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Category: Personal Development

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Growth Skills

Tips for Natural Sounding Writing

You are in a restaurant with a friend. You’ve just seen your company’s third quarter results. As you explain the results, she asks questions which takes you deep into the conversation and to further explanations.

Do you ever wonder if you are setting the right tone with your writing? When it comes to writing memos, sales pages, or white papers, many people freeze in their tracks. They’re afraid if they don’t use just the right (perfect) formula they won’t be effective in communication. But writing is just another form of conversation, like the one you had with your friend.

You have a natural-born talent to communicate – you have that skill already. Leaders have well-developed communication abilities. You would not be in your role if you could not communicate well. Written communication should not be a stumbling block that it is for some leaders.
How to Get Started: Outline or Free Flow?

You are sitting down to write a report. Pretend you’re in that restaurant about to tell a colleague about this great product, or service, or result you have achieved in your company. Think about what you’d say to her. What would she ask you? Keeping your reader in mind as you write helps you focus on the message.

It is usually more effective to write in a rough form than to edit your work as you write. I’ll bet you remember having to turn in outlines of papers when you were in school. Our teachers made us do them because outlines really are helpful for organizing material. Start with an outline and then fill in the concepts under each main point you want to make.

Creating an outline is difficult for some. You might be more comfortable with a style that involves letting your ideas flow and then organizing them. Then polish your writing. The process of refining your writing involves looking at word flow, the length of paragraphs, and the way you’ve connected your thoughts. This is also the point at which you can add headers, sub headers, bullets and numbered lists. Some of your readers love to read all the details. Some want to skim and get the key points.

Readers can sense your energy. It flows through in everything you write. If your writing is stiff you may easily lose your reader. (We’ve been trained to have short attention spans.) Read what you wrote out loud. Does it sound conversational?

While it is true that you need to get it right, don’t let a craving for perfection stop you from writing. Done is often better than perfect.

Pat Iyer is a professional writer who works with others to assist them as an editor, ghostwriter and online course creator. Reach her at patriciaiyer@gmail.com.

Categories
Growth Human Resources Management Personal Development

Do You Trust Your Employees?

One of the questions I frequently ask clients is whether they trust their employees. I ask with purpose. If an employer does not trust the employees that are supposed to be interacting with customers, that employer also can’t trust that customers are being taken care of well.

A company’s front-line employees are the ones who create the all-important first impression. Employers have to be able to trust them to make that first impression a good one. Unfortunately, far too many employers retain workers they don’t trust and, as a result, jeopardize relationships with customers.

Trust Is the Foundation

Trust is the foundation of any relationship between employer and employee. This trust manifests itself in two ways. First, employers want to be able to trust their employees to perform the job to the standards set. This includes taking good care of customers. Second, employees need to be able to trust that their employers will take care of them just as they are expected to take care of customers.

A lack of trust in either direction is usually an indication that a particular employee should not be put in a position of interacting with customers. If that employee cannot be trusted to do the job up to standards, he or she certainly cannot be trusted to interact with customers. Likewise, if the employee does not trust that the employer will take care of him or her, customer satisfaction isn’t going to be a priority.

In addition, think about this for just a minute: an employee who is not trusted by his or her employer will probably not be trusted by customers either. Do you see how important trust is

Communication, Retention, and Motivation

With trust as the foundation of employer-employee relationships, we can build on that foundation in other key areas. First among them is communication.

A relationship of trust between employers and employees rises or falls on the ability of all parties to communicate. Owners and managers must be willing to effectively communicate what’s going on within the organization so as to empower employees to be part of it. Likewise, employees have to be willing to communicate their thoughts and ideas so that management has an understanding of what is on their minds. Both sides need to be more than willing to listen and respond accordingly.

Next comes employee retention. When trust exists in the employer-employee relationship, retention is a lot easier. A solid relationship built on trust puts everyone at ease. It makes the employer happy to keep the employee; it reduces the likelihood that the employee will look for a new job.

Last is employee motivation. Employees who know they are trusted are more likely to have confidence that they will be retained. That trust and confidence subsequently motivates employees to be better at what they do. The more trust and confidence there is, the more motivated employees are.

