Article World

Access Your Power In Communicating Using Personality Type

Communication is central to our life - we communicate with others every day, throughout the day. Understanding, appreciating and accommodating personality differences in communication style can bring major success to our effectiveness as a friend, spouse, employee, supervisor, trainer, leader and team member. People have different preferences in the way they take in and evaluate information and their orientation to the world around them. As we develop our awareness, understanding and appreciation of communication differences, we will reap the benefit in our relationship with others.

Extraverts & Introverts are opposite in how they communicate

Extraverts are energized by lively and enthusiastic discussions, with rapid-paced conversation and often interrupt as they elaborate on and process thoughts. Introverts are energized by quiet conversations with space for reflection and conversation pace is slower, taking time as they build thoughts and ideas internally. Extraverts’ communication approach doesn’t allow time for Introverts to reflect and then give their opinions. Extraverts like to “think out loud” and don’t realize that Introverts feel unable to respond quickly in a conversation, preferring to internalize the information first. Thus, the Extraverts’ reaction sometimes is that the Introvert is not providing input that energizes the Extravert.

How Introverts & Extraverts share information

When Introverts share information, it has been carefully thought through and evaluated. When an Extravert is in the-thinking out loud-mode they may not give the input the full evaluation it merits. Similarly, Introverts may put too much emphasis on what is said by Extraverts, not realizing they are-hearing themselves think-and need to process information this way. This can cause difficulties for both preferences as Extraverts may miss valuable contributions by Introverts, and Introverts may take what Extraverts say too seriously and make decisions based on the input.

Communication differences can create conflict

These communication differences can be especially dangerous in conflict situations, as Extraverts want to handle a situation immediately and Introverts require time to think things through before giving their ideas on possible solutions. Because each preference is requiring something the other type does not prefer, tension can increase. Extraverts can become impatient, wanting to move forward and make a decision not giving time to the Introverts who need to process the information internally and, then, make a decision.

Extraverts in communication
Strengths
Energetic & enthusiastic
Think out loud
Give a lot of information
Network well

Communication Approach
Speak out freely in groups
Think out loud
Like to discuss lots of topics
Interrupt often during discussion

When Communicating with Extraverts
Listen attentively
Be actively responsive
Be energetic & enthusiastic
Support their need to communicate

Introverts in communication
Strengths
Quiet, reflective presence
Respond carefully and thoughtfully
Know a few people well
Listen without interrupting

Communication Approach
Listen more than talk
Talk one on one
Need time to reflect before responding
Process information internally

When Communicating with Introverts
Value their need for privacy
Allow them time to change focus
Ask questions to draw them out
Do not pressure for an instant response

With careful study of the preferences for the Extravert and Introvert, and a little bit of practice, our communicative events can be both positive and productive creating harmony throughout our professional and personal lives.

Pamela Hollister, Author, INTJ, The PEOPLE Process, is author of personality type training products,
The
PEOPLE Process

How to turn a Group into a Team

Every Los Angeles office wants the same thing for the individual departments within the office; to transcend the individual competition stage and work as a cohesive team. They want every department to be an energetic group of diverse individuals who are committed to achieving common objectives, who work well together, enjoy doing so and who produce high quality
results.

Of course, when you throw this diverse group of people together how likely is that to happen on its own? Not very. Chances are most, if not every member of your team is a competitive individual who thinks his or her ideas are the best. The ability to prove that they are better at what they do than others is probably what got them the job over several other applicants in the first place.

Critical comments and sarcastic office banter can lead to a lack of confidence in ability and awkwardness between colleagues, which can have a huge impact on the way they work together and collaborate on projects. This is more than destructive for team building, it prevents colleagues from even wanting to work together or cooperate as a team.

After the hiring process is over and the position has been secured, it’s time to work together. The time has passed for competition. It is now time to collaborate and become a stronger, smarter, more efficient team than any individual could be on his or her own, regardless of ability.

Los Angeles team building activities can help accomplish this goal. Although employees often moan and complain about Los Angeles team building activities being a waste of time, studies have shown that they really do increase productivity as well as satisfaction in the work place. They have proven to be a good investment for employers. But Los Angeles team building activities have to be well planned, have definite and clear objectives, and actually be fun in order to be successful.

Spending an entire day in a group with people you’ll never need to interact with again working to accomplish a meaningless task may be an okay way to meet new friends you might otherwise not have known, but is probably not be the best Los Angeles team building activity to help with interdepartmental relationship building.

Taking team members out of their usual work setting and giving them a fun task, such as a creative scavenger hunt or team race, will do more to build friendships, open doors of communication, allow people to step up in leadership roles, and address problems they may foresee in plans to accomplish goals. These types of activities are more appropriate for Los Angeles team building.

There are many resources available to help you plan an unforgettable Los Angeles team building event, and many companies have budgets for such activities. You’ll see that it’s worth the time and money spent to build an enthusiastic committed team when you’re team surpasses your expectations for creativity, problem solving, and cohesive accomplishment.

Watson Adventures offers amazing Los Angeles team building (http://www.watsonadventures.com/los_angeles.html) activities to help your department become a team. The author Art Gibb is a freelance writer.

Team Building Icebreakers

The first challenge you will encounter on any teambuilding exercise is personal introductions. Members of the teambuilding course need to become acquainted with each other and the course leader. These initial exercises are commonly called ‘icebreakers’ as they break down any barriers between team members.

The most popular icebreaker is for the team leader to arrange the team members in a circle and ask them one by one to stand up and tell the group a little about themselves. Each member of the team will stand in turn and give their name and some brief details about their work and/or hobbies by way of an introduction. If the members of the teambuilding course work for the same large company, often it is a good idea to ask them to describe the department they work in and their job role. In this way it allows other members of the team to position them in their mind. Sometimes the team members may already have relationships that they are not aware of - possibly they have spoken on the telephone, or have emailed each other in the past as part of their job function.

Another great icebreaking activity is to assign each member of the team a partner whom they have never met before. The pairs are given a short time (10 minutes is suggested) to get to know a little bit about each other. The icebreaking task is then for each team member to describe their partner to the group.

At icebreaking sessions it is also a good idea for the teamleader to encourage laughter. Laughter and humor are great icebreakers. Possibly each member could be given a sheet of jokes and asked to stand and tell their favorite joke to the group, and then give the reasons why they chose that joke. As well as breaking the ice this is a clever way of learning a little about a person - the reasons they give for choosing the joke will give a little insight to their personality.

