C-Suite Network™

Menu
Search
Close this search box.

Category: Skills

Categories
Growth Human Resources Management Skills

Fearless Feedback: The White Flag

Fearless Feedback: The White Flag®

In a previous blog I identified the three barriers preventing effective feedback namely confusion between feedback and criticism, the fear of making things worse, and not knowing how to deliver feedback to ensure it is positively accepted.

What if there was a way to provide feedback clearly and safely so it is welcomed?  What if there was a tool to eliminate the fear for both the giver and receiver?  That tool is called the White Flag®.

One of my very first clients was a very tall woman who often received complaints claiming she intimidated others.  She did not have a “mean bone” in her.  She had an assertive manner which could often be misinterpreted by others (harsh and intimidating).

Although I was able to share powerful techniques and she demonstrated a desire to change her communication she would sometimes fall back on bad habits.  She would forget to make the changes and I couldn’t always be there to remind her to use the new techniques.    I needed to find her help in the moment.

She had a few highly trusted and trusting employees who loved working with her.  If I could somehow get them to help remind her when she fell back on bad habits perhaps it would help her make the changes we were all looking her to make.

I was watching the movie the Patriot starring Mel Gibson.  His men had been captured by the British and he was on his way to negotiate with General Charles Cornwallis to release them.  He was carrying a large white flag.  He was safe from attack.  He had information Cornwallis wanted to hear.

The white flag is an international sign of truce or ceasefire, and request for negotiation. It is also often associated with surrender, since it is often the weaker military party which requests negotiation. A white flag signifies to all that an approaching negotiator is unarmed, with intent to surrender or a desire to communicate.  The American Red Cross has a similar symbol to protect neutral parties help the wounded in a war or a disaster.

If I could get the trusted employees to use the White Flag® in the moment they could help her make the desired changes.  She had good intentions.  She wanted good performance in her department.  She was not using the right methods and needed help to remember.

The White Flag® tool is important to provide safety for both the giver and the receiver of feedback.  The White Flag® is about learning and not about attacking.  The White Flag® initiates a valuable discussion about process and method.  It optimizes learning about method while minimizing or eliminating the possibility for criticism.

My client was able to hear the feedback from her trusted employees exactly when she needed it.  She was able to make the changes needed to her method of communication. She stopped being threatening and intimidating.

How does the White Flag work?  What is the technique?  The next blog will clarify. Stay tuned.

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.

 

Categories
Management Marketing Operations Skills Women In Business

They Don’t Appreciate Me

Have you been in environments where you felt you were not appreciated when talking with acquaintances that you’ve known for some time? In such cases, did you question to what degree your enhanced skills, knowledge, insights were not recognized, and thus your acquaintance saw you as possessing the same level of insight/knowledge as in prior years? After all, they know you as the person they’d interacted with 3, 5, 10, etc., years ago. They haven’t updated the new you that you’ve become.

As we go through life, our knowledge increases and thus we morph into a different person. To the degree someone who knew you from your past sees you in that past light, and not for the person that you’ve become, they see you as the person they’ve always known. Thus, in their eyes, you’re the same person.

When you find yourself in a position where you’re not appreciated for whatever advances you’ve made, you can do one of four things:

  1. Stay in the environment and attempt to change it
  2. Leave the environment immediately and move on to greener pastures
  3. Destroy the current environment and remake it to serve your needs
  4. Stay in the environment, not let it impact you and wait for the right opportunity to leave/escape it

In any case, when you feel you’re not appreciated, understand the mindset you possess per why you feel unappreciated and to what degree there’s validity to your emotions. If you assess your feelings are valid, adopt an action and take control of your life.

Life is too short not to be appreciated. Thus, always seek environments in which your contributions are appreciated and you’ll flourish in such environments … and everything will be right with the world.

What does this have to do with negotiations?

