How do you influence when you have no authority?
How do you influence when you have no authority?
When the political landscape feels charged and full of danger? 💣
I run #ZenClub with Piyusha Pilania and is our weekly Friday peer coaching where we work on consulting and project delivery skills practicing with role plays, and working through case studies.
Last week, Barrie Robertson flexed his acting skills role playing a BA with a crabby client Christopher Sauer, and then it was his turn to become the grumpy one with Jenn Hecht. 😁
Here are a selection of some excellent examples of #ActiveListening:
“So what I’m hearing is you’re saying there’s a lot of a lot of work being pushed on you from above, without a lot of support, yet you don’t get listened to… Is that right?”
“Okay, so you have not been involved in the decision to implement Sales Cloud to date…”
“Do you feel like you need a new system now? Or do you feel like that the problem is not in your systems, the problem is just your workload?”
“So if I understand, right, you’re open and receptive to a system that could help, as long as that system is actually helping clear work from your team, rather than introduce extra work onto your team.”
“I sense some frustration and friction between between yourself and others higher up. Would it be helpful to have some sessions without certain people so that you can give your opinion, you know, without fear of any counter
voices coming in?”
It was an incredibly rich session where we
🍩stopped and dissected the conversation at every point
🍩identified where the listening wheel was applied
🍩looked at what phrases could be more effective in #DeEscalation
Barrie is a seasoned consultant and a masterful communicator (also he has done my Consulting Discovery Masterclass… 🥰 so of course he was amazing! 🤭)
Anyway we will be diving into how to manage power and politics tomorrow, working through case study on stakeholders and how to manage them (see the Messy Merger 👇🏻)
📍If you like practicing real skills in a safe space rather than just talking about theory…
📍If you want to learn from other consultants’ experiences (and mistakes 😅) without the risk…
📍If you’re tired of feeling like you’re navigating politics blindfolded on your projects…
Then #ZenClub might be for you.
Every week, we:
👉🏻Work through real scenarios (messy, political, uncomfortable ones)
👉🏻Practice conversations and get feedback
👉🏻Learn frameworks you can use Monday morning
👉🏻Support each other without judgment #ZenClub meets every Friday from 2-3.30pm UK time.
£169 per month.
It’s a membership community for consultants who want to develop the human skills that make the difference between surviving and thriving in this work.
Its for all of us tech nerds who want to learn how to navigate the messy human stuff. 🌻
Link to join in the comments (Please set filter to ‘Most Recent’ as LinkedIn hides URLs).
See you there? 🥰
Christopher Sauer is an incredible person
Christopher Sauer is an incredible person, someone I would absolutely love to have in my team.
He’s
🍩Deeply passionate
🍩Incredibly hardworking
🍩Infinitely curious
🍩Amazingly knowledgeable about a diverse range of things tech and non-tech
The wonderful and quirky way his brain is wired means he can grasp things quickly and use it in a unique way.
In other words, he’s creative and innovative when solving problems. 🧠
I’ve had him in our #ZenClub for more than a year now and we do so much skills practice and role play, working through project delivery case studies every Friday that I feel I know him quite well.
So, if you’re looking for someone who will not be fazed by hard work and knotty problem, Christopher Sauer is your man.
Importantly, he has integrity and he is kind.
He’s the kind of #HumanBean we all need in our world.
Chris is the Jack_Of_All_Trade who’ll get the job done. 💪🏻
What are you waiting for?
ARGH! My stomach dropped when I saw this message! 😱😱😱
ARGH! My stomach dropped when I saw this message! 😱😱😱
But .. but.. but.. it’s all in the cloud!
What do you mean it’s not there?!
But D’OH!
OF COURSE I deleted it (because I was running out of ‘free’ space) 😖
OF COURSE I emptied the recycle bin 😩
OF COURSE I was sure I picked the *right* files to delete and dump. 🙄
If I wasn’t collaborating with Piyusha Pilania on our flagship Agent Deployment Consultant course, I’d be working using Word and PowerPoint.
(Hey they are still the best enterprise office software ok?! Don’t judge until you try using advanced word processing features on google docs and see where that gets you 😠).
But also I’d be saving different versions of my file (a-hem, my last book’s final final version was called “Book 3 – Salesforce Consulting 101 v32 (qr jpg fix to pdf).docx” 😁
ANYway… we are collaborating on our ADC course and google docs/slides work super well for collaboration, and … I went deleted it (see initial crisis moment above👆🏻)
Luckily, like many crazy tech people, I have multiple laptop stations with multiple tabs open (of which one tab was on this open but deleted file) so this was how I recovered it:
🍩kill the wifi
🍩hit ‘use offline’
🍩open a new google slide
🍩reimport original ppt so I can reuse template (and then delete all content)
🍩alt-tab into offline google slide tab
🍩do a ctrl-a (to select all) in grid view, ctrl-c (to copy), alt-tab (to switch back to new google slide doc), ctrl-v to copy and paste content
MAN I really thought this panic moment would be over as I am so meticulous about my backups and version history of all my files (since losing my dissertation on a corrupt floppy many many moons ago 😬😅)
Thank you Piyusha for coming onboard this emotional roller coaster that is the “Crisis of the Deleted Cloud file” ride. 😆
Will share more about what we’re building in another post… maybe once my heart rate has settled a bit!