Remember when leading a teambuilding session the importance of icebreaking. This is the most important part of the course and sets the foundation for the work you will do over the coming hours or days. Setting your icebreaking session around breakfast or coffee can help as these are natural times of social interaction - watch as team members help each other with the simple task of making and pouring coffee.

Detailed information about teambuilding and icebreakers is available at teambuildingchallenge.com

The Most Effective Methods For Motivating Employees Are Low Cost

Employees are an important stakeholder of any organization whether it is large or small. However, managers are often too busy with running the day to day operations of the company that little, if any, time is spent on a motivation strategy. This is unfortunate because a high performance work team is actually an easy goal to achieve.

Why should you read on? So you can increase the bottom line. If every employee made one minor change, as a result of increased motivation, then the result on the bottom line would be astronomical. Having a proper motivational strategy for employees will give any manager an exponential return on investment. And better yet, to achieve this, proper motivational tools are not expensive.

The most common mistake that managers make is to believe that all forms of motivation revolves around money. Whereas, the truth is that increase in pay and/or bonuses do not dramatically increase motivation. What actually happens is that the employee is being offered a bonus for a job they should be doing anyway rather than actually rewarding them to do more and/or better. As such, the employee might interpret this to mean that they are working for a bonus versus doing the best job that they can because they enjoy it. However, do not misinterpret this and think that little or no pay is required. The employee wages must be fair market in comparison to others in the industry otherwise motivation will actually decrease. An example would be a top level baseball player earning 6 million a year (which is about average). Increasing this players pay to 12 million a year would probably have little effect on their performance. Decreasing the salary to below the average earning would decrease performance because the player would not feel appreciated.

So what does work? Its Simple. Recognition. It is much better to give recognition to employees both privately and publicly. A leader should always praise his or her staff and be an integral part of their work life. Most employees only hear from management when something is wrong and this negative reinforcement is not conducive for high level work teams.

Studies have shown that little items such as sending a birthday card can increase work performance levels for months on end. E-Cards have the same effect and are easy to use plus have the added features such as date reminders and follow ups.

Recognition works because it gives positive reinforcement to the employees and when an individual feels appreciated they will work harder for more recognition. This simplicity escapes most employers/managers. People just want to be heard, recognized and appreciated.

Will using a simple greeting card really work? Yes. It will if done correctly. If you want this to work, then take the time to write a personal greeting. Sending a generic card to all staff members would most likely decrease morale as employees may find it offensive as it re-enforces the herd mentality. The message should be genuine and meaningful. Also, the message should be as close to the recognizable act as possible. This means that if someone on your team did a great job on a project; send a thank you card to them ASAP. Sending a card out 4 months after the project has been long forgotten would have little effect.

When is the best time to give out E-Cards? E-Cards should be given out on major holidays and for birthdays. Also, cards can be sent whenever an achievement is made large or small. The text of the card does not have to be complicated and overwritten. A few well chosen sentences will work extremely well.

More Information can be found at http://www.idiooz.com an excellent website that allows you to create a Corporate Greeting Card in minutes. Keep, Motivate and Retain your best staff members with Corporate Greeting Cards that really work! Phone 702-953-6010

Star Gazing

One of my favorite places to shop in town reserves a parking space closest to the door for its employee of the month.

That retailer, like many businesses, knows the importance of small, regular gestures that publicly recognize employees. Such kudos build employee loyalty, inspire excellence and motivate workers to perform at a high level month after month.

A recent article by Charles Christian entitled “Motivate With An Employee Incentive Program,” summed up the value of such efforts. “Employee recognition programs go a long way to creating a happy and productive work environment. They create an environment that fosters the development of both individuals and the company in a way that is mutually beneficial,” it said.

While a choice parking space may seem somewhat unconventional, especially measured against other more traditional approaches like financial rewards, trips, and other tangibles, it does provide a concrete illustration of what makes employee recognition and rewards so powerful: namely, they’re public.

Writing in the Portland Business Journal, author and president of San Diego-based Nelson Motivation Bob Nelson advised employers to: “Present rewards in a public forum. Rewards are not meant to be presented in the privacy of an employee’s office. Schedule a special meeting for the occasion, and don’t camouflage the rewards. They must stand out and be highlighted; don’t squeeze praise among a dozen other topics of conversation.”

Traditionally, company newsletters and paper notices posted on bulletin boards have provided a degree of public awareness about employees who’ve achieved excellence. However, some employers are using a far higher-profile means to recognize company stars publicly.

Honoring employees on an in-house digital signage system elevates the visibility and effectiveness of employee programs. If executed properly, the digital sign-based recognition can enlist some of the intangible power and attraction broadcast television often imparts to an event or person.

What makes digital signage so well suited for employee recognition is the fact that by its very nature it is public. Scattered strategically around a corporation — in the lobby, the cafeteria, the corporate recreation center or on the factory floor– digital signs sew a thread of community awareness throughout an organization, uniting it in its endeavors and providing a public forum to recognize employees.

Recognizing employees on a digital signage network can be as simple as displaying a picture and text or as sophisticated as a video of the recognition ceremony complete with a few words from the award presenter and the recipient.

Equally important is the fact that digital signage taps into our culture’s obsession with and attraction to television. The very fact that the employee is recognized publicly on large plasma or LCD screens throughout the company carries a bit of the status the public ascribes to being on television. Thus, in the minds of those who are honored the perceived value of the public recognition on a corporate digital signage network is likely to be higher than similar recognition in a company newsletter or notice posted on a bulletin board.

To be sure, corporate managers are unlikely to decide to install a digital signage network solely to recognize outstanding employees. However, for those companies with digital signs, publicly recognizing the achievements of employees in living color for everyone to see makes good sense.

Doing so can amplify employee recognition programs intended to validate the contribution of an employee or group of workers in an organization. That in turn can motivate workers to turn in stellar performances, which is a critical ingredient to the success of any enterprise.

David Little is a digital signage authority with 20 years of experience helping professionals use technology to expand their marketing messages with alternative media. Visit http://www.keywesttechnology.com and find how you can expand your marketing horizons.

What A Difference A Week Makes

Sometimes a little tweak in how you manage your people can make all the difference.

And sometimes, it’s vital to look for something that will change relationships - and that can mean moving your focus slightly for a while.

I’m a great believer in the simple things in management. It is NOT hard to so - it’s simple.

One of the most valuable activities a manager can take is just to get into conversations with his people.

A middle manager I’ve been working with, recently found this out the slightly hard way - then again he got there! And what a difference it made.

New in his management, he’d really struggled. There was a mountain of things to do in his new department and every one seemed vitally important. That’s just the way it is sometimes.