The same thing is true in a negotiation as what’s stated above. If the opposing negotiator does not see value in you, your offer, or the value that you bring to the negotiation table, exit the negotiation. The more time you invest in a negotiation that you’re not appreciated, the greater the chance you’ll end up with a bad deal. So, be very aware of the degree you’re being appreciated during the negotiation. Therein will lie the degree of success you might achieve. Once you raise your awareness to such, you’ll gain more from all of your negotiations … and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

 

 

 

Categories
Best Practices Economics Human Resources Industries Investing Management Marketing Skills Women In Business

7 Questions You Can Ask That Will Make You a Better Negotiator

Questions form the foundation for the exchange of information in a negotiation. To the degree you ask better questions, you’ll achieve greater negotiation outcomes. The following are 7 questions you can ask that will make you a better negotiator, and enhance the probability of your negotiation outcomes.

  1. Did you hear what you just said?

This question can be used to draw attention to a point that you wish to highlight. It can also serve as a distraction away from a point that doesn’t serve you.

  1. What’s the best outcome you’d like to see us reach?

This question gets at the heart of what the other negotiator would like   to see as a ‘best outcome’ situation, which gives you insight into his thought process.

  1. What’s most important to you in this negotiation?

Similar to question number 2, you’ll gain insight into the thought process of the other negotiator, which will give you a glimpse of how to negotiate with her. You’ll also get an idea of her priorities.

  1. What concerns do you have about this negotiation, this point, etc.?

This serves as a way to probe deeper into the mindset of the opposing negotiator per what he fears the most about the outcome of the negotiation. Observe his body language. If he says he doesn’t   have any concerns. Note if he sits back or leans forward as he’s speaking. If he leans forward, he’s more likely not to be concerned at that time. If he leans away, that could indicate he does have concerns, he might not want to share them with you at that time.

  1. What can we do to get past this impasse?

By getting his perspective, you gain a sense of how you might unravel the impasse. If you can adopt his suggestions, to the degree they serve you, you’ll be granting him the outcome he wants. That means he’ll buy into it. Remind him that you’re following his suggestions if he balks later.

  1. Why is that so important?

First, be observant of your tone when posing this question. Your tonality might be perceived as the matter being trivial. If it possesses true value to her, you don’t want to give the impression that it’s not a big deal, especially if it is to you. By doing so, she could say, okay, then give it to me. That would leave you in a weakened position.

  1. What can I do to make things right?

Be very cautious when asking this question. You don’t want to open the floodgates by allowing the other  negotiator to ask for the moon and you not be able to grant the request. On the opposing side, once again, you get a sense of what it might take to make it better, which means you can choose to grant some or none of the requests.

As you can see, the questions you pose during a negotiation set the tone and pace of the negotiation. The questions above can be strategically used during a negotiation to direct or redirect the negotiation in a particular direction that serves your purpose. To do so, use the questions in the order that are best suited for your purpose based on when a particular question is needed. If you do this masterfully, you’ll leave the negotiation with more gains than you otherwise might have had … and everything will be right with the world.

 

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

 

Categories
Growth Human Resources Management Skills

Let Go of What You Know – 6 Steps to Meaningful Feedback

Click here to watch the video Let Go of What You Know – 6 Steps to Meaningful Feedback

How many times have you received the same response when you have asked for feedback? You ask someone you think will tell you the truth, “How did I do?” and you hear “Good,” “Nice Job” or “That was great!” These responses are not feedback.  Instead they’re telling you what they think you want to hear rather than the truth.  In some instances, this person may be lying to you because they don’t have the confidence to tell you that you take too long to get to the point and it’s difficult to follow your message.

Avoid falling into the trap of fake feedback.

Honest feedback is tough to come by for two reasons.  First, the higher you are in an organization, the less likely people are to give you truthful feedback about any topic, let alone your communication skills and level of influence.

Begin growing your influence today by applying these six steps to meaningful feedback Monday to Monday®.

Categories
Best Practices Growth Human Resources Management Skills Women In Business

The Missing Piece in Mentoring

 

Mentorship, sponsorship, advocacy… call it what you will, but it needs to go beyond the perfunctory semi-annual meeting to discuss career goals. For most people in that kind of relationship, it probably does, but does it extend to seeking, offering or accepting guidance on the way someone speaks? This is a huge factor in developing executive presence. Short of generically suggesting that someone work on his or her communication skills as is commonly referenced on the annual review, leadership communication tends to be a major missing link.

