Dealmaking is the lifeblood of business – the heart. It is what makes business tick. So why isn’t dealmaking the number-one subject taught in business schools? Why do businesspeople have to learn about dealmaking the hard way, through painful and often expensive experiences? Is it because business schools can’t let go of their outdated ideas on negotiation and selling? If so, the time has come to change these perceptions so that success and financial rewards can be achieved in every sphere of life.
The Devil in the Deal delivers what it says on the tin: it cunningly reveals the ‘secrets’ everyone should know about dealmaking in business and ruthlessly exposes the 50 little devils that can break a deal. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to make great deals in the real world, quickly and profitably.
About the author
Kim Meredith is an internationally acclaimed lecturer, sales strategist, negotiator and dealmaker and is the chief executive officer of the globally represented The Dealmaker Programmes Company, based in Mauritius. She was one of only 179 women on the boards of the top 300 Johannesburg Stock Exchange–listed companies in 2000. Her most recent corporate position was with a listed information technology group, where she spent four years on the board as executive director of strategy. During this time, she was responsible for global strategy, including actively driving negotiations for key mergers, acquisitions and disposals. She also lectures and consults in the USA, Latin America, Europe and Africa.
Donna McCallum, author of The Fairy Godmother’s Guide to Getting What You Want, recently stopped by the morning show Expresso, where she shared some of her advice for achieving success and fulfilment in your life.
She spoke to Michael Mol and Liezel van der Westhuizen about the right way to set goals and use creative visualisations to get what you want:
Donna McCallum, author of The Fairy Godmother’s Guide to Getting What You Want, was recently interviewed on Chai FM about the important role passion plays in leading an extraordinary life. She says one must not be afraid of setting wild, crazy goals, as small risks will only lead to small gains. Listen:
How do you manage a conversation that you dread having? Many of us are confronted by scary conversations every day: standing up to a toxic boss who is verbally abusive, discussing a niggling problem with a close friend, talking to an interfering mother-in-law or confronting a controlling parent, to name but a few. And of course, everyone would rather avoid having them! Yet by putting off these conversations we often exacerbate the problem, or one day our emotions simply explode. In the process, we lose friends and jobs, damage our marriages and become estranged from family members.
In Straight Talk: How to Manage Conversations that Scare You, the author illustrates how to manage scary conversations so that you no longer need to fear them. Following tried-and-tested methods, she provides readers with real-life examples on which to model their own conversations, so that they will feel comfortable talking to anybody about almost anything.
Forget about cleavage and that little black dress, according to a recent report on Oprah.com, men like a woman with a high-pitched voice.
In an experiment conducted by researchers at the State University of New York at Albany, 10 men were asked to rate the attractiveness of 10 female voices. All the men preferred the higher-pitched voices, which, apparently, is an unconscious indication of fertility. So sorry girls, those breast implants and super impressive cleavage may all be in vain.
Monique Rissen-Harrisberg, CEO and founder of The Voice Clinic, details several ways to tame a pitched voice or a nasal sounding pitch and how good vocal qualities will help to set you apart from the rest, be it in the work-place or on a date.
Monique Rissen-Harrisberg, author of Make Yourself Heard, started her company The Voice Clinic when she was only 22. She offered Sunday Times readers tips on becoming your own boss:
# Make your dreams come true – if you really believe in your idea, then you will need to do what it takes to make it happen. “I approached the banks and the Small Business Capital group. Both dismissed it as a silly idea. I ignored them and used my credit card to start,” she says.
# Dream big, but start small. “At first, I marketed my new company with a brochure which I photocopied and sent to 40 companies. I got 10 calls of interest. I persuaded the then HR director of Clicks to do the course for R350. By the second month, I had 16 clients.”
Monique Rissen-Harrisberg’s book Make Yourself Heard instructs on how to use your voice and body language to succeed in business and life.
The book is aimed specifically at women, but in the following podcast Rissen-Harrisberg says to Sue Grant-Marshall that men have told her they want a book like this for themselves. She is considering writing one specifically for men, but says men can also use Make Yourself Heard as body-image and confidence issues are similar for both sexes.
Even the best ideas will fall on deaf ears if you don’t communicate in a way that inspires confidence and credibility.
