…are more precious than most people realize.

If you sell, you have only that amount of time to capture a buyer’s attention. What you do with it will determine if he or she gives you another nine seconds, and then another and then another. You are always nine seconds away from a conversation continuing or ending.

If you lead, nine seconds determine if employees stay engaged or disconnect. Will you use those precious moments to invite motivation or incite apathy? What you ask or say creates opportunities to be seized of challenges to be surmounted. How you choose to approach those nine seconds, and the next nine and the nine after that position you as a brilliant leader or just another mouthpiece for the corporate establishment. The choice is yours.

If your serve, the next nine seconds are a precious moment to get it right, right a wrong or wrongly handle the circumstances at hand. Nine seconds that build a reputation or undermine whatever goodwill exists. What is asked, what is said and what is done either builds loyalty that nurtures a growing relationship or sews kernels of doubt that eventually grows into a toxin that poisons the amity that still exists.

The nine second attention span of your fellow humans is either your greatest resource or the beginning of an uphill battle.

What will you do with these precious ticks of the clock?

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