So what are some of the things to look for in the leadership communication skills in your mentee, and how can you help them work on those areas?

Communication Skills to Look For

Let’s start with content. When presenting information to senior leadership, employees frequently tend to provide too much detail – or “get lost in the weeds,” as they say. Recognize that this is often because they want to convey the thoroughness of their efforts and thought processes, and justify any findings or recommendations that they provide. Reassure them that they’ve been given the opportunity to present this work because they already have the benefit of the doubt that they are qualified and capable, and their results are trustworthy, so get to the point.

Sometimes the challenge is not the quantity of the content, but the level of diplomacy that is used – or missed, as the case may be.

On the one hand, maybe they tend to be conflict-averse, getting tongue-tied at the idea of having to confront someone directly. If so, they often need help finding the words to frame critical feedback in a way that doesn’t beat around the bush, but still allows them to prioritize their relationship without upsetting the other person.

On the other hand, they may have a reputation of being excessively blunt, and come across as unnecessarily combative or defensive. They may need help understanding how their choice of words and delivery (see below) are harmful to their short-term discussion goals and long-term career interests. Then, they will also need alternative framing suggestions to help get their point across without alienating people in the process.

Getting more into the delivery, the ability to show poise and “grace under fire” are often demonstrated by how they control the pace of their speech. Does it sound like one giant run-on sentence? When speakers can articulate their thoughts in finite sentences, like when writing, they sound more in control. They “own” their material. Even if they are fast talkers, something as simple as remembering to pause, just for a second after each point, allows the listeners’ brains to catch up with their ears and digest the last point.

Another problem is that modern social patterns have popularized a bad habit known as “up-speak” or “up-talk,” which is where people sound like they’re always asking a question? At the ends of all their phrases and sentences? Even when they’re not? Which gets really annoying, you know?

The irony is that most people don’t realize when they do it – and it is just as prevalent in men as in women, and in Baby Boomers as in Millennials, contrary to popular belief. It doesn’t even sound like they are interested in what they’re saying… and if their own content doesn’t interest them first, why would it interest anyone else?

So if you are mentoring someone, formally or informally, start listening for some of these patterns. Neglecting to address these issues can undermine all the helpful and well-intended guidance you are otherwise offering.

And if you really want to challenge yourself, remember that taking steps to improve the effectiveness of your own leadership communication is mentoring by example.

********

Do you have trouble determining which of these patterns or others are negatively influencing someone’s image or reputation? Are you unsure of how to talk to them about it, or how to help them improve? Or do you have other questions or feedback about this issue? If so, contact me at laura@vocalimpactproductions.com or click here to schedule a 20-minute focus call to discuss it with me personally!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Best Practices Management Marketing Skills Women In Business

Persistence — in Negotiations

Sunday Message of Hope

“Persistence”

How focused and persistent are you about being successful in your life?

A small boy is sent to bed by his father. Five minutes later…. “Da-ad….” “What? “I’m thirsty. Can you bring me a drink of water?” “No. You had your chance. Lights out.” Five minutes later: “Daaaaad..” “WHAT?” “I’m THIRSTY. Can I have a drink of water??” “I told you NO! If you ask again, I’ll have to spank you!!” Five minutes later..

“Daaaa-aaaad…..” “WHAT!” “When you come in to spank me, can you bring a drink of water?”

That story highlights the persistence the little boy had for reaching his goal of getting a glass of water. It also highlights the consequences he was willing to endure (spanking) to get the glass of water. What are you willing to endure?

I suggest, if you’re willing to persevere and apply the degree of dedication that’s needed to succeed, along with applying the correct knowledge to do so, you can achieve almost any goal you set your mind upon. Your success really is up to you. Be it in a negotiation (you’re always negotiating) or other aspects of life, commit to the action needed to reach your goals, no matter what that goal may be. If a goal is worth the outcome, it’s worth the effort required to reach it. If you’re persistent and follow your commitment with action, you’ll be better for it no matter where you end up, because you will have gained insight about your abilities to move towards a goal … and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!  

