iAspire To Prosper

Congratulations!  You’ve received the promotion and are now on the way up the leadership ladder.  As you sit in the seat of accomplishment…you begin to bask in the power.  On day 2, as you survey your new fiefdom, the inevitable question arises:  this is great – umm…now what?  Like most leaders in any new position, you begin to learn your role, determined to keep the power and slay any who might try to take it away from you.  You begin to hoard knowledge for knowledge is power, you think.  Surprisingly, in business, the true power is being able to participate in establishing a company’s legacy. 

 A company - just like a family - has a legacy.  It’s a legacy of relevancy, resilience and survival.  Imagine that your family owns an estate which is handed down from one generation to the next.  The present estate holder is responsible for protecting the property and ensuring that the home and grounds are in good repair for the next generation.  Company leaders are like the estate holder.  ...

Dictator? Ghost? Micromanager?  Best Friend?  Which management style are you most familiar with?  If you’re a manager, do you know which style you use?  Pros and cons exist for each – but whichever style you support, a direct impact – or influence – affects employees and their behaviors.  Research may vary in the number of manager styles…you’ll find anywhere from a couple to a dozen, but realistically, three (3) basic styles exist.

 First is the Persuasive manager.  Here we have the leader who basically believes that it’s “my way, or the highway”.  This leadership style may show a full-on dictatorial face or perhaps display a softer demeanor.  Either way, the premise of this style is to “tell” the employee what to do – with or without an explanation.  Outside of highly regulated industry, this style is pointed micromanagement and will leave the manager very, very tired because (s)he is doing the brain-processing.  While you’re definitely in control (and therefore responsible), the sta...

Growing up in Louisiana or for anyone versed in authentic Cajun-Creole cuisine – you know that a really good gumbo is a delicious collection of meats, seafood, veggies and seasonings blended to perfection.  Gumbos are hearty fare and may be varied by the region or by the very ingredients available at a particular time.  The same can be said for team members working in a company.

 Companies have the opportunity to make really great team-gumbos, if they recognize, enhance and properly blend the talents of their employees.  Yes – I’m speaking of diversity.  In business, diversity is a “catch-all” phrase used to describe the collection of different generations, genders, cultures, preferences, religions, etc…the list goes on.  A good company transitions into a great company when it recognizes that talents and skills come in different colors, shapes and sizes.  For some people, this concept is still difficult.  Why?  Many years ago, I attended a sales training seminar given by an insightful...

Have you ever watched a colleague or competitor in action and wondered how is it that some people just seem to make all the right business moves?  They seem to flawlessly adapt and shift in any business scenario.  How do they do it?  Are they shaking an old Magic 8-Ball?  Ok – just Google it.  What’s their secret?  In simple terms, what they have…and what you want…is something called business acumen. 

Business acumen is a demonstration of savvy.  It embodies the skills of honed perception, quick-thinking wit, courage, adaptability and a wee bit craziness.  It’s willing to take the leap…confident that there’s a chance you just might bounce the landing.  So how do you get your hands on this elixir of business?  Sure, some people seem to be born with the gift.  It’s like mom and dad and the moon and stars all aligned to create a prodigy of savviness.  For the rest of us mortal business beings, the simple answer:  practice and patience.  Specifically, it is the combination of practicing c...

Consider the term “citizenship”.  What thoughts race though your mind?  How do you define it?  Do you bend towards ‘legal status’ or ‘member of a community’ or maybe, it’s ‘an identity of belonging to a specific culture’?  For many, when asked for an immediate judgement, citizenship is wrapped up in an individual’s contribution or responsibility to a society.  It’s about the individual.  Great…but what about a business or a corporation?  Doesn’t a company also have a responsibility to the community in which it “lives”?  Assuredly, it does.

Corporate Citizenship or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) speaks to a company’s responsibility to nurture the health of the community in which it resides and also of the communities in which it serves.  Health, in this case, refers to principles such as living standards, quality of life and security, environment, community development and growth.  This type of citizenship is grounded in an ethos or ethical commitment to its fellow members.  Res...

