ATD-Los Angeles LearningPro E-Zine

Every organization is essentially the same inside

Denise Ross — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 19:05:08 GMT

Submitted by Paul Butler, Client Partner, Newleaf Training and Development

What I have come to realize after nearly 20 years as an employee and now 10 years as a business owner, is that essentially all organizations are the same inside.

All organizations want their income to be bigger than their expenses. All organizations want their assets to be larger than their liabilities. All organizations want to have more cash coming in (as a result of their operating, investing and financing activities), than cash going out.

What I have also come to realize is that organization's who thrive, help educate their employees, on how their work on a daily basis impacts the organization's money-making model. This is what we call, "Building the intrapreneurial spirit." Can you imagine an organization (regardless of whether its a corporate business; an educational entity - private or public; a non-profit organization or governmental municipality), where every employee treats their organization’s resources as if they were their own?

It is very effective if you supervise the work of others to invest some time, educating your direct reports on how their work impacts income, expenses, assets and liabilities. Every person has an impact on the financial health of the organization. Great leaders are able to make the connection between input (labor) and output (financial performance). If your employer is a publicly-traded corporation, its easy for you to access the latest financials and draw the connection for you direct reports. If your employer is a private entity, ask if you can share a snapshot of the financials with your direct reports and cite your reason. If you work for a non-profit entity, public educator or government entity, your financials are publicly available information anyway and so they should be easy for you to access. Great leaders are great educators and they invest time, regularly to help their people learn.

I’ll guarantee you that if you invest some time educating your direct reports on how to read financial statements and are able to connect the work of each person to the financial statements, you will collectively make a much more positive impact on the financial health of your organization. Likewise, you will be able to garner ideas as to how to improve financial performance, once people better understand the statements and see they connect with their daily work.

One of the areas Newleaf Training and Development specialize in is teaching Business Financial Intelligence.

5 Factors to Consider for a Successful Virtual Instruct-Led Training Event

Denise Ross — Wed, 14 Sep 2016 18:45:52 GMT

Infographic Created by MicroTek Denver

5 tips for effective networking at professional events

Anthony Lewis — Sat, 12 Mar 2016 18:40:53 GMT

5 tips for effective networking at professional events

By Paul Butler, Newleaf Training and Development

We moved here ten years ago from England to pursue our dream of running our own business in California. When we first started, we were on an Entrepreneur’s Visa (an E2) that roughly translates into “If you don’t sell and create jobs you can’t stay. I just had to learn how to network or else the business would fail and we’d have to go back to England.

I didn’t learn these 5 tips in a book — these are just principles about human behavior that I’ve found just simply work to build profitable business relationships, first formed at professional events. I hope they help you.

1. Be interested, not interesting

Have an authentic curiosity in other people, their story and their business. Really try and understand them and think how you can make connections for them, or even use of their services. The Law of Reciprocity between people is an amazing principle: when you help others, someway, sometime and somehow it will always come back to you and you’ll be helped by them or someone else.

2. Listen twice as much as you speak

We have two ears and one mouth. At networking events, try and listen twice as much as you speak. Most people love the sound of their own voice. I have found that if you listen carefully, you might be able to help someone. I have also found that if you demonstrate attentive listening, they are then more apt to really tune in when it’s your turn to speak.

3. Look for an opportunity to serve within the organization

Professional associations are always looking for people to step up to serve in some capacity within the association. I have found that when you serve alongside people, something wonderful happens: you both are putting your shoulder to the plough for a common cause. As a result you build better and more meaningful professional relationships. By serving you will likely be recognized for your contributions on the association’s website or program materials.

4. Do what you say you’re going to do

I love living in Los Angeles but I have found that most people within business associations don’t do what they say they’re going to do. When they say, “I’ll call you” or “Let’s do lunch” or “We should get together” or “I’ll email” they don’t mean it. I have found that having a reputation for good follow-through sets you apart.

5. Be present

When you’re at the event, be present. Really listen to the announcements and consider what you can learn from the speaker if there’s a formal presentation been given. I have observed that most people are not present but instead are distracted on their phones. Be present — people notice.

I hope these 5 simple points are good reminders of common sense — my observation has been that common sense is not that commonly-practiced.

Paul Butler - ACMA, CGMA

Client Partner

Newleaf Training and Development

27433 Tourney Road, Suite 120

Valencia, CA 91355

Tel: (661) 288 1004

newleaf-ca.com

Two Types of Leaders by Paul Butler

Wed, 24 Jun 2015 00:20:24 GMT

Two Types of Leaders

If you are a supervisor, manager, or senior leader you have a sacred responsibility. If you don't do what you need to do, the organization's results will suffer and the people that report to you will suffer. All work matters, but yours has a multiplying affect.

I have noticed there are two types of leaders - let's call them Type 1 and Type 2.

Type 1 leaders focus on themselves. They don't really care about the people who report to them. They are primarily interested in managing upwards for their own selfish career goals. Type 1 leaders are threatened by the greatness of people around them. They want to suppress and contain any such flashes of brilliance within the ranks so they themselves get the glory. They think independently in interdependent situations. They see the world with their eyes turned inwards. Their best friends are Me, Myself and I - the unholy trinity.

Type 2 leaders focus on others. They genuinely care about the people on their team. They see their roles as bringing out the very best of others to achieve excellent organizational results. They think interdependently but will take personal responsibility for any omissions, errors, or oversights of their team's work. Their best friends are You, Us and Together.

Type 1 leaders tend to think that when they're the boss they can kick back and just tell others what to do. Type 2 leaders work even harder than they did before they became a leader.

This begs the question, "Why do some choose the Type 1 style of leadership and some choose the Type 2 style?" From my observations and experiences, the directional compass of these two leaders is set by such elements as:

Their personal belief system
Their upbringing
Their exposure to professional development
Learning from their own successes and mistakes

Look around your workplace and you will see Type 1 and Type 2 leaders. Which ones do you think are making the best contribution to the organizational results and work culture?

Choose to be a Type 2 leader. That's one of the wonderful things about human beings: we're able to learn and adapt. Our tomorrow as a leader doesn't have to be our past because we can choose to change it in the present. Organizational results will improve and your team will thrive under your leadership because Type 2 leaders are people of exceptional character and consistent competence.

Paul Butler, Client Partner, Newleaf Training and Development; paul.butler@newleaf-ca.com; (661) 877 6833

Think Like a Business Owner by Paul Butler

Wed, 15 Apr 2015 02:47:00 GMT

Think Like a Business Owner

Most people don't. Most people check in and check out. From my observations around the world working with entities of all types, very few people think like a business owner. Imagine an organization where everyone understood the money-making model of the business; where they understood the financial jargon and how to interpret the financial statements. Imagine if everyone in senior management understood capital investment analysis and what that would do to the robustness of long-term decision making.

If you were to ask for my top tip for not being laid off in today's highly competitive workplace; one where outsourcing is becoming the norm, where the jobs get less plentiful the further you advance up the organizational pyramid, and where change is the only constant - it would be to sharpen your business intelligence.

Remember every business is a business. An educational entity (private or public) is a business. A non-profit entity is a business. A city municipality is a business. The definition of a business is an organization that sells goods and/or services. If it generates a profit (defined as income being greater than expenses) that's taxable, it's a for profit business. If, due to its social purpose it is not taxable, it's defined as a non-profit or not for profit business. Notice the last word in each definition? Yes, business.

Think. You can only advance so far in your career based on your technical ability. If you're also good at managing yourself you may be asked to lead others. But if you're technically excellent and a superb leader your contribution is capped if you lack business financial intelligence.

If your personal finances are a mess, please don't do the same with the organization's resources! One of the consistent findings in the financial mess of AIG, Enron, Tyco International and the web of Bernie Madoff was dreadful personal financial management. Funny how that works, isn't it? These folks may have had bigger pay checks than us but their personal financial affairs were a complete mess.

I remember my father saying to me as a young man: "You'll never be able to lead others if you can't manage yourself." I believe it's the same with business finances. How can you be invited to manage the organizational finances if you can't manage your own household?

I highly recommend websites such as ibd.com to sharpen your knowledge of the stock market. Check out seekingalpha.com for understanding earnings calls. Read a good book or two on the subject, such as What the CEO wants you to know by Ram Charan or How to read financial reports by John Tracy.

Find a friend in finance within your organization and see if they will mentor you for a few working lunches on how to understand the organizational money-making model and to demystify the financial terms you hear in meetings (but presently nod your head pretending to understand them).

You may even consider bringing us in to teach a seminar called Business Financial Intelligence. We also offer this as a webinar, as well as an architecture for executive coaching.

No organization ever wants to let go of someone that is technically excellent; someone who manages themselves well, leads other superbly, and thinks like a business owner.

Paul Butler, Client Partner, Newleaf Training and Development

paul.butler@newleaf-ca.com

(661) 877 6833

Looking for a Job or Qualified Candidates? Try our Job Bulletin Board!

Sun, 29 Mar 2015 16:50:29 GMT

Hello Employers and Job Seekers,

Did you know that ATD Los Angeles offers a “free” job listing bulletin board? Yes, it’s available to you twenty-four hours a day at no cost. Our bulletin board is designed specifically for talent development related positions, like: training managers, organizational development consultants, instructors, learning specialists, instructional designers and others.

EMPLOYERS

Looking for an instructional designer, instructor, organizational development specialist, training manager or leadership development professional? When you use the ATD Los Angeles job bulletin board your postings can reach hundreds of talent management and human resources professionals from around the Los Angeles and the nearby communities. It’s simple and free to use! Click here to post a job.

JOB SEEKERS

Tired of your current job or need a new job? Do you want to transition your career as talent management professional? Use our Members Only job bulletin board to stay in touch with local opportunities. It’s easy for you to stay in touch because we have active social media too! Search the job board, just log in with you membership account and then click here for listings.

Better yet, if you’re current not an ATD Los Angeles member, but want to be, join our chapter today and take advantage of our many local benefits. Various membership levels are available to those that currently have a job and we offer a temporary reduced rate for those in transition without a job. Join today click here.

Katrin Kaehler

President

Tomorrow Never Comes by Paul Butler

Tue, 24 Feb 2015 03:16:58 GMT

Tomorrow Never Comes by Paul Butler

Why do we tend to procrastinate? I am not a psychologist but I find it so interesting that the vast majority of people I ask when teaching seminars, webinars; when delivering a keynote address, or during executive coaching assignments gladly admit to a strong tendency to procrastinate. Come on be honest, I am sure you (just like the rest of us) can think of times when you dragged our feet or left something to the last minute.

Procrastination is a self-management issue that impacts others. Just imagine the organizational ramifications of someone, (say a supervisor), who tends to procrastinate – at minimum, they will be influencing mediocrity, and worst-case scenario, they will definitely lose high-potential talent who get frustrated with not getting it done!

There's a lot of common-sense wisdom out there on tips and techniques to overcome procrastination (as well tips and techniques to influence those whose work you depend on to not procrastinate either). It's worth reviewing some of the best of these because we know common sense is just not commonly practiced!

If you're a morning person, hit the hard tasks in the morning when your energy is optimal. Obviously if you're an afternoon person, do the opposite. If you're neither, maybe you ought to consider night security as a career.

If you get your energy from people, carve out time to get the input of others to avoid inertia on the tough assignment – hey, you may be able to engage help from others who become keen to help you because you've asked their opinion. If people drain your energy, be sure to carve out some quiet, undisturbed time on a regular basis to get the assignment done.

Break the project down into bite-sized chunks and ask yourself every day, "What are the 1 to 3 things I could get done today to move this forward?" Analyze the assignment to identify what sections can be completed in parallel (A, D, and E at the same time), rather than looking at everything linear (A then B then C, etc.).

Set yourself (and maybe others) tighter deadlines to get sub-tasks done to be able to have some wiggle room towards the end of the project to ensure you have quality time to review before submission or to allow for unforeseen problems.

Remember great leaders have a reputation for getting things done. I’ve taught in 28 states in the U.S., China, India and 4 countries in Western Europe, and to this day I still haven’t found anyone who says they are impressed by people who are always late or busy, who don't do what they say they're going to do when they say they're going to do it, or are full of excuses why they missed a deadline!

Here's a thought: have you noticed how many people appear to get their identity, or sense of self-importance and value by their busyness? I have seen this especially over the last few years with the economy being how it was and to some extent, still is.

It's almost as if some people in today's downsized, globally competitive, technologically enhanced, fast-moving workplace want to create lots of frenetic motion and as much noise around them as possible. They want to be seen as rushing from one meeting to another, giving the impression of being overwhelmed with their emails, schedule, and task list. Why? It's as if the mindset is: "I have to look crazy busy because if I am not crazy busy I might get laid off!"

Is that really an effective way of leading? Is that really a supervisor you would like to work for? Rather like pebbles in a pond, can you see how that mindset and those behavioral tendencies would ripple out into other aspects of their life – as a spouse, partner, parent, friend, son, daughter, neighbor, or community member? Maybe it just doesn't have to be this way.

My experience and observation is that leaders who lead in a completely different manner become talent magnets. They become someone others want to work for. People who work in a calm, intentional, and present manner tend to make better people to be around and don't we all want to enjoy the people we work with? Isn’t it better to work with men and women of high character and high competence? Wouldn’t we rather return home knowing we've done a good day's work and have enough energy to be fully present with the ones we love? Isn't that why we work?

Yes, our work matters but what really matters is who we are while doing that work and who we are when we get home. For some of us, or all of us at one time or another, this would be turning over a new leaf.

Paul Butler, Client Partner, Newleaf Training and Development

paul.butler@newleaf-ca.com

(661) 877 6833

Business Financial Intelligence – Time Is Money

Tue, 16 Dec 2014 01:47:06 GMT

Business Financial Intelligence – Time Is Money

Time is money – we’ve all heard the phrase but do we always honor it?

For most organizations, the largest expenses (liabilities) are wages, salaries, and the future obligations to employees (such as pensions) . Make no mistake - human resources are expensive and that’s why we constantly see down-sizing, right-sizing, labor force reductions, and constant advances in technology directly or indirectly focused on reducing such costs.

Are you maximizing your personal efficiency and effectiveness during the course of your working day? If you influence the work of others, how are you maximizing the output from their combined input? Imagine if the organization you work for was instead the business you owned. Would you spend every dollar on labor as it is presently being spent?

Top tip for job protection and career advancement in an ever-changing world of commerce: focus on doing your own job superbly well and constantly think and implement ways of doing it even better! Tap into the intrapreneurial spirit that’s within each of us; always asking yourself whether a certain task adds value to the organization or are you wasting resources? Think about your email management, meeting protocols and daily management of your energy and time.

How do we measure productivity in financial statements? Short answer – how does the bottom line of the income statement compare with the top or bottom of the balance sheet? You may have heard phrases such as ROA (Return on Assets, which is Net Income over Total Assets) or perhaps ROE (Return on Equity, which is Net Income over Total Shareholder Equity). These are productivity measures – sometimes called velocity measures. Closer to home of course, we measure quite simply, wages and salary expenses as a percentage of sales.

Regardless of how accountants measure it – lets continue to use time wisely in the workplace and think and act like a business-owner with every dollar of time that passes through our hands. You win and your organization wins when everyone behaves in such a way with this vitally important and incredibly expensive human resource.

Paul Butler ~ (661) 288 1004 ~ paul.butler@newleaf-ca.com

ABOUT NEWLEAF TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT (newleaf-ca.com): Newleaf Training and Development deliver seminars, keynotes, coaching and online to help people and organizations better manage themselves, lead others and build business financial intelligence.

What on Earth are we Doing Here? by Paul Butler

Tue, 28 Oct 2014 01:35:05 GMT

What on Earth are we Doing Here?

The objective of a for-profit entity is to make a profit or in academic terms, to 'maximize shareholder/stakeholder value.' Coming from a publicly traded corporate background, I understand that, as I think we all do. Even a not-for-profit or a non-profit entity has to have its income at least match it's expenses but is that all? Is that the only reason why we do what we do at work?

Many organizations have tried to take a more balanced view of looking at the world of commerce over many different generations. I originate from Birmingham, England, where the Cadbury brothers started their chocolate empire and they viewed business a little differently to how entrepreneurs do nowadays. Their mindset was that if they looked after their employees; those employees would reciprocate with hard work and loyalty to the Cadbury family. They provided good compensation, healthy working conditions, and even good quality housing, if needed, close to their factory in Birmingham.

The Cadbury organization was well renowned for paying vendors on time and donating significant amounts of money and time to many charities and well-deserving causes. You could say, in modern parlance, they operated their business to a Balanced Scorecard, well before the term was coined. They measured true business success in their profits; their quality of product; the happiness of their employees; the satisfaction of their vendors, and their positive impact on their communities. The Cadbury family was a highly principled family.

Peter Drucker, the great management thinker, based out of Claremont for many years, also wrote and taught on this broader concept of organizational responsibility. Jjust a couple of decades later, Kaplan and Norton launched their Balanced Scorecard.

With all this knowledge, why do most organizations ignore this balanced approach? I think for publicly traded companies that focus purely on profit it's because of the short-term nature of the stock market. For private companies and other non-profit or not-for-profit entities, I believe most of them falter because they fall into the trap of thinking their status just means they don't pay tax, and so for all intents and purposes, they behave like a for-profit entity.

But you know, I believe it's deeper and more personal than that. I think human beings are innately selfish and when they band together in something called an organization they can easily lose sight of their purpose. Match this innate nature with short-term goals and high rewards, and many men and woman are blinded by the singular focus on profit and their own egotistical agenda as leaders: the vicious cycle continues.

I remember delivering some professional development a few years ago to a very well-known charity. Their culture was without doubt the most cut-throat, ruthless, and toxic I have ever worked with. They were laser-focused on making their numbers. I spent many, many hours with their senior leadership and I never really once heard any reflection on the purpose of their organization. Their purpose looked great represented in the brochures and emotionally moving pictures hanging in the hallway, but just didn't seem to be important to the folks on a day-to-day basis. I think they'd forgotten what was truly important and it was sad, very sad.

Corporations generate tax dollars that help the world work. Educational institutions help create jobs that generate income tax dollars, which help make the world work. Charities fulfill missions to help provide the dollars that tax dollars can't. City, state, and federal governments spend the tax dollars on infrastructure that's needed to enable all of the above to happen. Work seems to work best when we remember we're meant to be working together to serve each other.

I have a very simple view of the purpose of commerce, which is to provide products and services to help people. I believe after it's all said and done, it's about people. History tends to teach us that when we serve people well, (be they customers, employees, or vendors) the entity thrives. History also tends to teach us that when we put profits first, put ourselves first, or lose sight of the purpose of the organization, failure of one type another is not far off.

I think this is why I still like Cadburys chocolate after all these years.

“A corporation is an ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility.” undefined Anon

ABOUT NEWLEAF TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT (newleaf-ca.com)

Newleaf Training and Development (based in Valencia) deliver seminars, keynotes, coaching and online to help people and organizations better manage themselves, lead others and build business financial intelligence.

People are Our Greatest Asset! by Paul Butler

Tue, 21 Oct 2014 00:20:10 GMT

People are Our Greatest Asset!

We have all heard a senior leader say this. We like the sentiment but of course, it’s inaccurate from an accounting perspective. Employees are not assets. Their wages and salaries are an expense and future obligations such as retirement benefits are liabilities.

Having taught business financial intelligence within many organizations now for many years, I am no longer surprised to hear that most mid-senior level leaders don’t understand various terms associated with assets such as: CURRENT assets, FIXED assets, INVESTMENT assets, or INTANGIBLE assets. How about we invest a few minutes and demystify those now if you’re not 100% clear?

First, assets are what the organization owns. CURRENT assets are those items the business owns that will be converted into cash (if not already cash) in less than 12 months - hence the term, “current.” FIXED assets are those items are tangible (they exist physically); are used in the normal operations of the business; are not held for resale and are permanent meaning they’re likely to last more than one year (they’re not “current”). FIXED assets are depreciated over their estimated useful life.

INVESTMENT assets are items the organization owns but ARE held for resale; for example, Newleaf is a staff training and development company - we’re not a commercial real estate company. So, if we bought a property or a piece of land, (for example, with the intent to sell it for a profit at some point in the future) that item would be listed on our balance sheet as an INVESTMENT asset. When we sell it, it comes off the balance sheet (as we no longer OWN it) and we make a profit or sustain a loss on disposal which impacts the income statement (aka the profit and loss account).

INTANGIBLE assets are those items the organization owns but do not exist physically. Examples of intangible assets include goodwill, copyrights, trademarks, royalties, and patents. They key to remember here is that INTANGIBLE assets (a) arise through acquisition and (b) are not depreciated, they’re amortized (same accounting principle, different terminology).

Homework: I dare you to call out in future a senior leader when s/he says: “People are our greatest asset.” Feel free to let me know how that goes for you!

ABOUT NEWLEAF TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT (newleaf-ca.com)

Coaching for Training Transfer by Karen Osgood

Tue, 04 Mar 2014 02:32:34 GMT

Coaching for Training Transfer

In the United States corporations spend $210 billion annually on training employees. Yet according to the U.S. Business Leadership Review only a small portion of learning is actually transferred to the workplace. After the training program takes place, about 62% is transferred; this is reduced to 44% that is applied after 6 months; and further drops to only 20-30% applied after one year. These are staggering statistics and there are a number of factors that play into why this happens.

Some of training transfer being reduced can be attributed to the following factors:

The training content was not relevant to the job the employee was performing
The time that the training took place was not simultaneous with actual application on the job
The work place was not conducive or supportive to the trainee applying what had been learned

The principle factors identified in research by Love (2001) were lack of encouragement, support, and reinforcement of training by the manger or supervisor.

This is where coaching can enter the picture to help bridge that gap from the training event to application on the job and even better, integration of skills into everyday behavior. Coaching can help take Kirkpatrick's model of evaluation from Level 2 Learning up to Level 3 Application. Dennis Coates in his article for ASTD Info Line, Enhance the Transfer of Training says "While only the direct manager can provide effective performance coaching in the workplace, they can be supported in this role. For one thing, trainers are uniquely qualified to get involved in follow up reinforcement."

What would our training transfer rates be if Trainers were to follow up with their participants as a group, team, or 1x1 to help facilitate the support, knowledge and learning integration that participants require to make that connection from classroom or online content to their everyday world?

Coaching can be utilized by Manager or Trainer to help facilitate the process of training transfer. The leader has the benefit of being able to see frequently how the employee is performing with the new knowledge and skills. This can be very useful if the leader is willing to coach and provide timely feedback for the associate. The Trainer can also play a role in scheduling follow up sessions with participants in a team, group, or 1x1, to further coach and help the students make connections in their daily routines.

Trainers can be actively involved in the support and transfer of knowledge into application on the job and integration into a new behavior set. They are intimately familiar with the content and materials of what was trained and can play a vital role in communicating and coaching students through the process of shifting perspectives and habits. This ideal is that coaching becomes a requirement of training so that all participants know that follow up coaching sessions will be inherent in the training process to support the transfer of knowledge and skills.

By Karen Osgood

Karen@coach2speak.com

www.coach2speak.com

805.453.1642

Time, Time, Time – What’s Become of Time? By Paul Butler

Mon, 17 Feb 2014 22:46:30 GMT

Time, Time, Time – What’s Become of Time?

Did you know, time management is the most Googled training and development subject today? You’d think with all the smart phones and planning devices we’d have this one down by now – surely?

Time management is really a dichotomy – can we really “manage” time? On one hand we cannot really manage time – as the old saying goes, ‘time waits for no one.’ On the other hand, we can manage our priorities. It’s almost as if time is a free gift voucher we can redeem at any store – we just need to budget, spend, and invest wisely because there’s only so much time on the card; trouble is we don’t know how much!

Subjects that are within the same family as time management are work/life balance and stress management. If you were to ask me my top tip for work/life balance or for stress reduction, I’d say be clear on your priorities in each of your roles in life. No-one likes to work with or for a bent-out-of-shape workaholic; we much prefer to work with or for people that are balanced; who have a sense of clarity, calmness, and purpose.

Priorities are those things that matter most. Pause right now and ask yourself:

What your highest priorities are for this week in your work role
What are the vital few things that if you get them done this week will make the biggest difference in the work you do?
What about your roles outside of work: perhaps as a husband, a father, a wife, mother, son, daughter, friend, or community member?

We have to be very intentional about focusing on and completing priorities. It’s almost as if the busyness of life works against us, bringing everything faster and faster. We have all these communication devices, yet we seem to effectively communicate far less. Its almost as if life out of the box, plug and play, default living is go, go, go, rush, rush, rush – now, now, now. We have to swim upstream to get the things done which matter most in life.

Have you mastered best practices for email, phones, interruptions, procrastination, and meetings? These five most common time challengers need to be mastered to help us be as effective and efficient as possible to squeeze maximum juice out of not only our working day but also our personal time. That’s an interest thing about life isn’t it? If we only put in 70% today, we don’t get 130% tomorrow. Life doesn’t work like that. If you’d like a list of the best practices for email, phones, interruptions, procrastination and meetings that we have picked up from our experiences and from serving clients all over the world now, let us know.

So time is a dichotomy – it exists outside of us; it marches on without our acceptance or instruction. Our choice is how we invest and spend our time. Great leaders, great spouses, great parents, great friends, and great community members all discipline themselves to focus on what matters most.

ABOUT NEWLEAF TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT (newleaf-ca.com)

We deliver seminars, keynotes, coaching and online to help people and organizations better manage themselves, lead others, and build business financial intelligence.

How Did We Get Here? by Paul Butler

Tue, 13 Aug 2013 00:30:49 GMT

How Did We Get Here?

There’s a song by a great band from the 80’s (Talking Heads) with the lyric – “how did we get here?” When we work with teams on strategic planning, we often ask that exact same question: “well, how did you get here?”

Someone once said that “vision without action is hallucination” and there’s much truth in that. In business school, the vast majority of leaders learn how to create strategies but few people learn how to execute. Setting a strategy isn’t the problem; executing the strategy is the problem.

So why do most strategies fail?

It’s because most strategic plans begin and end with the numbers (the measurements) and pay lip-service to how the numbers are going to be achieved, by whom, and what the role of leadership is in achieving the numbers.

Effective strategic plans not only identify the vision (what we refer to as the desired state) but also the customer behavior needed to help make their desired state a reality.

For example, LA Fitness’s desired state is to increase membership dollars and the customer behavior they require is positive attrition – meaning, new members greater than lost members – simple, yes?

An excellent strategy will identify the key drivers to obtain the required customer behavior. Using LA Fitness again as an example, they realized that some people were canceling their memberships as they were unsatisfied with the children’s nursery facilities and services at the gym! Surprising eh? So they went to work on impacting the key driver to get the customer behavior required to achieve their desired state.

LA Fitness came to realize they needed to recruit people who actually wanted to work in the children’s nursery facilities.

A good gardener will tell you that you need the right environment for your garden to grow. In strategic planning, these are the conditions. Good people can perform as great people in the right conditions which include pay, bonus, information sharing, comfortable office space, areas for collaboration, effective meetings, etc.; all of these are conditions that help the garden to grow. An effective strategic plan includes time to review the conditions in which the organization expects its people to thrive and contribute their best efforts.

Mediocre management can still make a mess in a good garden and so it’s imperative that management look at their actions as leaders. Are they consistently demonstrating that they are trustworthy leaders? People follow leaders they trust and trust is the commodity in which leaders deal.

Now we can start looking at measurements. Notice it comes last. Why? Well, most organizations have it upside-down. The numbers are really just the fruit that comes from having the roots well planted (desired state, customer behavior, key drivers, people behavior, conditions, and leader actions). Consider the following:

How does the organization measure success?
Are these the right measures?
How does the organization know if its customers are satisfied or not?
How about the employees?
How does the organization know how engaged its employees are in their partnership with the organization?
Are there any contradictory measures? For example, in the hotel industry, controllers measure how quickly a room can be cleaned, whereas the customer is interested in how clean the room actually is. This is a contradicting measure.