Show Employees Your Trust

If it helps you to better understand the concept of trust in the employer-employee relationship, think about it in terms of parents and children. Older children who are treated like adults will begin to act like adults. Employees respond much the same way. Treat them like trusted team members and they will begin acting that way. Empower your employees by demonstrating your trust and they might just surprise you with the way they take care of your customers.

Remember that trust in the employer-employee relationship is a two-way street.  Do your employees trust you?  Mutual trust creates an environment that customers flock to. If you don’t have it, you may not have your customers for very long.

Randi Busse is the founder and president of Workforce Development Group, Inc., www.workdevgroup.com, a training and coaching organization that specializes in improving the customer experience, increasing customer retention, and maximizing revenue. She is also the co-author of Turning Rants Into Raves: Turn Your Customers On Before They Turn On YOU! Randi can be reached at randi@workdevgroup.com.

Categories
Growth Human Resources Leadership Personal Development

4 Insights to Manage Emotions for Life Success

As an employee engagement consultant, I am often called into help an organization resolve very complex conflicts.  The relationships have been damaged and emotions are high.  In my experience, the level of emotional intelligence of the involved parties plays a significant role in 100% of these situations.  I can safely claim that higher levels of emotional intelligence can prevent these complex conflicts from escalating and damaging the relationships.

Daniel Goleman, the author of Emotional Intelligence once said, “If your emotional abilities aren’t in hand…no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far.”  My experience confirms this and, it begs the question, what can we do to improve our emotional intelligence and how can we therefore be more successful?

Emotional intelligence involves four very important skills. The first two involve our skills i.e. the awareness of our own emotions and the ability to express them appropriately. The second two involve the emotions of others i.e. the ability to recognize emotions with others and the ability to influence them to express them appropriately.

These are challenging skills that require effort to develop and we all can benefit from making an effort to continuously learn to enhance each.  That is why I want to share 4 key insights to help each of us continuously improve.

Moods are temporary so, avoid communication when emotions are negative

George S. Pransky, PhD., in his book The Relationship Handbook, helps us appreciate that moods are temporary perceptions of the world. Because they are temporary, Pransky advises us to wait when we are having negative feelings toward someone before we communicate. (George S. Prannsky, 1992)

Pransky is a marriage counselor. After advising couples over many years he advises we treat negative emotions as a signal to slow down, restore our positive energy, and think about changing our perspective. Temporary negative moods are an outcome of a certain perspective.  If we shift perspective, we can shift our mood.  Those couples who avoided communication and waited out the negative emotions had the most success in achieving long-lasting and happy relationships.

Blame is a victim’s response, not a leader’s

Imagine holding a bell. You shake the bell and it rings pleasantly.  What caused the ring?  Was it the bell or the clapper?  It’s a silly question misguided.  The sound came from the interaction between the two.  Both contributed.  Attempting to blame another person for a negative mood makes as much sense as asking “what caused the ring”.

The negative mood is asking us to stop and shift perspective.  Avoiding blame is a useful rule to follow during this evaluation period.  Better questions are, “what did I do to contribute to this negative perspective?  What can I do differently to change it?”

Notice the other and express empathy

Empathy is such a powerful tool and is often overlooked.  This is a tragedy.  Empathy helps us to influence the mood of others.  Empathy costs us nothing.  It is merely an expression that helps both parties remember they are human and are capable of negative feelings.  When we express empathy, we are not agreeing with another’s perspective of the world. We are simply relating as another human being who can experience a mood.

Empathy is the expression of understanding.  It acknowledges the existence of a mood and helps release any negative emotion thereby enabling logical discussion.  Calm logic can then lead to creating innovative solutions to complex problems.

In his book Primal Leadership, Daniel Goleman explains how negative emotions overwhelm the brain.  This is useful because it helped humans to survive.  Fear helps us to focus and decide to either fight or flee.  The ability and willingness to effectively express empathy releases the brain to focus on solutions and away from fear. (Daniel Goleman, 2002)

A leader’s mood influences others’ moods

A leader’s mood will influence the moods of others and therefore the leader’s mood can either improve performance of a team or damage it.  A leader’s ability to be upbeat in the face of challenges will help teams to overcome those challenges.

