April 6, 2015
Blog
March 9, 2015
Understanding Assertiveness
When leading a workshop, you want to stay in control so participants aren’t walking all over you. However, you also don’t want to scare participants away. You want to have an assertive attitude. Assertiveness is a word we tend to use not always understanding what it means. Assertiveness is not about getting your own way…
March 4, 2015
Why Routines?
Routines simplify; clarify; and create order, symmetry, and familiarity in chaos and high stress. Routines are the foundation of success. Be dull in your everyday routine so you can be wildly creative where it counts. During high stress, routines are like ports in a storm. Top performers in every area of every industry have lives…
February 24, 2015
Impressions Count!
When it comes to business, impressions count! If you want people to believe in your products or services, you have to put some thought into dressing well in order to project the image that you want. Once you have established a relationship you can ease up a bit, but you should always look professional and…
January 30, 2015
Mastering the Interview
The interview experience can be a stressful situation, even for those who have been through the process many times before. Preparing yourself for unexpected and knowing what type of questions are appropriate can help to avoid a position of being put on the spot.
Out of Bounds
Uncomfortable topics can come up in an interview.…
January 20, 2015
Defining Communication
What is communication? It is more than just sending and receiving messages; it is about understanding those messages. There are lots of things that can get in the way of understanding a message, such as: Noise Language Culture Disinterest Experience Education Emotion Vocabulary Mood Here are two tips for removing those barriers. Empathy: Make a…
January 5, 2015
The Five P’s and Social Media
Lots of companies say – and even believe – that they have a social media strategy. They encourage employees to create profiles and to promote or share news about what the company is doing, and they set up profiles on every site they can find. But, if you think back to what we understand about…
December 22, 2014
Meeting Styles
You can connect people to your meetings by varying your meeting styles as appropriate. Rather than having a meeting where everyone comes in, sits down, and settles into their chair for a meeting that can drag on, kick up the energy and interest in your meetings by offering something different.
How Much Time?
…
December 15, 2014
Types of Difficult People
Difficult people get themselves sorted into categories, just so we can develop a strategy for dealing with them. If you pick up almost any book on the subject, you will find descriptions of these people and some suggested ways of dealing with them. Below you will find information on the difficult people that we encounter…
December 1, 2014
Creating an Accountable Organization
It is important to consider the accountability within our organization. If you think about companies that you do business with, do they demonstrate accountability? What kinds of results do they get?
Key Characteristics
In order for an organization to be accountable, there must be a few key things in place: The organization as a…
November 28, 2014
Key Behaviors and Attitudes for Supervising Others
There’s an old saying that attitude is everything. One thing is for sure: attitude is a huge factor in your success at anything, including leadership.
Building the Right Environment
We can talk about ourselves in terms of leadership and set up a plan, but as the saying goes, “The proof is in the pudding.”…
November 21, 2014
Leadership Styles
There are several very strong models for leadership which have been developed after many years of study, and with the help of many companies and their leaders. All of these models share some things in common that we can certainly learn from in our own quest to become the best leaders that we can be.…
November 12, 2014
Self-Attitude and Assertiveness
Self-concept, self-attitude and self-esteem can all impact the way that we send and receive messages. Individuals with low self-esteem and a negative self-image tend to operate in a passive style. Other people might think that they are superior to everyone else, resulting in an aggressive style. This creates all kinds of interesting conversations!
Words…
October 27, 2014
What to Do When You Make a Mistake
Let’s face the truth: we’re all human. We all make mistakes and make decisions that we wish we could take back. However, mistakes can be the best learning experiences and they can provide a time for us to shine. Nan DeMars has a six-step plan for recovering gracefully from mistakes.
Accept reality.
Accept that…
October 23, 2014
Delivering Your Message
Often, it’s not so much what you say as how you say it. Let’s look at some ways that you can deliver a clear, effective message. Use direct language and deliver a message that is clear, calm, and direct. Be confident in your message. This means that your tone of voice, vocabulary, and rate of…
October 14, 2014
Ethical Decision Making Tools
Three Types of Tools
There are many decision making tools that are great for solving all kinds of problems. However, there are some special considerations and tools when solving ethical problems.Basic Principles
Before we look at some specific tools you can use to help solve ethical decisions, let’s look at…
October 6, 2014
Techniques for the Workplace
Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
While not all conversations can be planned ahead (for example, sometimes we bump into someone in a hallway and the conversation starts, or we’re just engaged in casual conversations), there are many conversations that benefit from a plan. When you prepare yourself before initiating a conversation, you are much more…
September 29, 2014
Creating a Positive Self-Image
Seven Things People Determine from Your Appearance
Another element of our communication with others is our image of ourselves and our awareness of how others see us. This is a big part of our ability to give feedback to, and take feedback from, others. While it may not seem fair or accurate, people do…
September 23, 2014
Basic Decision Making Tools
The Three-Phase Model
Whenever you read a book on problem solving, this model, in some form or other, is sure to be there. It may have six steps rather than seven, or it may have five steps. However, the model doesn’t really change…just the authors’ ways of breaking it down. As you work…
September 15, 2014