How about your team? As you begin to think towards the next financial year, is it worth investing a day to sit down with your team and chart the course and develop a strategic plan? It could be the best investment you make this year.

ABOUT NEWLEAF TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT (newleaf-ca.com)
We deliver seminars, keynotes, and coaching to help people and organizations better manage themselves, lead others, and build business financial intelligence. Newleaf Training and Development offers a seminar to assist with strategic planning called Charting the Course.

The Golden Rule of Business by Paul Butler

Tue, 06 Aug 2013 00:55:08 GMT

The Golden Rule of Business

We have all probably heard the old adage: “He who owns the most gold, makes the rules.” While this is certainly not the traditional golden rule, it highlights the leverage power of possessing a valuable commodity. One such commodity that every business must take stock in is excellent customer service. Like a storehouse full of gold, a good business reputation and excellent refer-ability pave the way for a business to continue, to grow and to have a greater impact on the community at large.

How does ensure great customer service? Well, this is where we re-visit the “real” golden rule: “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Could you imagine a world in which everyone practiced this rule? Whether the specifics of a particular business model involve making customers feel as if they were in your own home with hospitality, engaging with a proactive approach that anticipates their needs and offers a solution as soon as possible, or just simply makes a point to treat them with the dignity, good customer service is imperative to successful business.

An important note to remember is that everyone is in the customer service business. Every business has customers, even if those customers are, in fact, other businesses. It is easy to get far away from focusing on the importance of positive relationships with customers when the red tape piles up, and when policy issues, licensing concerns, expenses, etc., all threaten to drown the operations of the enterprise. However, when one remembers that the business literally would not exist without the customer, it is vital to remember that the customer, then, is the boss.

Businesses have internal customers (colleagues) as well as external customers. It is especially important that support departments (such as IT, Finance, HR, etc.) be customer centered to delight their internal customers. Superb service takes a transactional customer and converts him to a client.

At this elevated place, the relationship becomes most important and it reduces the tendency for the client to commoditize a product/service (i.e. it becomes less about price). When the client thinks about your business, do they see a static picture of the end product? Or do they see a movie playback of all the great experiences and warm interactions they have had with the people there?

In today’s highly diversified marketplace in which the customer is bombarded with nearly infinite choices, customer service is the only true differentiator. Technologies can be copied and products imitated. However, cultures take years to establish. A good team culture that focuses on the customer is a long-term investment that is worth making.

Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, is a great example of someone who took this lesson to heart. He created a culture in which people were willing to pay a premium for the product because they received more than a fair return from the service (individualized drinks, calling out the customer’s name, etc.). At Starbucks, and at every business, it must be ALL about the customer!

ABOUT NEWLEAF TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT (newleaf-ca.com)
We deliver seminars, keynotes, coaching and online to help people and organizations better manage themselves, lead others and build business financial intelligence.

The Role of Roles: Employee Engagement for Each Generation in Every Season by Taylor Fitzpatrick, Diane Thielfoldt & Devon Scheef

Tue, 06 Aug 2013 00:28:58 GMT

The Role of Roles: Employee Engagement for Each Generation in Every Season

Picture this: It is your first day at a new job. Your anticipation mixes with apprehension and anxiety. All sorts of questions fly through your mind:

Is this where I’m supposed to be?
Will people like me?
Can I really make a career out of this?

Now flash forward 25 years. You have spent the last two and a half decades working for that organization, building a legacy that will live on even after your departure. You have helped your company build its brand and increase revenue; you have empowered those around you through meaningful relationships; you have been successful by all definitions of the word.

Every employer dreams of having an entire organization of this type of person. Managers often ask themselves, “What made (or makes) them stay for the long term?” Employee retention is one of the leading concerns of most organizations, yet we think they are asking the wrong question. Instead of asking “what” makes people stay, perhaps the question should be “who.” Over 70% of people leave their jobs because of the way they are led, not how much they are paid. It stands to reason that if we want employees to stay, we have to become better leaders. But how? The trick lies in recognizing a few essential leadership roles.

The Employee Cycle
Like your washing machine, dryer, and life, employment comes in cycles. Your employees navigate key phases, performance milestones and challenges as they move from recruitment to departure. To be an effective leader, you must recognize what stage each of your employees is in and respond accordingly. In each stage of the Employee Cycle, the individual has different needs that must be met and questions they ponder:

Prospect – Is this where I want to work? Am I a fit?
New Hire – Where do I fit? Am I welcome here? Am I getting connected to the job, the culture, and the social network?
Learner – Am I learning what I need to know? Do I have the tools and information I need to do my job? Am I growing and developing?
Performer – Am I acknowledged for my contribution? Am I motivated to accomplish my goals?
Legacy Leaver – Am I sharing my knowledge? Do you know what I know?

Once you accurately assess which phase each person is in within their cycle, you can step up and engage them with the tips we’ve outlined here. Be prepared – what follows is packed with a lot of powerful information that will challenge you to grow as a leader and will equip you to engage employees of the multigenerational workforce. But it is only as effective as your commitment to taking action on what you read.

THE TALENT SCOUT
This is arguably the most important role a manager plays. As the talent scout, it is your responsibility to recruit and hire the most talented individuals who are committed to the vision of your organization. This means that it is not only up to you to accurately assess the skills of the prospect, but to clearly communicate the value of your organization to the person. If they are going to commit to the company for the duration of their career, they have to buy into the vision, mission, values, direction, etc. of your company. It’s up to you to help the best candidates fall in love with your company even before they first punch in.

To Each His Own
Engaging the generations in each stage may be difficult, but here a few ideas to help you out. Understand what attracts each generation to an employer, and then customize your communication to attract them. For instance, try these promises:

Millennials - There’s a lot of challenge and a lot of structure here; you won’t be bored!
Generation X - You can be entrepreneurial and highly skilled here.
Baby Boomers - We need your unique contribution; you’re part of something bigger here.
The Silents - Your experience is welcome; teach us what you know.

THE ORIENTEER
Once your prospect joins your team as a new hire, your role shifts from one of recon to one of integration. It is up to you to help your new hire acclimate to the culture, embrace the position, and connect to the social network. The best managers recognize the importance of monitoring and guiding the interconnections within the group, the socio-organizational norms that create (or diminish) the collaboration and cooperation critical to delivering a stellar product or outstanding service. Truthfully, the first 30 days determine the next 10 years for new hires.

To Each His Own
Try these generation-specific actions to ensure that new hires of each generation remain committed:

Millennials - Provide a buddy and a social network. Fill them in on the “unwritten rules."
Generation X - Describe the performance expectations and measures. Answer the questions, Where do I fit? What will this job do for my skills portfolio?
Baby Boomers - Describe where their experience fits. Provide introductions to senior leaders; build the new Boomer’s visibility.
The Silents - Share the organization’s history and mission. Let them know why people are proud to work here.

THE PERFORMANCE COACH
This critical role empowers employees in the Learner stage and guides them to the Performer stage. The performance coach is responsible for reinforcing positive behaviors and correcting negative ones. As the performance coach, you provide career insight and on-the-job feedback to assist in development; you prepare your team members for future positions and are not afraid to have realistic career conversations; you are their advocate, cheerleader, and the voice of reason on a daily basis. Development is everywhere – you just have to commit to helping your team members grow!

To Each His Own
Manage members of different generations in ways that are meaningful to them:

Millennials - Explain the importance of seemingly routine tasks. Expect a lot, give a lot of feedback.
Generation X - Build their skills portfolio (change it up, job rotations, job swaps, management training). Candidly discuss reputation.
Baby Boomers - Freshen up jobs with lateral moves. Keep their skills up to date; fight skill obsolescence.
The Silents - Discuss retirement/transitions. Have them mentor others.

THE ENGAGEMENT EXPERT
The engagement expert is tasked with fostering one-on-one connections to keep the talent you fought hard to get and grow. Performers who are inspired, motivated, and challenged will continue to contribute at high levels. While the other managerial roles listed here focus on the success of the group, the engagement expert needs to hone in on individual needs and be very deliberate about creating a strong, trusting relationship with each person. You must let each person know he or she is valued and successfully motivate each to achieve organizational objectives.

To Each His Own
Try these techniques to engage members of each generation:

Millennials - Personalize their work. Create a collegial work climate.
Generation X - Resist micromanaging. Offer flexible work hours, flexible work.
Baby Boomers – Offer work-life balance (take all that vacation!) and new challenges that match their skills.
The Silents - Create significant mentoring roles. Appreciate and acknowledge.

THE LEGACY CREATOR
Last but not least, the leader as legacy creator ensures that the know-how of employees doesn’t get lost in transition. This managerial role assists legacy leavers in sharing their knowledge with others in the organization. As the legacy creator you are responsible for creating a talent foundation that is necessary for your organization to be successful in the future. You foster resilience, continuity, knowledge sharing, and teachability, and equip your team for whatever may lie ahead.

To Each His Own
Need ideas on how to effectively capture the knowledge of legacy leavers from each generation? Try these:

Millennials - Reverse mentoring / adopt-a-Boomer. Ask them to document critical knowledge of highly skilled employees and use creativity (documentary film, YouTube clip, story, desk guide, etc.).
Generation X - Ask them to be a subject matter expert on a specific topic/be a resource.
Baby Boomers - Use their experience to lead critical initiatives, implement change.
The Silents - Redesign their jobs so they have the time to teach.

The Ball Is in Your Court
Just as the wheels on the bus go round and round, so does the cycle for employees and managers alike. The challenge is for you to recognize what role best suits each of your employees, and engage the multigenerational workforce accordingly. You never knowundefinedyou might just be investing in the success of the next Steve Jobs.

Diane and Devon are Co-Founders of The Learning Café, a consulting organization dedicated to bridging the generation gap and inspiring all generations at work. We research, write, speak, and train about the multigenerational workforce. Taylor is the new Millennial voice at The Learning Café. As a young professional, she is passionate about helping other young (and "well-seasoned") people find success and fulfillment in their careers.

How to Build Trust On Your Team by Dave Jensen

Tue, 14 May 2013 02:49:28 GMT

How to Build Trust On Your Team

Gaining trust from others
begins by giving trust to others.

"I'll get back to you on that."

I uttered these famous last words to a graduate student at UCLA when I worked for Siemens many years ago. I never did get back to him. I don't remember why.

Two years later, when I became chief administrative officer of an institute at UCLA, my failure to follow through cost me, big time. This graduate student became a young professor in our institute and told my boss, the director of the institute, that he preferred not to work with me on any of our project teams because he didn't trust me. Ouch!

For me, the moral of the story is that trust is often difficult to establish, easy to break, and hard to reclaim. I share the story with you to introduce the idea that despite the fragile nature of trust, there are four steps you can take to establish and maintain trust (at work or home).

Understand the nature of trust
Appreciate the high cost of low trust
Assess trust on your team
Tackle your top trust-busters

Understand the Nature of Trust
To build trust, we must first define it. Trust is the decision to be vulnerable to the actions of others, based on our expectations they will perform a particular action. A careful reading of this definition reveals that the nature of trust:

Asks us to choose to rely on others. To trust or not to trust is a choice.
Puts us at risk. Without vulnerability, trust is not needed.
Involves our prediction about the behaviors of others.

To further understand the nature of trust we must also realize that there are four categories of trust within any organization¹:

Strategic: Is there confidence that senior management is setting the right direction?
Organizational: Can employees rely on the organization itself?
Personal: Do employees have confidence in their manager?
Team: Is there trust among members of a team?

If any one of these takes a hit, it often damages the others. This brief article will help you build team trust.

Appreciate the High Cost of Low Trust
Professor Robert Hurley from Fordham University surveyed 450 leaders from 30 global companies and found that half of them didn't trust their senior executives.² Another survey of 12,750 U.S. workers at all job levels and in a variety of industries came to these conclusions:

39% of employees at U.S. companies trust their senior leaders.
45% of employees say they have confidence in the job being done by senior management
43% of employees say they trust the way their company manages change (e.g., restructuring, downsizing, merging, expansion and growth).³

This epidemic of low trust infects employee morale, retention, recruitment, productivity, sales, customer service, product quality, and the long-term financial performance of the organization.

Failure of team members to trust each other is especially problematic in today’s increasingly interdependent work environment. Although matrix management (where employees report to more than one boss) may offer benefits in this environment, there are several potential disadvantages of the matrix approach. These include heightened conflict, power struggles, and slower decision-making.⁴ If team members do not have the trust needed to combat these matrix challenges, the matrix structure becomes a spider web – attractive from a distance, a trap in practice.⁵

Low levels of trust also have profound implications for senior leaders of organizations. When Professors Tony Simons and Randall Peterson studied 100 CEOs and executive teams, they found the teams whose members distrusted one another were less effective in collaborating and endorsing strategic decisions.⁶ No wonder the bible teaches that "a house divided against itself cannot stand."

Assess Trust on Your Team
The survey below assesses overall team trust by asking you to indicate the extent with which team members act in the manner described by the question. Although there may be differences among team members, this assessment asks you to consider the general tendency among all members. There are five response options for each question.

Never = 1
To a Small Extent = 2
To a Moderate Extent = 3
To a Large Extent = 4
Always = 5

Read each question and decide which one of the five responses best describes the extent with which most team members behave.

Overall, to what extent do you think team members...

Willingly share information, ideas, and suggestions with other team members?

Engage in cognitive/task conflict as needed, while minimizing emotional conflict?

Employ a quality, transparent, and collaborative process when making team decisions?

Manage the tension between self-interest and the organization’s interest well?

Act in a manner that is congruent with their words?

Provide honest, open feedback even if it challenges the prevailing point of view?

Manage their emotions well and respect the emotions of others?

Openly discuss challenges, knowing others will respond constructively and caringly?

Demonstrate their competence consistently as they fulfill their responsibilities?

Stay focused on key tasks and priorities?

Score your team trust survey
 Scores 40 -- 50 = Team performs well most of the time.
 Scores 30 -- 39 = Team performs fairly well, except under pressure.
 Scores 20 -- 29 = Team performs poorly.
 Scores 00 -- 20 = Team does not perform.

Tackle Your Top Trust-Busters
How did your team do? Don’t be upset if they score poorly, the first step of any journey is to understand where you are -- to increase your awareness of your landscape.

If you read the 10 sentences in the above survey as statements instead of questions, you’ll know the top 10 keys to building and maintaining team trust. That’s right; the survey questions are also the answers to how to increase trust on your team. So, the next step is to try one of following three approaches to tackle your trust-busters.

Invite each person on your team to rate the overall team on these ten statements (like you just did). Then, have the team brainstorm ways they could improve the lower-scoring statements.
Rate yourself on these ten. Then, decide how you want to work on areas that need development.
Ask each team member to rate every team member. Then, tally the scores to gain an excellent idea of how each team member is perceived by all their peers.

I recently followed a variation of this third approach with an executive team. After reviewing their feedback with each of them during a one-on-one debriefing, each executive chose to work on his or her own trust issues. The CEO called last week to tell me how pleased he is with their progress.

Our willingness to trust others
is not always about the others.

I wish I could report that I used these ideas to build trust with the young professor at UCLA, discussed in the opening story. But I can't report it because I didn't do it. I didn't have the knowledge to build team trust. You do. Let me know how it helps you and your team.

Keep stretching when you're pulled,
Dave

^1. Robert Galford and Anne Seiblod Drapeau, The Enemies of Trust, Harvard Business Review, February 2003, 89
^2. Robert Hurley, The Decision to Trust, Harvard Business Review, September 2006, 55-62.
^3. WorkUSA 2002, Weathering the Storm: A Study of Employee Attitudes and Opinions, http://www.watsonwyatt.com/research/resrender.asp?id=W-557&page=1
^4. Mohammad El-Najdawi and Mathew Liberatore; Matrix Management Effectiveness: An Update for Research and Engineering Organizations, Project Management Journal, March, 1997, 25
^5. Thomas Sy; Stephane Cote; Emotional intelligence: A key ability to succeed in the matrix organization, The Journal of Management Development; Vol. 23, No 5, 2004, 437.
^6. Tony Simons and Randall Peterson, When to Let Them Duke It Out, Harvard Business Review, June 2006, 23-24.

P.S. Dave Jensen and his team transform proven leadership tools into your success stories. Dave is also a popular speaker at conferences, meetings, and workshops. He can be reached in Los Angeles, CA at (310) 397-6686 and http://davejensenonleadership.com/index.html

What’s In A Name? Three Essential Elements to Building Your Personal Brand by Devon Scheef

Mon, 06 May 2013 23:07:51 GMT

What’s In A Name?
Three Essential Elements to Building Your Personal Brand

What do Apple, BMW, Coca-Cola, and Brad Pitt have in common? In addition to being fabulous, they all have a well-known reputation, a brand. Now, if you are anything like me, this seems obvious for the large organizations on this list but Brad Pitt? A person as a brand? Doesn’t that only work for people like Mark Echo?

Beyond the Buzzword
The short answer is of course no. Everyone has a brand (whether you are keen to admit it or not). The term personal branding is a pretty hot buzzword being thrown around these days and you are probably familiar with the concept. But for those of you who may not spend your afternoon reading miscellaneous business blogs littered with the newest lingo and for those of us who can always use a refresher, here is a simple definition of personal branding: a self-application form of marketing, where you articulate your value to an audience, with the sole mission to build a reputation and credibility for your niche or idea - essentially, how to be yourself with skill.

As a millennial business professional, I realize just how critical this task is. With a world of possibilities in front of me it is essential to brand myself in such a manner that intrigues future employers, empowers the team around me, and sets the tone for my career development. The same is true for you.

However, knowing about this concept and actually using it are two very different things. So this leaves us wondering, “How can I use personal branding to advance my career?” This is an excellent question. While personal branding is an expansive topic and we will not be able to cover everything right here and right now, I want to share a few things that can help guide you when developing your personal brand.

1. Embrace the Youness of You
First, do you know what makes you exceptional? A wise man once stated, “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” While the little children who read these words of the trusted Dr. Seuss often wonder, “how can I be anyone but me,” it is scary how often we lose sight of who we are in the midst of the humdrum of everyday adulthood. The first step in developing a powerful personal brand is simply getting to know you.

Ask yourself: What do you stand for? What drives your motivation? What defines success? What do you LOVE to do?

2. Stand Out Above The Crowd
We intuitively know that everyone is different, like snowflakes taking on unique shapes and patterns, yet we are taught from a young age to only focus on similarities so that conflict will not arise. Often we revert back to this habit in the workplace and mute our differences for the sake of corporate culture and not wanting to rock the boat. Yet the truth is everyone has something that marks him or her as a unique asset. Something not limited to a company or position (although certainly something that benefits the organization). Something good. The challenge is to find what differentiates you and how that difference is a strength, not only for your company and team, but for your career. Now is the time to stand out, not to blend in.

Ask yourself: Why are you different? What makes you better, different, or more special? What makes you unique? What makes you stand out?

3. Marketing Matters
After establishing what you stand for and what makes you stand out, the question remains: “What makes you compelling?” The third element of an effective personal brand lies in your ability to articulate your value. You know what you do for your company better than anyone. You know the intricacies of the work, the role that you play, and how your efforts contribute to the success of your company. Marketing yourself in the workplace may seem shady or selfish, but it is critical if you desire to grow your career. Let me suggest a paradigm shift from marketing to markEDing – where your goal is not to sell yourself but to educate your audience about the awesomeness of you. While possibly the most challenging of the three, this is the most important for advancing your career because it involves making connections, knowing your audiences, and communicating your value.

Ask Yourself: What is one thing you have done for your current (most recent) employer that wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t there? In what critical areas do you add value? How does your team and/or organization benefit from your work?

The Light At the End
Using these elements to craft a well-executed personal branding campaign creates a strong, consistent, and specific association between you and the value you offer. To say that creating a brand and living up to it is easy would be a lie. It takes commitment to create, cultivate, and maintain a positive brand, but the results far exceed the effort.

Personal branding:

Is the most effective way to clarify and communicate what makes you different, special, and valuable to employers and customers – and use those qualities to guide your career
Is the most effective and innovative strategy you can use to achieve professional success and fulfillment
Allows you to clearly communicate the unique promise of value that you have to offer
Enables you to leverage what distinguishes you from others with similar skills and abilities

There is no time to waste! Figure out what you stand for, what makes you stand out, and what makes you compelling. Then, craft your personal brand statement - just do it.

Devon Scheef, The Learning Café
Contact Devon at DevonS@thelearningcafe.net or join The Learning Café on LinkedIn

Unhappy and Overworked! by Paul Butler

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 16:20:11 GMT

Unhappy and Overworked!

When Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer recently banned Yahoo employees from working from home, it fired up a heated national conversation about work-life balance. It makes sense that this issue would hit people in such an emotional way; Americans work 137 more hours per year than Japanese workers, a country where so many people were dying of stress-induced heart attacks and strokes that a new term was coined - karōshi, death by overwork. Here in the U.S., 86 percent of men and 67 percent of women work more than 40 hours per week, 70 percent of children have parents who both work, and more than 90 percent of American parents report work-family conflict.

Unfortunately, a lack of work-life balance can lead to serious health problems and lower quality of life. Stress is the #1 cause of health problems in the U.S., and a lion's share of that stress comes from our propensity to tipping the scales towards work and not enough towards 'life.' Leaving work at work and prioritizing exercise, hobbies, and enjoying personal time with friends and family is vital for maintaining a balanced life.

So what's the root of our overworking? Occasionally it's due to external factors entirely out of our control, but very often if we're honest, our overworking is self-imposed. We've overcommitted, said 'yes' a few too many times and put too much on our plate. We all have different reasons for doing this, but fear is often at the root of these decisions.

Here are some common fears and some helpful reminders when trying to get your life back in balance:

If I don't work harder, I'll be let go. You might feel the pressure to maintain an aura of constant busyness to prevent the boss from thinking that they can function without you. Ironically, this can actually lead to a lack of productivity. Studies show that overworking actually makes you less effective, and our desire to be perceived as being 'busy' can override our desire to do good work. When you're struggling with this, think of a few great leaders that you know. They tend to have a work-life balance, don't they? Working hard and doing a good job is important, but to ensure that your work is effective and that you don't burn out, make sure that you are taking breaks, eating meals, and leaving at a reasonable hour.
I need the money! Maybe you've been through a time of lack and now that there's work to be had you're taking as much of it as you possibly can to earn a higher commission or a big raise. Our culture teaches that money can buy happiness, so we're afraid that we won't be happy unless we make as much as possible. However, problems at work go home with us and vice-versa; so if you are working so much that it's causing problems in your personal life, no amount of money is going to fix that. Money doesn't buy happiness! Having a balance will actually enable you to enjoy the fruits of your labors.
My colleagues won't understand. You know you should leave on time to get to your personal training or to bring your kids to a playgroup, but you're afraid that your colleagues will resent you if you leave before they do. When this is an issue, remember that people prefer to work with others that are balanced. It's no fun to be around someone who is constantly spinning their wheels and going in a million directions. Make sure that while you are at work, you are focused on work and not dividing your time by dealing with personal matters while on the clock. That will serve your colleagues much better than staying an hour or two late and adding to the stress in the workplace.

And remember, our work is important but no-one on their death bed has ever been reported as saying, "I wish I'd have spent more time at work!"

**********************************

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We deliver seminars, keynotes and coaching to help people and organizations better manage themselves, lead others and build business financial intelligence.

Starbucks MUST be Making a Lot of Money! by Paul Butler

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:46:07 GMT

Starbucks MUST be Making a Lot of Money!

Let's face it: a trip to Starbucks is not cheap. No matter how much you love your favorite blend, you gotta admit that nearly five bucks for a cup of Joe is amazing! Books have been written about the phenomenon of Starbucks undefined I mean how do you take a commodity as old as the hills, wrap an experience around it, and price it so high? As interesting as that is, the focus of this month's newsletter is to use Starbucks as a simple way of explaining the three levels of margin within a business undefined gross, operational, and net.

Margin is often referred to as an efficiency measure undefined how much of every dollar in sales can we hold onto at each of the three levels of margin.

Let's look at gross margin first undefined what is that? Well if a business has a cost of goods sold (also known as cost of merchandise sold), that's deducted from the sale to arrive at gross margin. Service businesses don't have a cost of goods sold as they don't sell a tangible product, but Starbucks does of course! What are the costs of goods sold items at Starbucks when they sell a café latte for example? Well it would be the consumable items such as the cup (if it's disposable), the stirrer, the plastic lid, the card sleeve, the sugar packets, etc., and of course, the oh so glorious, expensive, special coffee! Taking a quick peak at the latest annual report from Starbucks shows their gross margins to be about 75% (so there's about 25 cents of product cost on every cup of Joe!)

What about operating margin? Well hang with me a while in the Starbucks Store undefined what do you see, hear, and feel as operating costs that are deducted from the gross margin to bring us down to operating margin? Yep, you got it undefined that would be the staff, the store rent; advertising, utilities, and insurance for that store, Wi-Fi costs, etc. Looking over the latest annual report on the coffee table (forgive the pun) shows this at about 27% (so there's about another 48 cents of store costs tied up in that same cup of Joe). Are you feeling for Starbucks yet?

Now imagine ALL of the operating margins from all 20,266 stores being dropped on the doorstep of the corporate headquarters in Seattle. What do you see has to be paid for at the overhead level to get us down to net margin? Yep, you can see it undefined all the central functions such as human resources; finance; I.T.; sales and marketing; research and development; legal; as well the executives (and they earn more than minimum wage!) and of course all the utility and property costs associated with that big office building. So what are we down to now, I hear you ask? About 10% net margin! So for every $1 in sales, Starbucks holds onto about 10 cents of profit at the bottom. So next time you're in Starbucks, feel sorry for them, upgrade your product choice, and give them a lift on their margin!

What's the point of this little anecdote? Well, think about the work you do everyday undefined where do you impact your organization's money-making model? Can you help improve gross margin by reducing the cost of goods sold? You are most likely part of the operating or overhead expense of your organization undefined what could you start, stop, or continue to improve margin at these levels? How could you educate your team and colleagues on the importance of margin? Remember from a previous artile, every wasted dollar has tremendous ramifications on margin. In the case of Starbucks they need to generate $11 of new sales for every $1 of wasted expense just to still get a 10% margin based on their present money-making model!

It may just be a cup of coffee, but it all adds up!

ABOUT NEWLEAF TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT (www.newleaf-ca.com)
We deliver seminars, keynotes and coaching to help people and organizations better manage themselves, lead others and build business financial intelligence.

Reverse Mentoring: Why and How To “Do It Yourself” With a Cross-Generational Mentoring Program by Devon Scheef & Diane Thielfoldt, The Learning Café

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 23:54:29 GMT

Reverse Mentoring: Why and How To “Do It Yourself” With a Cross-Generational Mentoring Program by Devon Scheef & Diane Thielfoldt, The Learning Café

Part 2 of a 2 part series, part 1 published on Jan 28, 2013: Reverse Mentoring: Why and How to “Do it Yourself” with a Cross-Generational Mentoring Program

Five Steps to Success
Because this is a DIY mentoring project, we recommend keeping things simple. But you do need one or more managers who agree to oversee or coordinate your reverse mentoring program. This can be an informal role with fairly light responsibilities, which include:

Step 1: Define what you want to accomplish. Many companies have straightforward objectives that range from simply creating positive work relationships between older and younger workers, to more ambitious outcomes such as transferring technology savvy and new industry expertise or trends or cross training.

Also consider whether you’ll need the support of senior leadership to help your program succeed. If so, identify the key stakeholders and describe what their involvement will look like.

Step 2: Pair up mentors and partners. To a large extent, how you determine who will participate, and how you pair off participants, depends on your specific goals and the needs of the individual and the company. When pairing, consider that personal “chemistry” is often overrated. The best matches are often mismatches, which broaden the opportunities for growth in both participants.