So he made a small and yet critical decision. He focused on the things he had to do, rather than the people he had around him. In fact he got on with the ’stuff’ of the business, rather than getting used to the people.

Truth is, in a department his size, the stuff is not what a middle manager is there for. It can’t be, otherwise he would end up doing all the work himself - and that is just impossible.

In our discussions, it was clear that he was finding the going tough - so I gave him a week off! I asked him to consider spending time with his people, coaching, supporting and mainly listening to his people.

Engaging them in the conversations they wanted, whatever they were about.

During that week, he was weak - and he didn’t spend every working moment in conversations with his people. He did a few bits of ’stuff’!

That was OK - I let him off!

What he did find was that his team of people were truly up to support him, now that he’d taken the time to make friends and show an interest in them as people. Living breathing humans who have a life outside work.

By showing an interest in them as real people, he was able to gain their support and have a whole raft of willing, capable and enthusiastic people around him.

Key relationships are not just about the limited number of direct reports a manager has. It’s about encompassing the whole team, so that your character, your interests and your caring permeates right down the levels of whatever hierarchy your business has.

Working with people in a way that empowers them and unleashes the potential they have is amazing. And so my client found.

That’s management and why it’s simple, NOT hard.

Accepting Thanks With Good Grace

There is a huge value in accepting help in your business, to build your own capacity as well as growing your team too.

And often, when we are given a compliment, or someone says ‘Thank you’, we feel it is polite to gently decline. We say things like ‘It’s nothing’ or ‘No, no - it was all you’.

As part of a business transaction I’ve been involved in, which has not gone that well and one which I have been chasing hard to make anything out of for a bunch of other people as well as myself, we had a minor success.

To one of the partners, it represented something far bigger than it did to some of the others, despite being less than anticipated.

Financially, it was very important to him. So he sent me a gift for the effort I’d made. It was a small gift and one which he could ill-afford.

Now he told me he was sending this small gift and it would have been easy to say ‘You shouldn’t have’. Instead, I said ‘Thank You’.

I appreciated, following the reminder that a boss gave me a few years ago, that the choice of making the gift was theirs and thus important to them.

In fact it was a big financial decision, given the state of their finances. Dismissing it with the ‘You shouldn’t', would undo a lot of their decision making and choice to make a gift.

So, I said ‘Thank you, I appreciate that you have made this gesture, and I’m very grateful’.

My business experience of this was when I was once given praise for a piece of work where I dismissed the praise with, ‘It’s just my job’.

Quickly and supportively, my boss said this to me, ‘It’s always best to accept thanks and praise with good grace, that is how it’s given’. And so I always have since then.

Why is this important? Well, when individuals offer thanks or praise, it is their gift to give, not yours to decline or dismiss.

Gifts like this are hard to give, especially when courage and strength is needed to even speak up, as in some organizations. Respecting this, is where you come in.

Accepting the gift with honesty and appreciation is a wonderful gift back, though mainly unspoken and intangible.

It’s like saying, ‘Well, well, how wonderful that someone appreciates what I do sometimes, you are so kind for giving me the feedback that what I do is valued’.

This builds relationships hugely, builds teams and overall means that all pulling together, appreciating each other and valuing the closeness, are important even though sometimes unspoken.

It’s worth reflecting on the form of words you can use to someone who shows you appreciation for something you did and thank them for taking the time to thank you, without deflecting that in any way.

You, they and your organisational morale will find great value in this.

(c) 2006-7 Martin Haworth is a Business and Management Coach. He has hundreds of hints, tips and ideas at his website, www.coaching-businesses-to-success.com

Team Building Events and Exercises

This document is all about understanding teams and team building training; the purpose of team building activities; why corporate team building events can be effective; planning a team building strategy; building creative teams.

Why have a team building activity or event?

This is a phrase we hear a lot these days: ‘we need some kind of teambuilding activity’. Corporate team building events are on the increase: everyone seems to be having them these days. But are they living up to expectations?

See, from our point of view, often the people talking about team building don’t really know what they mean.

The reality is, that many, if not most, team building activities don’t work. They should. All that thought, effort, money, planning should make your team building event exciting, worthwhile and productive.

It’s as if we all know that teams are good. We understand the sum of the parts thing, but we don’t quite know how to make a team work in the way we’d like it to, so we think, ‘My team isn’t working as well as it could; a team building will sort it all out.’

Why a team building event?

When people say they want a team building event their picture is of this perfectly working group of people. But they don’t take the time to pin that picture down and really get clear what the issues are. If they did that then their team building activity would certainly help them get their team working more effectively.

So, before you can even tackle the ‘how’ you need to tackle the ‘why’.

Here are some questions that will help you clarify ‘why a team building event’.

Do you want people working better together?
Do you want to set new team goals and agreements?
Do you need to iron out communication difficulties that have crept in?
Do you want a jolly - to reward the team for being terrific?
Do you simply want to get everyone’s creative juices going and brainstorm new ideas?
Do you need to set clear parameters and boundaries so everyone knows what’s expected of them?
Do you want to inject some fresh enthusiasm and energy into a group that’s been working too hard and may have lost sight of the goal posts?
Have the goals posts moved and you need to let everyone know that?

Benefits of team building activity

A good corporate team building event can tackle many of the challenges facing your team. There are real payoffs and advantages to being part of a well-functioning team. To begin with, it’s just pleasanter being around people who get on.

More importantly, real benefits include:

A feeling of identity
On-going support
Creative pooling of ideas
Increased confidence
Things tend to work better as a result of team effort
You aren’t alone
Goals that make sense
You don’t have to keep reinventing the wheel
If you do have to reinvent the wheel for some reason, so is everyone else in the team

A team building training can address a huge range of issues you may be facing and certainly make work a better place to be.

How teams work

What is a team?

It may help you decide what your team building activity is going to look like if you understand a bit more about how teams work. And, get this - no matter what the books say (and there are plenty of them) - every single team is different: there is no model you can follow that will create the perfect team.

You’ll read that you need ideas people, drivers, completer-finishers, etc., etc., etc. And yes, possibly you do need a variety of ‘types’. But for our money, the ‘types’ are far less important than ensuring that your team knows why it exists and what its aims are.

So let’s look first at just exactly what being a team means. You might think that the very word ‘team’ is clear in and of itself: a group of people working towards shared goals. We wish it were that straightforward. As it isn’t, we thought we would unpick it a bit.