The emotional part of our brain (the limbic) is open loop meaning it can connect with others.  This enables humans to support each other in the face of challenging emotional situations.  Recent disasters such as the floods in Houston demonstrate the power of this open loop insight. People can console each other. People can sense the emotions of others and even influence them to change just by being there and managing a mood in the face of disasters.

Why do we congregate during funerals?  To console each other.  We facilitate healing just be being there and sharing emotional support for each other.  We savor the open loop.  We savor the connection with others. Why not use it to influence positive moods.

Summary

How do we enhance our emotional intelligence skills?  We must practice if we want to be more successful in life.  These four insights can help. For example, if we realize our moods are temporary and give ourselves a time to reflect; if we avoid communication during low moods; if we avoid blame and realize we are a contributor to our own perspectives; if we learn to provide empathy and realize it is a powerful tool for influencing others’ moods; and, if we realize how our moods can influence the performance of others we can continuously improve.  It requires effort and it is worth every bit of it if we want success.

Wally Hauck, PhD has a cure for the “deadly disease” known as the typical performance appraisal.  Wally holds a doctorate in organizational leadership from Warren National University, a Master of Business Administration in finance from Iona College, and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania.   Wally is a Certified Speaking Professional or CSP.  Wally has a passion for helping leaders let go of the old and embrace new thinking to improve leadership skills, employee engagement, and performance.

Daniel Goleman, R. B. (2002). Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence. Boston: Harvard Business School.

George S. Prannsky, P. (1992). The Relaitonship Handbook. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

 

Categories
Growth Management Personal Development

Using Language to Manipulate

If people were deceiving you right to your face would you want to know? That’s not such an unheard of idea. When people talk with each other today it’s common not to say what we mean.

Honey, do these jeans make me look fat?

No.

[It’s your butt that makes your jeans look fat but I can’t say that.]

Would you like to go out again?

Yes.

[He never heard from her again.]

He’s a really great worker.

[I’m glad he’s out of my department. He wasn’t a good employee.]

It’s easier to say what we think someone wants to hear instead of saying what we think. We hope to avoid hurting another person or the confrontation that might ensue. We answer by the painless way out. We want to get our way so we gloss over the truth. These are common practices in our communication and it’s considered acceptable. It’s delivering a message by using words that hide our true thoughts.

That is one way to use language for our benefit. Another way is by changing definitions of words in order to con others. It has been happening for years yet most people aren’t aware of it.

We learn language from our parents, from school, and from the world around us. As a word is introduced we learn what it means. From there we build sentences, which make it possible to get our message across to others. Communication occurs when a speaker conveys a message and a listener understands what the speaker is saying. It takes the speaker using the right words for his message and the listener understanding what those word mean. But what happens when the definitions of words are changing from what we learned them to mean and we aren’t aware that it’s happening?

Take the word crib. Standing alone we don’t know if the meaning of the word is a baby’s bed or a place to live. The word has changed meanings. The word reality means actual, truth; it’s real. Today we use the word reality as being real or the resemblance of being real. The word reality originally meant it had to be fact. Today it only has to appear to be real.

We’ve seen it on television shows. We used to have reality shows where people were shown as their real self. Later on we find out the reality stars had been coached so it creates better TV. From there we changed reality programs to actuality programs to show that actuality is the real thing. Right.

We even changed the word true. It originally meant fact, actual, genuine, real. Today the word true means conforming to reality. We just learned that today we define reality as resembling something real.

The word true went from fact to anything that looks like it could be fact.

When someone tells you that something is true we think it is fact. What they mean is it’s something that appears to be fact but might not be. If you take what the speaker says as real you are being fooled. Their intention is to deceive you so you will believe them. The speaker is using the change in definitions to manipulate you to their ideologies. You are being duped and you don’t even know it.

It may seem harmless but it is anything but that. When a person is exposed to something over a period of time they adapt to it. For instance, you see a dirty window at home and it bothers you but you don’t take the time to clean it. After a period of time it doesn’t bother you anymore. Your viewpoint has changed. You have been conditioned to accept what you really wouldn’t allow before. This is how the changing of definitions is moving the beliefs and actions of unsuspecting sheep.