As you match mentors to students, consider the characteristics of each. Are they motivated to learn? Willing to be mentored by a younger colleague?

Step 3: Plan the launch. To kick off your program, host a two- to four-hour orientation meeting with all participants. The program’s coordinator can explain the definition and benefits of reverse mentoring, introduce partners to each other, and go over goals and guidelines. This meeting should be a comfortable, informal forum for everyone to get grounded and organized. Pairs can begin to discuss their own goals and expectations.

If possible, give each pair some brief training on how to teach and learn, and provide a planner that serves as a guide for the partnership. At minimum, describe a typical first meeting or activity that partners can use to get started. (See The First Meeting below.)

You should also cover tips regarding generational differences. Caution everyone about stereotypes and perpetuating stale messages. Comments like, “They don’t want to pay their dues” from tenured employees; and, “They’re stuck in the past” from newer employees, will shut down reverse mentoring efforts before they get off the ground.

Close the meeting by outlining any logistics and details involved in checking progress of the partnerships.

Step 4: Prioritize and persist. Your follow-up and tracking is crucial to ensure the program is effective. We recommend that for the first two months of a mentoring initiative, the program’s coordinator or sponsor plan a pulse-check every two to three weeks to confirm that your guidelines and ground rules are still in place. After the first two months, scale back to a monthly check. Ask for participants’ feedback, focus on catching any problems early, and ask about successes. Remind each participant that you’re available for support and troubleshooting.

How can you tell that the mentoring relationship is working? Look for the following success indicators:

Are people taking the time to meet and work together?
How satisfied are the partners with the progress?
Are they benefiting from and enjoying the partnership?
What ideas do they have to improve the program?

Many partners report that the most valuable part of a mentoring partnership is the opportunity to learn and stretch personally and professionally. Publish, share, and celebrate these successes!

Step 5: Measure progress. Part of your plan should include means for evaluating the success of your program, including measuring and quantifying outcomes. The coordinator of the program should perform all monitoring of participating pairs, though he or she may need some help with evaluation.

Your evaluation might include questionnaires or surveys of participants, individual interviews, and/or observation of their meetings. You are seeking to measure some difficult-to-quantify outcomes, including individual attitude, behavior, as well as accomplishments.

If evaluations indicate that the program is not meeting its goals, be prepared to make some changes to the program, re-train participants, or otherwise support the program to ensure it is successful.

Success Story
A small group at Milbank Manufacturing in Kansas City, Missouri, started their reverse mentoring program in October 2012. “It’s gone well and I think we’ll learn a lot from each other!” says Millennial Christine Henry Vetter, a marketing specialist for the organization, who is paired with the CEO. “My overarching goals are to gain a better understanding of how Milbank operates at a 30,000-foot view, as well as to develop ways to make Milbank more multi-generation friendly.” CEO Lavon Winkler wants to use the program to understand the dynamics of Millennials and how companies can create opportunities that are exciting for members of that generation.

The Milbank pairs have agreed to meet once a month during the first year of their DIY program. After this pilot period, they will roll out reverse mentoring company-wide.

In Conclusion
Reverse mentoring can be a winning situation for everyone involved. You can cement the loyalty, interest, and talents of your Millennial team members, and more experienced employees will realize that opening up to new and different ideas will more effectively serve their clients and drive earnings. In other words, when you mix fresh, unbiased perspectives with detailed knowledge and strategic skills, the results are innovation and increased employee engagement across the board.

The First Meeting

The first meeting between the mentor and partner is like sitting down to write a book and staring at a blank piece of paper. How do you get started? The answer in this case is, by getting to know each other.

The mentor -- that is, the younger employee -- here takes the role of teacher. Regardless of who leads the conversation or sets the agenda, it’s essential that both partners remember the goal is for the manager or tenured employee to learn from a younger counterpart, and not take over the mentor’s role.

The mentor can start the conversation by telling stories, and encouraging his or her partner to tell stories, giving specific examples related to his or her personal and professional experiences. Share lessons you’ve each learned from experience -- whether on the job or outside of work. This will increase your credibility and breathe real life into your recommendations.

Here are some conversation starters to kick off meaningful conversations or conversations that count:

Talk about your work and life experiences. What have you done that was unusual or controversial? What experiences do you hope to have in the future?

What is something that most people don’t know about you?

Discuss strategies to balance work and personal life. What have you leaned that you could share? What compromises have you made? How do you feel about them?

What mistakes have you made that you thought would have a negative impact on your career? How did you learn from them? What would you do differently?

What is the smartest decision you ever made, and why? What did you learn that you’d like to apply to the future?

What legacy are you creating or building? What kinds of things are you doing to pass along your expertise?

What is some of the best career advice you’ve received? Why? How have you put it into practice?

What makes a conversation comfortable and candid? The formula is simple and the results can be extraordinary. A great conversation simply takes curiosity and a willingness to be changed or stretched by another person’s experience.

For more information about mentoring as a talent development strategy, and leveraging the generations in your workplace for exceptional business results, contact Devon Scheef at The Learning Café. DevonS@thelearningcafe.net or (805) 494-0124.

Using Championship Memory Techniques to Make Learning Stick by Ida Shessel, M.Ed.

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 23:43:26 GMT

Using Championship Memory Techniques to Make Learning Stick

What is the connection between training in your organization and the following list of items?

A randomly shuffled deck of cards
A collection of names and faces
An unpublished 50-line poem

While these are just some of the memorization requirements at the annual USA National Memory Championship, the techniques used to memorize them may be the answer you’re looking for to increase learning retention in your organization.
If you’ve ever watched a memory competition and marveled at the ability of the competitors to memorize any of the items mentioned in the list above, you were probably thinking, “I could never do that.” You may have seen memory experts rhyme off the names of everyone in a 250-person audience, and wondered, “How did he do that?”

Winners of memory championships around the world and Guinness record holders for Greatest Memory all claim they have average memories. They are not savants, nor do they have photographic memories. Some even suffer the additional burden of having been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. One thing they all agree on is that anyone can do what they do – memorize huge amounts of information.

It’s all about technique and understanding how the memory works.

Why Don’t We Remember Things?
You've often heard it said, and you may even have said it yourself, that you can't remember what you had for breakfast this morning. Why not? Well, here are some reasons people forget things.

The information/situation didn’t even register on their “awareness meter”
They weren’t fully focusing or concentrating on the situation
It wasn’t particularly memorable
They were trying to multi-task
They didn't have an organized system for mentally filing and retrieving the information they wanted to remember

If you survey a group of people, most will admit to having a bad memory. They would probably be surprised to know that remembering isn’t a random act. It can have structure, and as a result, having a good memory is a learnable skill.

What Does This Have to Do With Training in Your Organization?
Learning doesn’t always stick. You already know that. You also know that the source of the problem could be in the training design, in its delivery, or in the follow-up on the job.

When it comes to training design and delivery, some presentation techniques such as lecture-style data dump or learning through reading leave the responsibility for remembering on the learners’ shoulders: Here is the information; now remember it.

If you’re a good designer, chances are you’re already including interactive hands-on processing and reinforcement activities to help your participants learn. However, reviews take up a lot of time. A common weakness in the review process is that there is no structure, no filing cabinet, if you will – it’s just repetition. How many repetitions will your learners need for the learning to truly stick? Two? Five? Seven?

What if you could speed the process along? What if you could:

Help your learners commit content to memory faster and shorten the learning curve?
Save time and money during the learning process by eliminating most of the necessary repetition or re-training?
Help learners move information from the awareness stage directly into long-term memory?
Multiply the likelihood of training transfer to the job?

How Do We Make Remembering Easier?
Information is just words – many just abstract concepts. The key is to encode things that are abstract in a way that makes it easier for the brain to remember. There are 3 elements that boost memory:

Rarity
Visualization
Association

First, there is the concept of rarity.

Imagine yourself driving to work. On most days, there is nothing unusual about your commute. It's the same traffic day in and day out.
Today is different. Suddenly you see an enormous elephant on the freeway. Since here in North America elephants are usually found only in zoos or at the circus, seeing one on the road is an unusual and rare occurrence. When you get to work, you excitedly describe your experience to the first person you see. “You wouldn't believe what I saw on my way in to work this morning! There was an elephant on the 405 near the exit to the Santa Monica freeway!”

The next time you drive past that very same spot, there is a good chance that you’ll remember the elephant. You may remember it for weeks, months, or even years to come.

The second element that makes things easier to remember is visualization. When you recounted the experience to a colleague, did you think of the word “elephant” or did you picture it? Most people think in images. They are easier to remember than words or abstract concepts. When describing the elephant experience to others or driving past that same location on the 405 you would be able to recall the elephant’s size, color, and movement from the image in your mind.

Thirdly, there's association -- or what I like to refer to as Velcro® learning -- stuck or attached to something else. That elephant is now stuck to the 405 in your memory so that the next time you drive past the same location, the incident springs to mind.

What Does This Mean to You?
Memory athletes (competitors in memory competitions) learn huge amounts of information by utilizing systems and creating mental filing cabinets that incorporate rarity, visualization, and association into structures that multiply the ease and speed with which they can remember information. Different types of information warrant different systems – some considerably more complex and time-consuming to learn than others.

You may have heard of some of them – with names such as the link method, the journey method, the Roman room or memory palace, the peg system, the major system, the Dominic system, the phonetic method, the number/rhyme or number/shape method, and so on.

If memory systems work for others, why not borrow from their success? Why not use these memory techniques to enhance and speed up learning?

I can already hear your objection. “Learning is more than just memorizing a bunch of content.” I agree. Employees and managers need to be able to apply the content by troubleshooting, problem-solving, innovating, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating.
Consider this. If they learn the content faster up front, you can re-focus the training time and get on to the important task of helping them learn to apply the information that much sooner.

What do your participants need to remember?

Features and benefits of products and services
Steps of a procedure
Equipment needed for a particular task
Key points contained in company policies
Customer information
A presentation

When deciding on a particular memory technique to use in your training, you’ll want to take a few things into consideration.

The time constraints of training programs in many organizations necessitate squeezing as much information as possible into as short a period of time as possible.
Your participants are not training for the USA National Memory Championship, so the easier the technique is to learn the better.
The system should be usable over and over again.

Your organization may best be served by providing the staff and management with memory training in a multi-step process – first as a generic skill, and then by incorporating the techniques into every training program to ensure retention of course-specific content.

If left up to the individual, allocating time to learn memory techniques is likely to be relegated to the bottom of the to-do list (if it even makes it onto the list at all). It is well worthwhile including them in every training initiative. Your organization will reap the rewards – savings in time and retraining, and increases in retention and transfer of learning.

Memory improvement happens quickly when structured techniques are used. You will be amazed at what you and others remember!

Ida Shessel, B.Sc., M.Ed., has been a professional speaker, author, and facilitator for over 30 years. For 15 of those years, she was a senior consultant with an award-winning train-the-trainer organization, facilitating their workshops at meetings and conferences across North America and beyond. She is the author of several books including Communicate Like a Top Leader.

Ida can triple your memory in under 30 minutes!

For the free special report, Secrets of a Top Communicator, go to http://www.idashessel.com. For more memory tips, visit Ida’s blog at www.ImprovingYourMemoryTechniques.com,

How to Master Your Habits by Dave Jensen

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:18:01 GMT

How to Master Your Habits

First we make our habits, then they make us. John Dryden

Habits are the behaviors that are wired so deeply in the brain that we perform them automatically. How much of your day do you spend acting out of habit? Getting ready in the morning, going to work, interacting with others, reacting to stress. etc. Much of what you do is habitual, and should be! It would be a terrible waste of energy to have to pay attention to everything all the time. Habits free our minds to focus on tasks that are more important.

The problem arises when we want to eliminate an old, deeply ingrained, negative habit (e.g., eating unhealthy snacks, interrupting others, reacting emotionally, etc.) and create a new, positive one (e.g., snacking on fruit, asking more questions, responding appropriately, etc.). It is not easy to rewire our brains. Experience teaches us that knowing is not doing. In fact, the inability to develop new habits is why many of our New Year resolutions fail and is often the reason we don't apply what we learn from others.

So, how do you update your brain's subconscious software routines so that what you want to do becomes what you routinely do? How can you transform a desired behavior into a new habit? There are many ways to accomplish this difficult task. Leaders that I have coached tell me that the most effective technique they have learned is linking an old habit to the desired behavior. Let me explain...

The idea is to take an existing habit and use it to remind yourself to practice the new behavior routinely, so the new behavior becomes your new habit. In other words, you link what is already wired into your brain (the old habit) to what is not (the new behavior) to create the new habit. The equation below expresses this powerful concept in a simple equation.

Old Habit + New Behavior = New Habit

This idea is as old as tying a string around your finger. The only question is, how will you use the principle to help you create the habits that make you? Listed below are several examples of how highly successful leaders combined their old habits with new behaviors. Adapt them to your situation and preferences.

Index cards. Write a behavior on a 3 x 5 index card. Put the card in your pocket. Whenever you put your hand in your pocket, read the card. Put a check mark on the card every time you practice the behavior.
Pocket change. Put seven coins in the right pocket of your slacks. Every time you put your hand in your right pocket, move one coin from the right pocket to the left pocket and remind yourself to practice your new behavior. Let the coins be a metaphor about the importance of making small change over time. (Thanks to my friend Bonnie Dean for this suggestion.)
Watch. Program your watch to beep on the hour. Use the beep to remind yourself to practice the new behavior.
Mirror. Slightly tilt the rearview mirror in your car. Every time you look in the mirror, tell yourself aloud how you are applying your behavior today.
Notepad. Write a “reminder word” at the top of the notepad you use during your calls. Every time you looked down to scratch a note, you will be prompted to use your new behavior.
Calendar. One leader told me recently that he programmed Outlook to remind him to practice his listening skills. He's using computer software to rewire his brain's hardware.
Phone. Since you probably use your phone a lot, write a post-it-note to prod yourself to practice the new behavior whenever you're on the phone.
Computer. Can you change your screensaver to remind you to practice a behavior?
Wristband. One leader has a bracelet that she pulls to inspire her to apply recently learned emotional intelligence behaviors.
Team member. Who can you count on to regularly encourage and remind you to take daily action?

Sow a thought, reap an action,
Sow an action, reap a habit,
Sow a habit, reap a character,
Sow a character, reap a destiny. Charles Reade

Keep stretching when you're pulled, Dave.

The Value of a Dollar by Paul Butler

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:14:42 GMT

The Value of a Dollar

We're between friends -- have you ever blown a dollar of your employer's money? Come on, be honest! Of course we all have. You know the personal phone call we made on the work phone; the personal mail we ran through the company mail; the faxes, the pens, the expense claim that was kind of work related and we rationalized it with, "Hey, you know I was traveling …"

Well, those pennies add up to become dollars, and the dollars end up becoming hundreds, thousands, and potentially millions in some large organizations.

I hear you say, "Okay, but what's the big deal? My company can afford it!" Well, can they? That is the question.

What's the average net income a business makes as a percentage of its sales? Answer: about 8%. That means for every $10.00 in sales it makes 80 cents profit.

So imagine what happens if you waste $1 in expenses: $1 divided by 0.08 (which is 8% expressed as a decimal) multiplied by 1 (which is 100% expressed as a decimal) equals $12.50. That means your employer has to make $12.50 extra in sales to make up for that $1 to still get an 8% profit margin and maintain an 8% money-making model.

What that means in this example is that the sales and marketing folks have to sell 25% more ($12.50-10.00) to still get 80 cents profit.

What happens if we add a few zeros? Well, imagine a company that wastes $100,000 on a project and they only make 8% profit. The numbers work the same -- this company now has to sell 25% more to still make $8,000 profit!

Now, any metaphor if analyzed enough eventually breaks down, but do you get the point? It's important to be conscious of every dollar you spend of your company's money. You can relate this principle to your personal finances -- what's that old phrase, "a dollar saved is a dollar earned"? If you think about it, it's actually more than a dollar because every dollar is taxed about 20%; so $1 saved is really like not having to earn $1.20!

More than ever before it's vitally important, especially in tough economic climates, to understand your company's money-making model. Treating your employer's money as if it were your own (and even better perhaps!) makes you an invaluable asset (forgive the pun!)

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"Someone who is penny wise, dollar foolish can be very careful or mean with small amounts of money, yet wasteful and extravagant with large sums."-- Anon.

"Wealth is treacherous and the arrogant are never at rest." -- Habakkuk 2:5

By Paul Butler, Client Partner – Newleaf Training and Development
Newleaf Training and Development deliver seminars, keynotes, and coaching to help people and organizations better manage themselves, lead others, and build business financial intelligence. Based in Valencia, CA, Newleaf Training and Development has served clients in 28 States, China, India, and Western Europe since 2006. Visit www.newleaf-ca.com for more details.

Reverse Mentoring: Why and How to “Do it Yourself” with a Cross-Generational Mentoring Program by Devon Scheef & Diane Thielfoldt, The Learning Café

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 01:36:43 GMT

Reverse Mentoring: Why and How to “Do it Yourself” with a Cross-Generational Mentoring Program

Show me the mentors! Even though mentoring is one of the most effective career development paths for young employees, only one in five organizations offers a formal mentoring program. This is in spite of the need for fast, point-of-need learning partnerships to help organizations share critical knowledge, onboard a new hire, develop talent, and grow future leaders.

This makes it very likely that you and your organization’s managers are left high and dry when it comes to mentoring newer or younger employeesundefinedbut it doesn’t mean you can’t set up an effective program yourself! Managers and supervisors at all levels have a simple, viable strategy available for providing mentoring to their teams without waiting for HR or senior management to set up a formal program. This do-it-yourself (DIY) option is called “reverse mentoring” because it turns around mentoring as we know it.

What Is Reverse Mentoring?
Traditionally, a person with more experience will mentor a colleague with less experience; this method has been proven through master/apprentice relationships that have allowed knowledge to be handed down over hundreds of years. In reverse mentoring, a more experienced employee, or even a manager, actively seeks the council of an employee with less overall experience. This modern twist has more tenured employees depending on younger staff for fresh perspectives, trend spotting, and technology guidance.

As Alan Webber, cofounder of Fast Company put it, “Reverse mentoring is when the old fogies in the organization realize that by the time you’re in your forties and fifties, you’re not in touch with the future in the same way as the young twenty-somethings. They come with fresh eyes, open minds, and instant links to the technology of our future.”

Reverse mentoring refreshes learning for veteran employees and managers, while helping to build leadership skills and experience of your newer employeesundefinedwho are, of course, also learning new insights during the relationship. And when you pair an experienced manager or employee with a newer, less tenured employee, the mentor gets a glimpse into the world of leadership and top-level leadersundefinedsomething the younger generations particularly value.

Why Reverse Your Mentoring?
Reverse mentoring has some unique benefits that should be of special interest to most industries; many of those benefits have to do with attracting and keeping employees in the Millennial generation (those born between 1977 and 1998)undefinedan essential demographic for any forward-thinking organization.

These six benefits specific to reverse mentoring are just the tip of the iceberg:

Helps to engage, retain, and promote younger talent; it creates a two-way conversation, allowing supervisors to learn what workplace conditions younger employees seek in order to advance themselves along with the interests of the company
Engages younger and newer employees, promoting their loyalty and generating trust
Empowers emerging and established leaders
Shrinks big organizations; it crosses boundaries that employees wouldn’t normally cross
Begins to close the knowledge gap between long-time employees and newer hires
Offers different, fresh and/or younger perspectives

Reverse mentoring is ideal in situations when you want established employees and managers to gain technical expertise, whether it is in business applications or smart phone apps. The same is true of learning about new and emerging trends in marketing or areas of work and society that might impact your business.

It can also strengthen the team even as it grows the skills and strengths of individuals involved. For example, when you pair a people-savvy associate with a manager working on winning over a prospective client, everyone can benefit.

Success Story
At Werner Electric in Cottage Grove, Minnesota, President Ben Granley has tapped into reverse mentoring in an effective if informal way. Their Millennial delivery driver Dustin Ranem regularly visits the company’s marketing department to provide his perspective on the company’s social media presenceundefinedand to give specific recommendations. When Granley was promoted to president, he asked the same employee to review his LinkedIn page and his social media presence and give Granley a list of recommended improvements.

“He has educated our entire organization about the power of social media, and corrected some of our mistakes,” says Granley. “He has helped me out personally with Twitter chats and more.”

Best Practices for Reverse Mentoring
Before you send a seasoned executive and an intern into a conference room and say “Go,” there are a few high-level guidelines that you may want to consider. No matter how simple you intend the structure of your mentoring program to be, take time to make a plan.

Reverse mentoring can take place as informally as you likeundefinedor even within your existing company mentoring programs. It simply calls for matching up pairs of employees of different generations and then encouraging them to meet regularly to exchange ideas and challenge each other. Note that these relationships shouldn’t be restricted to people of the same gender or who have similar backgroundsundefinedbecause we can learn so much more from people who are different from ourselves.

Take some time to consider what we call the “hard glue and soft glue” that can hold a successful program together:

Hard Glue:

Define expectations. Both partners need to be very clear on what they want to accomplish.
Agree on the rules. Each partner must be fully committed to the mentoring relationship with regular meetings and activities, and to getting together at least monthly. And partners should agree to be cooperative and respectful.

Soft Glue:

Willing to learn. In a reverse mentoring relationship, both parties must genuinely want to learn from and share with the other.
Mutual trust. The goal is to push one another outside of their comfort zones and try new ways of thinking, working and being. Ideally, the pair will create a safe, risk-taking environment and maintain confidentiality.
Transparency. Both partners must be open with their feelings and with what they are thinking. They must be able to overcome differences in communication style and be open to seeing situations from different angles.

Our research shows that the biggest dangers to any successful mentoring relationship are neglect (a lack of commitment, time, and energy), breaches of confidence, and the failure to understand culture and generational differences. As you implement your reverse mentoring program, be on the lookout for these pitfalls.

In the second article in this series, you can review a basic action plan for your reverse mentoring program. Check back next month for part 2.

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Improving Training Skill Transfer by Donald J. Ford, Ph.D., C.P.T.

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 21:10:19 GMT

Improving Training Skill Transfer

Learning professionals realize that training is only effective when participants apply their new skills on the job. With so much focus nowadays on training and retraining the American workforce for the jobs of the future, we are seeing increased attention to this area of evaluation. In my work with companies across America, I have found that skill transfer is the number one training evaluation concern today.

What exactly is “skill transfer?” The concept originated with the seminal work of Donald Kirkpatrick, who called it “behavior change,” the third of the four levels of his evaluation model. To fully understand why level three is such a critical link in training evaluation, consider the contextual model of evaluation, based on Kirkpatrick’s four levels, that appears below.

Level three evaluation occurs at a crucial juncture when learners return to their work environment. If they successfully apply their new skills, their own performance will improve. If individual performance improves for enough workers, the organization’s overall performance should also improve. Performance improvement then leads to better organizational results, measured at level four, in terms of the organization’s financial performance.

Conversely, if skills learned in training are never applied on the job, then the training investment that produced those skills is useless to the organization that paid for it. Even the individual trainees who have acquired new knowledge and skill through formal learning will ultimately not benefit if the skills are untransferred. We know that new knowledge that is never put to use eventually atrophies and disappears into the hidden recesses of our minds. A study of skill transfer conducted in the 1990s by Mary Broad and John Newstrom found that about half of all newly-learned skills are never transferred in a productive way to the workplace. This means that as much as half of the nation’s investment in training is not producing meaningful results. As one of my former bosses used to say, “It’s like shoving money down a shredder.”

Given the importance of boosting skill transfer after training, let us examine the key factors that promote transfer. Researchers have identified four key requirements for successful skill transfer, as listed below:

Acquiring the necessary skills
Learners’ desire to change
Conducive job environment and support
Rewards for behavior change

Each of these requirements is important and not always easy to accomplish. Taken together, they maximize the transfer of training and the impact of training outcomes in the workplace.

Acquiring Necessary Skills
This factor is so obvious that its implications are often overlooked. Put simply, new skills cannot be transferred if they are irrelevant to the job. To ensure that the right skills are taught to the right people who actually need them, it is imperative to conduct a thorough needs analysis before designing and delivering training. This analysis must include job task analysis to determine the needed job skills and learner analysis to determine the extent and nature of the skills gap.

While most training professionals know this is important, in far too many cases, we are pressured by clients and decision makers to short circuit needs analysis and just get on with delivering the training. This inevitably leads to a poor match between the objectives and content of the training and the needs of the learners and the organization that sponsors and pays for the training. We can certainly learn to perform analysis more efficiently, but we also need to resist the temptation to skip this step altogether and simply accept our clients’ opinions as the truth.

Learners’ Desire to Change
The desire to change is a second key ingredient of skill transfer, since we know that motivation drives behavior. The motivation to change one’s behavior through learning requires two fundamental factors:

Belief in the need to change
Exerting effort to change

These two factors are related, since our level of effort in any work is directly correlated with our beliefs about the value and efficacy of that work. If we believe that something is both valuable and possible, we are much more likely to exert the effort required to achieve it.

Trainers cannot directly control learner’s desires, but we can certainly help them see the need to change and can help them calibrate their efforts so that they are working hard and smart enough to affect the desired change. We often reduce this to WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) statements about the value of training. While these are important in instilling learning motivation, they are often insufficient to carry people through the difficulties of learning. I may be convinced that a new skill would be beneficial to me, but if I encounter too much difficulty in learning it, I may become discouraged and give up. Trainers need to candidly reveal the difficulties of their subject matter and design learning events that lessen those difficulties through chunking of content, relevant practice and preparation for application on the job. We also need to do better at meeting the individual learning needs of those we serve rather than adopting one-size-fits-all approaches to training.

Conducive job environment and support
The third factor is one that has received greater attention as organizations struggle to make better use of their training investments. No matter how well we design and deliver new skills, the organization cannot reap the full benefits unless it creates a supportive work environment. Researchers have identified several key factors that create a work environment where skill transfer thrives:

Supportive supervisor
Supportive co-workers
Conducive organizational culture
Conducive policies and practices

Of these, the supervisor occupies the most important role. Supervisors who take an active interest in the development of their staff and who encourage both the intrinsic desire to change and provide extrinsic rewards for doing so are far more likely to see improved job behavior after training than those who take a passive or indifferent attitude towards employee development.

Supervisors can take a number of concrete actions to improve skill transfer after training, including:

Model skills and behaviors for employees
Coach employees to apply new skills
Provide feedback on how well employees are performing
Take corrective action when employees fail to apply new skills
Provide rewards and recognition when employees successfully apply new skills

The second critical factor is supportive co-workers. If one’s co-workers are also actively applying new skills and offering peer coaching to their fellow workers, this can significantly aid and abet the efforts of supervisors. Pairing new employees with experienced ones is a common method for accelerating skill transfer. Formal mentoring and coaching programs are also very important elements of a supportive organizational culture that promotes skill transfer.

Rewards for behavior change
At the end of the day, we all work for the money. Unless learners see tangible rewards for their efforts to learn new skills and boost their job performance, they will not sustain the effort required to change. In today’s difficult economy, few employees can expect a pay raise as a result of training, but employers can do many things to reward employees that don’t cost a whole lot of money.

One area that has drawn increased interest is recognition programs. We all like to be recognized for our good work, and some of us need this more than others. Recognition may come in the form of certificates, awards, public acknowledgment, perks or more desirable work assignments. Many of these things cost little or nothing to provide.

Low cost rewards like gift cards, tickets to entertainment events, paid time off and company-sponsored trips often provide a great return on investment in terms of increased employee engagement, reduced absenteeism and increased productivity.
The next time a client requests training, remember that our job as learning professionals does not end when learners complete their training. Indeed, our job is only half-way finished at that point. The other half is to ensure that the new skills we have worked so hard to instill are actually being put to productive use in support of the organization’s mission and objectives.