Sports teams

The most obvious kind of team that everyone knows about is a sports team. Every team member is on the same side trying to beat the opposition. They train together, get to understand how to make the most of each other’s skills, and when working well, they are able to fulfil the manager or coach’s strategy.

They know who their opposition is and they have very clear goals. Yes, there may be personality quirks and differences, but the whole truly is greater than the sum of its parts.

Work teams

However, it’s not quite so straightforward when it comes to work teams, though, is it? Personalities, which in a sporting context might get absorbed by the team for the good of the game, often take centre stage in the workplace.

The oddest thing of all, of course, is that it’s not always clear who the ‘opposition’ is. You’d think it would be the competition - whoever your closest corporate rival is. Unfortunately, far too often, the opposition turns out to be right at home base: another team or department, the ‘management’ or someone sitting right beside you.

The common enemy

Now the thing about ‘opposition’ is that it gives a common focus, a common ‘enemy’ if you will. Now that’s great if it’s productive. Creative ideas can pour out of a group when they have to figure out how to handle the competition.

However, when the common enemy is someone or some group or some department, or the ‘them’ and ‘they’ are within the same company, the results are divisiveness, gossip, complaining. The end result of this is, of course, a loss of productivity and people working against, not for each other.

Then it’s all about ‘them’ and ‘us’, with people running around using their energies to get more of ‘us’ to agree just what’s wrong with ‘them’. We see this in company after company after company - people are spending vast amounts of time and energy having a ‘go’ at each other rather than using that same amount of time and energy to make things work better.

This is one of the key reasons why team building is such a hot topic. People can easily recognise that something needs to be done, but they aren’t quite sure what.

Defining your team

Kinds of teams

These days we see a lot of ‘virtual’ teams - people who hardly ever see each other, or even work in the same office or even the same country.

Then there are teams that all sit in an open plan space and chat with each other all day as things arise.

There are teams where people sit in separate spaces and get together once a day/week/fortnight.

There are teams that seem to do all their communicating via e-mail or conference calls.

There are teams that work on projects together and others where people go off and do their own thing and come together every once in a while to report and bring everyone else up to date.

Whatever your team looks like, however, it still has to be able to function well and achieve its goals.

What teams aren’t

They don’t have to be a family
People don’t have to be bosom buddies
People don’t even have to like each enough to want to have dinner together
Teams aren’t group therapy

Teams can, however, on occasion, be any or all of those things.

Team building training

Effective team building

Teams are complex machines and it’s not surprising that they malfunction occasionally or need re-alignment. Every once in a while all teams need an MOT, so of course, you want to ensure that your team building event is as effective as it can be.

The one thing that everyone recognises is that your team building activity needs to be done away from the office environment. The idea is to slow things right down; to get away from e-mails, phone calls, questions and demands, being asked to pop into unscheduled meetings, people dropping by.

It means getting away from all the day-to-day stuff that sometimes makes it hard to see what’s going on and what’s needed.

Here are a few hints and tips to make planning your team building event more effective:

Everyone needs to have some input into what the team building event should accomplish
Listen carefully to people’s concerns and incorporate them in the team building training
No one should ever be put on the spot or humiliated
People shouldn’t be forced to do things they don’t want to
People learn better when they’re having fun
Focus on the positives of the team rather than just what isn’t working

Team building activities

Once you know what you want your event to achieve, then you can decide what it’s going to look like. You can do the go-carting thing, the throwing people off Welsh mountains thing. You can have the cosy get-away in a country hotel thing. You can have it non-stop fun, be business focused or have a bit of both.

There are hundreds of different team building exercises, games, workshops, courses, all designed to get your team working better and handling the day-to-day challenges in the workplace.

There is no ‘right’ kind of team building activity, only the one that’s right for you.

The key always is to ensure that your event has a positive effect on the morale, motivation, confidence and effectiveness of the team and its individual members.

Jo Ellen and Robin run Impact Factory who provide Team Building Presentation Skills, Communications Training, Leadership Development and Executive Coaching for Individuals.

Business Relationships - Promises are for Keeping

It’s a small thing, but it is so vital. In your business relationships, forgetting little things promised, causes erosion of trust and belief in you and all you stand for.

And ultimately, those little things add up to a lot for your people. And that affects you and in the end, your business success.

Integrity is very important to me, and I try hard to ‘do unto others as I would wish them do unto me’. It hasn’t always worked that way for me though.

There have been times in my previous career - times that I can remember vividly even now - when promises were not kept, things were borrowed, never to be returned and where I was not on the best end of wheeling and dealing that are part of corporate politics.

For me, creating honourable relationships with my people has always been important. It is a two-way street. Once when my wife was very ill, my management team told me not to come in, despite it being a very busy time.

I told them, thank-you, and I would come and go, in the comfort that they thought enough of me; of us; to tell me to do that.

I didn’t need to ask, but what they said to me at that time came from an environment of fairness, honesty and trust had grown over time. They knew that if it had been them, I would have offered the same.

It was as if, as Steven Covey says, in ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’, I had enough credit in my ‘emotional bank account’ to tide me over.

I’d never realised that I had that credit, but looking back, my standards and values were daily deposits, gained partly from keeping promises when I made them. You get back what you give out.

There’s no better time to start than right now.

Business Development - the Importance of Just ‘Talking’

Building relationships with your people is the most valuable action you can take.

This week, make the time to get to know your people better. Create spaces in your diary to have some conversations with them which will build rapport.

This makes a big difference if you are to build together as a team.

All business is built on relationships - even virtual ones where the only connection between a vendor and customer is virtual.

For most of us, face to face relationships are the order of the day, yet we find it hard to spend enough time getting to know the people we work with and who are so valuable to the overall performance of the business.

Here are six things you can do to start this off, to great effect:-

1. Plan time in your diary to just ‘hang out’ with your people. Let conversations go their way, not yours - yet be relaxed about it.

2. Find something that interests each and every one of your people personally, and listen hard to what they say.

3. Ask more open questions (what, how, where, who, when, why etc.) about their interest - especially about what they have told you.

4. Hold off talking too much yourself - especially your own agenda.

5. Don’t be too preoccupied with ‘business only’. If you build a relationship about their interests first, the opportunity to make business discussions stick will be all the more easy.

6. It’s all about ‘Just Talking’ - remembering that the talking is not mostly done by you - but by them. And your job is to facilitate them.

Relationships are built to last this way - and from these relationships your opportunities to develop and grow comes.

Use Anger Productively: A 5 Step Process

Anger is neither good nor bad! It is simply energy.

