Don't Take It Personally

I used to have a terrible temper. As soon as someone told me off, judged me or accused me of something I would explode. It got so bad that I ended up having stress attacks and idiopathic tremor. Because of that something changed, I realised that it wasn't worth it. I stopped taking everything personally and started letting things go. Studying zen and practicing breathing definitely helped with that.

When you are in a situation like I used to be, don't take it personally. You don't know what the other person has gone through. They might be having a bad day, their partner might have left them, they might have had a bad childhood or are genuinely bad people. Taking it personally, reacting as they would expect you to react, getting stressed about it can only lead to bad things.

When you are next faced with a situation like this, do nothing. Take some deep breaths, leave the room if it's getting out of hand, try to turn your anger filters on and tell yourself that it doesn't really matter. Don't take it personally and you will see things getting better.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis 

What You See is What You Get

How many gates and barriers do your clients need to cross before they speak to the people that do the work?

It used to be fine to have levels upon levels of management in order to manage the creation of work. Different people for sales, for account management and it built on from there.

With all the progress we've made in other parts of our work lives it's difficult to understand why we should keep those old ways of working. Not only does it cost more, it's not personal. The client might never meet the person that actually did the work. That's fine if you are producing widgets, but if you are making things that change people's lives then you need a personal connection.

From my experience, it works best if you involve your team in the first interactions with your client. Give them the chance to create a trustful connection. Your client will love the attention you give to them and the security that comes from knowing who you are working with.

Posted by Helen Amygdalaki // Lelou 

Be Unique

In order to succeed and be noticed, you need to be unique. Trying to win over the competition is a difficult, time consuming and usually fruitless game.

If you are only trying to beat your competitor, then you might end up just chasing behind them. Take Apple for example, there isn't an iPhone killer in the market because there is only one iPhone. Trying to beat the iPhone (which is 2 years in development in front of you) is an endless battle. By the time you launch your iPhone killer, Apple will have launched iPhone 5 and you will be right where you started.

Instead of trying to beat your competitors, observe and learn. Then take those lessons and create your own unique niche that will bring you the following that you need in order to succeed. 

Remember to stay personal along the way, explain why and how you are different and tell your story.

Posted by Harry Mylonadis