Donald J. Ford, Ph.D., C.P.T.
President
Training Education Management LLC
Redondo Beach, CA 90277

The Leader’s Paradox – How to Stretch When Pulled by Opposing Demands by Dave Jensen

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 01:59:43 GMT

The Leader’s Paradox –
How to Stretch When Pulled by Opposing Demands

What Keeps Transit leaders Up at Night?
Jean, CEO of Super Transit, approached me with her difficult challenge.
“Dave, how do I get one of our cities to understand that we don’t have the budget to do everything they want when our regional light rail system goes through their city?”

I had just completed my presentations at her association’s CEO Seminar and replied, “Let’s sit down and discuss it.”

Only a few minutes earlier, during my presentation to Jean and 100 of her CEO colleagues, I had shared the top twenty challenges based on my interviews with 26 transit CEOs. These are seen in Table 1.

Table 1 - The Top Twenty Transit Challenges

1. Manage funding cuts
2. Follow new mandates
3. Engage/motivate employees
4. Implement service reductions
5. Meet short-term objectives
6. Innovate for the long-term
7. Get more done with less
8. Take time to coach/mentor others
9. Deliver legacy projects
10. Meet community's real needs
11. Maintain standard IT platforms
12. Adapt software to address local needs
13. Become a regional mobility manager
14. Address each city’s issue
15. Manage generational and cultural differences
16. Adhere to uniform policies and procedures
17. Gain buy-in to the accelerated pace of change
18. Build a platform of stability
19. Meet the increasing demands of work
20. Have a fulfilling home life…

What Should Keep Transit Leaders Up at Night?
So, how many of these challenges are affecting you? Jean and most of the other CEOs admitted in the seminar that they confront at least a dozen or more on a regular basis. I then asked them if they noticed anything unusual about the list. They didn’t. Do you? Review Table 1 again. This time however, read the list in pairs by adding the words and at the same time after every odd-numbered challenge. In other words, read number one and number two together with the word and between them. Do this with numbers three and four, five and six, and so forth.

What did you observe as you read the list in pairs? Did the pairs seem to be at odds with each other? Good. That's because they are! What I discovered from these 26 interviews was that many of the challenges transit leaders face in today’s rapidly changing landscape are in fact, paradoxes - they pull in opposite directions simultaneously. In fact, if we reformat the top 20 challenges into paradoxes, we create a top 10 list as seen in Table 2. Can you guess which one Jean and I focused on?

Table 2 - Transit’s Top Ten Paradoxical Challenges

1. Manage funding cuts and Follow new mandates
2. Engage/motivate employees and Implement service reductions
3. Meet short-term objectives and Innovate for long-term growth
4. Get more done with less and Take time to coach/mentor others
5. Deliver legacy projects and Meet community's real needs
6. Maintain standard IT platforms and Adapt software to address local needs
7. Become a regional mobility manager and Address each city’s issues
8. Embrace generational/cultural diversity and Adhere to uniform policies
9. Gain buy-in to the accelerated pace of change and Provide a platform of stability
10. Meet the increasing demands of work and Have a fulfilling home life

The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes
but in having new eyes.
Marcel Proust

From Balancing to Stretching

Trying to meet conflicting demands is familiar terrain to most transit leaders. Executives have been balancing competing goals for many years. But that’s the point; it used to be all about balancing goals. My interviews suggested that today, it’s more about managing the tension between contradictory issues. (Do you feel like you’re balancing issues these days OR being pulled by opposing demands?) Jean and I agreed that paradox number seven in Table 2 came close to describing the tension she was feeling. Before I share how we resolved her challenge, let’s briefly discuss why there is so much tension and what our workforce development research discovered you can do about it.

Why So Much Tension These Days?
Professors Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis reviewed 360 separate studies on paradoxes. (1) They reported that paradoxical tensions are more prevalent and persistent when three forces are at work.

1. Competing Stakeholders – Leaders experience increased tension when the number of stakeholders with conflicting agendas increases. Jean lamented that she felt pulled to meet the divergent demands of community groups, regulators, sustainability advocates, a regional board of directors, and local city councils. Sound familiar?

2. Resource Constraints – Despite passage of a two-year transit bill, most transit leaders confess that they have to do more with less. They feel pulled to manage their budget constraints while at the same time boost employee morale, exceed riders’ expectations, and invest in the future. Jean pointed out that she would love to provide the city with everything they want, but she only had so much money to meet the entire region’s needs.

3. Accelerating Pace of Change – The speed of change is a bullet train to transit’s future. Yet, these changes (technology, information availability, demographic shifts...) create an avalanche of continuous change. Keeping pace with the warp-speed of change demands numerous initiatives that often compete with each other. For example, do you ever feel stretched to allocate resources between tactical (e.g., use new technology to increase bus route efficiency) and strategic initiatives (e.g., create long-term, transit-oriented development plans)?

Any of these forces (or all three) can hit transit leaders on any given day. That’s why the transit leader’s paradox is less about finding balance and more about managing the tension of opposing demands. Unfortunately, our ongoing workforce development research suggests that many executives, like Jean, don’t stretch when they feel pulled by their conflicting issues, they SNAP! Let’s briefly review that research and then recommend four tools that will help you and your team stretch.

Workforce Development – Transit Research at the Top
At the end of my presentation to the APTA CEOs two years ago, I invited them and their senior executive teams to complete a 360 assessment (called the eXpansive Leadership Model - XLM) as part of our research in the transportation industry.

The objectives of our research were three-fold:

1. Identify which competencies are transit leaders’ strongest and weakest
2. Determine if these competencies predict leadership effectiveness
3. Learn how well leaders actually manage paradoxical tensions

To date, 77 transit executives (16 CEOs and 61 executive team members) have rated themselves and invited 376 other people (boss, peers, direct reports...) to rate them on the researched-based competencies assessed by XLM.

Which Competencies Are Transit Leaders’ Strongest and Weakest?
Of the 16 competencies assessed by the XLM, the four that transit executives scored the highest in are:

1. Execute with passion & courage
2. Choose responsibly
3. Serve ethically
4. Clarify objectives & expectations

The four competencies that executives scored the lowest in (often referred to as “developmental opportunities”) are as follows (the lowest score is first, second lowest score is second...):

1. Embrace ambiguity & paradox
2. Know thyself & others
3. Regulate emotions
4. Cultivate innovative growth

Do These Competencies Predict Transit Leadership Effectiveness?
To measure leadership effectiveness, the XLM asks seven questions related to how well the leaders actually lead (e.g., to what extent would you rate this leaders overall leadership effectiveness as outstanding?) We averaged the scores of these seven questions to derive a composite leadership effectiveness score. (If you multiply the 7 questions times the 376 total raters, you can see that we had 2,632 leadership effectiveness scores.) We then analyzed the data to determine how well the XLM competencies correlated with perceived leadership effectiveness in the 77 transit executives. In essence, we were asking if these competencies actually mattered in the transit industry. The correlations for the highest and lowest scored competencies are seen in parenthesis below. (Scientists tell us that in this type of research, correlations greater than .30 are considered significant, while correlations greater than .50 are considered high.)

The correlations of the competencies that executives scored the highest in are:

1. Execute with passion & courage (.58)
2. Choose responsibly (.52)
3. Serve ethically (.43)
4. Clarify objectives & expectations (.52)

The correlations of the four competencies that executives scored the lowest in are:

1. Embrace ambiguity & paradox (.56)
2. Know thyself & others (.57)
3. Regulate emotions (.48)
4. Cultivate innovative growth (.59)

Paradox Lost - How Well Do Leaders Manage Paradoxical Tensions?
Although the leadership competency “Embrace ambiguity & paradox” is highly correlated with leadership effectiveness (.56), it is the lowest ranked of the 16 competencies assessed. As Mike Scanlon, CEO at SamTrans remarked, “Are you telling us that we are least effective in the most important competency – the one that can help in today’s paradoxical environment?” Precisely.

Transit leaders are not alone in their need to develop this low-scoring skill. In a study of 1,000 organizations over a 20-year period, researchers found that leaders mismanage paradoxes between 38 – 45% of the time, and suffer poor performance because of it. (2) The most common error was addressing one issue of a paradox independently of the other. The good news is that these authors, as well as others, have also reported that small improvements in managing paradoxical issues significantly increased firm performance. (3) In addition, my work over the last decade with transit leaders, like Jean, indicates there are several ways to improve your ability to stretch when you feel pulled. Four are discussed in the next sections.

How to Stretch When You Feel Pulled by Opposing Demands

Managing a paradox is analogous to sailing a small boat on windy day. When the wind grabs your sails and starts tipping you over, you don’t pick one side and stick to it for the entire trip. Nor do you drop the rope and let the wind have its way with you; you scramble to the other side of the boat and hang over the edge while holding the ropes. You get where you want to go by managing the tension between your hands and the wind (the two “elements” of this paradox.) Harnessing the tension keeps you moving toward your destination. Which of the four below might keep you moving on your journey?

1. Look through other’s windows. Our point of view is not the only view. Understand that how we perceive our business challenge and environment at the present moment is not reality. It is our view of reality. We can embrace paradoxical thinking by pretending we are on the outside of a house looking through one window into one room. Whenever we are dealing with a paradox, we can assume we do not know what is going on throughout the entire room. Our view improves if we invite the “loyal opposition” to share their perspective from their windows. This will help develop the “flexible thinking” that Joe Calabrese, CEO of Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, identified as critical in today’s transit leader.

2. Fail fast, small, and learn. Leaders who embrace contrarian thinking often conduct little experiments to test assumptions and address issues. As Charles Odimgbe, CEO of Rhode Island Public Transit Authority, pointed out during our interview, “We must think outside the BUS! This increases our agility to respond rapidly to our changing environment.”

3. Make the abstract concrete. Paradoxical thinkers are not dreamers disconnected from reality. They are visionary leaders who are in touch with their surroundings. They are possibility and probability thinkers. Like kite flyers, they let their dreams fly high while tethered to the ground. Jean translated our discussion about her paradoxical tensions into practical actions that helped her deal with the city. She told me that adapting the “Map the paradox” idea was the most beneficial to her because it helped others see the trade-offs in her paradox.

4. Map the paradox. To help Jean with her paradox, I drew two small boxes on opposite sides, in the middle of a blank piece of paper. In the left box, I wrote City’s Needs and in the right box, I wrote Super Transit’s Regional Budget. We then brainstormed the answers to four simple questions:

1) What are the benefits of meeting the needs of the City?
2) What are the benefits of staying within Super Transit’s Regional Budget?
3) What might be the unintended consequences of over-focusing on the city’s needs?
4) What might be the unintended consequences of over-focusing on the Regional Budget?

I scribbled Jean’s answers to question 1 in the upper-left quadrant of the sheet of paper; answers to question 2 in the upper-right quadrant; answers to question 3 in the lower-left quadrant; the answers to question 4 in the lower-right quadrant. This created a variation of what Dr. Barry Johnson called it a polarity map. (5) I then asked Jean this rhetorical question, “If there’s an upside and a downside to both sides, should you meet the needs of the city or your regional budget?”

Jean smiled, took the insights she gained from this process, and used them to lead a discussion with city officials about the tradeoffs of focusing on one side at the expense of the other. She later told me that this idea led to a breakthrough with the city.

The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence;
it is to act with yesterday's logic.
Peter Drucker

Competing stakeholders, resource constraints, and an accelerating pace of change are all conspiring to pull transit leaders in opposite directions during these turbulent times. Adapt these ideas to help you stretch whenever you feel pulled by paradox at work.

P.S. Dave Jensen is a transit consultant and executive coach who transforms proven leadership tools into client success stories. As a leadership expert, he is also an engaging speaker and facilitator at conferences, meetings, and retreats. He can be reached in Los Angeles, CA at (310) 397-6686 or http://davejensenonleadership.com/

1. Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis; Theory Development: Toward a Theory of Paradox: A Dynamic Equilibrium Model of Organizing, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 36, No. 2, 2011, p381–403.
2. Dominic Dodd and Ken Favaro; Managing the Right Tension, Harvard Business Review, December 2006, 62-74.
3. Beech, Nic; Contrary prescriptions: Recognizing Good Practice Tensions in Management, Organization Studies, January 2003, 1 -- 28.
4. Roger Martin; The Opposable Mind - How Successful Leaders Win through Integrative Thinking, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA, 2007, page 31.
5. Barry Johnson, Polarity Management - Identifying and Managing Unsolvable Problems. (Polarity Management - Identifying and Managing Unsolvable Problems, HRD Press, Inc., Amherst, Massachusetts, 1996.

UPDATING THE DEFINITION OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT by Beverly Kaye and Julie Winkle Giulioni

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 22:49:48 GMT

UPDATING THE DEFINITION OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Those in training and organizational development know, usually better than anyone else in most organizations, that career development is important, However, it is a challenge for most managers and a high stakes game in business today. You’ve likely encountered widespread confusion about what career development actually is, from both managers and others.

All too frequently, you’ve seen form trumping function. Literally. For many managers, career development is all about the form, checkboxes, and deadlines. Now don’tget us wrong, individual development plans (IDPs) are essential. Annual talent reviews and discussions are critical. Timely completion of necessary documentation is a must. The organization counts on all of this.

But, believe it or not, no employee we’ve ever interviewed has said anything like, “For me personally, career development is all about the form.” Best-in-class managers know that it’s so much more than the paperwork and processes. They embody an updated definition of career development:

Career Development: [kuh-reer dih-vel-uhp-muhnt] noun... although it’s much more active, operates like a verb:

A range of manager/employee collaborative activities that facilitate: opportunity, fluidity, agility, evolution, relevance, insight, capability, passion, experiences, service, challenges, learning, impact, engagement, and accomplishment.
Energy and attention in service of each employee’s unique work and life priorities.
The outcome of ongoing dialogue with employees.

Based upon thousands of interviews over three decades, it’s become very clear that genuine and meaningful career development comes from a foundation built through the human act of conversation. Whether it’s a formal IDP meeting or an on-the-fly connection, it’s the quality of the conversation that matters most to employees and drives growth.

What do you think? How prevalent are career conversations in the organizations that you serve? What can the Training and OD functions do to drive meaningful career conversations between managers and employees? Let’s talk more about this at the September Chapter Meeting.

Beverly Kaye and Julie Winkle Giulioni have just written Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Employees Want and will be featured presenters at our September meeting.

Beverly can be reached at beverly.kaye@csibka.com and Julie can be reached at julie@designarounds.com .

Certification and Workplace Learning by Donald J. Ford, Ph.D., C.P.T.

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 00:06:53 GMT

Certification and Workplace Learning

Certification is becoming a more important part of the workplace learning and performance profession. Certification ensures the quality and skill of those who earn it and the value and effectiveness of those who provide it. In an era in which we are understandably skeptical of unfounded claims and inundated with false promises, certification is the training world’s Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.

I work as an Assessor for one of the leading certification bodies in the world, American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Long known for their certification of products and technical processes, ANSI is also a leader in personnel certification and certificate program accreditation. A growing number of industries, facing increased public pressure for accountability and quality, are seeking or being forced to undertake certification of key job positions to ensure that only fully qualified personnel are allowed to perform mission-critical work.

Certification versus Certificate Program

Many learning professionals are confused about what constitutes certification and how it differs from other types of training, especially certificate programs. According to ANSI, certification is defined as:

A process through which an entity grants a time-limited recognition to an individual after verifying that she/he has met established criteria for proficiency or competency, usually through an eligibility application and assessment. (Source: ASTM E2659-09, clause 4.3)

A certificate program, conversely, is a non-degreed education or training program that consists of a fixed learning event and a system to award a certificate based on achievement of program requisites or attendance. Certificate programs actually come in two types: achievement and attendance. In the former, some type of assessment, such as final exam, is used to determine knowledge acquisition. In the case of attendance-only programs, merely attending the required number of hours earns a certificate.

The table below summarizes differences between certification and certificate programs.

	Certification	Certificate
Purpose	To indicate previously attained mastery-demonstration of requied competencies to pracice in terms of knowledge, skills, and attributes	To indicate completion of course(s) and demonstrate knowledge with a specific focus
Asseses	Current knowledge, skills, abilities	Attainment of intended learning outcomes
Consists of	An assessment process, e.g., examiation, evaluation, assessment, measurement	(1) An educational/training event (2) An assesment process
Awarded by	A third-party, standard-setting organization	A training/educational program or institution
Recertification	Ongoing requirement for maintaining proficiency/competency	No ongoing maintenance or renewal requirements
Attribution	Can be revoked	Cannot be revoked
Outcome	Results in a formal designation/job title	Listed on resume as certificate (but not limited)
Core components	- Eligibility requirement(s) - Assessment(s) -Ongoing requirement(s)	- Learning events -Assessment of intended learning attainment

(Source: American National Standards Institute)

Certification Requirements

Certification has rigorous requirements suited to its overall purpose to ensure that those awarded certification are qualified to perform specified work. The first requirement is that a third-party organization, such as an industry, government, or non-profit standard-setting body, be in charge of determining requirements and awarding certification. For example, some certifications are granted by states, such as certifications for nurses, aircraft pilots, and teachers. Some certifications are awarded by industry and trade organizations, such as those in the information technology, paralegal, and massage therapy professions. Finally, non-profit organizations such as ANSI and the National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA) also accredit certification bodies to give the public confidence in the quality and market value of certification programs.

The second key requirement for certification consists of the prerequisites and requirements for eligibility. Certification may require certain levels of education, fields of study, years of experience, employment in specific jobs, or other requirements to be eligible. Some certification providers also offer education and training in these prerequisite fields to enable people to meet eligibility requirements. Others simply design and administer assessments to determine qualification.

The third key component is the use of a rigorous assessment process consisting at minimum of the following:

A job task/competency analysis of the position
A validated examination that includes a performance component
Passing score set by a criterion-referenced methodology (such as Angoff)
Detailed recordkeeping of individual test results
On-going monitoring of test reliability and validity.

Finally, certification is driven by its time-based nature. Unlike college degrees, which never expire, certifications do have expiration dates and specific requirements to maintain certification beyond initial expiration. This might include a certain amount of continuing professional development or the need to retake an assessment and pay fees periodically.

The Accreditation Process

For those organizations seeking accreditation from a third party, such as ANSI, the process is also quite rigorous. Prospective certifiers must complete a detailed application and provide supporting documentation to show the quality of their management systems and assessment process. They must also pass an on-site visit by two expert assessors, who prepare a report and make recommendations to a certification committee, consisting of a panel of experts who make the final accreditation decision.

To maintain accreditation, certification providers must complete annual surveillance and demonstrate that their program continues to meet all requirements of the accrediting body. Assessment methods used to verify compliance with requirements include desk review, interviews, onsite observation, on-going monitoring and the use of triangulation to corroborate findings.

To learn more about certification and its requirements, visit American National Standards Institute’s web site at: www.ansi.org.

Donald J. Ford, Ph.D., C.P.T.
President
Training Education Management LLC
Redondo Beach, CA 90277

Are Your Goals in Conflict? By David G. Jensen

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 02:43:09 GMT

Are Your Goals in Conflict?

How often do you feel pressed to accomplish more than time allows? Do you strive to reach major goals (e.g., meet a project deadline) and need to accomplish smaller tasks (e.g., provide information for a report or serve on that committee)? Does your work ever seem to conflict with what you want to get done at home, like it did for the central character in the great foreign film, Twilight Samurai? The protagonist is a gentle warrior and single parent, raising his two daughters. Yet he also has to work his day job at the warehouse, labor in his garden, and perform his samurai duties whenever the Shogun called. Sound familiar?

University of Houston Professor Steven Brown and his team call this goal conflict: "the degree to which individuals feel that their multiple goals are incompatible¹." They studied the effect of goal conflict on the performance in 153 employees, and found that conflicting goals decrease employee commitment, self-efficacy, and overall performance.

So, what can you do? How can you and your team manage the goal conflict you may feel in today's hectic, complex, and competitive work and home environment? Here are a few practical ideas:

Saying Yes Leads to No. Before we can decide how to juggle, we need to decide what to juggle. The Samurai turned down repeated requests by colleagues to join them for a drink after work. He knew he didn't have time for everything, so he focused on the most important things. Do you focus on the fundamental few or get caught up in the meaningless many?

A few weeks ago, as I was teaching an organization how to use project management tools to increase productivity, a participant asked how to manage her manager who often dumped last-minute projects on her. I recommended that she first find out what was most important to him, and then align her priorities with his. Whenever he gave her last-minute projects, I suggested she show him her list of priorities and ask him where he would place the task if he were in her position. Saying yes to his priorities will lead her to saying no to his dumping.

When you say yes to your (and/or your manager's) most important goals, goal conflict decreases because you, like the Twilight Samurai, will find it is easier to say no to what's not important. What are your priorities? Does a review of your calendar (PDA, Outlook, appointment book...) show congruence between what you say is important and where you time goes?

Believing Leads to Achieving. A strong belief that we can take the steps to reach our goals is a strong predictor of goal achievement. This is the belief, called self-efficacy. Professor Brown found that people who had higher self-efficacy spent more time planning how to deal with goal conflict and more effort overcoming obstacles than their low self-efficacy counterparts. The stronger the believing the higher the achieving.

One way to increase self-efficacy is to use the power of modeling. Modeling directs us to learn from those who are achieving the goals we are striving to achieve. The Twilight Samurai studied with a master in short-sword fighting. He drew on this skill to swiftly deal with issues the emperor dumped on him... so that he could get back to his primary goal of raising his girls.

If you are struggling with goal conflict, modeling suggests that you find a coworker who is successfully dealing with similar issues. Ask if you can learn from them by watching and discussing their approach. Then adapt what they do to fit you. If you can't find a role model nearby, perhaps a book, class, or audio-program would suffice. Where can you find accurate information to help you strengthen the belief you can achieve your primary goal?

Working Hard Leads to Feeling Good. Professor Brown found that positive emotions resulted not only from achieving a major goal, but also from engaging in goal-directed behaviors. In other words, when people work hard to perform well, they feel better about themselves whether or not they reached their goal. Working hard leads to feeling good independent of the outcome. The Twilight Samurai put his entire being into all his activities regardless of what they were.

This research and the samurai are teaching us to be fully present in all we do. One way to become more engaged in the task at hand, is to use all your senses as you focus on achieving your goals. Ironically, you may feel better about managing your conflicting goals by focusing on what is right in front of you. The gift of life is the present. What do you hear, feel, smell, and see as you work your way throughout your day?

Next time you feel overwhelmed by work, underappreciated, or just plain tuckered out... say yes to what's most important, believe you can achieve, and focus on what is in front of you. At the end of the day, how surprised will you be that you feel good about who you are because, like the Twilight Samurai, you have lived well today?

Keep stretching when you feel pulled,
Dave

¹Stephen Brown and John Slocum, The Effect of Goal Conflict on Performance, Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, (2002) 9 (1), 77– 89.

P.S. Dave Jensen transforms proven leadership tools into client success stories. Dave is an executive coach, leadership expert, and an engaging speaker at conferences, meetings, and retreats. Dave can be reached in Los Angeles, CA at (310) 397-6686 or at http://davejensenonleadership.com/

Five Presuppositions that will Change Your Reactions, Responses, and Outcomes by Barbara Fagan

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 22:01:34 GMT

Five Presuppositions that will Change Your Reactions, Responses, and Outcomes

Today we hear so much about managing in a multi-generational, global, and highly mobile work environment that it can feel daunting at times to think of what it will take to achieve excellence in our organizations.

There are universal principles of success that have served each generation through the years. I believe that as our environments change, we can still look at these principles and apply them. I remember reading years ago, Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun – whole ruled in the 4th century, a captivating title but the points in the book did make some sense. In 1989 when Stephen Covey first published his book 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, it got many people throughout the world thinking of these fundamental principles of success.

As a business coach through the years, I have developed Presuppositions for Excellence. Similar to foundational principles, they are ways of thinking about something that pre-supposes certain things. Once people begin to operate from these presuppositions, they notice different reactions, responses, and outcomes in their environment.

How many of us remember when we were little or just starting out in work, how naïve we might have been? At the same time, we may have created some of the greatest successes we ever had. We did not know what we didn’t know. We presupposed or assumed certain things and threw ourselves whole heartedly into our field of endeavor.

A presupportion can do just that. Our behaviors follow our beliefs. If you want to understand someone’s underlying belief system – watch their behavior. We can see and hear people who might have negative opinions about a certain project, department, or team of people. They will absolutely project their beliefs and we will see it through their behavior. Conversely, when we notice someone with a positive attitude they will behave in a way that fosters collaboration, understanding, and partnership around shared purpose or outcome. Through the years, we have had several models and guides to help us understand this. In the following Presuppositions of Excellence, you will see how each one can open a new perspective and new outcomes as a result. The challenge is to believe in them.

There is No Such Thing as Failure, Only Feedback. What if you knew you could never fail, what if everything was just about feedback in relationship to what you intended to create? Ben Zander in his book The Art of Possibility, which we have as an assigned reading assignment in our Leadership Source program, teaches that everyone is capable of getting an A+. What if there was no F? What if the F that you may have received in school was only Feedback? In today’s work environment, we challenge people to take risks and yet many times we focus on the negative result and failure of success that stifles our creativity and willingness to step outside of the box. As managers, when we encourage people to take risks, to raise the bar, we must also be willing to confront the results. As mentors and coaches, this is the learning opportunity for people to see and take in the feedback received in a way that they can course correct and execute more effectively the next time.

Behind Every Behavior Is Positive Intent. This is an easy one when you think of small children; when it comes to adults it is a bit more challenging. When people recognize behaviors that are not productive or communication that is not respectful, this presupposition can be useful. Have you thought to yourself “What were they thinking?” or "REALLY!!?"

When I see someone who in my world view is not acting in a way that might produce a positive outcome, I ask myself this question: “What if I were to presuppose that they had some positive intent?” Maybe it is to be noticed or to let people know that they needed assistance and did not know how to ask for it. This is where a manager can come from a place of appreciative inquiry, not judgment, as a means to open the dialogue with someone whose behavior is not in alignment with desired outcomes. Find a few moments alone to sit and inquire as to the thought process they had gone through before acting or communicating in a certain way. This is where the skills of coaching are very effective by asking people powerful questions designed to create self reflection.

Requisite Variety is a presupposition that I use for accessing people’s creativity. How many times have you heard yourself or others say "I had NO CHOICE?" When in reality you just did not see all the choices you may have had. When working to achieve excellence, remember the more flexibility you maintain, the more options you will have. With so many options to choose from, you will achieve a new level of excellence most of the time. I ask my clients to think like they were making selections from a Chinese Menu. Look at all that is available first, then make your choice – versus what you may have automatically chosen.

The Map is Not the Territory. This is a powerful presupposition and many times used by the most effective leaders. With constant change upon us, we must continue to challenge our world view. When sitting in a meeting or conducting new training initiatives, how many times have you heard challenges from others on the feasibility of what you are saying? This is your feedback that their map is pretty “fixed” about how they see things. Challenge others to look at what they see as their “reality” and realize it is not the same for everyone. We can embrace the diversity that we have and see things from many different perspectives. Understanding and appreciating different world views is what will create the broadest understanding and opportunity to look at all perspectives.

The Meaning Of Your Communication Is The Response That You Get. Whenever I get a response in any situation that does not line up with what I had wanted, I challenge myself to look at my real intention. How many times have you heard yourself say “I didn’t mean that” or think that someone’s response to you is “their problem"?

Effective communicators and leaders listen to people’s responses. When they are not aligned with the desired outcomes, they challenge themselves to see a different way to communicate while not giving up on the core message. Understanding left brain-right brain thinking, different levels of emotional intelligence and learning to “Style Flex” to meet the needs of how others think and process information will provide more effective conversations in the future. When we refuse to adjust to another person's style, we short circuit the opportunity to create understanding and to build trust with others.

I look forward to sharing in more detail how these presuppositions of excellence can be applied in different situations and with very practical tools at the August 16, 2012, ASTD Chapter Meeting in West Los Angeles, California.

