by George Pastidis

Back in the 70’s when I was a kid, one of the things we were spending too much time on was board games: Monopoly, Stratego and Snakes and Ladders were among the most popular ones. The first two required more time and I should admit that I loved a lot more. But working in the corporate world for almost three decades, Snakes and Ladders is the game I cannot get out of my mind. read more…

by George Pastidis

Negotiations is often a straightforward and quite predictable thing. You open a bit higher than what you want to get and using all possible negotiating levers, you land close to your initial target. Sometimes slightly higher, enjoying unexpected payoffs and some other times a little lower, estimating your losses and trying to make up those through skilled trade-offs read more…

Honored for being invited to participate in judging nominations to the
2018 Sales Excellence Awards of Greece, together with fine academics and top sales professionals. It is awesome managing to stay close to the Greek market despite the fact that I work and live thousands of miles away.

by George Pastidis

I see so many smart quotes around every day, talking about stamina. Trying to inspire people, get them motivated and make them persevere. They often use running metaphors for getting their message across. They refer to marathon, saying that it is not the win that matters but to finish it read more…

by George Pastidis

You have met with all the key players of your customer. You understand the needs and “buying agenda” of every single one. You delivered a presentation with the technical part of your solution and you’ve got the buy in. You are at the point that you have to submit your proposal, including costs. But one question bugs you: is the price right? read more…

by George Pastidis

In football, Barcelona tends to refuse to change the style and system of its play. They refuse to abandon their favorite “tiki-taka” with short passing and ball possession for adapting in the situational conditions, demands and their opponent. Apparently, their success record usually justifies this decision read more…

by George Pastidis

Recently, I wrote on leadership, having in mind a specific non-profit organization that I am involved in since I was a kid. Today, thinking broader, I want to blog on leadership of a successful modern organization. After all, I really see no significant differences between profit and non-profit when it comes to the components needed for achieving success. read more…

by George Pastidis

The downsizing of major western corporations is the unfortunate result of today’s poor economic conditions, the shrinking market and the severe competition from Asia. The Growth KPI is replaced by Profitability and companies reduce drastically human costs. A top executive of a major telecom giant said recently “We need to take care of the ones leaving. But we also need to do something for the ones staying”. I loved this line. I particularly loved this line because us in Learning are among those that can do something for the ones staying. Can do a lot actually. We can help them to diversify themselves, develop skills, change behaviors, be more competent and get more competitive. read more…

by George Pastidis

I have a beloved uncle that I lived with when I was studying in the States long ago. He was a mechanical engineer before his retirement and when he was a student himself, he was earning his living working as a car mechanic. This together with being generally a handyman, allowed him to maintain and repair his cars on his own. He loved spending time on his cars and my motorcycle. It was a dream thing for me that I am never sure what is the right direction to loosen a screw and my pocket money was quite limited. read more…

by George Pastidis

I believe this is a dilemma that many trainers often face, consciously or unconsciously. Be a nice guy, go with the flow, make the participants like you and in the end and give you high evaluations? Or challenge them, give them tough feedback, get them off their comfort zone and push them to learn? Tell, after the training, their management what they want to hear embellishing things or get transparent and give a frank view of the situation? read more…