It is your natural emotional energy that arises when you feel like something (or someone) is blocking you from getting what you need or want. For this purpose, anything on the frustration to rage continuum is considered anger.

Without making any judgments about whether you should need or want any particular thing, here is how you can direct your own supercharged energy.

1. Notice that you’re angry. Sometimes it is unmistakable — if you didn’t restrain yourself you would be yelling or getting physical — and getting yourself into trouble. Sometimes it is more subtle: a clenched jaw that almost feels normal, an ache in your gut, tight shoulders, or just snapping at people who haven’t done anything wrong.

2. Figure out why you are angry. Again, sometimes it is obvious, and sometimes it is hidden in a jumble of normal activities.

Perhaps many small frustrations have added up to one massive headache.

3. Think about what would need to change for your angry feelings to dissolve completely and be replaced with satisfaction. Sometimes it is a simple as an apology. Sometimes nothing short of a massive change in your environment will do the trick.

4. Use your energy to strategize how you can arrange to make the change happen. If the necessary change is too big to manage all at once, think about a small piece of the bigger change where you can make an impact now.

5. Take the first step. Maybe it is working on a physical task for 15 minutes to begin to clean up a mess. Maybe it is asking someone to do something differently! It doesn’t matter how big or small that first step is-do something now!

Your focused angry energy is powerful. Keep using it to push for the changes that will make a real difference for you.

Laurie Weiss, Ph.D., author of Dare To Say It!, is an internationally known executive coach, psychotherapist, and author. For more simple secrets for turning difficult conversations into opportunities for cooperation and success, visit
http://www.DareToSayIt.com or email:
feedback@laurieweiss.com

Agendas - The Key to Successful Meetings

For meetings to consistently deliver the required performance and hence outputs, it is critical to have a prepared communication process in advance of the meeting.

This enables participants to be aware and where appropriate prepare for the meeting in advance.

It also allows for them to circulate any preparatory information and pre-reading before the meeting to minimise any information-giving during valuable meeting time.

This time when all participants are together must be devoted to the interchange that can only happen when people are together.

The agenda format may vary, but it will need to have some components which are common, as follows:-

* Location and time and who
* Preparation required
* Review of previous agreed actions
* Objectives
* Items to be discussed
* Next meeting location and time
* Review of meeting

By having this structure, it becomes possible for the right people to attend and to:-

* Focus completely on outcome and purpose
* Be prepared
* Develop meeting skills

Exercise

1. Review meetings you hold, however informal, without agendas.

- How focused are they?

- How sidetracked do they become?

- What do you notice about behaviours of people who attend?

- Describe how you feel at the end of three different meetings this week - some with and some without an agenda.

2. Plan one meeting this week for which you would normally not have an agenda using the agenda detail provided in the workshop.

3. Discuss the benefits and concerns about using an agenda

- What is better about having an agenda?

- What might be negatives about using an agenda?

- How might you ’sell’ these in a positive way?

Meetings are hugely valuable contribution ot business life, as long as they work well. Preparing people in advance is ‘one giant step for meetings, one giant step for value-creating interactions of like minded people’.

Ten Ways to be Better at Creating A Winning Business Culture

1.Great Environment

Have the place you work comfortable, with all resources in place. You have to get this right first, before expecting a great culture.

2. Be Very Clear

Through having a set of standards you state clearly and a process for identifying to people exactly what is expected of them, there will be no surprises. People will have their goals and targets. It will be easy for them to understand and deliver.

3. Encourage Sharing

Through your own modelling, you can help all of your people to work closely together in a generous and supportive way. Be the ’shining beacon’ in this.

4. Be a Champion

Shout your loudest for how proud you are of your people as individuals and as a team. By flying their flag you will gel positive team spirit with individual performance.

5. Listen and Talk

Make contact with your people regularly, both formally and informally. Just listen to what they have to say, value their contribution (really, and show it!) and tell them the stuff they need to know.

6. Be a Part

Get yourself into the team. Show you are interested in the work they do - and even work with them too. Take the time and trouble to understand their work, their issues and their experiences.

7. Watch for Opportunity

Times will come when more can happen to bond your people together. They may not be obvious - so get alerted to these chances offered. Fine tune your awareness and go for it!

8. Appreciate Effort

Say ‘thank you’ and let people know they have done well - especially when they’ve gone an extra mile for you. Not only will they do it again, but you will also build your personal relationship with them and the culture.

9. Encourage

Where you have the opportunity, take the time to encourage the next phase of their growth. Make it a priority. People love to know how they are doing and what they can expect in their future. Give them some picture of their potential and a route to achieve it.

10. Let it Happen

Having an ongoing culture that works well is just something that can evolve. So keep out of the way as this wondrous thing starts to take place. Great cultures become self-fulfilling!

By Creating A Winning Business Culture, it gives your business an extra dimension - like it’s one big being, rather than loads of individuals working together.

Team Building - Inherit or Create?

Is it easier to have a bunch of people that are brand new to a team, or one that you mould from those you inherit?

In my business life I only had the latter. An existing group of employees, in each business who I had to work with, from each new day one. Never a new set that I could grow for myself.

There are different challenges in each case.

With an existing team you have to challenge and change ideas and behaviours set in their ways, unchallenged, sometimes for years. You run the risk that they have had poor experiences of what good quality performance is - or, as they say, what ‘good looks like’. This may not be good at all - not necessarily their fault though as no-one showed them differently!

In every business management I had, the outgoing manager was either leaving the business, retiring or being demoted. In one store I managed I was the first manager to be promoted out of there since the war!

That meant that whilst I had the numbers in place with some experience, it was quite a challenge to ensure that they came on board quickly, with what my own ideas of good performance and business delivery were.

Like a new football manager, I had to gradually change the personnel until they fit the team I wanted, with the exception of those who were prepared to change and develop. However, there were rare opportunities to transfer anyone out and definitely not for a fee. Occasionally someone might seriously transgress (like the supervisor who, I found out, regularly sent her staff out to the supermarket to do her weekly food shop for her - in business time - I demoted her to the ranks and she never showed up again!).

In developing a new team from scratch, the challenges are still significant. Their skills and understanding of organisational processes can be lacking, especially if new recruits to the organisation. Yet these individuals aren’t tarnished with poor behaviours, inherited from past underperforming models in the management hierarchy.

The easiest? I don’t know, as I never had a brand new team. Yet, in both cases, it is vital to set in stone standards that are clearly stated and as rigid as necessary to deliver the quality outputs the business needs. In both cases it is vital that the incoming manager is able to be the best example possible.