Barbara Fagan
President and Founder
Source Point Training
800-217-5660
www.SourcePointTraining.com

Learn more at our August 16 Chapter Meeting. Register here.

A Song That Saves People By Benjamin Brus

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 02:14:36 GMT

A Song That Saves People

pa-per-boy
-noun
“A youth or man who sells newspapers on the street or delivers them to homes; newsboy.”

One blistery Michigan morning several years ago I was informed that one of my clients, an elderly woman, had asked for the contact information for her “paperboy.”

Paperboy?

My friends were paperboys when I was in 4th grade. After all I had hoped for and dreamed of in life, is this all there was?

For me, the experience of being a grown-up paperboy was one of those unpredictables; it just happened. I never dreamed about delivering the newspaper at 5 a.m. during a Christmas morning blizzard, or getting stuck in a customer’s driveway in sub-zero temperatures. I didn’t dream of rising every morning at 4 a.m. seven days a week out of necessity to work an entry-level, blue-collar job. I never planned on praying for tips so that I could bring home some good news to my wife.

I remember listening to Jason Harrod’s Messed Up Everywhere Blues on my route one winter morning and breaking down as I sat in my car listening to these words:

Jesus don’t you take my song away
That’s one thing I ask of you
Jesus won’t you let my clumsy fingers play
You know I only play for you

Walk the Line, a film chronicling the life of Johnny Cash, magnified my introspection. During a pivotal scene, Cash is auditioning before a major record producer, Sam Philips. Philips was less than impressed with Cash’s gospel music, and challenged Cash with the following:

If you was hit by a truck and you was lying out there in that gutter dying, and you had time to sing one song…One song that people would remember before you're dirt. One song that would let God know how you felt about your time here on Earth. One song that would sum you up. You tellin' me that's the song you'd sing? That same Jimmy Davis tune we hear on the radio all day, about your peace within, and how it's real, and how you're gonna shout it? Or... would you sing somethin' different. Somethin' real. Somethin' you felt. Cause I'm telling you right now, that's the kind of song people want to hear. That's the kind of song that truly saves people.

If you’re anything like me, you want your song to be different, or at least true to yourself and who you believe you were created to be. You want to sing a song that saves people. And if you’re anything like me, you would never have guessed what it would take to get there.

Defining Moments

We all have defining moments in our lives where things take a turn and the courses of our lives are forever changed. In screenwriting terms these are called “plot points.” The big ones are obvious, but many others are subtle, completely unpredictable and only become clear in hindsight.

I have heard that when you are in transition, the light is always behind you. Having transitioned out of my paperboy experience, one thing has become clear in the light: though choosing to be a paperboy wasn’t part of my plan, like many unpredictables we experience throughout our lives, being one had an immeasurable impact I wouldn’t trade for the world.

Have you ever experienced one of those “something’s?” Something that happened that you didn’t plan for or expect, yet you can’t imagine life without? Maybe it was a child you weren’t ready for, a relationship that ended, an unexpected career transition, or even an illness. But instead of decreasing the quality of your life, this “something” actually enhanced it by making you stronger, kinder, more grateful, or simply better.

I’ve heard that the hottest fires make the hardest steel. Interestingly, most of these hot fires come as a result of the unpredictables – and for good reason. Let’s face it: few of us would enter the fires voluntarily. But when we’re forced to face the heat, we become refined, purified, and stronger as a result. Most days, being a paperboy was a mental, emotional, and physical struggle. Yet it changed my life by making my vision clear and providing me with the tools I needed for the rest of the journey.

The Value of the Struggle

Wilma Rudolph was born prematurely in 1940, the 20th of a family of 21 children. At birth, she weighed 4.5 lbs. As a child, her left leg and foot were twisted due to infantile paralysis. Additionally, Rudolph twice contracted double pneumonia, as well as scarlet fever. To straighten her twisted leg and foot, she wore a brace for three years and made regular, 45-mile trips to Nashville for treatment over the course of six years. Her determination as a child was relentless. Against her doctor’s (and parents’) orders while at home, she often removed her brace and attempted to walk around the house. She eventually built enough strength to walk brace-free, and quickly took advantage of her new found freedom.

Rudolph’s determination reached a peak in high school, where she began to excel in basketball as well as track and field. After her childhood challenges, Rudolph accomplished the unimaginable by setting scoring records and leading her team to the state basketball championship. If her story ended there, “miraculous” would be a fitting way to describe it. Yet at age 16, she continued her success streak, earning a bronze medal at the Olympics – an incredible feat. But Rudolph didn’t stop there. Four years later, she won three gold medals at the 1960 games in Rome – setting three new records – and was the first woman ever to win three gold medals in track and field.

I love Wilma Rudolph’s story, but what I appreciate even more is what she said in hindsight: “Believe me, the reward is not so great without the struggle.”

When we view challenges, difficulties, and struggles as avenues to growth, the effect is empowering instead of debilitating. As Maya Angelou said, “I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it.” I realized that being a paperboy did not need to define me; it was simply a means by which I could earn a living for a season of life. Sometimes hearing about another’s situation or struggles is exactly what we need to put ours into perspective, and can empower us to interpret our circumstances in a positive light. The best changes in our lives often do not consist of a change in circumstances, but a change in perspective.

The Four Components of Cultural Intelligence - Part 2 of 3 by Omagbitse Jagha

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 00:17:36 GMT

The Four Components of Cultural Intelligence

In the first article of this three part series, we discussed the definition of cultural intelligence. As a reminder, it means that the individual has successfully absorbed the cultural nuances of other foreign cultures with the ultimate goal of facilitating positive outcomes and effective cross-cultural negotiations.

In this second article, the discussion continues regarding the four components of cultural intelligence – meta cognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral cultural intelligence (Earley & Ang, 2003, as cited by Imai & Gelfand, 2010).

Meta-Cognitive Cultural Intelligence
When individuals want to engage in cross-cultural business, they must first learn about the basic facts of the unfamiliar culture, including its demographics, customs and traditions, religion, history, and beliefs and values. It is near impossible to be successful in cross-cultural negotiations or to be a successful global business leader without the acquisition of basic facts and knowledge about unfamiliar cultures.

Once the individual has absorbed as much knowledge as possible about the unfamiliar culture, he/she must devise a strategy to assess his/her knowledge. The assessment strategies include asking a friend, family member, or colleague to ask questions about the facts that have been learned and to score the individual based on the number of questions answered correctly. Another strategy could be using a question about a consulting venture in a graduate business text book and transfer the location from the United States to the country that the individual has been studying.

People who employ superior cognitive processes to study/engage new cultures and have strategies in place to assess their knowledge are said to have high meta-cognitive cultural intelligence (Earley & Ang, 2003, as cited by Imai & Gelfand, 2010).

Cognitive Cultural Intelligence
When an individual is able to use the knowledge acquired in the meta-cognitive level to decipher differences between cultures, that individual has acquired cognitive cultural intelligence. For instance, being familiar with the nuances of a culture that is individualistic like the United States (emphasis on the individual first, not on the group that he/she belongs to), he/she can then differentiate that culture from one that is collectivist (emphasis is on the group and its success first and the individual second).

This component of cultural intelligence represents an individual’s ability to use the basic facts acquired in the meta-cognitive step to distinguish between the differing norms, values, beliefs, and attitudes of unfamiliar cultures (Imai & Gelfand, 2010). When an individual has learned and now knows which countries are collectivist or individualistic, it becomes easier to place specific countries in blocs along with the dos and don’ts of intercultural relationships between members of the groups.

Motivational Cultural Intelligence
Learning about new cultures and being able to use that knowledge for more effective judgments and better decision making, is by itself, not sufficient for success. Individuals have to put in conscious effort to use that information to engage business partners in the new culture for success. Usually, motivation is the link between having knowledge of cultural differences and actually using that knowledge to engage others in a new culture. Imai and Gelfand (2010) referred to this as the intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy that is necessary to propel individuals with cultural knowledge to go out and engage new cultures.

I know a lot about the culture of most Asian countries. This is information that I picked up from several classes (both masters and doctoral studies) on cross-cultural organizational behavior. With this information, I can decipher between the Chinese culture and Philippine culture. However, all of that will not help me succeed in cross-cultural business unless I am motivated to practice and use the information during negotiations. Motivation is critical.

Behavioral Cultural Intelligence
When individuals have amassed a large arsenal of behavioral skills that enable them to indulge in verbal and non-verbal behaviors that are appropriate and acceptable in the new culture, these individuals are said have acquired behavioral cultural intelligence (Imai & Gelfand, 2010). These behavioral skills are developed from accumulation of knowledge and practice (both in simulated and real world experiences).

Tapping into the mental shortcuts (of a new or unfamiliar culture) that have been developed in memory to make quick, sound, and behaviorally appropriate judgments and decisions in an unfamiliar culture is a key element of cultural intelligence. For example, an American who is in the process of negotiating with foreign-based organizations in North Africa should know about the following (the list is not exhaustive):

The etiquette of removing your shoes at the door,showing respect for the elderly, and not attempting to lead conversations
Understanding that the positive outcome of the group takes precedence over that of the individual
Being prepared to share about family because the family environment is very important
Being prepared to work hard to gain the trust of the foreign-based organization.

When an individual is able to do these things effectively, he/she has acquired high behavioral cultural intelligence.

So how do we learn meta-cognitive cultural intelligence? How do we acquire cognitive cultural intelligence, motivational cultural intelligence, and/or behavioral cultural intelligence? These questions will be answered in the next and final article in this three part series.

Make It Positive By John Morley

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 01:00:59 GMT

Make It Positive

When riding a mountain bike through a treacherous section of trail, an experienced rider focuses on the line the bike must take through the rocks, ruts, and obstructions. The mental focus must be intense, willing the bike along the line that will take it through the section. Even an instant’s thought of what could go wrong or the consequences is enough to break the concentration, shake the confidence, and send the rider tumbling down the mountainside.

It’s focusing on what you want to happen that makes it happen. Your audience tends to go where their minds have been aimed. Programming those minds with mistakes and fears may only weaken your message of how to do things right. Dwelling on the consequences can frighten your audience into believing the less they do the safer they become.

This concept has become an accepted tenet in training, leading to wide agreement that modeling only correct procedures and behavior is the best approach in most situations. Why clutter the minds of your audience with things you never want them to do?

Audience recall is never perfect and, after experiencing some e-learning, it’s possible that an audience may remember only the vivid image of something being done incorrectly, rather than the admonition, “Don’t do it this way.” The fine points are often forgotten, so all that’s retained is “This is what I saw in the training,” and on that association they assume it’s right. So by planting a negative image that was imperfectly remembered, your training can actually make matters worse.

Sometimes it is necessary to point out common problems, but you can do so quickly or verbally, or by showing only the consequences without modeling incorrect behavior; then cut straight to demonstrating the behavior that will prevent those problems.

In some situations, particularly in sales and management training, it may be helpful to debunk common misconceptions or show the negative consequences of what people may think is the proper thing to do. Humor can be helpful here. By showing how ridiculous the character who acts this way really is, your audience may then notice themselves doing the same thing, recognizing that they are being just as silly as the character in the e-learning.

The deciding factor is whether the audience is already practicing the behavior and possibly unaware that they are guilty of it or that it’s hurting their performance. By showing only a parody of this behavior, your training’s not introducing them to any bad habits they don’t already practice.

When trying to change attitudes, positives also work better. Avoiding problems mostly maintains the status quo hardly exciting. Your audience wants to improve. For example:

A dire warning about head injuries will probably do more to alienate athletes than excite them. But if they can hear top players talking about being more aggressive when wearing protective gear, that’s what every competitor wants to hear. So glamorize it. Show how cool it can look.
Rather than dwelling on the messy, inefficient office, show people enjoying the extra time they’ve earned by using your product or adopting your techniques to clean up that mess.

Another problem with showing negatives is that negative images are often so powerful that your message becomes associated with them, regardless of what you may then attempt to do to position yourself as the alternative to that image.

When designing product training to introduce the sales force to a men’s cologne targeted to more sensitive-type guys, I opened with a put-down of macho meatheads and pin-striped clones. The imagery was so strong it overshadowed the message that this new scent offers a refreshing alternative. I lost the job.
Safety and human services training is particularly prone to wallowing in the negative. The broken bodies beside the road and heart-wrenching poor little crippled children are familiar to most of us.

What do these images do to an audience? They make the audience uncomfortable. The audience wants it to stop. One way an audience can “make it stop” is to heed the message of the e-learning and attempt to change the world, knowing full well that the best of their efforts will only lessen the problem. The other way to “make it stop” is to simply turn off mentally ignore the training. It’s quick. It’s easy. It isolates them from the problem completely. Which do you think most audiences choose?

Sure, you have to make an audience aware of the problem and its consequences. But how much argument does it take to convince people that poverty, senseless slaughter on the highways, or crippling diseases are bad? How many people in your audience are actually advocating death and suffering? Is your goal to beat them over the head or to motivate them to start solving the problem?

A problem-solving approach would be to show the gratification, sense of belonging, and power to change things that those who are doing something about a problem enjoy. Invite your audience to share in this joy and accomplishment, meeting people they will be proud to know. Show how people who enjoy life are able to prevent drunk driving or deal with other social problems. Show the action you want them to take; show the rewards.

Scolding and dwelling on the horrors may help swell the self-righteousness of the already-converted, but will remind others only of why they would just as soon not think about it.

Negatives don't motivate. You'll never hear cheerleaders shout “Don't lose the ball,” or “We're not losers.” They yell out what they want to happen, which is exactly what e-learning needs to do. Give your audience a goal. Show them how to do it. Give them an image to envision, that of being confident and successful. It’s easier and more effective for your audience to copy success than to repress failure.

John Morley is the author of Scriptwriting for High-Impact Videos, and an instructional designer working with Kaiser Permanente. He can be reached at John@OriginalVision.com.

Going Global: Training Internationally By Donald Ford, PhD

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 18:32:57 GMT

Going Global: Training Internationally

“Travel imparts new vigor to the mind.” – Seneca

Like many learning and performance consultants, I find myself travelling abroad increasingly. Since the Great Recession, demand for training has gone up overseas while declining in the U.S. I enjoy travelling and seeing the world, especially on someone else’s dime, so I take assignments in many parts of the globe, including East and Southeast Asia, Middle East, North and South Africa and Latin America.
I am also always a little paranoid about international travel and for good reason.

When training abroad, many things can go wrong. As Murphy’s Law instructs, it eventually will. So I’ll share some tips that I learned the hard way which I find work for me when training internationally.

Do Your Homework
Learn as much as you can about the client and the country before even accepting an offer. Make sure you can trust the client who hired you, because if they don’t pay, there’s a long line at the International Court of the Hague. Read up on the country and the city where you will be staying. A good tourist guide is a starting point.

Learn a few phrases in the native language. The people you interact with in the foreign land will appreciate your effort.

Anticipate Everything
Prepare a checklist for your trip of all the materials, technology, clothing and personal items you will need. Make travel arrangements about 3 weeks in advance for the best deals. Clarify all local travel arrangements with the client prior to departure. I once had an assignment in the Middle East and I thought the client had booked my hotel. When I arrived, I discovered they were sold out and I didn’t have a reservation. Turns out the client thought he was merely recommending a hotel, not booking it.

Pack extras of all essential training materials and carry them with you, in case your luggage is delayed. Ship as much ahead as possible or use digital files. Designate someone back home who can send you things in an emergency.

Despite your best laid plans, things happen. Personal flexibility is a great asset when traveling, as is an open mind.

Build Relationships
After arrival, meet the client post haste. Continue building the relationship you began virtually, because this person(s) is the key to a successful engagement. The person will troubleshoot problems, make arrangements, and hopefully recommend things to do.

Once in the class, I make every effort to meet participants individually and get to know them on a personal level. The business card exchange ritual is a good time to do this. Find out something interesting about each person and remember it. Most countries have a much higher relationship culture than the U.S. The relationships you create will buy you goodwill and enrich your experience.

Adjust Your Delivery
Find out about the English language skills of the audience and be prepared to speak more slowly and distinctly to be understood. Avoid American slang and clichés and speak standard English. Bring a good ear too, since understanding foreign accented-English can be a challenge. Use many visuals and summarize key points in your slides; most foreign speakers of English can read better or at least as well as they can interpret the spoken word.

Be sure to explain any references to U.S. culture, customs, or laws, since these may not be known. Relate content to the local context and check with participants frequently for relevance to their environment. Be sensitive to the local customs. You may have to adjust the schedule to accommodate prayer, banquets, ceremonies, afternoon tea, rush hour, blackouts, or the occasional coup d’état.

I have found that humans everywhere enjoy being engaged in their learning. Keep lectures to a minimum and emphasize discussion and activity. Small group work is a hit in cultures with high relationship behavior. They can also converse in their native language and often process the learning better this way. Avoid calling on individual participants who might feel put on the spot. I prefer to ask for volunteers or use open-ended overhead questions to stimulate a discussion. Inject fun and humor into the course and people can’t help but feel good about the program and about you. I bring chocolates to hand out at afternoon break and as prizes. They are invariably a hit.

Immerse Yourself in the Culture
If you want to join the ranks of the ex-pats and pros in our profession, immerse yourself in the culture. Get out of your five star hotel and into the streets. Walk the malls and observe the people. Go into the shopping and nightlife areas and experience the culture first-hand. Read the local newspaper and watch the local news. I have found the best approach is to be a cultural chameleon - be part of the culture while you are in it. The old cliché still rings true – when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

If you find some way to connect yourself to the local scene for however brief time you are there, you will come home with a broadened outlook on the world that no amount of reading and studying can ever replace. You may also find, as I have, that some of your very best friends live in those faraway places that training summoned you to visit.

Donald J. Ford, Ph.D., C.P.T.
President, Training Education Management LLC and
Adjunct Professor of Management, Antioch University Los Angeles

PERFORMANCE-BASED COMMUNICATION: Getting Your Audience to React the Way You Want! By G. Riley Milles

Tue, 22 May 2012 02:16:22 GMT

PERFORMANCE-BASED COMMUNICATION: Getting Your Audience to React the Way You Want!

Close your eyes. When you hear the words great communicator, whom do you think of? Whose faces do you see? Which voices do you hear? Perhaps your list included politicians or public figures like Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, Winston Churchill, or Martin Luther King, Jr. Or you might have gone in a different direction listing corporate executives like Jack Welch, Steve Jobs, or Suze Orman. Others might have chosen media figures like Oprah Winfrey, Bill Maher, or Tony Robbins.

They are among the list of people often considered great communicators. While many have the desire to emulate them, there is a common misconception that great communicators are simply born with the magical ability to move people with their words. Great communicators certainly make it look easy. But like any top athlete or brilliant opera star, most are not born. Rather, they’re made through disciplined practice and hours of hard work. They also spend focused effort learning great communication tools and techniques and never stopped honing them.

When great communicators speak and they’re “on,” they are perceived as what we call the 5Cs - clear, concise, confident, credible, and, especially, compelling. But they have something extra, some spark that makes them more engaging or dynamic than those who are just very good communicators, or even great ones. You may think it’s their self-confidence or their ability to tell a story, their facial expressions, body language,e or maybe their voice.

The reality is it’s never one thing alone that makes a speaker engaging in the audience’s eyes, whether that audience is a boardroom full of investors or someone’s in-laws at a dinner party. It’s the combination of the skills mentioned above, but there’s something else that helps them attain the mysterious combination of passion and confidence that results in charisma: the activation of the communicator’s secret weapon – a strong and specific intention in pursuit of a clear and tangible objective. The objective is what you want or need from your audience after the speech or presentation. The intention is the strong focused aim and delivery of that message that will help you pursue and ultimately achieve that objective.

The burden of engagement always lies with the speaker. As Stella Adler, the legendary acting teacher said, “When you stand on the stage you must have a sense that you are addressing the whole world, and that what you say is so important the whole world must listen.” It is the speaker’s responsibility whether running a meeting, presenting material, or sharing a story to engage the audience so fully and completely with what you are saying and how you are saying it that, at any given moment, you could literally hear a pin drop. A strong objective and intention can help you achieve that level of engagement.

Sadly, that often isn’t the case with most business communication. People across all industries consistently bemoan the poor communication skills of the individuals within their organization, from entry-level employees, all the way to the C-suite. Complaints include lack of credibility and assertiveness, low levels of enthusiasm, unclear messaging, and more.

Consider how many meetings you’ve attended, presentations you’ve sat through or stories you’ve listened to and wondered why you were meeting, why you should care, or when the meeting would end. Experts estimate that the average business professional attends a total of 61.8 meetings per month or more than three meetings per day. According to the National Statistics Council, 91 percent of professionals admit to daydreaming or even falling asleep during the meetings or presentations they attend.

Without engagement, which is defined as when an audience is in a willing state of attentiveness, effective communication is not possible. It doesn’t matter who you are or what topic you’re discussing, if your message does not hit its intended target, you will have fallen short of the mark as a communicator. Anyone tasked with delivering a message to others knows, you need to penetrate your audience to make an impact on them. You must engage them if you hope to persuade them.

We all know a great communicator when we see one, the individual that captures our attention, rouses our emotions, or compels us to take action. We are drawn to those people, personally, professionally, and in some cases publicly. The key to becoming that kind of communicator involves using the congruent, intention-based delivery skills that actors have used for centuries.

Just like an audience’s satisfaction and opinions of every movie or play are ultimately influenced by the delivery of the script, so it is in the boardroom, conference room, or offices. The key to success is to communicate your intentions clearly by using your whole body to deliver that message and get your audience to react and do what you want. Because those that have a strong objective and a clear intention are usually the most influential.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn more at the June 2012 Chapter Meeting that Gary is facilitating! Check it out at: www.astdla.org.

G. Riley Milles (Gary)
Chief Operating Officer
Pinnacle Performance Company
www.pinper.com

HIGH-IMPACT E-LEARNING: Tell a People Story by John Morley

Mon, 07 May 2012 00:44:49 GMT

HIGH-IMPACT E-LEARNING: Tell a People Story

Movies are typically about a hero and a problem. The setting may be war, Wall Street, or the 1950s in the South, but the story is about people. By focusing on a story about individuals an interesting thing happens: Not only is the audience much more involved, the film's statement about the setting or situation is made more powerful.

Bull Durham has been called the best picture ever made about baseball. It is really a love story, baseball only provided the backdrop and sub-plots. This open secret for engaging an audience, known to all successful screenwriters, can also be applied to e-learning: focus on the impact for one or two people. Give your learners a way to relate to your content.

Make It A Story About People, Not About Techniques

Rather than giving a demonstration about management techniques, show how an employee and her supervisor resolve a problem. Rather than offering product training that lists features and specifications, show how a product or service changed an individual's life. While showing how it's done, show an individual who benefits, while contributing to the benefit of others.

Singling out a person to demonstrate universal truths is a technique pre-dating written language, and is still more potent than any amount of special effects and snazzy graphics. Though a dramatization is the obvious format for people stories, any format can be enhanced through demonstrating how your message affects people. Interviews are more effective if the questions center on personal experience or add insight into someone else's experiences undefined rather than depending on opinion or abstract facts.

Even in a straight voice-over, with no specific reference to the personalities on the screen, a picture story can show specific individuals in a story that applies the ideas or techniques you discuss.

Example: For sales training on a national court-reporting network, we opened with a lawyer fielding several problems over the phone. During the show, the narrator explained all of the network's benefits, while the visual demonstrated how those benefits solved all of the lawyer's problems that were introduced in the opening. Sparse use of sound bites from telephone conversations increased the sense of urgency, introduced a touch of reality, and filled in the details we couldn't demonstrate visually. More than a parade of features and benefits, the e-learning became a story of a person solving previously insurmountable problems.

Give Them Someone They Care About

Content can be broken out into separate e-learning segments. Vignettes can alternate with commentary on what was just dramatized, or establish the problem that your product or service can solve. The critical thing is to give your audience someone with whom they can identify. One specific example, that's emotionally involving, has more power than any amount of reasoned analysis.

------------------------------

John Morley is the author of Scriptwriting for High-Impact Videos, and an instructional designer working with Kaiser Permanente. He can be reached at John@OriginalVision.com.

What is Cultural Intelligence? Part 1 of 3 by Omagbitse Jagha

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:15:29 GMT

What is Cultural Intelligence?

Several years ago, as an MBA student (the course was External Environment of Business), I was part of a group (there were three groups in all) tasked with developing a plan to introduce a U.S made and FDA approved pharmaceutical drug into several developing countries. We were to assume that we (the United States) were competing against other drug manufacturers from Asia and Europe. Essentially, we had to develop a sales strategy that we would use to negotiate with and penetrate the market in these developing countries (cross-cultural negotiation). Sounds like a simple enough project? It was not.

The results from all three groups were fundamentally flawed and filled with error. The problems were not with expertise, experience, or educational background of the group members. The problems stemmed from a lack of intelligence about the cultures of the economies/countries that were assigned to the group. In other words, none of the groups had adequate knowledge of the cultures of the developing countries. It was also clear that the groups believed (erroneously) that putting together a world class proposal would make up for the lack of cultural knowledge. In particular, the proposals did not address the perception of the potential consumers of the product, including how to dispel suspicion about U.S. made drugs. A case in point – polio vaccines made in the U.S. and Europe were rejected due to suspicions that they were actually drugs designed to sterilize men in the Muslim dominated part of a large West African country. This resulted in a polio epidemic several years later.

In addition, the proposals did not address who was the target market – government, private sector, traditional rulers/monarchs, local doctors (who will prescribe the drug), or patients. This is critical because all these groups have subcultures that play an important role in successful cross-cultural negotiation. A lack of adequate cultural intelligence about these subcultures may result in a failure of the business endeavor.

One look at the source of information about these developing countries told the whole story. The groups relied heavily on books (mostly outdated) written by local American writers and information found on the websites of the embassies of these countries available mainly for vacation destination advertizing. The problem is that without cultural intelligence that is up-to-date and accurate, it is virtually impossible to engage with people that have different cultural orientation without employing stereotyping – and that does not work successfully. So what exactly is cultural intelligence?

When an individual is culturally intelligent, it means that the individual has successfully absorbed the cultural nuances of other foreign cultures with the ultimate goal of facilitating positive outcomes and effective cross-cultural negotiations (Imai & Gelfand, 2010). It important to emphasize that cultural intelligence is critical, not only for cross-cultural negotiation, but also for cultural diversity in the workplace.

Becoming culturally intelligent is a development and learning process that involves understanding and using the four levels of meta-cognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral components to enhance decision making and improve performance (Imai & Gelfand, 2010). Stay tuned for the second article in this three-part series, for information regarding these four components of cultural intelligence, and how they can be used as a four-step model to teach cultural intelligence.

References
Imai, L. & Gelfand, M. (2010). The culturally intelligent negotiator: The impact of cultural intelligence (CQ) on negotiation sequences and outcomes. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 112, 83-98

Leading Change by Managing Stability by Dave Jensen

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 00:25:41 GMT

Leading Change by Managing Stability

The soapy, wet rags slapped my front windshield as I drove into the carwash. Instantly, my 90-pound German Sheppard leapt from the back to the front seat. His big brown eyes screamed at me, "Dad, what's that?"

“It’s okay Comet." I stroked his head as the car darkened.

Within seconds those gigantic brushes attacked the car from all sides. Comet scrambled onto my lap, shaking. His eyes, glued to mine, cried “I’m not okay!"

I held him tightly, stroked his head, and sang our song, "That's our good boy Comet; Comet is a good boy..." He stopped shaking and calmed down.

Comet was able to handle change because I gave him stability. And the same is true for all of us. When we experience any change, researchers tell us that we tend to search for stability. So, instead of asking, "How can I get others (or myself) to change?" we should ask, "What can I give them (or me) to hold as I ask them to change?"

