How to Deal with Objections like a Boss: Your Four Step Plan to Rock Your Next Presentation

Businesswoman Giving a PresentationGuest Contribution by Bushra Azhar

Let’s pretend you are presenting a management solution to a group and you’ve done everything right; you’ve laid out a water-tight case, supported by a robust value proposition, strong arguments and an even stronger voice.

You didn’t mumble or stumble or skip over your slides.

You did everything by the book. Heck, you even mastered Fantastic First Impressions Cheat Sheet.

And then, just as you are about to wrap-up, expecting a resounding applause or even a standing ovation, one of the attendees announces that although he is intrigued by your solution, he feels that your solution at the given price would not be able to achieve the required objectives.

He uses words that can slice steel hearts…words like, “impressive presentation” (implying that it doesn’t have any meat, only fluff) or “leaves something to be desired” (translation: It was just a load of crap) or my personal nemesis “having said that” (which essentially means… brace yourself, things are going to get real nasty here)

You feel deflated after your moment of glory and you cannot just stomp your feet and walk out like you used to when you were five.

So what to do instead?

Below is a four step process to deal with valid objections; objections that are not just mud-slinging fests but where the person is genuinely trying to understand something or raising a valid point. It is hard, because it is a battle against the objection as much as it is against your own rationality.

But who said, winning’s easy?

Step One: Welcome the Objections
Valid objections are caused by a person’s old brain. They are triggered by the fear of making a wrong decision and are typically the last step in the decision-making process. You should therefore welcome objections as a sign that the old brain is getting ready to make a decision and all it needs is some reassurance that the decision is the right one to make. This is the exact same technique but that I recommend when faced with the statement “you are too expensive”.

Objections are also a sign that the person is actually considering the viability of your solution and getting his cognitive resources involved. This is great news…never underestimate the importance of getting his mind engaged because this means they are open to any suggestions that come as part of the rebuttal.

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How Being an Athlete Can Help Women Advance in Business

John Keyser (1)Guest Contribution by John Keyser

I read with great interest Hadley Catalano’s article “What Do Sports Teach Women in Business” in the recent issue of Glass Hammer. It’s an important perspective, certainly helpful to a great many women, and men should listen up as well! As Hadley states, where prowess in athletics and competitive sports can give us an advantage, so can our emotional intelligence skills. Here’s where women can have an advantage in business leadership. Business is about relationships, how we influence others, how we make others feel about themselves. Women generally have higher emotional intelligence skills than men, and that matters, greatly!

Being athletic gives many of us a sense of inner-confidence, which is so important in business leadership. Yet, to keep egos in check, inner-confidence is best balanced by humility. Certainly, sports keep us humble. Let’s face it, a good batter gets a hit three out of every ten times to the plate, a good free throw shooter may make seven or eight of ten tries at the basket, and certainly a golfer is used to a number of poor shots in every round.

I had the privilege of serving on the board of the Women’s Sports Foundation for a number of years. The foundation was established in 1974 by Billie Jean King and has remained a force ever since. In fact, the foundation is considered the guardian angel of Title IX, standing up for equity for women in sports, business, academia – in life!

Many of the people I know through the work of the Women’s Sports Foundation are simply amazing people, outstanding athletes in soccer, tennis, golf, swimming, diving, sailing, softball, running, gymnastics and other sports. I am talking Olympic caliber, the very best in the world. Yet, they are humble and truly interested in others, helping others succeed.

Are all athletes secure and successful in business? No, certainly not, and here’s a lesson. I cannot take credit for this lesson; credit goes to Mariah Burton Nelson, whom I met through the Women’s Sports Foundation. Mariah was a competitive swimmer and a star center on Stanford’s basketball team. She is now an author and motivational speaker.

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Committing to Purpose Can Provide Real Results for Women Leaders

rsz_bethany_haley_of_savageGuest Contribution By Bethany Haley

What does it mean for business leaders to be truly committed to purpose and to lead a company that brings its purpose to life every day?

As women business leaders, committing to purpose can be one of the most valuable, meaningful decisions we make. But if you don’t mean it, don’t do it. Ultimately, it will only hurt you to claim purpose and not follow through. When you’re truly committed, every stakeholder can see it.

Female leadership is enhanced by a dedication to purpose. Not only does this focus utilize the traditional traits associated with women leaders – like collaboration, empathy and selflessness – it also can help female leaders build continuous engagement with employees, customers and other key stakeholders. Studies have shown that leaders committed to purpose are more able to retain key talent and improve employee engagement regardless of their gender.

As women leaders, we have an opportunity to be in the forefront of this type of purpose-driven focus. A dedication to purpose begins by sharing the benefits of connecting with a core corporate purpose; it is the foundation upon which all business decisions should be balanced. When developed, women leaders can use this to guide their company’s direction, mission and all the business decisions that lead to success. It is a roadmap to align all internal behaviors to deliver on purpose and train every employee toward that goal.

But don’t consider this strategy soft. A focus on purpose produces hard and fast results. Corporate cultures based on shared values outperform other firms by four times in revenue growth and 12 times in stock growth, according to the book Corporate Culture and Performance by John Kotter and James Heskett. Additionally, purpose explains up to 8% of the variation of the financial performance of companies operating within the same industry, and companies devoted to a larger purpose than maximizing profits outform the S&P 500 by a ratio of 9:1, according to a Burson-Marsteller survey.

Here are some ways that women business leaders can demonstrate their companies are delivering on purpose:

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Study Finds Pay Gap For Millennial Women Narrower Than Ever — What That Means For You

wage gapGuest Contribution by Sandra Mills

A new Pew Research report released some interesting findings regarding gender and the workplace. After surveying 2,002 adults (including 810 millennials) and examining census data from 2012, researchers found that women are more educated, more active in the work force, and more likely to hold high-paying positions than ever. This applies especially young women: Women ages 18 to 32 are a few slim percentage points away from wage parity. In 2012, hourly wages for millennial women were 93% of what their male peers made. This is 9% more than the average 84% for women of all ages.

For comparison, women earned 64% of what men did in 1980. The reason for this progress is women’s education. The research reveals, “Among older millennials today (those ages 25 to 32), 38% of women have a bachelor’s degree, compared with 31% of men. And among younger millennials (those ages 18 to 24), women are more likely than men to be enrolled in college (45% vs. 38% in 2012).” However, these numbers come with a caveat: The gap is also narrowing as male wages decline. “Overall, the median hourly wage for men decreased 4% from 1980-2012,” the study says, with wages for younger men dropping by a whopping 20 percent.

However, the researchers also discovered that these advances haven’t really been registered psychologically among millennial women. “In spite of the dramatic gains women have made in educational attainment and labor force participation in recent decades, young women view this as a man’s world,” the Pew team stated. They reported that 51% of millennial women and 55% of female boomers believe that it’s easier to be a man than a woman. While this perspective on gender inequality certainly holds true for boomers, young women seem to adapt this impression via projection, assuming a future for themselves that has yet to happen: Their role models — the women in the cohorts directly ahead of them – are still experiencing these obstacles.

“There is no guarantee that today’s young women will sustain their near parity with men in earnings in the years to come,” the Pew team points out. According to the report, recent cohorts of young women have fallen further behind their same-aged male counterparts as they have aged and dealt with the responsibilities of parenthood and family. More than half of mothers believe their off-the-clock responsibilities have compromised their careers, compared to only 16 percent of fathers. It should come as no surprise that 63 percent of millennial women likewise expect to lose some job opportunities when they have children. For women, marriage and motherhood are associated with less time spent on paid work-related activities. What’s more, the onset of family responsibilities has a reverse effect on men’s career.

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