Then sticking firmly to the path, with consistency, fairness as well as building trusting relationships is the only way to success. There will be ups and downs, with failures and omissions, but this will guide you through successfully in the end.

With such a template, both types of team will work well and deliver outstanding results.

A Complementary Team

We all have weaknesses. Whatever our roles.

In management positions, one of the bigger challenges is to recognise our own shortcomings and alter our own behaviours. Sometimes this can be very challenging.

Often a hint is that there are areas of your work where you feel like you really struggle, or are things you avoid. Or are things that you don’t enjoy doing. So you do other things that you do like and leave gaps. Spaces in your attention that are important, but get missed.

You are not alone, your gaps are natural, because no-one is perfect, not even those at the very top of their game.

You see, the very best executives realise that they aren’t completely rounded. The ones who have wonderful strategic visions may not be the best with the purse strings. The ones who have a very focused view of the operational standards of their business, may well not see the possibilities.

The business world is littered with big-time bosses that missed a trick or two. You may have worked with one or two!

The best ones realise this and take action. Even though it might mean getting over that truly biggest hurdle for top bosses, their ego, the best are able to get the point that they aren’t perfect and they need help, for the greater good.

So they surround themselves with others who have the skills they lack. A great visionary may have an expert with tight financing. The detail guy may have someone who is a whiz at thinking off the wall and with wow ideas.

It’s a blend that the very best bosses understand and let go of. They give up control in the areas where they are not as strong.

If you have weaknesses, accept it - it’s natural and where those are, look for people in your team who have those skills. Nurture them and let them have a free rein to manage that part of your business where you can’t - not effectively anyway.

And get on doing your stuff really, really well, without the worry about those bits that you are less comfortable with.

The Amazing Power of One More Question

Building strong relationships is all about having two sides appreciate each other and want to build a bond that works both ways.

This can generate the enormous benefits of collaboration, which is a valuable interchange of ideas and effort that is better than one plus one.

When you are a boss, it’s quite natural to take the lead in conversations, and those who work for you usually take the subordinate role as a matter of course - it’s what they’ve always done!

So you need to do more to make them feel an equal partner with you in the ventures you undertake. You need to make a special effort to show them how much you value what they say, as a way of encouraging them.

One special way can be particularly effective.

This is a small step you can take in every conversation, which, like magic, makes a massive difference to how you are perceived in any relationship.

It is not a difficult skill to learn and you can start right away.

When you are in conversation (any conversation!), ask another question about what they have told you.

That’s it, just one more question about what your conversation partner has been saying - about anything!

What does this do? Here are twelve great benefits to this…

1. It shows you are listening and paying attention

2. It shows that what has been said is valuable

3. It values the person you have been talking to

4. Psychologically, it builds trust between you because you have shown you care

5. It develops the conversation and they will tell you even more

6. It enables them to realise that there is someone who they can share their thoughts, ideas, hopes and fears with

7. They can also start to approach you outside conversations started by you

8. It makes you appear out of the ordinary - in fact a bit of a hero - you listen, and most others in your position don’t

9. It creates new approaches which may well be of real value

10. Questioning becomes much less extraordinary, more the natural way

11. It helps you develop a conversational style which will help you do more, go further, involve others too

12. You can do it with your boss - see what the results are!

It is the start of a change of culture, to one where everyone values the input and involvement of each other - and that can be a most rewarding exercise.

Not least that you are making strong, supportive and encouraging bonds with each one of your people, one at a time.

And that is what 99% of bosses and leaders don’t do.

With this simple tool - ask another question about what they have been saying, you can make the difference - and you will!

Asking for Help

When we lead and manage a team, whether we are business owners, run a department or just supervise a group of people in our business, we are on show.

Part of our make up ensures that we ‘lead from the front’ and take all that the world throws at us - after all, that’s what we are paid for - isn’t it?

This is where many managers struggle, with the pride factor. And pride can cause many pitfalls because we might feel obliged to battle on fending off every issue that comes our way, day after day.

Or, we could ask for help sometimes.

You see asking for help makes a difference to your people in a number of wonderful ways, makes your life a whole lot easier and sets the scene for a lot less fire-fighting to go on.

Asking for help literally by saying, ‘Julie, I need your help’ is a strong request. It tugs at the emotions and whatever relationship you have had in the past with the person in question, you now have their buy in. Because someone asking for ‘help’ is a strong appeal they will find had to resist.

This works in all sorts of directions. You can use this up the ‘line’ too. Asking your own boss for ‘help’ is not usually heard as a desperate cry from someone incapable.

You may well be pleasantly surprised at the buzz your boss gets from it as well as you will when people ask it of you.

The appeal for help comes with some caution. You have to behave yourself if you are appealing to this level of emotion. It is vital that you show trust and respect as a whole to all in your team (and beyond). You can’t play the ‘I need your help’ card without ties yourself. And you can’t play it too often.

You can even use this appeal with groups. Imagine a CEO asking, even via an e-mail newsletter that ‘I need your help’ to thousands of his people. It still has a ties in (as long as the conditions in the previous paragraph are met).

That CEO really does have to mean it, and show that he means it, especially from a distance. So all interactions one-to-one he has with his people must demonstrate the qualities so vital to maintain the relationship the appeal starts to create.

Why does this work? Here are a few of the reasons:-

1. It appeals to the emotional side of anyone who hears it.

2. It builds a belief that the manager is a real, breathing human being and therefore feels the same sort of thing that mere mortals do.

3. It builds the confidence of those being asked that they are capable of helping at their boss’s level.

4. Being asked to ‘help’ expands capabilities too, as it often works best where those asked have a strength that the manager might not have.

5. Being asked to ‘help’ raises awareness of contributions that might be made alongside the ‘day job’ and that awareness helps things get fixed before the boss becomes aware of it.

6. The manager has more time for the constructive things in their work as the help given takes them away from the minutiae of their work.

7. The occasional use, spread across a team, helps generate team spirit. When asked to ‘help’, people are more likely to:-

a. Ask people themselves as well
b. Recognise that help may be needed before being asked - and not just by the boss

8. The manager asking becomes more capable of seeing themselves honestly and builds their awareness of their weaknesses and the strengths around them.

9. The manager/employee dialogue opens up - the heart of all business relationship building. Conversations spring up where in the past there may have been none.

10. Culture shifts from an isolating ‘I’m all right, Jack’ to a supportive team-based success culture - one which is more sustainable at a core level.

Saying those words, ‘I need your help’ is a constructive, honest and developmental way for organisations to evolve. The place to start is a manager asking those words, just once, to set that ball rolling.