Communicate the Vision for Change
One of the best ways to help others feel secure during changing times is to communicate what the change is, why it’s important, and who supports the change. These issues were addressed by a client of mine in their Vision for Change document that I helped them write. At a recent Town Hall meeting, a few of their top executives highlighted key sections of this document in order to give everyone a bit more stability during their major initiative called, Business Optimization Program (BOP).

What is the BOP Vision for Change Document?
The CFO explained that the Vision for Change document is collaboration among the technical team, their Organization’s Change Management (OCM) team (of which I’m the change consultant) and internal Change Champion Network (CCN). The document, she said, is a 10,000 foot view of the “what” and “why” of the BOP transformation. She also pointed out that the BOP Vision Statement, created by the CCN, is “Business made easier every day and every way!”

Why is the BOP Vision for Change Document Important?
The COO asserted that the Vision for Change document is important because it makes an excellent case that “the status quo is more dangerous than the change.” He highlighted a few of the scenarios in the document that demonstrate why many current inefficient processes can no longer be tolerated. He concluded by showing the last page of this document – the signatures of all the executive team members and vice presidents in the organization who support BOP (all of them!).

Who Benefits from Achieving the Vision for Change?
Finally, one of the VPs (and designated Change Champion) discussed a few of the many strategic and tactical benefits of BOP that are part of the Vision for Change document. She pointed out that BOP will provide:

Standardized and optimized business practices
Effective and efficient data retrieval/analysis for decision-making
Clearly defined system and process ownership and accountability
A transformation from being person-dependent to process-oriented

So, next time you feel like you’re on shaky ground because there’s too much change, look for something to hold onto. Maybe you can create a document that communicates what the change is, why it’s important, and who supports the change. How surprised will you be that you can handle change because you manage stability?

Keep stretching when you feel pulled,
Dave

P.S. Dave Jensen transforms proven leadership tools into client success stories. Dave is an executive coach, leadership expert, and an engaging speaker at conferences, meetings, and retreats. He can be reached in Los Angeles, CA at (310) 397-6686 or http://davejensenonleadership.com/

The Learning Blender by Donald J. Ford, Ph.D.

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 23:02:37 GMT

THE LEARNING BLENDER

Figure 1: Blended Learning Combines Two or More Learning Modalities

Learning methods and delivery options are multiplying. To get the most learning for their investment, organizations and individuals are seeking blended learning solutions that combine a variety of delivery options and learning methods that create a buffet of learning for all palates.

To avoid a blender blowout while creating exceptional blended learning, it is important to know how to blend various learning ingredients to accent the individual advantages of each.

What is Blended Learning?

Blended learning is any combination of classroom, e-learning, or non-formal collaborative learning that is intended to achieve the same outcomes as traditional learning. Blended learning comes in many forms today with technology promises of new options in the future. The most common learning elements that comprise blended learning are:

Classroom instruction (97% of organizations still provide it)
Asynchronous e-learning (on-demand, self-paced online)
Synchronous virtual classroom (meeting together online)
Individual coaching/mentoring (in-person or online)
Formal education (degrees or certificate programs through colleges and universities)
Social media (blogs, wikis, professional networks, communities of practice, m-learning)
Self-study (books, podcasts, audio, DVDs)

How Does Blended Learning Work?

Learning experts have identified key psychological and mental processes that facilitate learning which can be reduced to five key processes:

Focus attention on the subject matter; learning cannot occur without full attention (just as our teachers admonished us as children).
Activate prior knowledge of the subject matter and connect to the current learning. As adults, our long-term memory of past experience supports our current learning for new associations.
Manage the cognitive load on our working memory with small, digestible chunks of learning (approximately five to seven items at a time). Our limited working memory can easily become overloaded, leading to forgetfulness and incomplete learning.
Promote retention in long-term memory through practice as we remember the things that we experience and do repeatedly. Find opportunities to rehearse new skills to help us retain the learning over time.
Retrieve new knowledge when needed through testing, recall tools, job aids, and reference materials. If we cannot recall our new knowledge, the learning becomes useless.

Given these key learning principles, blended learning can provide multiple opportunities, through multiple sensory inputs, for learners to experience new knowledge and skills. With different exposures to learning types, our knowledge accumulates and our retention and retrieval of the new knowledge improves.

As an example, consider the roll-out of a new computer database. The traditional way of learning the new system would involve scheduling all users for a one- or two-day class with intensive experience of the new system through demonstrations and hands-on practice for 12-16 hours. This type of learning experience typically leads to cognitive overload, limited skill practice, poor retention, and poor retrieval when employees start to use the new system on the job.

A blended learning alternative might start with the use of social media to introduce the new database and the organization’s rationale and goals for the new system. This gets people to start paying attention and buying into the idea.

Next, an online self-paced tutorial could give a high-level overview of the new database with explanations about how it differs from existing systems, what its features and benefits are, and the plans to implement it throughout the organization. This information helps to activate prior knowledge and continues to build attention and support.

Third, users might be brought into a classroom or learning lab for hands-on demonstrations and guided practice in the key elements of the new system, under the guidance of a database expert or systems trainer. The classroom time could be substantially reduced from the two-day class of old by focusing on high priority tasks while using online tutorials to cover more detailed and less important aspects of the database.

Finally, users could receive job aids in the form of checklists, step-action tables, flow charts and on-line technical references to improve retrieval on the job. This learning could also be supplemented by using job coaches to assist employees individually who are still having problems learning the new system.

It is clear from this example that blended learning can combine the advantages of different learning modalities while mitigating their respective weaknesses. This results in more effective learning that has a higher likelihood of impacting the organization positively.

What Are Some Favorite Blends?

While blended learning has many advantages, it also presents challenges to learning professionals. If we blend learning in the wrong combinations, we may actually undermine our very purpose and produce worse results than a classroom-only approach. For example, if we use online tutorials to overwhelm participants with massive amounts of static knowledge (aka “e-reading”) or use classroom time to lecture ad nauseam about “nice to know” but largely useless knowledge, we will produce little or no learning. We also leave employees struggling on their own when they have to use the new knowledge on the job.

As learning professionals gain more experience with blended learning, several blended learning models are emerging as best practices. Here are three that have demonstrated excellent results when properly implemented.

Bookend Model

In this blended model, classroom instruction is bookended on the front with pre-work that is often delivered on-line and on the back with on-the-job training (OJT) bthat may come in the form of knowledge management systems or job coaches. This is a great model for skill acquisition. Visually, the model looks like this:

Figure 2: Bookend Model Combines Pre and Post Classroom Learning

The advantages of this model are numerous. It reduces classroom time, thus saving money on training delivery. It engages learners over a longer period of time and allows for greater individualization. Finally, it increases skill transfer to the job, which is the whole point of corporate training.

Competency Model

When learning requires the acquisition of complex competencies based on tacit knowledge, a competency-driven blended learning model works best. This is based on the need to capture and transfer tacit knowledge from experts over a long period of time. Learners interact with and observe experts on the job. This model depends on a variety of learning events - online, classroom and experiential – spaced over time which is often supplemented by assigning mentors to learners. It also supports developing knowledge management systems as repositories of tacit knowledge that can be accessed when needed. Social networks can be deployed to create communities of practice within various disciplines to encourage knowledge creation and sharing.

Attitude Model

When learning requires the adoption of new attitudes that lead to new personal behaviors, peer interaction in a low risk environment is required. The traditional way to change attitudes relies on motivational group presentations followed by intense one-on-one interpersonal interaction. The blended approach relies more on peer-to-peer interaction in a risk-free environment to create the motivation to change, while using coaches and mentors for individual follow up. The blended approach to attitude change may employ one or more of the following learning strategies:

Hold synchronous Web-based meetings (Webinars) to introduce the new attitudes and their related behaviors
Assign group projects (to be completed offline) to get peers working together and demonstrating the new behaviors
Conduct role-playing simulations either in a classroom or via computer simulation to rehearse new behaviors and fine-tune them
Assign mentors to coach and monitor attitude and behavior change
Use incentives and rewards to drive organizational change and individual behavior change

Conclusions

Blended learning is here and as a phenomenon is likely to have a greater impact on the way learning professionals work in the future. From mastering new technologies to creating new solutions and working in entirely new ways, blended learning offers the potential to revolutionize our field in ways we are only now beginning to grasp.

So, go out there and blend some learning! Don’t be afraid to experiment with new approaches and learn from these experiences. After all, that’s what we ask our learners to do every day.

Donald J. Ford, Ph.D., C.P.T.
President, Training Education Management LLC and
Adjunct Professor of Management, Antioch University Los Angeles

An Integrated Approach to Coaching: Doing and Being by Rachel Karu, MS, ACC

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 18:52:48 GMT

One of the main reasons people seek out coaches is to drive accountability on some sort of pressing goal or ambition. I am a “recovering perfectionist” and I am certainly “Type A.” I love checking things off the list and feeling a sense of accomplishment. That said, many coaches miss the boat by only focusing on accomplishing goals. I have found that my coaching is most effective when I help clients focus on “the doing and being” while achieving important milestones. We can check many things off the proverbial “to do list”; who cares if we are miserable?!

I define the “doing” as tactical steps that need to get accomplished in any given task. The “being” aspect of any task involves clarifying one’s mindset about how one wants to “show up” during that task or event. I ask clients to define their total intention and consider not only what they want to get at the end of the interaction, but how they want to feel and be perceived throughout.

This is a client situation I encountered recently:

I partnered with a client who was preparing to turn in the second half of her thesis project for her master’s program. She had shared that she felt remorse and self-doubt after turning in the first half of the thesis and this sparked much negative thinking and judgment.

My intuition told me that she knew all the tasks and tactical steps needed to prepare in order to send in the second half of the project. What was equally important was for her to get clear on the how she wanted to conduct herself during the preparation and delivery of the thesis. What kind of experience did she want to have?

We did some perspective work where she played with a variety of intentions. She decided to play with a perspective she created that we called the “dancing perspective.” This included allowing for flow, movement, and recognizing when she needed to take a break after “sweating” from working many hours. She decided to choose Elton John’s classic song “Tiny Dancer” to help ground her in this perspective any time she did work on her thesis.

She reported to me that this point of view helped her enjoy the experience. She felt calm and at ease as she prepared and sent in her thesis – success with both the doing and being of this important project!

It is imperative to guide clients to set meaningful goals that align with their values and then focus on who they are being in the process. Ask them to consider their intentions and their mind-set. For example, let’s say a client is focusing on preparing for a job interview. She can have the perfect resume and be dressed to the nines; however, all her efforts will be for naught if she comes with a defeated attitude that screams, “I am desperate!” She will sabotage herself unless she considers her mindset during the interview. When I am helping clients prepare for interviews, I ask them, “Who do you want to be in the process? How will you define success other than getting the job? What does success look like in terms of who you are being?” Examples of intentions during an interview include: being one's authentic self, interviewing the company as much as they interview you, asking for what you want in terms of responsibilities and benefits, being curious, etc.

Helping clients focus on the “doing and being” creates deeper experiences and helps them get results while enjoying the journey… What a concept!

Rachel Karu, MS, ACC, is a professional and personal coach as well as an organization consultant specializing in training and development. She has more than 18 years of professional and personal development experience. With primary expertise in coaching and training people in the areas of intra/interpersonal skills, she provides counseling in areas including: career management, communication and listening skills, team effectiveness, life balance, value clarification, communicating boundaries, providing/receiving feedback, setting expectations, corporate leadership development and time management.

To find more information on Rachel, please visit her website or join her on Twitter or LinkedIn.
Website: RAE Development – Reflect, Act, Excel
Phone: (310) 441-1104
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelkaruraedevelopment
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/raedevelopment

Don’t Just Count Your Blessings… by Dave Jensen

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 23:08:41 GMT

My sister-in-law's mom, Ruth, died not long ago. She had been ill for some time and required 24/7 healthcare. She spent the last week of her life calling old friends and writing thank-you notes to those who had cared for her over the last several years. It seems to me that she died the way she lived – counting more than just her blessings.
Ruth's wonderful life teaches me that it is easy to be thankful when things go my way, but hard when people or circumstances fail to meet my expectations. Ruth wasn’t thankful just for her blessings, she was thankFULL for everything. She didn’t just count her blessings… she counted everything.

It is also easy to mourn someone with tears, but hard to honor them with action. This holiday season, I'll try to honor Ruth by practicing what she lived – being thankful all the time. Here are a few examples of everyday “difficulties” for which I choose to be thankful:

1. Traffic
2. Dirty dishes
3. Tough times

1. Traffic

I hear people complaining about traffic and long commutes all the time. Of course, Los Angeles traffic bothers me too at times. Yet, it was those hours in traffic that drove me to turn my car into a rolling university 25 years ago when I worked for Siemens. I've listened to thousands of hours of educational audio programs during long commutes, traffic jams, and airport delays. I attribute a significant portion of my “success” to my dedication to lifelong learning… in my car and elsewhere. I invite you to check out www.teach12.com and learn from the best teachers in the world.

2. Dirty dishes

I used to hate washing dishes. My attitude changed one year when I realized that Ruth couldn't do the dishes because of her failing health. In that moment I decided that dirty dishes, especially during the holidays, represented an abundance of food, friends, and family. There are many who do not experience abundance during the holiday season. Those serving in our armed forces, suffering ill health, dying of hunger across the globe would do anything to wash dishes after a Thanksgiving meal. I encourage you to dirty a few extra dishes this holiday season by inviting someone who may have no place to go.

3. Tough times

The management of anxiety is the essence of growth. Nature, life, and research all teach us that hardship is critical to leadership. The ocean's reef is more spectacular on the side where the waves crash; those who fail to learn from difficulties are doomed to repeat them; eXtraordinary leaders understand that 70% of professional development occurs during challenging assignments.

Our challenging economy continues to cause anxiety in many hearts and homes. I, too, was anxious when I lost two of my largest clients three years ago. I channeled my anxiety into positive energy by creating my new website (http://www.DaveJensenOnLeadership.com/), the eXpansive Leadership Model (XLM) assessment tool (http://xlmassessment.com/), and a first draft of my new leadership book. I am very thankful that these have been instrumental in the upswing in my business this year. It may be a stretch to say I am “thankful” for tough times, but it’s not a stretch to say that I choose to GROW through turbulent times instead of merely going through them.

The holidays begin by giving thanks. I'm thankful that Ruth touched my heart. I am thankFULL that she taught me to count everything, not just my blessings. How about you?

Happy Easter & Passover,
Dave

P.S. Dave Jensen transforms proven leadership tools into client success stories. Dave is an executive coach and an engaging speaker at conferences, meetings, and retreats. He can be reached in Los Angeles, CA at (310) 397-6686 or at http://davejensenonleadership.com/.

Training Design Versus Development by Donald J. Ford, Ph.D., C.P.T.

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 17:55:13 GMT

What’s the difference between an instructional designer and a course developer? This question came up during a recent search for a contractor to help one of my clients with a rush training project. I had asked which they needed and my question prompted the question above in response.

It made me realize that many learning professionals don’t know the difference between the two. Although instructional design is generally considered a unified field of practice, it is really divided into two sub-disciplines: instructional design and material development.

So what is the difference? The instructional designer is the architect of learning, creating a detailed blueprint based on a training needs assessment. The course developer takes the blueprint and constructs learning materials of all types – print, video, audio and combinations of all three – following the specifications created by the instructional designer, much like a general contractor builds a house following the architect’s detailed plan.

To better understand these two roles, let’s consider the work that typically occurs in each of the “D” phases of ADDIE.

Design Phase
As the name implies, design is the heart of the instructional design process. Trainers can use the term “design” loosely, sometimes meaning a specific phase of the training process and sometimes using it as a shorthand way of referring to the entire process, we can easily get confused. It helps to specify what the design phase of training is responsible for creating. This usually consists of the following:

The instructional track starts by:

1. Establishing the objectives

Based on a needs assessment, which occurs during the analysis phase
Instructional designers may or may not be involved in the analysis
Needs analysis, especially job task analysis, is the input for objectives

2. Selecting appropriate strategies and methods that are most likely to produce learning of the objectives

Knowledge objectives are often paired with lectures and paper or group exercises
Skill objectives are paired with demonstration and hands-on practice

3. Producing a prototype, a small working model of the instruction to illustrate what the final training will look like

Useful when e-learning is the delivery media, since it is inherently more complex to envision and develop

On the project management track, designers:

1. Specify the deliverables for the training, including all print, video and audio learning materials, plus any tests, exercises, pre-work and post-work assignments.

Typical classroom deliverables are participant guides, facilitator guides and slides
Typical e-learning deliverables are storyboards, video clips, audio narratives, graphics, photos and animations.

2. Develop a budget and schedule for the instructional design and development phases

Include work assignments and milestones
Manage labor and material costs
May also help to prepare the budget and schedule for delivery of the learning

3. Lead project teams or assist in putting together the project organization that will design, develop and deliver the learning.

Project management planning and monitoring
Project management implementation

All of these six tasks then merge in a training blueprint, a document that summarizes all the decisions made about the training.

Development
Though the training development phase is often lumped together with design, in fact it represents a distinct phase of the training design process with its own unique tasks and characteristics. Furthermore, it is quite common to have entirely different people working on the development phase. For these reasons, it must be considered its own training phase. The development process consists of four major tasks:

Drafting learning materials
Developing tests and exercises
Pilot testing materials
Full-scale materials production and implementation

Materials Development Process
The development phase of training design is the time to roll up one’s sleeves and begin to produce training materials in volume. It has all the hallmarks of a production environment:

Large volumes of material, including text, audio and visuals,
Intensive effort by many people
Tight deadlines
Lots of stress for everyone involved

To get through this phase unscathed, it is essential to have a good plan of attack. This should start with a clear notion about the key components of the development phase of training. Here’s how they look in the development model below.

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS MODEL

Materials development occupies the most time in the process. Today, it often involves multiple specialists working together to achieve a common learning aim. For example, a technical writer may develop written content, a graphic artist may create and capture custom images, a videographer may record and edit video segments, a narrator may record audio tracks and a computer programmer may take all those materials and combine them in an online learning program that relies on an IT technician to load onto a Learning Management System. With so many different material developers at work, each dependent on the other for input, the detailed training blueprint design is the best way to keep all the moving pieces aligned.

So, back to the first question – what is the main difference between instructional designers and course developers? Designers are experts at learning theory and at translating that theory into practical, effective plans for instruction. They are often also responsible for front-end analysis to ensure training meets business goals and the content is job-related.

Developers are experts in translating training blueprints into learning objects, whether text, audio or video. They must be excellent at interpretation, writing, drawing, recording and editing the materials they are working with. They often use specialized computer software to help them accomplish their work.

So, the next time you need help with a training design project, stop and consider what kind of help you really need.

Donald J. Ford, Ph.D., C.P.T.
President, Training Education Management LLC and
Adjunct Professor of Management, Antioch University Los Angeles

"The Tech of Engagement", by Terrence Wing

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 04:37:06 GMT

As many of you know, Terrence was a thought leader not only for the Los Angeles learning community, but throughout the world. He had a particular passion for social media as a tool for learning. We were lucky to have him as a regular contributor to our chapter newsletter. Here is the final article he wrote on the subject. Enjoy!

***

“Build it and they will come.” This adage from the book Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella may work for building magical baseball fields (or soccer fields for that matter), but it hardly works for most business applications. However, in its own right, it is a start. After all, if you don’t build it there is a guarantee: they won’t come. The same holds true for social media. The concept is hot in today’s business world but it is more involved than simply building a platform, opening access and expecting the masses to suddenly want to communicate and share. Building a social media community requires a strategy and a purpose.

First, let’s put everything into the right perspective. It’s important to ensure we are communicating in the same context. So let’s define a key term. Wikipedia.com defines social media as:

“Media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media uses web-based technologies to transform and broadcast media monologues into social media dialogues. They support the democratization of knowledge and information and transform people from content consumers to content producers.”

The activities we engage in while using social media are not new, unique, or dependent on technology. These activities are a part of being human and communal.

As members of an organization with or without technology, we have been performing these now labeled “social media activities” since we uttered our first words (or grunts) as a species. The technology of social media makes the potential reach of our efforts exponential, unlike any other time in our history. Therein lies the true value of social media.

Today, we can collect, share, collaborate, grow and engage our network with unprecedented speed and reach. A problem in a corporation can be experienced in China and solved in Brazil. A question can be posed in India and answered in Turkey. The intellectual capital of our communities is now captured and accessed via social media.

Brian Solis, the author of Engage, calls social media “the redistribution of influence.” Traditionally, influence and information were centralized. As learning professionals, we held the keys to influence. If a manager wanted a training class, the training department would create it. If an employee needed an answer to an HR question, he would use his chain of command until the answer was found. In this structure all answers lead to the top of the pyramid, as if a deity or wizard were present at the highest level with all the answers. Although this system has worked for decades, that monopoly on influence is decaying and will soon be as ancient as the Egyptian pyramids.

Influence is no longer exclusively in a hierarchal structure. With social media, it has transformed and we are all interlinked. Influence is based on one’s content and not position. People follow those with solutions and not titles (for the most part) in the social media realm. The advantage of this structure is that an employee is no longer limited to a chain of command structure but can search for answers to work challenges within the context of his extended network. The “chain of command” structure is limiting because the solutions are restricted to the intellectual capital of that command body. With Social media, the resources multiply exponentially as the network spreads throughout the organization and even beyond as firewall security is relaxed. People save time and discover abundant options. Therefore, our first point is, every organization should be developing a social media infrastructure for their employees, customers, and every stakeholder in the organization to share knowledge.

If that hasn’t convinced you to use social media within your organization, here are ten additional points about why you should.

Internet transparency allows you to hear what your employees and customers are saying about you but not to your face.
Employees can access subject matter experts directly, saving time and money.
The backchannel becomes a form of assessment, steering your organization to solutions.
Employees become engaged and influential.
Networks of collaboration form to solve organizational problems without guidance.
Best practices spread exponentially across the organization or even industry.
The organization has another option for sourcing potential new hires by witnessing their influence in the network.
Training is no longer limited to the instructor’s knowledge, but now grows to include the intellectual capital of the community.
Solutions are globally created and centrally catalogued.
Intellectual capital is not lost with turnover. Once information is shared, it becomes the property of the community and the organization for future employees to use.

This list can go on and on. Most would declare that social media is not a fad. Instead, social media is an integrated learning, communication, assessment, and team-building system. The catalogue of Social media tools is literally hundreds. To add relevance, let’s look at one of the most popular social media tools, Twitter.

Twitter, Inc. defines its product Twitter as “a rich source of instant information.” Common perceptions about Twitter lead outsiders (non-users) to believe this social media tool is about people sharing irrelevant information like laundry dilemmas and gossip. Truth be told, there is a fair amount of useless information circulating the Twitterverse. But what else does that sound like? The Internet has an abundance of useless information dancing from server to server. Would anyone recommend they isolate themselves or their organization from the Internet? That’s not likely. Internet use is as common as most appliances these days. As savvy Internet users, we have learned to filter the Internet just like we did a newspaper, or a library for that matter. Not everything that is published is relevant to us at any given time. Therefore we filter what we want. Twitter is no different.

Twitter is an amazing search engine as well. Sites like www.search.twitter.com can yield content as strong as a Google, Yahoo, or Bing search. The difference is Twitter doesn’t gather the information. Instead, it gathers users who share information. That information then becomes part of an extensive database everyone can access for free. Some of the information can be more useful than a traditional Internet search. For example, if you were wondering how your employees felt about a new compensation package, you would not be able to do a Google search to find that information. However, if you had a robust Social media network (like Twitter) in your organization, you would have a level of transparency that not even surveys contain. In addition to the transparency, you also get immediacy. The data are current, unsolicited, and typically authentic because of that transparency. How much would you pay for an assessment company to create a survey to do this same thing?

Twitter is a platform for the learning professional as well. Since Twitter, the backchannel has become a well-established entity in many classrooms. This pipeline of informal dialogue adds another dimension to training events like seminars and conferences. At the recent ASTD International Conference and Exposition (or most large conferences for that matter), people used the backchannel to gather feedback about speakers before they joined a session or provide feedback to allow others to avoid being trapped in a session that wasn’t going well. Comments and links from many presentations were being shared and expanded upon by conference attendees and even those who were unable to attend. The network of users of this Backchannel even coordinated a “Tweet-up”, an informal gathering of Tweeters (a name for those using Twitter).

Best Buy (electronics retailer) in the United States realized the potential of social immediacy and real-time feedback. They created Twelpforce (@twelpforce on Twitter). They saw a need to develop a stronger relationship with their customers. Best Buy empowered their tech support to unmask the corporate logo and simply go into the Twitterverse with their own identity and address customers’ concerns and problems. At the end of 2009, @twelpforce had provided 19,500 answers to customer questions. Additionally, every answer provided now has become part of a searchable database that everyone on Twitter can use.

Perhaps the marketing aspect of the @twelpforce initiative is evident. But, at first glance, to HR professionals the usefulness may seem evasive. Depending on the size of your organization, your employees are talking about you on Twitter and other social media sites. Some use their own name, others whimsical usernames but many are giving you one of the most valuable gifts an employee can give you, feedback. The opportunity is for your organization to start listening. What could they be talking about?

Attitudes about the organization
Logistical issues creating obstacles
Problem solving
Gossip and rumors
Competitive intelligence
Best practices
Collaborative efforts

These are just a few. Many HR professionals have wondered what it would be like to be a fly on the wall by the water cooler where employees gather. With social media tools like Twitter, now you are that fly. You can hear what your employees are concerned about. This isn’t a license to abuse, though. Big Brother scenarios will cause a stampede out of a social network. Employees must be free to share without retribution or retaliation.

Security should not be discounted but it doesn’t have to shut the door to social media in your organization either. IT’s concerns are legitimate and should be addressed. Employees need training on what is appropriate to discuss on open networks like Twitter. There are several Twitter-like platforms that are either password-protected or installed behind your firewall (Yammer.com is an example). If you have an email policy, you have a social media policy, or at least the start of one. Some could argue that email was one of the first social media tools along with the telephone. Emails can leak information just as easily as social media. I encourage and recommend consulting your IT and legal departments.

You’ve been listening to an army of evangelists over the years touting the value of social media. The technology is very effective. However, the value of the site lies almost entirely with the community. First comes investing in the tools. Investing in the community is paramount. Content won’t show up magically. It has to be seeded and harvested through user engagement. You still must build it for them to come.

"Don't Just Count Your Blessings..." by Dave Jensen

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:18:21 GMT

Ruth's wonderful life teaches me that it is easy to be thankful when things go my way, but hard when people or circumstances fail to meet my expectations. Ruth wasn’t thankful just for her blessings, she was thankFULL for everything. She didn’t just count her blessings… she counted everything.

Traffic
Dirty dishes
Tough times

1. Traffic

2. Dirty dishes

3. Tough times

Our challenging economy continues to cause anxiety in many hearts and homes. I too was anxious when I lost two of my largest clients three years ago. I channeled my anxiety into positive energy by creating my new website (http://www.DaveJensenOnLeadership.com/), the eXpansive Leadership Model (XLM) assessment tool (http://xlmassessment.com/), and a first draft of my new leadership book. I am very thankful that these have been instrumental in the upswing in my business this year. It may be a stretch to say I am “thankful” for tough times, but it’s not a stretch to say that I choose to GROW through turbulent times instead of merely going through them.

The holidays begin by giving thanks. I'm thankful that Ruth touched my heart. I am thankFULL that she taught me to count everything, not just my blessings. How about you?

Happy Thanksgiving,

Dave

P.S. Dave Jensen transforms proven leadership tools into client success stories. Dave is an executive coach and an engaging speaker at conferences, meetings, and retreats. He can be reached in Los Angeles, CA at (310) 397-6686 or http://davejensenonleadership.com/

"Building an Effective Content Marketing Campaign" by Marcus Schaller

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 20:45:21 GMT

Many professional trainers, consultants and coaches have built their careers on personal relationships, word of mouth and reputation. For those who have always depended on offline methods for reaching new clients, the new rules of marketing and business development may at first seem overwhelming. There are simply too many tools available, and no real roadmap for how to use them effectively.