Your accent, how you pitch your voice and the tone you use can all influence the outcome of a conversation, whether in business or in life. Monique Rissen-Harrisberg, founder and CEO of The Voice Clinic, knows how important the way we speak is to our success in life, and that it is not only what we say, but how we say it that can make or break a deal, or lead to either success or failure.
Make Yourself Heard will not only help you to find the appropriate voice so that you can speak confidently in public, but will also focus on other aspects that can improve both your own self-image and how you are perceived by others. It will advise you on how to create the best possible image and project the most powerful body language; how to cope with stress so that you can perform at your optimum; and how to become self-empowered so that you can reach your goals.
Numerous tried-and-tested strategies and fascinating case studies will help you to improve your life – and your bank balance. If you seek self-improvement but just need that extra bit of help to make it happen, this is the essential guidebook for you.
About the author
Monique Rissen-Harrisberg is the founder and CEO of The Voice Clinic, a training company specialising in voice, communication and public-speaking skills training, which she started in 1988. She has a BA degree in English and speech and drama, an honours degree in speech and drama directing from the University of Cape Town, as well as associate and licentiate diplomas in speech and drama teaching from the Trinity College of Music, London. The Voice Clinic has trained many top CEOs, blue-chip companies, media presenters, professional speakers, government representatives and high-profile public figures.
Gary Player is one of golf’s great champions. By winning eighteen Major championships in a career spanning five decades, he built a reputation for being fearless on the course and steely on the greens. He succeeded by dedicating himself to thorough mental preparation and proper physical fitness. His intense approach to facing challenges has made him tremendously successful in a variety of businesses as well as on the golf course.
In Don’t Choke, Player explains that to win Major championships, or to be successful in any endeavour, you’ve got to have a genuine passion and a willingness to sacrifice. But success or failure eventually comes down to how well you handle pressure. And in dealing with pressure, Player explains, there is no greater asset on the golf course than the power of one’s mind.
In each chapter of Don’t Choke, Player focuses on one of his 18 Major championships and recounts how he was able to withstand and overcome intense pressure to emerge victorious. These lessons apply not only to golf, but also to life and business. Don’t Choke is an intimate glimpse into the mind of a champion, designed to arm readers with the tools to thrive when the pressure is on.
About the author
Gary Player is one of the true legends of golf, having amassed victories in 164 tournaments around the globe over five decades, including eighteen Major championships and the career Grand Slam. His business interests are represented by Black Knight International and range from course architecture and race horses to real estate and wine. Player also oversees The Player Foundation, a charitable organisation that promotes education for underprivileged children throughout the world. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974 and was voted ‘Sportsman of the Century’ in South Africa in 2000.
Every manager knows how it feels to be faced with a difficult conversation, whether with an employee who consistently underperforms or with a senior manager who gives destructive feedback or doesn’t provide clear direction. Very often confrontations like these are delayed or, if possible, avoided completely. This results in a build-up of frustration and anger. Emotional outbursts, along with accusation and blame, replace clear thinking and calm dialogue. As a consequence, relationships and careers can be badly damaged.
There is widespread recognition that so-called “soft skills” are vital to the success of managers and leaders who oversee diverse groups of people and deal with both down-the-line and up-the-line demands and expectations, yet there is little information that is quickly and easily accessible.
Straight Talk explains a step-by-step process that managers can apply instantly to obtain visible changes in the behaviour of people around them. Developed and field-tested with several thousand managers at all levels and in all sectors of industry, this is a process that no manager can do without.
About the author
Maureen Collins has a BSc honours degree in psychology from the University of Edinburgh. She has over 25 years of Human Resource Development experience in the corporate world and has been consulting for the past 15 years. The book is a distillation of her insights into how managers hold conversations and the impact this has on their effectiveness. She maintains a straight-talk website and writes regular articles on conversations in the workplace.
Coming soon from Zebra Press:
Every manager knows how it feels to be faced with a difficult conversation, whether with an employee who consistently underperforms or with a senior manager who gives destructive feedback or doesn’t provide clear direction. Very often confrontations like these are delayed or, if possible, avoided completely. This results in a build-up of frustration and anger. Emotional outbursts, along with accusation and blame, replace clear thinking and calm dialogue. As a consequence, relationships and careers can be badly damaged.
