened, you are alive to tell. Try not to wallow in despair or regret – even if you may have been the cause of your challenging story. It is unlikely that you will make the same choices as before, so empathize with the person you were then and love the person you are now. You will have more stories to tell as you grow older and wiser. Those past mistakes don’t have to define who you are. You should relieve the knowledge that you will be teaching millions out there not to make the same mistakes you make. You are merely gifting a whole lot of people out there with a lamp to navigate the dark spots of life.
CONCLUSION
How to tell your story?
When deciding whether to tell your story or not, consider the number of people your story can benefit yourself and others. Think about it. You have the chance to learn new kinds of stuff. You may come to see yourself as healthy instead of weak or determined instead of arrogant. Are you at a place in your life where you can go through the process of finding closure? Others involved may never change.
Are you ready to compromises your healing while you wait for them to be different? Can you tell your story to inspire others? Are there teens going through what you went through? Can you mentor them based on sharing your story? Would you be better served to put a creative spin on your personal story? There are billions of people on this earth. Telling your story can help improve the world, even if it only helps one person and even if that one person is you.
The bases of power cannot be discussed if we do not know what power itself means. Many people have different definitions of power depending on the context of the usage or the aspect of life it is being talked about. For instance, power in physics is the ability to do work, or power to a gym instructor is the strength gained as a product of exercises. However, we are not talking about that. We are interested in how power relates to our life experiences and what are the bases of power?
What is Power?
Power is the influence that leaders have over their followers. It can also mean the authority a leader has over his followers. An individual may have and use power, but a leader cannot be without power. The ability to influence their followers to achieve the team’s goal and improve their performances is what makes them leaders, and this cannot be done without power. Without power, the leaders look like one of the majorities. Their power is measured by the extent of the influence and motivation they have on their followers to achieve a peculiar goal even when they don’t want to do it.
BASES OF POWER
While power and leadership might play different roles in some aspects, they are interwoven. I have seen people describe power as the ability to control people or their activities, but leaders use it to inspire and motivate their followers to achieve the best out of themselves. Leadership studies are in various styles with diverse nature and definitions.
What is a leader without power? Although not everyone knows what to do with power when they have it, an individual might be one of the most diplomatic and great personalities when still being a follower but might lose their heads when they get power. Nicole Lipkin, the author of the book “What keeps leaders up at night,” says in the book that “Power tends to get to people’s heads; We are not trained to handle power well.”
SIX (6) BASES OF POWER
Bases of power can be defined as the approach that leaders utilize to impact or influence their followers. There were first the five (5) bases which were identified and analyzed by social psychologists John R. P. French and Bertram Raven in 1959, and six (6) years later, Bertram Raven added the sixth (6th) base. Bases of power can be categorized into two power sources which are: Positional Power Sources and Personal Power Sources.
POSITIONAL POWER SOURCES OF BASES OF POWER
1. Legitimate Power:
This is a given power or trust in the followers or employees that the leader or the manager can make the right call or decisions. It comes from an elected, selected, or appointed position of power. This comes from the belief that a person has the formal right to make demands and expect others to be compliant and obedient.
It is a product of election (often in government or a big organization) or selection (also in a big organization having considered being eligible for the position). Nicole Lipkin added that “If you have this power, it’s essential that you understand that this power was given to you (and can be taken away)’ so don’t misuse it.”
BASES OF POWER
These things often happen in government or any organization. When a person wins an election to be in a post or has been selected to be in a leadership position if the majority believes the person deserves it, there will be a smooth working relationship between them, but if otherwise, the movie is a bad one of the working relationships, teamwork and the growth of the company. Legitimate power only works when their authority is acknowledged, and their positions are accepted by the followers (majorities).
Another basis of power we are considering is Coercive power. It uses the threat of force to gain compliance and obedience from the followers. The main idea behind this is getting people to do things irrespective of their opinions. The main goal is compliance. This idea is power-based. In some terms, it is regarded as Punishment power because it involves force, threat, or punishment to attain its goal.
In the long run, coercive power will make a leader lose respect and loyalty from his followers. Such a leader will be leading with fear no matter how good his intentions are. The working environment becomes very hostile and hot for workers and followers. Coercive power is needed at some point during hard times for the organization, but the bad thing is you can’t build credibility with coercive power. People will see such a leader as a bully and power drunk.
It reduces the working ability in people and also their self-esteem. As a leader, you can punish a worker or a follower for misconduct or indiscipline, but when you employ the major tools of coercive power, which are threats and punishment, people will lose interest.
3. Reward Power:
This power is based on the leader’s ability to provide rewards to motivate their followers. It is a reward for someone’s ability to comply with the organization’s rules and regulations and achieve something meaningful through that. In this type of power, the leader can give out rewards (Tangible or psychological). Tangible rewards could include promotion, office space, time off from work, a hike in salaries, and incentives. Psychological rewards could include help to such individuals, praise, recommendations, and recognition.
This kind of power helps to improve team spirit and productivity. Unlike the aforementioned bases of power, reward power increases the chances of likeness for the leader among the followers, thereby gaining respect, compliance, and obedience when he gives orders. This is a practicable example we are all familiar with. If people know that you will reward them for doing something, there is a high probability that they will do it effectively.
The issue with this basis of power is that when the rewards don’t have much value in the followers’ sight, unlike before, the power weakens. And also, you don’t get to promote people every time or increase their salaries to balance the company’s financial state or organization.
4. Informational Power:
This is a short-term power that doesn’t necessarily build influence or credibility. It involves having control over vital information that others need or want. In this modern age, we are at right now where information is vital can place the one who has it in a position of power.
Information can be used as a weapon to manipulate, extort, share or attain some more important positions. You can also help others with it by providing them with the necessary information that they need.
PERSONAL POWER SOURCES OF BASES OF POWER
Here are some PERSONAL POWER SOURCES OF BASES OF POWER:
1. Referent Power:
Referent power has been over the years the best basis of power that a leader should adopt because it’s all about the quality of the relationship developed with others and how the relationship is built. This type of power results from a person’s perceived attractiveness, worthiness, and right to others’ respect.
It comes from people liking and respecting a particular person due to some traits. This is very common with celebrities. They have referent power. That is why they can influence people to buy some things or become influencers for some products or organizations. In an organization where the leader has referent power, his presence makes everyone feel good, obedient, and reliant.
Although, referent power can be easily abused because, in most cases, you don’t do anything to earn it. Someone likable by everyone may lack integrity and loyalty. Someone who does nothing to earn the likeness from people can do anything when he gets the power. He might use the position for personal advantages. Using referent power singularly by a leader is not a good strategy for respect and longevity. When combined with expert power, it makes the leader very admirable and becomes a role model.
2. Expert Power:
This type of power uses knowledge and skills to understand every situation at hand, suggest viable solutions, and make solid judgments to gain people’s respect and trust. One of the best ways to build and maintain expert power and improve your leadership skills is by showing convenience, good decision-making, rational thinking, and solution-providing contents.
Someone’s professional knowledge and competence give him or her expert power. A leader’s credibility increases when others can notice and trust his judgments and decisions. Building expert power is an effective foundation for a good leader.
The power comes directly from attained knowledge, skills, and years of experience. He or she won’t look like a novice or a half-baked leader who is directing the followers. The people will feel their expertise and will regard the authority when they make decisions. The great thing about this kind of power is that nobody can take it away from you because it is the knowledge that you have. To remain an expert, continuous learning and improvement will help you to keep your status and influence.
In conclusion, understanding these bases of power will help you understand the dynamics of power as a leader. You can choose to function as a partner when working with followers, a coach, or a boss.