Categories
Growth Management Skills

3 Qualities of a Great Mentor

 

If you want to learn what it takes to become a great mentor, one place to look is at the great mentors who’ve influenced your success. As a motivational speaker, my mentors (and I’ve had several including Jim Kouzes, Tom Peters, and Terry Pearce) had more confidence in my abilities than I did, and always looked for opportunities to shove me into the training and speaking spotlight. If you don’t think you have a mentor yet, try looking at others who’ve achieved their goals and see what they learned from their mentors. At a minimum, I think you’ll find that great mentors do three things that conveniently all start with the letter E – they encourage, equip, and exemplify. I’ll highlight one in this blog and the others in subsequent blogs. So read on and then stay tuned.

MENTORS ENCOURAGE

Great mentors help you see the possibilities of your personal portrait when your life is still a mostly blank canvas.

For instance, Deborah Sweeney, the CEO of MyCorporation, learned early that she should never settle for less than her best. Why? Because her mentor, who happened to be her mother, stressed that message.

“She always told me, ‘This or something better,’” Sweeney said. “This had a real influence on how I approached my college and job. I was unwilling to settle for anything less than my highest potential.”

Marina Lau, a senior marketing manager at JotForm, says one of her key mentors provided all sorts of practical advice, but it was all built on a foundation of creating a strong sense of inner confidence.

“She taught me that even before you can accumulate decades of experience, it’s important to always remember your value as an employee, because you inherently come with a unique set of skills, continually cultivated over time,” Lau said. “Instilling that confidence in me as a young professional has been an invaluable experience.”

Mentors don’t just encourage with words, but with actions. When Ruth Wilson first opened Brightmont Academy, a private school for grades 6-12, she found encouragement from Dr. Albert Reichert, a developmental pediatrician. In addition to helping her work through specific challenges, Dr. Reichert put his reputation on the line by recommending Wilson’s new school to families under his care.

“More than one parent expressed skepticism about my age,” Wilson said, “but most acquiesced based on Dr. Reichert’s endorsement of my program.”

The good doctor believed in his protégé, and all great mentors encourage with words and actions the inspired confidence. So don’t just tell people you believe in them. Show them.

MENTORS EQUIP

Few things are more frustrating than trying to take on a project without the right equipment or tools. Try setting up a tent without the poles. Or building a swing set without the nuts and bolts. Try building a tree fort with no hammer or nails (not that I’ve done that).
So what tools should you offer as a mentor? Whatever your protégé needs to succeed, of course.

Mentors might equip their protégés with specific skills like how to build healthy relationships, how to use the company’s project management software, how to become a leader, what to look for when reading a P&L, or, in the case of Adwoa Dadzie, how to think big.

“I needed to build my ability to think about broad impact,” said Dadzie, the VP of HR for a Fortune 500 company. “As an HR leader, what I do for one person can have long-term vast impact on all employees in a work group, in a building, and, potentially, in a company. I needed to learn how to think more strategically about the impact of my actions and my decisions to minimize negative impact and maximize the positive ones.”

The tools mentors provide aren’t always skills-based. Sometimes they look like an email introduction to a key contact or a word of advice on dealing with an important stakeholder. And they often come in the form of pearls of wisdom and nuggets of advice than become engrained in someone’s thinking, equipping them for challenges for years to come.

When Steven Benson was starting out at Google, his first sales manager, Mark Flessel, stressed the importance of focusing on the needs of his customer’s business. “Then I could map my solution to what makes them successful,” said Benson, who now is founder and CEO of Badger Maps. That “what do others need” mindset now plays a role in how he builds his business.

If you’ve had a great mentor, you’ve probably experienced this. You’re facing a situation and thinking through what to do when suddenly your mentor’s words spring freshly into your mind. Live those words out. And pass them on to someone else.

MENTORS EXEMPLIFY

I’ve never met great mentors, or heard of any for that matter, who didn’t walk the walk as well or better than they talked the talk. Mentors aren’t perfect, of course, but they teach hard work by working hard. They teach great listening skills by listening well. They teach perseverance by persevering.