Team building…relationship building…professional rapport…they’re all based on the same common foundation called trust.  These dynamics are created from a central recipe that blends intuition, respect, watchfulness and outcomes. The natural evolution of many business relationships starts with a phone call, followed up with electronic communication and ultimately ends with face-to-face interaction.  All along the way, our “business mind” is gathering and storing data about these interactions to determine if the individual is worthy of our trust. 

 With the introduction of virtual technology, we are still able to get some “sense” of the other person, but valuable information may still be missing.  Data like the “handshake’ information, non-verbal and body language information and even information from their aura or “vibes” are minimal…until a physical meeting occurs.  Presently, many work teams and business interactions remain in the “virtual world” without the opportunity of physical in...

Fist bumps – elbow taps – offering namaste (or if spoken, namaskar) – nodding…what does it all mean?  What’s happening with the decline of a good, old-fashion handshake?  Where is it going?  What is it being replaced with?  What do we gain and what information do we potentially lose?  When conducting business these days – we should be asking these questions and adapting our business demeanor to keep up.

Now that hand-to-hand interactions may be fading away, we need to find alternate pathways for acquiring the information that they once offered.  When facilitating business etiquette workshops, I’ve spent upwards of a couple of hours just reviewing, deciphering and then practicing the art of a successful handshake.  I emphasize that handshakes (especially in a business setting) serve as a non-verbal messenger between individuals.  It offers language; it offers unspoken intent.  Handshakes can make or break a connection before any real verbal interaction begins.  This age-old communica...

As we continue mapping out the “new normal”, one feature - the mask - has come into business reality.  For how long you might ask?  Truthfully, no one really knows.  While here, however, we need to avoid using “the mask” as an additional social barrier…at least, more than it was intended. 

 Back into my people-watching mode, I’ve noticed a growing trend where people are literally scurrying around one another.  Eyes averted, body stiff, quick paced – each person avoiding eye-contact, barely giving the weakest of nods let alone offering a simple “hello”.  It’s as though acknowledging others will somehow make the awkwardness of the moment even worse.  I often wonder - what are they thinking?  “I feel fine” or “This is ridiculous!”  Maybe it’s “I can’t breathe” or “Great, my glasses are fogging up again!”  Whatever the inner speak might be, we all need to recognize that social interactions and communication must continue.  Perhaps “acknowledgement of the awkwardness” makes the moment less...

The world is changing; businesses are changing – and so are business relationships.  The “old way” of social interactions in business isn’t exactly gone - but it is mutating to fit present circumstances.  Some of that change is good, revitalizing – but not all.  Why is this?  Businesses – just like relationships – change naturally over time.  However, the change is usually a little more gradual than what we’re seeing now. 

We’ve all heard the adage:  adversity brings out the very best and the very worst in people.  Take for example, an ice cream shop in Massachusetts – having shut down for the COVID-19 pandemic, the owner decided to reopen “safely” on the Friday before Mother’s Day.  Gathering his best employees and donning masks, he opened his shop to a business’ dream…customers…lots of customers.  What started as a welcomed return to the community very quickly devolved into an outrageous nightmare.  Customers were yelling; customers became verbally abusive.  Over ice cream?  Serious...

Hello and welcome to iAspire To Prosper!  My name is Wilma Broussard and I’ll be facilitating this new journey into business relationships.  With nearly 30 years of professional experience and travels around the globe, I’d like to use this opportunity to share insights, observations and professional talents with you, the reader.  

My blog is based on the business principle of PROSPER – or – Professional Rapport Offers Successful, Productive and Energizing Relationships.  In order to do this, we’ll look at ways to help you discover how to build successful business strategies, polish your professional demeanor and ultimately strengthen and retain relationships.  Customers and colleagues want a relationship with you…it’s what keeps them engaged and coming back to you time and again.  People are pack-animals, by nature.  They want to belong; they want a network that offers them respect and safety.  Are you a good member of the pack?  If not, you may just lose your network.  Think of it an...