Without a solid plan, it's too easy to become preoccupied with technology like social media, video and webinars without first having a strategy for what type of content your market will value most. Facebook pages, Youtube channels and SlideShare accounts do little good if all they push out is generic, self-serving company “news” and sales pitches disguised as articles.

By starting with the following basic model and rolling it out in manageable steps, you?ll have a strong infrastructure in place from which to share content that makes an impact with your audience and leads to new business.

Step 1: Your Content Strategy

At the beginning, it's best to keep all the moving parts as simple as possible. Focus on what B2B marketer Eric Wittlake (b2bdigital.net) calls Stage Zero Content.

“Stage zero content is intended to establish your brand, your expertise or your perspective in the mind of your target market, when they are not researching or considering solutions. This content is valuable to a far broader audience than even early stage buying cycle content.”

Stage Zero Content deals with the same problems as your area of expertise, targeting the very companies and people who are most likely to also be your best prospects. A solid core strategy is made up of answers to the following five questions:

What are all of the problems our expertise solves? Think high level problems, low level problems and everything in between.
Who do we solve them for? How sophisticated and experienced is our target market with the solutions available? Content that?s valuable to one may be useless for another.
What?s our content?s style and personality? The fatal flaw of most B2B marketing is the incorrect assumption that all business purchasing decisions are made purely by logic. This often leads to some pretty boring, bloated stuff. The best B2B content is written for human consumption and connects with us both emotionally and logically.
Who will create our content? Everyone in your firm is a potential contributor of ideas and articles. Your sales, customer service and account management teams have the most day-to-day contact with your customers as well as intimate knowledge of the challenges they face. Your executive team understands big picture trends, opportunities and insights. By incorporating a broad range of perspectives, you?ll have a deeper understanding of the problems your readers face and the type of content they?ll find most useful.
What topics should we write about? Close your eyes and pretend that you?re a fly on the wall, inside the offices of your ideal customer. What do you see and hear? How do they define the problems you solve? What type of information are they looking for?

Step 2: Your Blog

Your blog is the primary hub through which to share your content and begin attracting readers. Start by committing to at least one post every week, increasing that output as your editorial process evolves. The more quality content you publish, the sooner you?ll build an audience.

Your blog should be easy to find from every page on your site, preferably with a dedicated link on the main menu. Don?t make visitors search for your content. Most won?t.

Step 3: Your First Level Follow-Up Offer

Picture a B2B content marketing campaign as an ultra high-end retail store. If the internet is the sidewalk traffic, your blog is the window display that gets people to stop and look, and your first level follow-up offer entices them to walk into your store.
End each blog post with a soft offer for more detailed content like a white paper, guide or e-book. There are two basic strategies for this step, and both have the same goal of creating opportunities for further engagement. You can offer additional resources in exchange for joining your email list or as an instant download with no sign up requirement, instead ending each piece with another strong call-to-action (Step 4).

Step 4: Your Second Level Follow-Up Offer

Now that you?ve engaged readers and earned some trust, your next call-to-action (through emails or at the end of your first offer) delivers even more value but in a more personalized, interactive way. By moving from highly convenient but static information to interactive, real-time content like webinars and seminars, you?ll begin conversations that help you learn more about each potential client?s needs and how to best serve them.

Step 5: Add More Channels

Once you?ve set up your foundation of blog content and follow-up offers, you can begin to expand your reach by linking posts and offers to your company?s LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter pages.

Different readers have their own preferences for how they consume content. Some may like blogs, others Tweet or stick with Facebook. Many like a little of each. Each type of social media has its own quirks, processes and best practices and require consistent daily attention. While blog post comments make it possible to begin interacting with your audience, other social media platforms take it a step further and are best used as a conversational medium, not just a one-way syndication portal.

Marcus Schaller is the author of The Lead Ladder-Turn Strangers into Clients, One Step at a Time (McGraw-Hill, 2006). He?s a contributor to various B2B publications including CMI, Brainshark.com and B2Bbloggers.com. Marcus can be reached at B2BforHumans.com or on Twitter @b2bforhumans.

"Leading with Empathy" by Dave Jensen

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:12:14 GMT

We had already biked 120 miles through Sequoia National Park in two days. I was shocked that my legs felt strong as we made the final push through 20 miles of hot, dusty, roads to our hotel in Exeter, CA. I took the lead to give my friend Mike a break. Two minutes later, he took the lead. I heard his labored breathing as I bolted by again, my resilient legs urging me to stay upfront for a while (and block the wind for him). But two minutes later, he passed me. This time, I started to move to the front after only a minute. He barked at me to stay back and let him do some of the work. I backed off, wondering why he was so upset. A few miles later, I found out.

We stopped to refill our water bottles and have a “chat.” He explained that although he was dead tired, he needed to spend time in the lead. I told him my legs felt strong and that I didn’t mind doing most of the work at the front (thereby allowing him to draft behind). He replied that he didn't feel good about himself unless he was “contributing” by sharing the work. He then apologized for yelling (i.e., not expressing his emotion well) and I apologized for being clueless about his need to be at the front (i.e., not being more empathetic).

How about you? How empathetic are you, especially you’re working hard?

Leading researchers in the field of emotional intelligence have found that social intelligence, especially empathy, is critical to effective leadership. (1) High-level executives, hired for their strong self-discipline, drive, and intellect, often are fired because they lack social skills, especially empathy. Empathy is also critical when giving feedback to employees. Imagine if you had two groups that needed performance feedback. One group you give negative feedback, but you give positive emotional signals such as smiling and nodding during the session. To the second group, you provide positive feedback but deliver it with negative emotional signals such as frowns, wrinkled brows, and narrowed eyes. Research tells us that the people who received positive feedback with your negative emotional signals would feel worse about their performance than those who received negative feedback with a positive emotional delivery. How can you can be more empathetic when you need to deliver negative messages?

Here are six steps to help develop your social intelligence, such as empathy:

Develop a personal vision for change. Write down the clear picture of the person you want to become, especially as it relates to being more empathetic.
Undergo a thorough diagnostic assessment. Ask your Human Resource Department or e-mail me for information about assessing your emotional intelligence.
Keep a log of your daily successes and failures. Use the log to help you notice when and how you practice new empathy behaviors.
Work with a mentor. Identify someone at work who has excellent emotional intelligence skills. Ask them if you could work with them over the next several months to grow your skills. Leaders I coach often have an internal mentor at work also. A coach and mentor is a great one - two punch.
Use daily reminders. Identify current habits that you can link to the new behaviors you want to augment. For example, if you take notes during meetings, you might write words at the top of your notepad to help remind you to be empathetic during meetings. Every time you looked down to scratch a note, you'll see your reminders.
Celebrate small success.
Reward yourself whenever you experience small progress using or growing your new skill. When I was an executive at UCLA, I rewarded my progress by walking to the cafeteria for a frozen yogurt, going out for lunch, or taking a mid-afternoon break. That which gets rewarded gets repeated.

My friend and I finished our biking journey… and we are still friends because we are both committed to growing our emotional intelligence. How are you going to continue growing yours?

See you on the mountain,

Dave

1. Daniel Goleman and Richard Boyatzis; Social Intelligence and the Biology of Leadership, ‘Harvard Business Review,’ September 2008, 74 - 81.

"Five Keys to Telling Stories Effectively" by Dave Jensen

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 18:32:16 GMT

The Leader’s Story

The CEO marched to the podium. The applause faded. The audience of 500 senior executives and middle managers listened as the CEO outlined the major change initiative. Her grasp of the facts and details was amazing. Unfortunately, after 10 minutes of data, the audience drifted. The CEO lost them because she didn't know that broadcasting is not communicating. She didn't realize that to transform the mind one must go through the heart. This leader didn't appreciate the power of story to inspire, motivate, and encourage others to commit to her message.

Do you? Do you employ the key elements of effective storytelling to move others from where they are to where you need them to be? Research teaches us that stories have a unique power to persuade and motivate because they appeal to our capacity for empathy (1, 2). Here are several techniques to help you motivate your team (during training, team meetings, 1-on-1 communication…) using the power of story:

1. A journey begins on common ground. The life experiences of your audience affect their ability to connect emotionally to any story. Familiarity helps an audience identify with the characters in your story. So, make sure your stories relate to their experiences. Begin on their turf so they know that you know where they are coming from.

2. Be true to you. Share who you are by letting the audience experience the emotion in your story. How? By feeling it yourself. They will feel it when you do. Therefore, you need to relive your story and its emotions as you tell it. This requires a degree of vulnerability that many leaders have a hard time exposing. I encourage you to try.

3. Keep them guessing. Professor Peter Gruber tells us “a great story is never fully predictable through foresight, but it is projectable through hindsight." It is how you reveal the nature of your characters, their difficulties, and how they overcome their obstacles that tantalize your audience.

4. Keep them engaged. Involve the audience by asking questions, adding humor, painting vivid pictures, and using the power of you. One of my favorite techniques is to put the audience in my stories. It's as easy as saying "imagine you're walking down the street..." You turn an ‘I’ story into a ‘we’ story. The whole audience experiences your story together.

5. Practice the paradox of presents. I strongly urge you to wing it when you present, BUT only after obsessively practicing. That's practicing the paradox of presents. It takes a lot of practice to appear unrehearsed. You practice, drill, and rehearse until you know your story inside and out. Then as you start telling the story, you become present with the audience. Be with them and they’ll go along with you.

Your Story?

These are a few of the keys to telling effective stories. The CEO didn’t use them to move her audience. How can you adapt them move yours?

Training Needs Assessment Versus Performance Analysis by Donald J. Ford, Ph.D., C.P.T.

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 15:36:20 GMT

While training professionals have many ways to design and deliver learning, we all know that we should start the training process the same way – by analyzing the need. When presented with a potential training opportunity, we first must determine what has created this opportunity and how the organization should expend its resources to address it.

In conducting an initial analysis, we have several decisions to make. First, we need to decide whether training is an appropriate solution. If it is, then we need to decide what content to include and finally, who needs to receive training. Each of these decisions can be supported by a growing number of models and tools that provide guidance and structure to our work. In particular, two models have emerged to guide our analysis – the Human Performance Improvement (HPI) model and the Training Needs Assessment (TNA) model.

The HPI model refers to a systematic problem solving process that focuses on identifying root causes of complex performance problems and implementing systemic solutions. One of the key tenets of HPI philosophy is that we do not assume that training or any other particular solution is the answer to an organization’s problem until we have collected and analyzed evidence to support it. Another key tenet is that work performance is a complex system of attitudes, behaviors and accomplishments that depends upon both organizational and individual factors for success.

As the HPI model illustrates, performance analysis is divided into three phases – business, performance and cause. The business analysis determines the organization’s goals and how they relate to the performance of employees. This establishes the bottom-line results that we are trying to achieve. The performance analysis establishes the gap between where we are (actual state) and where we need to be (desired state). Finally, the cause analysis examines a variety of possible root causes to isolate those most likely creating the performance gap.

Under cause analysis, note that knowledge/skills is only one of six key causes of performance problems. Unless we have evidence that a lack of knowledge or skill is contributing to the performance gap, we do not have a problem that training can solve. Put positively, we should only conduct training when we have evidence of a knowledge or skill gap. Providing training when the root cause is something else – lack of motivation, resources, structure, information or wellness – is just setting ourselves up for failure.

Once we have established that a knowledge/skill gap exists, however, we are ready to move to the Training Needs Assessment (TNA) model to further specify the need. Many different TNA models exist. Some are process-driven; others focus on outcomes and methods. Each of these models, however different in conception and approach, is designed to accomplish two things:

Define the content of the training
Define the audience for the training

The model below shows how both of these key outcomes are created through a series of processes that lead to a fully-conceptualized training solution, the end product of training needs assessment.

To understand how this works, consider the four boxes in the middle of the model. For content, we typically rely on two processes – job task analysis and establishing learning outcomes. Learning outcomes may be provided by the requesting client, key stakeholders or external mandates. We usually arrive at these through interviews and document review. Job tasks analysis is a process that breaks jobs into outcomes, outcomes into tasks, tasks into steps, and steps into knowledge (see figure). Once we document these thoroughly through interviews and observation, we have the course domain. We can then match this up with the desired learning outcomes to determine the precise subject matter of the training.

To analyze the training audience, we also rely on two key processes – skill gap analysis and learner analysis. Learner analysis is the process of defining the specific needs of the proposed target audience, including: prerequisite knowledge/skill levels, learning motivation, preferred learning styles, cultural differences, physical and environmental constraints, etc. This is often assembled through a combination of interviews and surveys. The skill gap analysis looks at the gap between the existing skill level of the target audience and the required skill level based on the organization’s needs and job standards. As a rule of thumb, the larger the skill gap, the more expensive and time-consuming is the training solution. Skill gap analysis thus helps us estimate the time requirements while focusing on the highest priority content areas.

Once we complete this analysis work, we are ready to assemble the pieces into a training solution that we take back to our client for approval. This takes us to the end of analysis. If we’ve done a good job, we will get approval to move to the next step – learning design.

While we know how important analysis is to our process, clients often do not realize this. They may impatiently question why we are taking up their time analyzing the problem. They may wish to direct us to a solution without any analysis, relying on gut instinct. We will need to carefully explain the benefits of analysis in these cases or else risk seeing the process shortchanged or skipped altogether.

One tactic that has worked for me is to use the analogy of a medical doctor. If you feel sick, but don’t know why, you expect your doctor to perform a diagnosis, complete with tests, prior to naming your illness and prescribing a plan of treatment. In fact, treatment without diagnosis is considered malpractice in the world of medicine. Likewise, if we provide treatment (training) without any diagnosis (analysis) we run the risk of professional malpractice. Although our treatments are rarely life-threatening (aside from the occasional death-by-PowerPoint), they do consume valuable time and resources at a moment when organizations can ill afford to waste either.

"Are You a Leader AND a Manager?" by Dave Jensen

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 17:33:35 GMT

A Leader at Work

The sun danced on the bed’s stainless steel rails as the late afternoon sun filtered through the blinds. The hospital orderly, a petite, Latina woman in her mid-50s placed her polishing cloth in the blue plastic bucket. Then, she calmed the wrinkled sheets with long, slow, smooth strokes. She picked her bucket and clipboard, checked a few items off her list, and then turned to speak with the bald woman in the other bed.

I heard them laugh as I watched from the corridor. The orderly then walked out of the patient's room into the noisy corridor, and face-to-face with me.

"Excuse me ma'am, may I ask you a question?"

"Yes, of course," she smiled.

"You do such a wonderful job here, what are you thinking as you clean these beds?"

A broad smile spread across her face and lit up her big, brown eyes. Her machinegun response with a heavy dose of Spanish accent came straight at me.

"My supervisor told me a long time ago to make up the patient's room thinking that the next patient going to be in the bed would be my mother."

I returned her smile, "Thank you for making a difference to all the mothers in this hospital and their families."

She thanked me for making her day and floated down the corridor.

What do you think that story has to do with leadership? Leaders in my workshops often say it reminds them about these leadership themes:

Motivation - the orderly’s supervisor knew how to inspire her people.

Depth – you can’t have a great organization without developing great leaders at all levels.

Rewards – leaders must take the time to provide positive feedback.

Defines leadership – the supervisor’s action define the leader’s job.

What Is Leadership?

Let’s focus on this last point for a moment and then discuss the leader/manager question. There are many definitions of leadership. In fact, leadership scholar R. M. Stogdill concluded, "there are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept." (1) After years of reviewing leadership research and teaching leaders at all levels, my practical definition of leadership, illustrated by the orderly’s the story, is:

"Leadership is the process of unleashing the energy of people toward worthy goals."

What comes to mind as you read that definition? First of all, do you even have a process – a defined methodology – of leading? Don’t worry if you don’t; most leaders I teach and coach don’t either. Second, do you think of those you lead (at work, home, at ASTD…) as a charged battery that you can tap into to accomplish goals? If you reflect on exceptional leaders (e.g., Abraham Lincoln, Mother Teresa, Winston Churchill, Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Steven Jobs, David Packard, Kathryn Graham… ), you’ll realize that their ability mobilize the energy of others to accomplish extraordinary results was central to their success. George Washington thought that his job was to remove obstacles so that Americans could unleash their energy in the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. (How much better would the world be if more politicians, corporate executives, teachers, parents... applied this definition?)

A third leadership question that arises when I tell the above story is this: Are we talking about management or leadership?

Lunch with Peter Drucker

When I worked for the global giant Siemens many years ago, I reported to a boss who thought he was leading us, but Don was only managing us. Don seldom inspired strategic thinking, innovation or cross-functional collaboration. He was always focused on expense reports, detailed plans and objectives. An illuminating lunch with Peter Drucker years after I left Siemens helped me understand that the best leaders are also great managers and vice versa.

The purpose of my luncheon meeting with management guru Peter Drucker, whom Harvard Business Review considers the “father of management,” was to discuss the overall strategy and future of a new organization we were building at UCLA (where I was an executive). After soaring with Professor Drucker’s illuminating ideas, I found myself back in my office tethered to the details of the day - reviewing budget details. These two experiences summed up my responsibilities as the chief administrative officer of this organization. One minute I was thinking big picture and developing long-term goals, the next I was clarifying objectives and managing operations. I was answering YES to the question, am I a leader or a manager? Exceptional leaders have been answering yes for years.

Leaders Who Managed

Consider Sam Walton, the founder of retail giant Walton stores, who envisioned a chain of stores worldwide as he analyzed the weekly sales reports of his early stores. Roberto Goizueta, who led Coca-Cola to become the most well known trademark in the world, was known as an above-the-fray CEO and a hands-on detail man. Even Henry Ford, the visionary who revolutionized the assembly line and was awarded 161 U.S. patents, was also known as a detail man. In his illuminating analysis of industrial leaders, Professor Edwin Locke points out, that “this constant movement between concrete (details) and the abstract (vision) is critical in business because one has to know not only where one is going but how to get there.” (2)

How often do you find yourself engaged in what some call “leadership” activities, such as developing long-term goals or strategies, collaborating with others across divisions or departments, inspiring change or innovation among your team members? Do you also engage in what many would label traditional “management” behaviors, such as clarifying objectives and expectations, developing plans, managing operations, or monitoring your environment? Whether you consider yourself a leader or a manager, success in today's flat, complex and interdependent work environment demands that you use the complementary skills of both. Of course, there is a difference regarding the amount, nature, and exact mix of these skills depending on your level of responsibility in the organization. Yet, wasn’t the orderly’s supervisor acting like a leader when she inspired the orderly toward a worthy goal? Moreover, what about the hospital’s CEO? Doesn’t he or she need to manage budgets and operations in order to accomplish the hospital’s goals? Science answers yes.

After reviewing approximately 1,300 scientific studies on leadership in his comprehensive book, Professor Gary Yukl concluded that, "most scholars seem to agree that success as a manager or administrator in modern organizations necessarily involves leading." (3) To which I add; success as a leader also involves managing.

Just Say YES!

Next time someone asks you if you are a leader or manager, just say YES! Then tell them a story about the orderly’s supervisor who inspired her team with a vision of a very clean operation.

****

1. Cited in Yukl, Gary; Leadership in Organizations, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 2006, Page 2.

2. Edwin Locke, The Prime Movers: Traits of the Great Wealth Creators, American Management Association, New York, NY, 2000, page 49

3. Yukl, Gary; Leadership in Organizations, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 2006, page 6.

"Learning from the Learner’s Perspective" by Donald J. Ford, Ph.D.

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 03:34:40 GMT

By Donald J. Ford, Ph.D.

President, Training Education Management LLC and

Adjunct Professor of Management, Antioch University Los Angeles

As training professionals, we are accustomed to leading and facilitating learning for others. In this role, we sometimes forget to look at learning from the learner's perspective. It is useful for us to put ourselves in the learner’s seat from time to time to better understand the learning process.

Viewing learning from the learner's perspective, we can reduce its complexity to four simple steps. My four step model applies to all learners and we would do well to remember this every time we step forward to teach others. The model is called OAAP, which stands for:

Orient –identify what we want to learn and the reasons that learning will benefit us.
Acquire – actively seek new knowledge and skill through our own efforts and the assistance of others, such as teachers or significant people in our lives.
Apply – discover ways to use the newly acquired knowledge in the course of our daily lives.
Perfect – continue to hone our knowledge through practice, evaluation, and continuous improvement.

The graphical representation of the model appears below:

ORIENT

The first phase of learning, orient, involves identifying the new knowledge and skills that we need and why acquiring it will benefit us. So much in our complex world is unknown that our first challenge is simply to identify what we don’t know. Identifying what we don't know is further complicated by our natural blind spots. We literally don’t know what we don’t know. Our lack of knowledge and blind spots often prevent us from understanding what is happening and how it affects us.

Once we have broken through our blinders and identified a subject that we don’t know about, the next step is to find a compelling reason to expend and sustain the effort required to learn. Learning is hard work, make no mistake about that. The brain expends an enormous amount of energy when learning. We literally can get a headache from the concentrated effort required to learn a difficult subject.

The reasons to learn are many! We learn in order to improve ourselves, to please others, to get a better job, to comply with a mandate, to survive. Most of our reasons are motivated by self-interest. Learning:

Enables us to achieve a life goal
Gives us greater earning power
Leads to admiration and respect from our peers
Provides its own satisfaction in knowing that we have added to our arsenal of knowledge and skill and become a better person

Whatever the reason, we need to find something to motivate us to learn, to sustain the difficult process of acquiring and perfecting new knowledge and skill. This motivation needs to inspire for the short term reward, as well as the long learning journey ahead and the final result. The best forms of learning motivation contain both extrinsic rewards, like better pay and more social cachet; and intrinsic rewards, like self-improvement and inner satisfaction. It helps to explicitly identify the reasons to learn something new and to keep these purposes firmly in mind as we embark upon learning.

ACQUIRE

The second phase of learning, acquire, is the part we know the best. Having identified a need to learn, we all realize that learning requires us to acquire something new – new knowledge, new skill, or a new attitude. Acquiring knowledge typically involves seeking out experts in the subject and reading, watching, listening to, or otherwise getting the knowledge from the expert. We need to select a medium for acquiring new knowledge and skill: Formal classes? Books? Television and movies? Internet? Others? Trial and error? As we do, it’s useful to consider key factors:

Preferred learning style and sensory preferences – how do you like to learn?
Sources of expertise and the availability of these experts to teach you – who will guide your learning?
Effort required - how much time and cost to acquire the new knowledge and what will it take to succeed?

APPLY

The third phase of learning, apply, is using what we learn in our daily lives. We are capable of learning many things, but we are also capable of forgetting most of it. Think back to the subjects you studied at school. If someone gave you a test on those subjects today, how well would you do? Most of us would fail miserably, because we haven’t used that school knowledge in so many years that we have forgotten it.

A key principle of learning is “use it or lose it.” Experts suggest that if we do not use newly acquired skills within 21 days, we will forget them and have to start over again. In fact, some studies suggest that we forget most of what we learn within 24 hours. For example, think about the last time you tried learning a new software program. How much of what you learned were you able to retain?

Chances are, you remembered only the skills that you actually used on the job and you became truly proficient in only those parts of the software that you use it daily. In fact, experts have estimated that most people use only about 10 percent of the total features of today’s software programs. When it comes to applying learning, several things are known to help.

First, start applying immediately. The sooner we apply what we learn, the more likely it will stick. In formal training and education courses, application begins in the class during practice activities and after class completing homework assignments. If well-crafted, practice can reinforce learning and help us move it into our permanent memory banks for future retrieval when needed.

Second, after the learning has occurred, discover new ways to use the knowledge in your daily life. Begin to practice new skills immediately in the most obvious setting where you need them. Then go beyond the obvious and look for novel ways to apply the learning in a variety of situations.

PERFECT

The final phase of learning, to perfect new knowledge and skill, is achieved through ongoing practice, evaluation, and continuous improvement. This last phase is how we develop expertise in a subject over the long haul. Of course, not all learning requires perfection. Sometimes, being an amateur or a layman is sufficient. So we first need to decide which areas of learning require us to become experts. These are typically areas of knowledge that are crucial to our careers or of abiding personal interest to us due to the intrinsic appeal of the subject matter.

The first principle of perfection is “practice makes perfect.” The more we practice and use knowledge, the more we perfect our ability to apply it. But legendary football coach Vince Lombardi once commented that the role of practice was misunderstood. It is not “practice makes perfect,” according to Lombardi, but “perfect practice makes perfect.” By that remark he meant that how we practice makes a huge difference in the results we achieve. If we practice the wrong way or practice our mistakes, we don’t get better. Instead, we get worse. So, Lombardi emphasized to his players the vital importance of practicing perfectly, of doing in practice exactly what you were expected to do in the game, as the basis of long term learning and success.

How do you know if your practice is perfect or not? To find out, evaluate your practice using objective feedback. This might involve:

Videotaping your practice and watching it later, if it is an observable skill.
Having a third party evaluate your practice and provide feedback, such as a coach.
Asking trusted people to provide honest feedback about your practice, such as family and close friends.
Taking a test or assessment of some kind to demonstrate your knowledge and skill.

However you acquire evaluation input, remember the second key principle: it is important to receive feedback and evaluation openly and with a spirit of continuous improvement. Confirm that the feedback is accurate. Commit yourself to continuously improving your knowledge and skills throughout your life. Look for incremental opportunities to improve and look for big breakthroughs as well. Above all, pay close attention to sources of information that you trust that can tell you how you are doing. Keep an open mind and continue to try to improve yourself through more learning, more practice, and more evaluation.

This is the ultimate secret to success in learning and success in life. Those who succeed never give up and never close their minds to the possibility of improving themselves.

"Ten Tips for Managing Training Projects" by Donald J. Ford, Ph.D.

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 17:10:17 GMT

By Donald J. Ford, Ph.D.
President, Training Education Management LLC and
Adjunct Professor of Management, Antioch University Los Angeles

Much of the work that training professionals perform falls under the general definition of a project: “work performed one time to produce a unique outcome.”1 Examples include instructional design of new courses, Learning Management Systems (LMS) and e-learning implementations, performance improvement initiatives, and organizational change efforts. To be effective as a training professional, especially if you are consultant, you must also be capable of managing projects.

The basics of project management are encapsulated in the graphic below showing the five major phases of a project – Initiating, Planning, Executing, Controlling, and Closing.

Each of these phases requires skillful leadership to ensure a successful project outcome. Here are some tips to help you improve your project management skills during each phase of a project.

INITIATING – defining project goals and authorizing project startup

Many potential training projects never get past this step, especially in an era of austerity. To increase the likelihood that your project will get approved, follow these tips:

Tip One: Clarify key stakeholders’ expectations and goals to ensure the project will be able to meet them.

Tip Two: Gain approvals from key decision makers on the goals and scope of the project before moving to the next phase.

1 Horine, Gregory M. Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Project Management. 2nd Ed. Que Publishing, 2009.

PLANNING – defining the tasks and deliverables of the project and selecting the best course of action to achieve the objectives

Many experts consider planning to be the most important phase, during which the details of the project become clear. To improve planning, follow these tips:

Tip Three: Break the project down into manageable tasks and steps and then estimate the time required to achieve each one (aka Work Breakdown Structure).

Tip Four: Calculate the budget for the project based on its work breakdown structure, not guesswork. For each task and step, estimate the time required and multiply that by the labor rate for each task.

EXECUTING – implementing the project plan by coordinating people and other resources

Implementation depends on clear work assignments and efficient time management. To keep projects moving and on track, follow these tips:

Tip Five: Focus on doing the work that is in the project plan and don’t get distracted by competing priorities. If project team members are also working on other things, be sure to reflect their part- time status in work plans and schedules.

Tip Six: Be sure project team members work together effectively by including them in decision making and keeping lines of communication open.

