Most of us have had the pleasure of either owning or encountering a friendly dog. As soon as they see us, they become ecstatic, jumping up and down, their tail wagging, panting with excitement. Their full attention is on us and we are the most interesting thing in the world to them for that moment. Carnegie believes that dogs inadvertently teach us a lot about making people like us.

Dale Carnegie describes three techniques for building better relationships with your colleagues and customers. The first is to never criticise, complain or condemn. The second is to show honest and sincere appreciation. People perform better when they receive sincere praise.  Thirdly, arouse an eager want. How will you see it from their point of view?...will it solve a problem for them? Will it make them look good?

Being a leader is about managing people without causing resentment. Carnegie recognized that this was a fine balancing act and came up with 9 tips for being an effective leader.

In an age where distraction lies around every corner being able to perform 'deep work' is more valuable than ever. In his bestselling book 'Deep Work' Cal Newport puts forward 4 reasons why we should strive to do deep work and then provides rules for how we can achieve it. Newport says that 'Deep Work' is valuable, rare and meaningful.

How does Amazon decide on what to build or do next? How do they ensure that technical dependencies don't get in the way of continuous growth? In this episode we cover Working Backwards written by Colin Bryar and Bill Carr, 2 senior employees who worked closely with Jeff Bezos during some of the most explosive growth Amazon has experienced to date. This episode covers strategies that can be used by companies of any size. For example, Jeff Bezos banned the use of PowerPoint presentations in meetings. Why? They are a waste of time. It is too easy to be swayed by a great presenter or to miss a great opportunity because of a poor presentation. So what do they do instead? Have a listen to find out why every Amazon meeting starts with 20 minutes of silence! 

Each and every one of us is wired to seek comfort and avoid discomfort. But maybe too much comfort is a bad thing. The number 0.004% is a significant one in this episode. That is approximately how long we have been exposed to our modern way of life. Humans have been around for 2.5 million years in one way or another and our modern way of life is about 100 years old. Author Michael Easter proposes that the level of comfort we have at our disposal is in fact causing us harm in a myriad of ways. We need to learn to get comfortable with discomfort. 

The idea of quieting the mind, of stillness, is not new. In fact, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Cicero etc. understood it's importance centuries ago. If you've had a particularly hard time the last while, you might find some solace in this episode. You will find some simple techniques to help quiet your mind. These techniques generally involve stopping doing things rather than picking up more stuff for your to do list. If in the whirlwind of your mind, you seek inner peace, stillness is the key...ain't that the truth. 

What is it that makes a company that is trundling along with OK results suddenly turn into a great company with hockey stick growth in all the right areas? In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins and his team dig into the companies that fit this typeof growth and look the variables that seemed to influence it. They discover some pretty basic rules that you must follow to achieve the status of 'Great'.

The School of Facilitation is a space for corporate and freelance practitioners to connect, learn and share. They host regular online and face to face gatherings, classes that will give you the skills to be an awesome trainer or facilitator and 5-day retreats where you can slow down, regroup your thoughts and reflect. They work with corporates to create in-house training teams, build the relevant skills and share how to transfer learning effectively.  They support global companies create their global sales academies. They work with the client understanding their Sales strategy, what core sales capabilities and competencies they are aspiring to, design learning journeys and then the learning solutions.

Aaron is the UCD President's advisor on all commercial activities, tasked with helping them to grow new and existing income sources in line with their core mission as one of Europe's leading research-intensive universities. UCD is Ireland's largest university, with over €500m in revenues derived in the majority from non-state sources.   Aaron is the former Managing Director of The Digital Marketing Institute (DMI).  DMI has the most widely taught digital certification in the world. Aaron was with the business through a sustained period of exceptional growth and strategic development, including a successful transaction involving the highly regarded growth equity investor, Spectrum Equity.  Get on our mailing list here: https://usebecause.com/subscribe/