Have you any horror stories to share?!
Go on – I need to hear them!
#OnThePeiroll: The Newsletter that teaches things Trailhead Doesn’t.
#OnThePeiroll: The Newsletter that teaches things Trailhead Doesn’t.
How to Build the Right Things. For the Right Reasons. The Right Way. 🌻
I’m relaunching my newsletter. From scratch. 😬
I’ve been super busy building exciting stuff (and also other reasons… like brother’s sprog visiting over Xmas aaaand now its back to school!)
But also…
I decided to relaunch my newsletter but have to do it from scratch (technical migration issues – don’t ask 🙄), which means everyone needs to re-subscribe to keep receiving it.
Even if you were subscribed before.
Yes, even you my lovely reader Anh Phuong Ta ❤️.
What you’ll get:
🍩The consulting skills Trailhead doesn’t teach
🍩Real project war stories
🍩Why AI is both brilliant and dangerous
Zero fluff. 🙅🏻♀️
What you won’t get:
🥦Daily spam
🥦Inspirational quotes
🥦Content that sounds like ChatGPT wrote it
I write when I’ve got something to say – usually weekly, sometimes a little less regularly 😬.
If you care about doing projects properly, building solutions that last, and asking “Is this well-thought-through?” before clicking “Go,” this is for you.
If you’re after quick tips and productivity hacks, it isn’t.
Subscribe here:
zenhao (dot) mykajabi (dot) com/newsletter-opt-in
First 2026 newsletter drops tomorrow (once I’ve done a bit more testing):
Why your whole project team should think like an architect.
(As you can see I’ve got Well-Architected on the brain 😁)
See you in your inbox,
Pei 💜
ps: Don’t forget to check your email to confirm your subscription – it’s been set to double-opt-in!
Was I hacked?! 🤬
Was I hacked?! 🤬
How has someone been able to do this??
It’s my LI profile photo, UK area code (obvs that can be spoofed?!), reaching out to someone on my contact list – and also someone NOT on my contact list, but whom I know second-hand!
If anyone gets such a message from me – PLEASE BLOCK AND REPORT!
TO BE CLEAR: THE NUMBER BELOW IS NOT MY NUMBER.
🙅🏻♀️🙅🏻♀️🙅🏻♀️
Also I would totally not write a message like this (if you know me – you’d know my comms style 😁)
So anyway – this is a PSA.
What should I do? Any advice?
How can you make your end users use the new system?
How can you force your stakeholders to care?
How can you compel change?
In other words – Why do people do what they do? Or don’t?
#ChangeManagement is a deeply fascinating topic – for me as a project delivery practitioner as well as a parent and an observer of human nature.
We want people to do things because they want to do it.
The art is in figuring how to make people WANT to do things.
Is it the application of carrot and sticks? 🥕🤺
I think the secret is in making people valued and believe thar what they do matters, and that in itself is the strongest motivation you can find.
It’s
– helping them see how the new system will make their life better
– showing appreciation that is more than just swag and empty shoutouts
– supporting them in meaningful ways that go beyond corporate policies
Why does an organisation like Crisis go from strength to strength? 💪🏻
Volunteer numbers grow every year – people come back again and again.
Why?
It’s because we feel like we are not only making a difference to our guests, but that we love the version of ourselves that are choosing to do this.
That’s why I roped in my niece to do this with me.
When asked her the biggest takeaway from yesterday’s shift, she said, “Even when the world seems to be so dark and going absolutely crazy, there are still so much good in humanity.”
“I love that this is what kindness looks like.” 🫠💓
Tonight’s Crisis shift is with the women’s only refuge shelter, for those experiencing abuse and escaping from a life of pain and trauma.
This will be tough for me, having gone through the experience myself – which is why it is important that I do this.
Whatever behaviour we want to create, whether its
🍩 Using the new system enthusiastically
🍩 Being disciplined about health and wellness
🍩 Being more intentional about parenting or relationship
🍩 Doing more for others even when it’s tough…
We will do it if we know we are making a difference.
Even when it’s hard.
Change is hard.
But we #CanDoHardThings
Tonight’s shift will be hard for me.
But I’m so lucky to be out of that dark place now, and I need to do this for those who are still in that place.
We need to be the light for others.
If you’re lucky like me, find your own way of bringing your light to others. 🕯️
In whatever way you can. ❤️
We need more kindness in the world.
Ps I’ll be wearing my #Kindness Shirtforce tee on my shift tonight. 🥰
Also bringing my famous Peimous chocolate chip cookies for all the volunteers. 😆 Hope they practice some kindness if the cookies are a tad overdone! 🍪😁