You will be surprised at the benefits you will see.

The Power of Groups

You are the leader of your team, your department or your organisation. You are the owner and amongst you all, no one can do the job; run the place, like you do. We all know that and have been there.

It’s tough because someone has to do it.

In fact it’s a struggle and because you are building something worthwhile, someone once told you that you don’t get anywhere without hard work.

Period; full stop; whatever.

In fact there is a lot of research now that shows you are wrong. Not just a bit wrong. Horribly wrong. In ‘The Wisdom of Crowds’ by Robert Surowiecki, he quotes a number of sources of information.

Like, if you compare the performance of a team of experts with a team of half experts and half not experts, which gives the best results?

It’s the second one.

If you have a bunch of people working on a problem will they find a better solution than just one person. They will. In fact as long as they have the following attributes:-

Diversity of Opinion - each has their own private information

Independence - from other decision makers

Decentralisation - can take into account local (and hence diverse from the big picture)

Aggregation - the capacity to bring together all this variety of opinion

A crowd will always generate the best result - even if they are disparate and not connected in any way!

So, how can you go about getting the best from a group of your people, to enhance what you do?

The findings that Robert Surowiecki brought up are no different in your business and organisation than the many examples he shares. Such as elections, marketing, gambling etc.

There are dozens in the book. Yet, how many organisations truly involve their people in making vital decisions about how the business can do better?

So, as a starter for 10, try asking them.

Next time you face a problem or challenge in your business, gather a group of people - as random a group as possible and give them these three tools and let them get on with it.

Ensure that they are different, empowered and encouraged to contribute. From the evidence from Surowiecki’s book, your people are almost definitely going to produce a better result than you alone ever could. Then you have to go with that flow.

Remember they must generate a solution that works, that doesn’t generate new problems and is cost-effective. If you give them their head, it is almost a given that they will do just that.

The challenge for you is not whether they will do well; more that you are willing to let up your own control and give them the opportunity to test their solution.

And that’s a big ask for you - not them.

The book is a worthy read too!

Managing Your Boss - Taking the Initiaitve

Building relationships is vital in business. When you are employed and have a boss it’s even more critical, because you have an incentive to get the best from your boss - and the onus is on you.

For bosses, try on this as a set of expectations your people have from you.

You are limited in how much control you can have in the employed world. Much is passed down to you and this can feel frustrating because you feel ‘done to’; without any input in how your experience, day-by-day, goes for you.

It can drive you crazy (and in fact is one of the biggest causes of absence and employee churn, by the way!)

So, it’s time to take some control - here are a few ways that work well.

1. Make the Effort to Communicate

By having an easy dialogue with your boss, you will make it easier all round, when tough talking needs to happen.

In fact, if you have the relationship, none of the discussions need be tough at all. Light requests come when you’ve made the effort up front to get on well. This means appreciating every opportunity to talk - and about anything with your boss.

2. Appreciate Them

It’s a lonely world at the top. Sure, the tangible compensations look great! And that’s not all we need as human beings. Social animals that we are, we need to feel loved a little.

So it’s time for YOU to take the lead in sharing the positives you’ve gotten from your boss; how they have helped you in your work, makes THEM feel good. And when it’s you making them feel good, they will appreciate you - which strengthens the relationship more.

3. Share Successes

Whilst we believe that praise is always best accepted (none of this, oh, ‘it’s nothing’ - just go with it!), remember that a good boss will facilitate success and achievement, yet often step back from the glory (hmmm, well, some will!).

If you are able to acknowledge their involvement and support, they will be able to be a stronger part of the team, want to do more for the greater good and learn to give praise back!

4. Encourage Team Building

Being a good team player, helps a boss with a critical part of their role. Good bosses are only good because of the quality of the team they develop.

Your working with and in the team, facilitating development and growth, makes it work for the benefit of the business or organisation - and that is a big plus for your boss.

5. Becoming a Solution Providing, Problem-Free Zone

Your boss will be besieged with problems. Time to take a different tack! By having ideas of how to solve problems and sharing those with them, rather than being a constant whiner, will buck the trend, as well as showing an example to others.

You enable an evolving ‘problem-free’ zone in the team, your ideas are an advert for what you can contribute above and beyond the norm - you will be ‘noticed’ positively.

6. Ask for Their Advice

When you need some suggestions about how to move forward, you can still ask for help. ‘I need your help’ is a great way to get it! An emotional plea that buys them into YOU.

It makes a difference to feel wanted. And your boss, just like you, needs to have that sense of being valued. So be prepared to bite the bullet and ask, constructively and positively and then follow through with action.

7. Listen When They Need You

Sometimes your boss will get it wrong - and be horrified. At times like this, it works well to treat them as who they might not always appear to be - a regular human being.

Helping them through difficulties forms a great bond. No need to be grovelling about it, just positively supportive and on their side. Maybe no-one else will (though you might be the model others follow).

8. Say No Sometimes - Sort Of!

Time will come where your boss tests you out, wanting ‘rush-jobs’ done. Now this is usually down to poor ‘boundary’ setting, which is another article in itself. So you need to say ‘no’ when you can’t. Even better is to say ‘yes’ and on your terms.

A piece of work impinging on what’s important to you, needs negotiation around the ‘when’. This is better solution as it helps develop understanding of what needs to happen for the crisis issue to take priority - and sets a marker for how you will handle such matters in future. And starts their ‘training’! You can start this right away.

9. Be Demanding About You (a bit!)

Employees need to know how they are doing. It’s a bit of a challenging world out there and if no-one tells you how you are doing you need to find out. Sometimes a boss is really good at this.

Usually they aren’t. Their head is full of all sorts of tactical stuff they need to do - and they forget about their people. Often this is because no-one has ever modelled what good looks like and the real priorities in business. People.

So by asking how they think you are doing - what they appreciate about you and what you might do differently, they will come along and get better at it with everyone!

10. Have Patience

Behavioural change doesn’t happen all at once and it can go wrong! If you take your time - keep subtle and keep appreciative of them, without the coffee-machine slagging off they usually get, you will make gradual and steady progress.

Managers need this - trust me - some of us have been on the receiving end, very gently, and it does work.

When you are playing with the fire of managing upwards, it a bit like a male scorpion trying to mate, with a big chance he’ll get eaten. Yet it is so vital!

4 Simple Steps To Giving Effective Feedback

Feedback is an effective way of communicating with employees, colleagues or members of your team. Feedback can be both positive and constructive (rather than negative).