CONTROLLING – monitoring and measuring progress to identify discrepancies from the plan and taking corrective actions to get the project back on track

The controlling phase is often mischaracterized as a rigid hierarchical pyramid with an autocrat at its peak. Instead, control should be seen as tracking progress in order to keep the project on course. Here are some tips to help do this better:

Tip Seven: Be prepared to make adjustments to the plan based on reality. As the poet Robert Burns reminded us, “The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry.” Don’t resist change, but embrace it as a natural part of the project.

Tip Eight: Collect and use project data to assess progress and plan changes. Collect regular feedback from project team members and key stakeholders to ensure the project is meeting expectations and achieving its goals.

CLOSING – formally delivering project results and bringing the project to an orderly end.

Teach

Projects should end with the same planning and purpose that started them. Unfortunately, many projects limp across the finish line or collapse short of it. To avoid this fate, follow these tips:

Tip Nine: Make sure the client has accepted the deliverables and expressed satisfaction with the outcome before closing out a project. Until we have satisfied our customers, the project is incomplete.

Tip Ten: Take time to evaluate the project’s outcomes and to learn from the project experience. The only way to get better at project management is to use every project as a learning experience.

Once you master the basics of project management, you will have a repeatable formula for planning and implementing solutions that resolve key business problems and ensure future organizational success.

You will also have one more valuable competency to add to your career toolbox, one whose worth is increasing in the complex world we occupy.

"How Well Do You Manage the Conflict in Your Goals?" by Dave Jensen

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 17:07:29 GMT

How often do you feel pressed to accomplish more than time allows?

Does management expect you to accomplish major goals (e.g., meet a project deadline) and then drop other "little" tasks on you (e.g., provide information for a report or serve on that committee)? Does your work ever seem to conflict with what you want to get done at home, like it did for the central character in the great foreign film, Twilight Samurai (2002)? This gentle warrior and single parent loved raising his two daughters; yet he also had to work his day job at the "warehouse," labor in his garden, and perform his samurai duties whenever the Shogun called. Sound familiar?

University of Houston Professor Steven Brown and his team call this goal conflict - "the degree to which individuals feel that their multiple goals are incompatible." They studied the effect of goal conflict on performance in 153 employees, and found that conflicting goals decrease employee commitment, self-efficacy, and overall performance. (Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies; 6/22/2002).

Here are a three practical tools science says you can use to manage the goal conflict in today's complex, competitive and contradictory work environment:

1. Say Yes to Get to No.Before we can decide how to juggle, we need to decide what to juggle. The Samurai turned down repeated requests by colleagues to join them for a drink after work. He knew he didn't have time for everything, so he focused on the most important things. Do you focus on the fundamental few or get caught up in the meaningless many? A few weeks ago, as I was teaching an organization how to use project management tools to increase productivity, a participant asked how to manage her manager who often dumped last- minute projects on her. I recommended that she first find out what was most important to him, and then align her priorities with his. Whenever he gave her last-minute projects, I suggested she show her boss the list of priorities and ask him where he would place the task if he were in her position. Saying yes to his priorities will lead her to saying no his dumping.

When you say yes to your (and your manager's) most important goals, goal conflict decreases because you, like the Twilight Samurai, will find it is easier to say no to what's not important. What are your priorities? What are they based on? Does a review of your calendar (PDA, Outlook, appointment book...) show congruence between what you say is important and where your time goes? Show me your calendar and I’ll tell you what you value.

2. Believe It to See It.Self- efficacy is a strong belief that we can take the steps to reach our goals is a strong predictor of goal achievement. Professor Brown found that people who had higher self-efficacy spent more time planning how to deal with goal conflict and more effort overcoming obstacles than their low self-efficacy counterparts. The stronger the believing, the higher the probability of seeing results. One way to increase self-efficacy is to use the power of modeling. Modeling directs us to learn from those who are achieving the goals we are striving to achieve. The Twilight Samurai studied with a master in short-sword fighting. He drew on this skill to swiftly deal with issues the emperor dumped on him...so he could get back to his primary goal of raising his girls.

If you struggle with goal conflict, find a coworker who is dealing with similar issues effectively. Ask if you can learn from them by watching and discussing their approach. Then adapt what they do to fit you. If you can't find a role model, perhaps a book, class, or coach will work. I often go to the research literature or Google (Type in, How do I....) to discover what science says, because the essence of science is prediction.

Where can you find accurate information to help you strengthen the belief you can achieve your primary goal?

3. Work Hard to Feel Good.

Professor Brown found that positive emotions resulted not only from achieving the goal, but also from merely engaging in goal- directed behaviors. When participants in his study worked hard, they felt better about themselves whether or not they reached their goal. Working hard led to feeling good independent of the outcome. The Twilight Samurai put his entire being into all his activities regardless of what they were, one day at a time.

This research and the samurai are teaching you to be present in all you do. You can do this by using all your senses as you focus on achieving your goals. Ironically, you’ll feel better about your conflicting goals by focusing on what is right in front of you. The gift of life is the present. What do you hear, feel, smell, and see as you work your way throughout your day?

Next time you feel overwhelmed, underappreciated, or just plain tuckered out... say yes to what's most important, believe you can achieve, and focus on what is in front of you. At the end of the day, how surprised will you be that you feel good about who you are because, like the Twilight Samurai, you have lived well.

Keep stretching,
Dave

Dave Jensen and his team transform proven leadership tools into your success stories. Dave is an executive coach and an engaging speaker at conferences, meetings, and retreats. He can be reached in Los Angeles, CA, at (310) 397-6686 or http://davejensenonleadership.com/.

"Building Professional Relevance" by Terrence Wing

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:06:04 GMT

Relevance, as defined by Wikipedia is a term used to describe how pertinent, connected, or applicable something or someone is to a given matter. It may be the most important word on your path to leadership. Think of the people whom you follow. Are they relevant? Is she or he someone who is pertinent and connected to what you consider important (your goals)? Would you at least hit a speed bump if their relevancy shifted? The stronger their relevance the bigger the speed bump, which could be a brick wall. Relevance is a tool or state you must cultivate to further develop your leadership skills.

When in a difficult, polarizing, or escalating situation do your employees or followers ask WW_D (fill in the blank with your initial)? If they don’t or if they ask as an afterthought to an action that was already taken, then your relevance is low or non-existent. As a leader, relevance keeps those who follow on the course you’ve set. You can’t simply snap your fingers or demand relevance. Relevance must be earned.

Positive Relevance is the tool we are focusing on in this article. This is to say you (as the relevant leader) matter. Your employees, clients, friends, coworkers, peers, etc., all feel your presence and act in accordance with your relevance. Relevance must be defined in terms of expectations, standards, or rules that govern action. In any given situation: What Would You Do? If those following you don’t know the answer to this, then they are acting on assumptions and indicating a low level of relevance.

Let’s use parenting as an example. As a great mother or father, you are likely relevant to your child. You’ve raised her with morals and direction. When she leaves home, she is the master of her actions. However, if the parent is relevant, the child will typically take pause and often redirect an action that is contrary to how she was raised.

If we substitute the players with Manager and employee, the same applies. As the employee is empowered to make decisions, if those decisions are in sync with managerial expectations, then relevance is strong.

Perhaps a more demanding question is how do you build relevance? Clearly it’s not easy, but is a process of endurance. Following is a list of tactics you can use to build your relevance with your employees.

Collaborate on standards so all stakeholders can buy into the vision. Standards also include the reward and discipline systems. There must be a positive or negative consequence to enforcing a standard.
Constantly communicate standards and feedback to your employees. Remember, feedback is reinforcing and developmental. Don’t forget to let them know when they did something right. Feedback is a fuel or relevance.
Step down from omnipotence and accept your human tendency to err. If you believe you are perfect, the only one being fooled is you. Your employees already know you’re not perfect and there is nothing you can do to convince them otherwise.
Be a part of the success and the failure. Don’t take the credit when goals are met and point the finger when an obstacle is present. Protection is another catalyst of relevance. When an employee is allowed to fail without dire consequences, you as the leader become very relevant.
Solicit feedback on your performance.
Be accessible to questions, concerns, and even social chatter.
Spend affordable time with everyone you lead. If your schedule is busy, find the time.
Drop your agenda during moments when their agenda is more urgent.
Listen. It is the only way to understand, empathize, and take appropriate action.
Ask questions instead of just providing answers. This form of communication is an empowering path to self discovery for your employees.

The list is extensive. Being relevant to your employee is not a simple task. Relevance is built through contribution, acceptance, and delivery. You can’t sit on the sidelines and wait for relevance to fill your office. You must engage. You must recognize that you are a component of a machine and not the machine itself. Every action you take that helps define an expectation, inspire action, and repeat the discipline to get the results of success, will lead you to a position of Relevance.

"Is Your Learning Teflon or Velcro?" by Dave Jensen

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:04:48 GMT

A world-renown research cardiologist at UCSD marched into my office many years ago and announced, “Dave, congratulations! Your abstract was accepted and you’re going to present our research at the scientific conference next month.”

I gulped, “Okay Vic.” I had only completed graduate school three months ago and was completing my internship. This was going to be the first scientific meeting I ever attended, much less presented.

My boss continued, “Oh yes, we also have a rule here that if you go to a conference, you have to teach what you learn to the rest of us when you get back.”

“Vic, do you mind if I ask why you have that rule?”

Vic smiled, “Dave, the only reason to go to any meeting or conference is to improve things after the meeting. If you have to teach us what you learn, there’s a greater chance that your learning will stick like Velcro instead of slipping like Teflon.”

Ever since that conversation 30 years ago, I have continued to refine this powerful process that increases the chances that I (and my audiences) apply what is learned at any meeting, conference, or workshop. Feel free to adapt the steps outlined below to create your Velcro learning.

Brainstorm challenges and strategy. Prior to attending any training or conference, ask: What major challenges am I facing at work? Let your ideas flow and keep your pen moving as you brainstorm the answers to this question. You might also want to reflect on your goals and your organization's strategy.
Write a S.M.A.R.T. goal. Based on your business challenges, professional goals, and your organization's strategic imperatives, write a S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Responsible, Timed) goal for your training. What do you want to do better or differently? For example, one executive at our recent leadership course said her goal was to: “Improve my coaching skills by mid- year to help my direct reports develop professionally.”
Meet with your boss. One or two days prior to class, meet with your boss for a few minutes to discuss your goal for the training. Ask for input regarding how well you have aligned your goals with his or her overall strategy.
Create an insights, ideas, and behaviors page. At the start of the training, write your goal at the top of the back page of your study guide or any blank page. Beneath your goal, write your insights, ideas, and behaviors (IIB). As you proceed through class, write any possible IIBs that might help you reach your goal on this page. By the end of the training or meeting, you should have several IIBs on this one sheet.

Review your favorites with a partner. Review your IIBs with a classmate near the end of your educational program. Focus your discussion on a few IIBs that will help you reach your goal. Tell your partner how you are going to use these few IIBs when you get back to work. A behavioral IIB helps you see yourself applying what you learned, such as: I will coach my direct reports by scheduling one five-minute meeting every day with one of them.
Link the new behavior with an old habit. One of the best ways to remind yourself to practice your new behaviors is to link those new behaviors to an existing habit or system (old habit + new behavior = new habit). For example, linking Outlook scheduling (old habit) and coaching (new behavior) will help create the new habit of coaching his direct reports.
Review and celebrate progress. When you are back at work, solicit feedback from a colleague or your manager regarding your implementation of these behaviors. Ask them to help you monitor your progress. Once a week, report the progress and challenges you are experiencing as you use your new behaviors. Make sure you also celebrate your small successes.

My first scientific presentation many years ago did not go very well, BUT my debrief to my colleagues back at UCSD about what I learned at the meeting did. In fact, after that meeting, Vic hired me and I spent the next five years researching, presenting, and... trying to make my learning stick like Velcro.

Keep stretching, Dave

"How to Use Feedback to Stay On Track" by Dave Jensen

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:03:30 GMT

I heard the whining engine and screeching tires a split second before the white Miata flew around the mountain curve. I jumped off my bike and stared as the petrified driver wrestled with the wheel. But the next curve came too fast. The driver and sports car plunged off the ledge. I hopped on my bike and rolled downhill 10 yards, to the spot where the tires' last clawed the road. Praying for a miracle, I peered over the edge . . . and saw one.

Instead of plunging 300 feet down the ravine, this guy had landed against several thick bushes 30 feet down. The car was banged up, but upright, and the driver was crawling up the embankment towards me.

As he reached the road, he straightened up and assured me he was fine. He asked to use my cell phone to call for a tow truck, and then encouraged me, several times, to continue my bike ride up the steep mountain road. I did. That's when I decided to count the curves on the mountain and started to think about those curves as feedback.

Webster’s Dictionary defines feedback as “the return to the point of origin of evaluative or corrective information.” Feedback is everywhere. A market-based economy works because consumers give continuous feedback to producers. The human body incorporates thousands of feedback mechanisms that keep us alive. And failure to pay attention to feedback is what almost killed the driver on that mountain and hurts many training and development professionals.

You see, I counted 37 curves from the spot where he went over the edge to the top of that mountain. This means he had 37 opportunities to become aware of, learn from, and adjust to the feedback the mountain and his car were giving him as he raced down. He was getting feedback about the road conditions, his car, and his ability to negotiate hairpin curves... You get the point. He was, to paraphrase T.S. Eliot, getting the experience but missing the meaning. How about you?

Are you having experiences, but missing the meaning? Here's a clue... I know I'm NOT learning my lesson when the universe keeps sending me (i.e., I keep creating) the same experience over and over again. It's always Groundhog Day for those who don't learn from their experience. Being open to internal and external feedback, and choosing to learn from it, is what makes an experience meaningful.

Since training and development professionals receive boatloads of feedback from customers, team members, and management every day, here are three tools to help you use feedback to stay on track.

1. Be open to most things, attached to few

If the guy on the mountain had been open to what the hairpin turns were teaching him, he might not have plunged off the road. Do you ever find yourself going so fast or pushing so hard that you miss critical feedback? It happens to me way too often. I become so attached to my way of seeing things that I miss the "corrective information" someone or something is telling me. I’m learning that my point of view is not the only view. I’m trying to slow down and be open to what is going on in the moment. How about you?

2. Write for insight

In her book The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron describes a powerful technique called Morning Pages. She says that if you really want to discover the meaning of something, write three pages by hand, non-stop, and fast, in the morning. Anything that comes to mind, write it down, without editing. The key is to keep your hand moving no matter what splats onto the pages. Morning Pages are NOT meant to be prose, poetry, or journaling. You will be amazed at what this "internal feedback" teaches you. Think of your Morning Pages as a method of listening to who is really on the inside and what is really going on. Life is lived, and experience is given meaning, from the inside out.

3. Ask expansive questions

Do you ever blame yourself or circumstances when life throws you a curve (like a hairpin one on a mountain)? Just the other day, I was lamenting that a conversation with a colleague did not go as planned. I felt I failed by not handling it well. It took me a while to remember that... There is no failure, only feedback. It’s only failure if we don’t learn anything. So, whenever you're hit by unexpected or unwelcome events, ask expansive questions that help you grow through, not merely go through it. A few of my favorite questions are:

What could I learn from this?
How can I view this differently?
How might I use this to serve others in the future?

We all receive tons of feedback as we speed through our day. Yet, if we pay closer attention to this "corrective information,” it might keep us from going over the edge. It may even help us make more meaning out of what happens to us. Perhaps feedback is really feed forward.

Keep stretching,

Dave

"10 Ways to Manage Gen Y" by Terrence Wing

Wed, 18 May 2011 17:02:03 GMT

There isn’t an article or even a blog site where someone else isn’t complaining about Gen Y or any generation for that matter. I refuse to be that unproductive. I look for the solutions to channeling the talent of all generations into productive and profitable workplaces. We all are a piece of a puzzle whose image is only seen when we are all placed together in the right way. That being said, how do we welcome Generation Y into the workforce with eagerness to incorporate their talent and potential?

Like every generation, there is a distinct yet common dynamic to Generation Y. They are not lazy but simply don’t like wasting time. They are not disloyal but loyal to the right cause. They aren’t addicted to technology but believe in its power to make life more enriched. They aren’t selfish but are simply looking for their place in the world. They aren’t oblivious but are looking for the answers. Essentially, they really aren’t that different but they are misunderstood. Their place in the world and workplace is yet to be determined but make no mistake they are here to stay. So let’s address how to channel their talent.

The following are 10 ways to manage Generation Y.

Be Sincere – They can spot a fake a mile away, whether it is within their ranks or outside. You are not one of them and they will never see you as such. What they will see is your value if you prove it.

Be Part of their Network – They hate to fail and will lose trust in you if you put them in a “sink or swim” situation. They don’t think they know it all. What they feel is that they can get the answers to it all through their networks. Be present in that network.

Provide Technology – To them pen and paper is as antiquated as the horse and buggy. They express themselves through technology. This isn’t an addiction to technology. What it is: a strong drive to find the most efficient way of doing a task.

Allow them to Explore – Tell them what you want, provide recommendations, and let them explore their options. They may find a better way of doing something that was hidden by the malaise of routine that perhaps blinds the rest of us.

Communicate Standards – Sure they want to explore and innovate. More importantly, they want to succeed. You hold the key to that. Coach them so they understand what is needed to succeed. Don’t take their questions as insubordinate or arrogant but as their methodology for discovering truth and meaning, which is what they are looking for.

Provide them with Feedback – They are accustomed to hearing this frequently. There is a need to depart from the type of feedback they are used to hearing. They are not perfect but capable of anything they put their minds to, which is what they have heard from their Helicopter Parents. The truth is they aren’t perfect and there are many things they are not capable of doing (just like all of us). When the feedback is negative it needs to contain a message of hope. They don’t want to feel the discussion is going to change their career trajectory but instead that it helps them to achieve it.

Listen to them – They have innovative and even curious ways of seeing the world. Sure sometimes curiosity kills the cat but at other times it cures a disease or changes a life. The next great idea could come from the mouths of babes.

Trust Them – Give them exciting projects and assignments that clearly demonstrate you see their value. Provide them the needed support through the process. The exposure and meaning you help them discover in their work will create an advocate in them.

Take the Time to Explain – “Do it because I said so” is a management strategy that is as useful as a square wheel. Even if you were victimized by this strategy when you were trenching your way through the labor force to management, realize today that it is extremely ineffective with Generation Y.

Don’t Contribute to the Gap – Everyone is out there talking about how lazy this generation is. Opinions like that are only going to create adversaries and not allies. How successful have you been in the past working with a group of adversaries?

Generation Y is misunderstood by many managers. The evidence of this is in the turnover numbers. Millennials have the ability to instantly re-shift their loyalties and change employers instantly. Be careful not to blink. You may discover as your eyes open that you have another vacancy to fill. You don’t have to fear this because of the solutions noted above.

This is not a conclusive list in any way, shape, or form. We haven’t even discussed encouraging their desire to change the world and the use of social networks (as well as so many more). With the exception of a few tweaks specific to Generation Y, my recommendations are a strong management strategy despite its application to Generation Y. Managers should adopt these tactics to encourage all four generations to reach their potential.

"Twitter for the Learning Professional" by Terrence Wing

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:59:58 GMT

Have you ever noticed people in crisis? I’m reminded of Steve Martin in some of his earlier films like, The Jerk. These people and often each of us take on some of Martin’s shtick humor. They run around without direction, hands flaring in the air. Usually their first steps during the crisis and decisions are askew from their normal ability. They’re in panic mode. As we look back using hind sight, we realize we could have avoided that last minute reaction. We realize the signs were there; we just chose to ignore them. Well, hindsight is 20/20. The reason I bring up that scenario is there are many signs in front of our nose, indicating we are on the edge (if not already over the edge) of a shift in learning.

The classroom may physically look the same. There’s a presenter in the front with a podium and screen. The audience is seated in anonymity relative to the established traditional hierarchy of presenter as ruler. Lesson flow and interaction is at the grace of the mighty presenter. But as you pull back the curtain, you’ll notice things are shifting. The learners are taking control of their destiny. They are gathering information from many different sources. In some cases, the learner is leaving an unskilled presenter in a pool of irrelevance. One of the weapons of this learning revolution is Twitter.

Following is a list of reasons why a Learning Professional should want to incorporate Twitter into the learning experience:

During a presentation, it’s like note taking on steroids. A key point captured can take on a life of its own. A notebook is closed channeled, twitter is open channeled.
Content is king. You become privy to the intellectual capital of your network. Learning extends beyond the presenter.
Distance becomes a myth. The classroom extends beyond the four walls.
Feedback is instant. Inhibition is often less present in the virtual world versus the real world.
Engagement is standard. The learner is engaged the entire presentation (and even after) due to the abundance of information.
Learners become more connected to the community in the room and out.
The presenter receives real-time level one and two evaluations.
The learner will exist simultaneously in both the synchronous and asynchronous learning environment. As necessary, they’ll be engaged by both the presenter and a catalogue of other resources provided by their network.
Collaboration is as present as oxygen. Learners are joining together to enhance their learning experience as a community.
Learners and presenters experience, “Presentation Ping.” An idea is presented live, spreads via the backchannel, and returns back to the classroom changed into a bigger or more complete idea.
Control is not conducive to learning. In the modern classroom, learners are released from presenter ego. When the presenter’s ego is active, the learner can explore a more relevant use of their time.
Informal becomes a partner of formal learning.

Although I am a huge advocate of Twitter and the backchannel, it’s not as simple as just expecting it. There are some challenges to overcome. The following are some obstacles that the Learning Professional must negotiate to be successful in the new classroom.

The new paradigm will change the way we facilitate learning. This introduces a new skill set to learning professionals in the old classroom.
Reading the audience shifts from the physical to the virtual. Are they playing solitaire, taking close channeled notes or using the backchannel? They all look the same with faces in their laptop.
Learning professionals can’t rely on the hostage situations of the old classroom to hold their learners attention. The learner can be off anywhere in the virtual world on or off topic.
Social norms like turning off cellphones don’t make sense in the new classroom.
Fear not, all these warnings are the signs we want to see. You’re in front of them now. We don’t have to panic. We just have to act. Following are some solutions to incorporating Twitter into your modern classroom.
- Park your antiquated ego at the door or nail the coffin shut. Learners take ownership of the process today. They won’t tolerate a presenter who won’t engage them or who feels their opinions, thoughts, and feedback are less relevant than hers or his.
- Develop the skills to manage both the real and virtual environment.
- Partner with a facilitweeter during the presentation (someone willing to facilitate the tweet stream) to help validate the backchannel.
- Plan for the backchannel and invite it into every presentation.
- Use it to evaluate every aspect of your presentation. Be sure you don’t become distracted by it.
- Take a break periodically to review the tweet stream. Answer any questions you see. Clear up any misunderstandings. Adjust your presentation as needed. You no longer have to wait till the end of the presentation to know if your audience connected with you.
- Develop an instant relationship with your learners before, during, and after the presentation by using the back channel.
- Open up the discussion on Twitter days or weeks before your presentation.
- Make your key points stand out to the learner. This typically encourages a flurry of tweets that jolt the backchannel. You can also tweet those points yourself either live or via tools like SocialOomph that schedule a tweet for you.
- Don’t let your presentation die after everyone has left the room. Set up a blog (there are many free ones); post your slides on SlideShare; if you took video, post that on YouTube; post photos on Flickr; and bookmark your website links on Delicious.
- Open your Twitter account already.

Learning Professionals shouldn’t be scared of this change. They definitely should not look at it as fad either. It has grounded itself in the classroom and refuses to be uprooted. Nor should it because of the tremendous value it brings to the learning process. There are still many learning events that don’t have evidence of a technology supported backchannel. However, those numbers are diminishing. Now is the time to get in front of your peers and the inevitable change that is at bay.

"Bringing the Training Backchannel to Life with Twitter" by Terrence Wing

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:56:50 GMT

Engagement in learning is critical. Often it is the difference between impactful and irrelevant training. The challenge is that learning styles are variant and highly subjective. Therefore, it becomes critical for designers and facilitators to create opportunities where the learners can exercise their preferential style despite the modeling restrictions of ISD or ADDIE. However, there are some common denominators in learning style despite the diversity of preference. One in particular is conversation.

Conversation has been a lasting tool to engage and stimulate learning. The challenge in the classroom is conversation can be very restricted and one dimensional. What happens when a subgroup in the classroom wants to explore a topic more in depth while the instructor proceeds to move forward? What happens when the intellectual repository of the room is insufficient to provide an answer? How does one breach the four walls of the classroom to find a SME? How does a presenter/facilitator get immediate feedback in real time while leading the learning? The answer to these questions is the backchannel.

The backchannel can be dated back to your childhood when your classmate passed you a note asking you any number of questions. Because you were a great student, we’ll say the question was about the teacher’s discussion. Today, we have technology that allows us to tap the backchannel in more creative and open ways. One of the technologies that has emerged as a great source of backchannel learning is Twitter (www.twitter.com ).

Twitter is a micro-blogging tool that fits into classroom and e-learning quite effectively. Twitter allows the learners and facilitator to engage through several methods:

Providing Real-Time Feedback. As 140-character comments (known as Tweets) are tweeted (another word for posted) a prepared facilitator can get a sense of how the learners are meeting objectives. This feedback can exist pre- and post-training as well as during the event.
Providing “Just-in-Time” Information. Often a strong backchannel is monitored and when tweets are posted, the community can feed the backchannel with relevant information that may provide deeper understanding of the topic.
Providing Conversation Direction. As a tweet is posted, it provides a conversational direction for anyone who may be monitoring that particular topic. The facilitator, learners, or other community members can ask questions to give the virtual conversation a direction.

All three of these methods make for a compelling case to use Twitter in the corporate classroom. Chances are you’ve probably heard the case for social media and tools like Twitter, but the bigger challenge is understanding how you can incorporate it into your training agenda.
Twitter is an engagement tool for not only the training delivery process but one that can be used throughout the entire ADDIE or ISD model. Following are suggestions to implement a Twitter strategy into your next corporate training event.

1. Analyze:

Create a hashtag (tag used to address common tweets to be compiled together) for your needs assessment or analysis stage of development.
Inform SMEs of the research you are doing and request they tweet information or suggestions. Twitter can be used as a no-cost data collection tool.

2. Design:

Use Twitter to receive feedback on your learning objectives.
Post progress on Twitter to keep stakeholders informed
Use Twitter to gather SMEs for chat during design.
Post tweets to start building excitement about the training event.

3. Develop:

Program times in the lesson plan when you will review the tweet stream (the log of tweets collected under your hashtag).
Create a series of questions the instructor will tweet during the training event. Tweets can be pre-scheduled using tools like tweetdeck (www.tweetdeck.com).
Alert participants and community members not attending in advance of chat taking place pre-training, during training, and post-training
Create activities where participants will use Twitter. You can use it to take polls using SAP Web2.0 PowerPoint Twitter Tool (http://www.sapweb20.com/blog/powerpoint-twitter-tools/).

4. Implementation:

Display the Twitter feed using the SAP tool or Tweetchat (www.tweetchat.com)
Incentivize the use of Twitter during your training event.
Address all tweets broadcast during your training event. This also includes tweets from those contributing to the tweet

stream who aren’t attending the event live.

5. Evaluation:

Use twitter to collect Level 1 (Learner Satisfaction), Level 2 (Learning), and Level 3 (Behavior Change) evaluation data.
Facilitate the chat beyond the training events completion.
Record and post the tweet stream using tools like Tweetgrid (www.tweetgrid.com/irc).

As you can see, there are multiple places that Twitter can be incorporated into the ADDIE or ISD model. The backchannel is a powerful and effective tool when used appropriately. There are many tools that you can use to make the backchannel more secure (www.yammer.com) but realize there are limits to closed networks. Managing the backchannel is not a passive task. It is a critical task that is becoming more and more a part of the core competencies of trainers as technology continues to make its way into the corporate classroom.