Quarterly Newsletter

Well now, that was an interesting second quarter! Just a few weeks into March and most of the country, and world, started to lockdown because of Covid-19. As if a worldwide pandemic wasn’t enough, next came the death of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter, protests and civil unrest. Covid seems to be resurgent and Americans are debating whether or not we should be forced to wear masks. If you would have asked what’s more likely to occur; 1) a pandemic plus civil unrest or 2) a meteor hitting the earth, I probably would have chosen #2.

I always try to remain optimistic and it’s paying off. For example, prior to Covid I only dabbled with Zoom and probably would have continued to only dabble but I was forced to dive into the deep end. I’m glad I took the plunge because Zoom opens up the world for potential client interaction. I have no doubt new ways to communicate will continue to come about because necessity is the mother of invention.

During the quarter I also made headway on book #2, recorded dozens of podcasts, focused on my fitness (I’m lucky I put a gym in my basement over 20 years ago), and, despite the poor economic outlook, even landed a few new clients. Perhaps the best news during the quarter was learning my book, Influence PEOPLE, was named one of The 100 Best Influence Books of All Time by BookAuthority.

I hope despite all the disruption you may have faced that you were able to find bright spots too.

Brian

What’s Influence PEOPLE all about?

• Why – Help you enjoy more professional success and personal happiness.
• How – Teach you the science of ethical influence.
• What – Speak, write, train, coach and consult.
• Who – Clients are primarily leaders, salespeople, business coaches and attorneys.

Setting out on my own only to encounter a pandemic and civil unrest within 18 month’s isn’t ideal. However, I remain passionate about helping people professionally and personally. I believe your ability to ethically influence people will be even more important going forward. Why? Just about everyone was succeeding in the economic conditions prior to March. That’s no longer the case. For the foreseeable future only companies with the best people, products or services, and processes will win. When it comes to people, a huge part of success will come through the ability to influence customers, vendors and coworkers. I can help you with that.

Here’s What’s New

Blog Posts

I’m distressed by a lot of what I see happening in the United States. Many blog posts have been about just that. Although I try not to take sides on an issue, I know there’s always a chance that I’ll alienate some people. I believe in ethical influence so when I see individuals or organizations manipulating the public to bolster their position, I’m going to call it out. Click here to see some recent posts.

Podcasts

I was a guest on another dozen podcasts in Q2. I enjoy being on podcasts because they’re an excellent way to reach new audiences and work on speaking skills. If you have 30 minutes to spare, or want to learn on the go, there are now more than 60 podcasts to choose from. To help you find shows most relevant for you I’ve hash tagged each with #Influence, #Sales, #HR, #Marketing, etc. Click here to find a show that suits your learning needs.

LinkedIn Learning

More than 100,000 people have taken my LinkedIn Learning courses! If you want to learn how you can apply influence to sales or coaching, how to deal with personality styles or build a coaching culture, then you’ll want to check out my courses. For a short preview of each click here.

Best of…

Looking for interesting content? You may still have more time on your hands due to the pandemic so why not put some of that time to good use? Learning skills will be more important than ever going forward? Below are some great books to read, podcasts to listen to, and shows to watch.

Books

The Happiness Advantage: How a Positive Brain Fuels Success in Work and Life by Shawn Achor. I try to help people enjoy more success and happiness so this book caught my eye. The overarching premise is this; success rarely brings happiness but working on happiness almost always bring success. I wrote about this weeks ago in a blog post I called When the Journey Becomes Better than the Destination. If you want science based approaches for ways to find happiness and success then you’ll want to read this book.

Wooden on Leadership by John Wooden and Steve Jamison. I read this book many years ago and picked it up again in June. It was so refreshing to read about a principled man and principled approach to leadership. John Wooden wasn’t about winning championships, he was about developing young men. His vehicle to do so happened to be basketball. The scoreboard was only the grade card that let him know how well he was doing in that pursuit. He believed his pyramid of success was the foundation for individual and team success. If you’re a leader or business coach this is must reading!

Podcasts

The Brainy Business Podcast is hosted by Melina Palmer. I was a guest on her show and was blown away by her listener support. I’ve not been on any show where I had so many people reach out to connect on LinkedIn and buy my book. Melina looks at behavioral economics and shares with listeners ideas to apply the research findings in business. She’s a wonderful host and very genuine person.

The Leadership Podcast is hosted by Jan Rutherford and Jim Vaselopulos. If you want to learn about leadership from a variety of people, including Simon Sinek and Dan Pink, you should check out the show. When I was guest the talk got very philosophical which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Watch

The Happy Secret to Better Work is a Ted Talk by Shawn Achor. Yes, this is same guy noted above in the books section. In this 12 minute talk Shawn hits many of the high points in his book The Happiness Advantage and does so with a good bit of humor. Learning how to be happier while laughing is a good thing! If you enjoy this talk you’ll want to diver deeper into the topic and get Shawn’s book.

LA 92 is a 2017 documentary on Netflix. It focuses on the Rodney King beating at the hands of the LA police, the officer trial that ensued and the riots that broke out across the city as a result of the verdict. I’m old enough to remember much of what happened but given that it was over 25 years ago there was much I’d forgotten or not heard about. With the protests and rioting that have taken place recently I decided to watch the documentary and was saddened to see how little progress we’ve made since 1992. I encourage you to watch and see if you think we’ve made much progress.

Brian Ahearn, CMCT®, is the Chief Influence Officer at Influence PEOPLE, LLC. An author, international trainer, coach and consultant, he’s one of only 20 people in the world personally trained by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D., the most cited living social psychologist on the planet on the science of ethical influence.

Brian’s book, Influence PEOPLE: Powerful Everyday Opportunities to Persuade that are Lasting and Ethical, was a top 10 selling Amazon book in several insurance categories, top 50 in sales & selling and was named one of The 100 Best Influence Books of All Time by BookAuthority. His LinkedIn Learning courses on sales and coaching have been viewed by more than 100,000 people around the world!