No need to fret. An informed mind is an effective mind. We can put a stop to this takeover. Realizing there is a problem is the first step to repairing it. We won’t be fooled since we are aware of what is going on. Check out my website for more: https://www.danalynnpope.com

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Personal Development Women In Business

What a 5-Year-Old Can Teach Us About Listening

We’re told from a very young age to pay attention. From our parents. Teachers. Then bosses and gurus.  But I don’t think it means what we think it means. At least I don’t after a very smart lesson from my young friend Donovan.

I was sitting in the kitchen having coffee with my next-door neighbor Eileen, while her 5-year-old son Donovan, dressed courageously in his Superman costume was engaged in quite a heated debate about why he couldn’t wear his costume to school.

He kept inserting himself into our conversation. He was continually asking me questions:

“Neen do you like to play outside or in?”  OUTSIDE. “Neen, cats or dogs?” CATS! “Neen, Obi Wan or Yoda?” YODA of course!

Then he said, “Neen you’re not listening to me!” I replied, “YES, I AM, HONEY.” He assured me I was not, then jumped in my lap, grabbed my face in his tiny little hands, turned it towards him, and with great Superhero passion and intensity, he said the words I will never forget.

“‘NEEN, LISTEN WITH YOUR EYES!”

He was FIVE. It took a 5-year-old to remind me, that we don’t listen with our ears, we listen with our eyes, our hearts, and our souls — and I think that’s what it truly means to pay attention.

It’s a combination of all these things.

Too often, we pay attention to the to-do lists in our head.  Or we’re waiting to respond. Or trying to work out what to say in response to someone, instead of listening intently.

To truly pay attention — or as Donovan says, listening with our eyes, — is being intentional. It’s holding our own agenda at bay. It’s looking someone in the eye. It’s being fully and absolutely present.

In that precious moment, Donovan helped me realize why it’s so important that we pay attention, and why our parents and our teachers and everyone, kept reminding us of this valuable life lesson. Intentional attention is a gift. One you give the people in your world, and one you give yourself.

It’s a game-changer in your relationships. From your friends and family to the people you work with, to the teams you lead, to the customers you support. Make the shift to be more INTENTIONALLY attentive. And watch as your business and life become much more AH-MAZING. Thanks Donovan!

Categories
Investing Management Marketing Personal Development Technology

Crypto Currency Explained by Currency Expert

As part of my nationally syndicated radio show, Take the Lead, I interview top leaders and successful individuals who share their success stories. Bitcoin and cryptocurrency expert and CEO of FIREapps Wolfgang Koester, sat down for a live interview with me.  He was named as one of the “100 Most Influential People in Finance” and is regularly included in Global Finance’s annual “Who’s Who in Foreign Exchange”. To hear the entire interview, you can go to:  http://drdianehamilton.com/episodes and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMm8R6WJObU&t=1105s.

The following are highlights of what he discussed in our interview:

  • What is crypto currency and Bitcoin
  • The security and traceability of crypto currency
  • Block chain technology or ledger technology and digital mining
  • Supply and demand of Bitcoin and why the price changes
  • 130 cryptocurrencies out there – creating a market for currency
  • How many crypto currencies there should or will be
  • Countries like Russia and others going with crypto currency soon
  • Chinese raise to beat others to become dominant currency and displace the dollar
  • Millennials interest in crypto currency
  • Criminal activity hiding transactions
  • Winklevoss Bitcoin marketers will never spend their money
  • How much is in circulation
  • Difficulty getting out of digital currency
  • Rules getting made up as we go and scamming
Categories
Economics Management Marketing News and Politics Personal Development Technology

Dr. Diane Hamilton Interviews Steve Forbes

As part of my nationally syndicated radio show, Take the Lead, I interview top leaders and successful individuals who share their success stories.  Steve Forbes, the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media, was a recent guest on my show.  He and I worked together when I was the MBA Program Chair at the Forbes School of Business and Technology.  To hear the entire interview, you can go to:  http://drdianehamilton.com/episodes. The following are highlights of what he discussed in our interview.

