#HR #RRHH Making love and making personal #branding #leadership

We might spend days, months, or even years trying to figure someone out. Is he who he says he is? Should I trust her? The wheels in our head spin as we think of all the variables and how they'll play out.

And still, we keep hearing that we should just listen to our instincts. Complicated questions, simple answer. What should we do, and where did this whole idea of the gut instinct come from, anyway?

Intuition isn't some magical, mysterious quality that we carry with us. It actually comes from the knowledge and past experiences that we all carry. Even if we're unable to explain why we feel the way we do, there's a logical explanation behind our gut feelings.

Whenever you encounter anything new, the unconscious side of your brain is constantly making assessments. It takes in certain cues, such as a smile or parts of a story, and then matches it with something similar in our database of memories to come up with a conclusion. Meanwhile, our conscious side remains unaware of this rapid process taking place.

You have three outstanding assignments sitting on your desk, your phone is lighting up with texts from your roommate reminding you of that party you don’t want to attend, and then your boss swings by to ask if you can stay late to help out on seven other tasks that need finishing.

Before you can stop yourself, “Uh, sure! I mean, of course,” tumbles out of your mouth. You know full well that you’re unable to handle another thing, but there’s just something about saying no that’s almost impossible to do.

We love talking about what millennials know. As a group that’s become the dominant force in the workforce, we applaud their smarts on tech, social media, and even the age-old practice of branding. Yes, millennials might arguably be one of the overall most intelligent generations to come around. However, that’s not to say they still don’t have a lot to learn, especially when it comes to face-to-face communication.

As the generation that grew up with communication becoming more efficient via digital, their biggest strength could also be a critical weakness. While the way they say things has become more direct, their messages sometimes lack. Why?

Because as one of the first to grow up in a digital world, they’ve been afforded a privilege not found in our day-to-day.

If you’ve ever had a miscommunication or failed to comprehend what someone else was trying to say, it could be that your perceptual languages are getting in the way. Discovered by development psychologist Taibi Kahler, perceptual languages are the different processes of how people communicate. The way people communicate often carries more information than the words themselves, says clinical psychologist Nate Regier, cofounder of the communication-coaching firm Next Element.

Whether you are building your business, trying to land your dream job or climbing your way up the corporate ladder, it seems like everyone tells you to network. It is the key to achieving your goals. However, people rarely tell you exactly how to network effectively and build a community that will last.

Building a community takes a lot of dedication and has its challenges. I wasn't always the best at navigating social situations. In fact, I was and still am a bit of a geek. But, by applying my knowledge of science, I have formed stronger, longer-lasting relationships Here are three ways you can too:

Being able to communicate effectively, I believe, is one of the best life skills you can develop. Think about it, colleagues who can masterfully communicate their thoughts, feelings, ideas, concerns and wishes are better equipped to manage or avoid conflict, negotiate win-win scenarios, and increase their ability to collaborate at a high level.

Yet effective communication isn't just about talking; it is also the ability to listen and understand the other side of the fence, to "read" and interpret body language, and to know how to approach another person so you can get your points across in a respectful manner.

3 tricks that allow you to tap into how our memory works so you can craft messages that your employees and customers won't soon forget.

Customer experience is one of the largest points of focus in the new era of loyalty marketing, and continues to prove its value to a brand’s perception and, consequently, its bottom line.

Your boss is a busy individual. Here are 8 rules on how to keep them in the loop without causing any conflict.

Researchers have found leaders are more effective in how they communicate when they depersonalize the message. Learn what this means and how to do it.

Although we might all realise that consistent communication is a must, when things get busy it could well be the first thing that gets pushed by the way side. One to one’s get postponed, team meetings get  cancelled and before you know it, it’s something you did once but don’t really have the time to resurrect or plan out properly.

If this is where you are, this could really help.

If you’ve been in any of these situations, you know how hard it can be to speak confidently, articulately, and convincingly. Even if you think you know your message really well, speaking becomes a lot more challenging when the stakes are high. But while you can’t exactly control the outcome, you can control how you communicate in the moment. Here's how to speak well in even the most intimidating environments.

There’s definitely some truth in the wisdom that it’s better to overcommunicate than undercommunicate. Ideally, every manager gives their team members just enough direction to get on course and the leeway to do their thing free of micromanagement.

The reality is often different, though. No good boss wants to leave their teams feeling empty-handed or unsupported, so they sometimes veer off too far in the opposite direction. I’ve learned the hard way that overcommunication is easier to fall into than you might think, and it winds up obfuscating my message and wasting everyone’s time.

Fortunately, I’ve managed to get better at figuring out when my communication is more distracting than useful. Here are some of the key criteria I use in order to tell whether I'm overcommunicating

Here are 3 keys to ensuring you will not only be heard as you speak up, but also make the difference you intend to make as a leader.