by George Pastidis

He consistently smashes his rackets and occasionally he puts them on a flight mode. Although he entered Washington Open with five racquets, he would have played the final with one only if his father had not shipped few more and some networking with FedEx had not helped in getting them in time out of the customs. He sometimes swears at the spectators, when he gets pissed off (and this does not happen rarely), he often spits on the ground and being sarcastic with the umpire is every day business. Hardly a player on the tour, including the big three, avoid his trash-talking that brings in mind more of boxing behaviors and less of tennis. read more…

by George Pastidis

A week ago, a guy sent me an invite to connect in linkedin. I did not know him but being consistent with my belief that social media is not for connecting with people you know only but for expanding your network and given that he was dealing with conferences that is not far from things I am involved in, I accepted. A day later, he invited me to speak in a sales enablement event in London. I thanked him, I said that it initially sounds good to me but we need to meet and discuss this for making sure I am the right fit and of course that the event is of value for me and the organization I work for. read more…

by George Pastidis

I have said and written several times that the Scouts make leaders. The biggest toolbox of leadership skills they provide though to their members is nothing but the annual summer camp. Kids and youth have there the chance to lead in small groups, build their confidence, get autonomous, deal with problem solving and develop their creative thinking. read more…

by George Pastidis

It was a year ago, again right before summer vacation, that I started recommending few of my favorite books. Last year, I focused very much on sales, sharing books like SPIN Selling which was the bible of sales for four decades, The Challenger Sale which really shook up the sales training industry few years back and Three Value Conversations a practical hands on book which helps sales people to create value for their customers and capture value for their organisation. read more…

by George Pastidis

I had the luck to attend last Tuesday, a great Leadership event in Paris, organized by Ken Blanchard. The key-note speaker Susan Fowler, a brilliant researcher and author, spoke about Self-Leadership. An inspiring speech which I found extremely practical and useful. read more…

by George Pastidis

Theresa May’s negotiation skills and tactics have been in the spotlight recently. They can probably make a best seller negotiations what-not-to-do-list course. She behaves like she has envied the sad negotiations that the Greeks demonstrated few years back when they underestimated the power of Europe. Although cliché, sometimes I feel like kids can negotiate way better. read more…

by George Pastidis

51 years ago, on Thursday, April 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was standing out at the balcony of his hotel room in Memphis when a bullet entered through his right cheek. King dropped unconscious and an hour later, according to the autopsy report, he passed away. read more…

by George Pastidis

I am watching these days the second season of the Netflix series “Designated Survivor” with Kiefer Sutherland playing the US President Tom Kirkman. In one of the last episodes, there is a cabinet hearing taking place to determine if President Kirkman is mentally fit to continue in the Presidency. His Vice President walks in his office to tell him that the cabinet wants him to continue in his capacity of President. The President who was preparing to step down, is taken by surprise and his Vice President explains the decision, telling him that the reason is nothing but the beyond any doubts loyalty his close teammates have demonstrated to him and ‘loyalty is a consequence of leadership and leadership is a touchstone of competence’. read more…

by George Pastidis

A couple weeks ago, I saw a friend posting on linkedin the interesting article below https://thriveglobal.com/stories/9-ways-multitasking-is-killing-your-brain-and-productivity-according-to-neuroscientists/ . An article which explains why our brains are not made to do more than one thing at the same time. Few days later, I attended an excellent Ken Blanchard Leadership training. The trainer, a very good trainer by the way, explained again why we should avoid multitasking. Being a little puzzled, I started thinking how a day at work usually is. read more…

by George Pastidis

Research says that when we’re happy with some customer experience, we tell 8 people. When we’re upset, we get a lot more vocal, telling 22 people, almost four times as many. I believe this research finding does not mirror how I do things. I like sharing both my ugly and pretty customer experiences. Today is the turn of an ugly one though. read more…