  • Whether leaders are born or made
  • Taking Forbes digital
  • His favorite people he has interviewed
  • Why he ran for the presidency
  • The biggest changes he has seen in politics during his life
  • Predictions for future markets and innovation
  • The three big reforms we need to address
  • The flat tax and whether we will ever see it
  • The Fed and what changes will we see
  • What to look for in employees
Categories
Best Practices Human Resources Management Marketing Skills Women In Business

Embracing Generational Differences in the Workplace

To reduce conflict and improve productivity, it is important to understand generational issues, culture, emotional intelligence, and engagement.  Leaders are often frustrated by some of the conflict that stems from generational differences in the workplace.  For real progress, we must learn to share the things that we have in common and appreciate the things that we do not. Once we understand people’s preferences and perspectives, we can embrace multiple generations in the workplace.  To watch a recent speech I gave to a large group in Phoenix, regarding these important issues, please go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh7WLNJ1O4o&feature=youtu.be. 

During that speech, I discussed:

  • Avoiding generational stereotyping
  • Embracing each generation as unique and important
  • Improving soft skills
  • Developing emotional intelligence
  • Improving engagement
  • Improving productivity and turnover
  • Embracing diversity
  • Reducing conflict
Categories
Growth Management Personal Development Women In Business

Are You Ready to Grow? If So, Just Don’t Grow Broke!

Leaders talk about growing revenue in almost every Team meeting. Pressure is often high for the sales manager and his or her team to perform and always be closing to bring home the bacon. Are they focusing on the right conversation?

Here’s a secret you may have wished somebody told you – if you grow too fast, without having the cash resources, you’re going to need money from someone or somewhere. You’ll spend your time as a leader chasing funding rather than focusing on running your business, building your infrastructure, executing on your strategy and most importantly aligning your Team.

Growth for growth’s sake can be a death knoll for some companies. What is your profitability? Why waste time and energy seeking big numbers to have a miniscule profit margin? Make the right decisions – review your business model, look at your cash conversion cycle and stay on top of your metrics. Too many CEOs think that a financial report is the way to appease their banker. No! It’s the way to manage your company. The numbers reveal your cash flow story.

So what’s the alternative to pursuing revenue? Create a killer strategy and trigger points to know what action to take at those inflection points. These actions might focus on adding “A” level talent to your executive or management team or buying new equipment. This is deliberate, and intentional. There is no need to fly by the seat of your pants. Focus on making the right decisions at the right time.

Categories
Growth Management Operations Personal Development

Customer Loyalty Test: Will Your Customer Evangelize Your Business?

The term “loyalty” usually brings to mind a long period of time … in other words, a lifetime customer. However, when I teach the concept of loyalty, I like to change the focus a bit. Don’t worry about a customer’s actions years in the future, focus on now. Or, more specifically, the next time. Customer loyalty is about ensuring a customer will come back to your business the next time, every time. Consider the following, what I call The Loyalty Question:

Is what I’m doing right now going to get the customer to come back the next time he or she needs whatever it is that I sell? 

If you concentrate your efforts on the here and now – and the next time – the future will take care of itself. If you consistently perform in a way that will keep customers coming back, you will ultimately end up with loyal, lifetime customers.

In these modern times, however, with technology and social media, customer service strategies are constantly changing and evolving, and this one is no exception. In light of today’s technology-driven social world, we can now put a new spin on this question.  I refer to it as The Evangelist Question:

Is what I’m doing right now going to make the customer want to leave a good review on social media sites? 

In the past when we talked about customers as evangelists for business, it was mainly in reference to the recommendations they would offer in face-to-face interactions. Today, customers can voice their opinions – good or bad – about a business in an instant on social media for the whole world to see. An important tool in business today is evangelism via the Internet – positive reviews on social media channels such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, and websites like Angie’s List, Urbanspoon and Yelp.

And, a positive review gives you the answers you hope for to both the Loyalty Question and the Evangelist Question. The customer is willing to return, and he or she is pleased enough to freely offer positive reviews.

You might be tempted to think that this concept is limited to retail businesses selling directly to the consumer. However, B2B must not write off the concept as there are avenues in which industry magazines and conferences, as well as bloggers, will effectively “review” your company.

Social media has evolved rapidly and become a part of most people’s daily routine. As people “talk” on these channels, they share experiences with those in their circle of friends and beyond. It would be foolish for a business to overlook the importance of using social media to its advantage, so how can you ensure your company is portrayed in a positive light? Most importantly, do a good job! Create a customer experience that is so good it makes your customers want to share it with others, online and by word of mouth. This will not only evangelize for your business, but also create loyal customers who continue to grow in number.