When giving feedback it is important to have a balance of positive and constructive feedback otherwise the receiver may feel that they only ever receive one type of feedback. It is also important not to always link the two, especially in the same conversation - giving with one hand and taking away with the other.

Build an environment in which feedback is welcomed. This may take time if it’s not something that has been practised before. Try to give positive feedback whenever you can - this will help to build trust and make the person more comfortable when you need to give constructive feedback.

Giving good/effective feedback:

Be timely. Don’t leave it too long after the event to provide any form of feedback. Give feedback as soon as possible, otherwise the effectiveness of the communication will be lost.

Be aware of your body language, tone and the words that you use when giving feedback. Don’t use confrontational words or tone even if it’s likely to be a tough conversation. Be direct, open and honest.

Consider their frame of reference - it may be different from yours, which will affect the message that they receive. What are their values, attitudes and experiences?

Here are four steps to follow when giving feedback:

Be specific. What are the facts as you see them? Describe the specific situation with facts, events and behaviours that you observed. What specifically was said or done?

Your thoughts. What impact has the action had on other people, the business or you generally? What are your thoughts, opinions or conclusions as a result of the action? Remember they are your thoughts so state this - “I think that …”. Link what you observed to what you thought.

Your feelings. How do you feel about this situation (NOT about the individual) - frustrated, disappointed, pleased - “I feel…” not “you made me feel …”

The outcome. What is the result or outcome you want from this? What do you want to change, improve, stop or continue? Be clear about what you want so they can understand and know what they need to do to change or keep doing.

Once you have given feedback, allow them to respond. Have they understood what you have said? Learn to listen actively to what they say. [Contact me if you need information on Active Listening Skills].

Constructive feedback is more difficult to give than positive feedback but both forms need to be effective. Plan your feedback. Why are you giving feedback, when and where will you give it. It may take only need a few seconds or a few minutes.

Maintain a balance when you give feedback. Make sure that you let people know what they doing well and where they can make improvements.

If you would like additional information on providing feedback, active listening or how to deal with difficult situations please contact me to arrange a specific session to discuss this in more detail.

Copyright 2005: Clare Evans

Clare Evans works with busy, stressed individuals and small business owners to help them plan and organise their time more effectively. Contact her now for more details and a free consultation. http://www.clareevans.co.uk

The Beauty of Behavior: Know More and Struggle Less

Most of us have heard of these types of instruments before: Myers-Briggs (MBTI), Social Styles, DISC, Colors, etc. There are many of these type tools available. And most of us have taken at least one of these over the years, perhaps as a part of a college course, or in our jobs at work.

Usually our response is something like, “yea, that’s pretty much like me” and then we leave the experience thinking that was nice to know, but “so what?” What do I DO with that knowledge?

Like anything else in our lives, if we want to get better at something, we have to practice. I play golf for fun. I’ll never be a great golfer, because I don’t have the time it would take (and patience) to be really good. But I do enjoy going out with my buddies and playing several times during the year. And I pick up a tip here and there, and try it out. I have even opted for a private lesson from time to time.

And yes, I am a better golfer today than I was a few years back. But it’s not my passion. I have a good friend who took up golf in her mid fifties. She is passionate about the game, and invests a lot of time and energy into it. And she is becoming an exceptional golfer.

I am however passionate about behavioral styles. I have found them to be my roadmap for dealing with people in almost every situation, even on the golf course!

Over the years, I have studied and learned various models of behavior, personality and so on. One of the things I find fascinating is the more I learn, the easier it is to navigate relationships, sales situations, conflict and overall communication.

What if you could find a way to understand what motivates a person, what their main goals, fears and blind spots are? Wouldn’t that be helpful in dealing with them both personally and professionally? Zig Ziglar (and others) said “you can get anything you want in life, if you just help enough other people get what they want”.

As a leader and manager, I have found this to be true. By understanding behavior I can create a win-win situation in most instances. Are you thinking to yourself, isn’t that manipulation? The often-used definition of manipulation is the following: “to control or influence someone or something cleverly and unscrupulously, especially to one’s own advantage”.

When we are practicing people reading and doing as Zig Ziglar suggests, we are not manipulating. We are helping others get what they want, which in turn helps us get the outcome we desire. The key is in being sincere and ethical and wanting the best for both parties involved. Isn’t that what leadership and influence is all about? Isn’t that what good negotiators strive to do?

What I have found is that behavior is highly predictable. Let me give you a quick overview of one of the most popular models out there, the DISC model. It has been used by over 40 million people and is available in numerous languages. Here are the four quadrants of behavior:

Dominance
* Characteristics: Fast-paced, quick to make decisions, intense, bottom-line orientation.
* Key Goal: Results, accomplishment.
* Key Fear: Being taken advantage of, losing control.
* Blind Spot: Insensitive to the thoughts and feelings of others.

Influence
* Characteristics: Fast-paced, communicative, likes people and relationships.
* Key Goal: Being able to influence others, being competent, looking good.
* Key Fear: Losing their influence, social rejection.
* Blind Spot: Disorganized, lack of follow through.

Steadiness
* Characteristics: Slower paced, team player, loyal, good listener, kind, sensitive.
* Key Goal: Acceptance, appreciation, stability.
* Key Fear: Loss of stability, sudden change.
* Blind Spot: Putting their own needs last, overly possessive.

Conscientiousness
* Characteristics: Slower paced, deliberate, methodical, analytical, high standards.
* Key Goal: Accuracy, quality.
* Key Fear: Criticism of their work.
* Blind Spot: Overly critical of self and others.

If I just learn these things and start doing some basic people reading, I can start to observe behavior and practice adapting my style to meet the needs of others. Once you start to ask yourself, what am I seeing right now, you can start to unlock to pieces to the behavioral puzzle. If you are picking up a lot of fear about an upcoming change, you may be observing some “Steadiness” or “S” behavior. Stop and figure out how to be a better listener to their concerns, slow down and offer support and acceptance for their feelings. If they feel listened to and appreciated, you can work through the anxiety and help them adjust to the change. It really can be that simple.

The problem is that most of us stay stuck in our own preferred behavior, and expect everyone else to respond as we do. This only leads to miscommunication, conflict and disappointment.

Behavior is really pretty predictable, and with a little knowledge and practice, we can become students of behavior and get what we want by helping others get what they want.

What a concept!

Paula Switzer is considered a DISC expert and teaches others how to use DISC and other assessment tools. She has developed a unique virtual training program. Visit DISC Training and
“http://www.bearealleader.com”>Be A Real Leader for more information.