February 27, 2006

The Power of Belief

I've been reading Emotional Intelligence (by Daniel Goleman) of late, prompted by my mother-in-law, my son (well his behaviour) and the fact that I had it sitting in my 'to read' pile for far too long.

The theme, which I guess I intuitively knew, is that 'control' over your emotions are far more important in life, success and everything that human beings engage in. In fact a number of studies point to how emotional intelligence trumps IQ everytime.

I was reminded of this today when thinking about self-belief and 'being in the zone' or the ability to channel your own abilities through self-belief.

I personally find that when I enjoy something, have fun and truely beleive in what I am doing, my motivation and performance shoot up. Okay so that's nothing startling but being able to channel that energy in a business context is something I have missed out on for a while. On Friday, however I got the opportunity to pitch some ideas as I suggested here. Usually I find this type of pitch hard going, probably because I try and pitch what I think the customer wants to hear. I tried a different approach, which focused on what I believe in: social computing, social networking, word of mouth marketing and open source marketing, etc.

The presentation from my perspective went really well. I enjoyed myself and got across true enthusiasm for the subject matter and my real interest in the business I was pitching. It was very refreshing. Its not that I haven't found other businesses interesting but rather my presentations lacked conviction. So I feel through the power of belief I have turned a corner i.e. reading Emotional Intelligence finally acted as a catalyst to change.

Now, whether the business buy into the ideas or not, it doesn't really matter. Why? Well, because I learned something from the experience and got across an authentic point of view. (Oh and enjoyed it). If I get the work well, its a bonus. Still thanks to them for the opportunity. And my wife helped a huge amount too :)

Posted by Paul Goodison at February 27, 2006 04:30 PM | TrackBack

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Comments

Nothing quite beats working in that space where you do good work (ie. something worthwhile that you care about) and do it well.

I admire your willingness to try out a new way and to do it "live" in front of customers. Kudos!

One book that celebrates this approach to work is "Happy Mondays" by Richard Reeves. He describes how work is changing, becoming ever more chaotic - and thinks this is basically a wonderful thing. I've reviewed it here: http://positivesharing.com/2005/01/book-review-happy-mondays/

Posted by: Alexander Kjerulf at March 3, 2006 08:15 PM
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