The most important mentor in Katherine Sullivan’s life, for instance, never finished high school, but Sullivan’s now 94-year-old grandfather worked hard to provide for his family during the Great Depression, fought for his country in World War II, and became a successful business owner.

“As a young girl, I watched his work ethic and success drive him in life and business,” said Sullivan, CEO of Marketing Solved. “This was directly transferred to me … Seeing his hard work taught me that I earn everything I get and nothing is ever handed to you.”

Denise Supplee, co-founder of both SparkRental.com and SnapLandlord.com, watched her father build a business by taking risks, so she learned not to fear the challenges that come with entrepreneurship.

“It is easy to speak about things you want to do, but you must take action,” she said. “He built a business empire against all odds.”

No matter what you preach as a mentor, the message that will have the biggest impact will come from how you live – your attitude, your sense of humor, your commitment to excellence, your investment in others, your sense of self-worth, your gratitude, your … well, your everything.

It’s interesting that when I speak to people about the mentors in their lives they often refer to people who weren’t formally mentors. They were just people who invested in them out of love and lived in a manner worth emulating. You never know who is watching, so the time to lead by example is now … and always.

 

Categories
Best Practices Growth Management Skills Women In Business

Turning a Faux Pas into a Win

The other day I was doing a training on leadership communication for a large client in the communication technology industry. Among their many products and services are video and teleconferencing tools. In the course of my program, we got to the part about facilitating virtual meetings, and as I clicked to the next slide, I suddenly heard a couple of boos from the crowd. I look up and realized my gaffe: my default visual was an image of people chatting on Skype – a direct competitor.

Now I had a choice to make: I could flush beet-red, babble a string of mortified apologies, and run out of the room in humiliation, or I could turn it around and make it a “teachable moment.” I opted for the latter, and explicitly shared this very choice with the group.

“Actually, I’m glad this happened, because it allows me to demonstrate some additional strategies in leadership communication, rather than just talking about them.”

From there, I walked them through a sequence of steps, both in addressing my personal mistake, and narrating the conscious strategy behind each step I was taking in the process. I share it with you here, so that you can also learn from my mistake, and use the experience to your advantage, as I did.

First, I apologized. I had made an undeniable, objective mistake, and it was my responsibility to own it. My voice stayed even in speed and volume to indicate composure, and model the degree of drama that I believed was warranted by the situation, so they could follow suit.

Second, I briefly explained my original intention behind the mistake, providing just enough information to help them understand what happened and increase empathy. In this case, at the time I selected these images, my focus and biggest challenge was finding appropriate pictures with sufficiently high resolution so I could zoom it on the slide and still have the picture be in sharp focus for the best visual experience, which limited my options based on the images I found on-line.

Third, I offered a solution to the problem, and engaged the audience in helping me to solve it. “Let me offer this to you in return: From here on out, I will replace these two images with your products instead, and have them be the standard images when I present to other companies in the future. How does that sound?” I saw lots of head nods in the audience. Free advertising for them; who wouldn’t appreciate that?

Then I followed up with, “But I’m going to need a little assistance. Since I wasn’t able to find good, high-resolution images of (Product X) online, I need one of you to send me some. Who here will volunteer to send them to me?” Half a dozen hands shot up in the air. Now, not only had I offered an agreeable solution, but I had enrolled the client’s enthusiastic participation in helping me execute the decision. Now we were partners, sharing in the responsibility to achieve the desired outcome.

At the end of the day, one woman said, “I really wanted to see where you were going to go with it once that (competitor) image popped up, but you handled the whole situation perfectly! I’m so glad we got to go through the process with you.”

In the end, what matters most is how you respond in the moment. Keep your composure, acknowledge the error, apologize appropriately, give only as much explanation as is necessary (sometimes none), then offer a remedy and see it through. This enables you to maintain control of the situation and lead by example, which helps you to build (or rebuild) trust, reinforcing your image and reputation as a leader.

********

Do you have questions or comments about the issues in today’s post, want to know how to apply them, or how to help others with them? If so, contact me at laura@vocalimpactproductions.com or click here to schedule a 20-minute focus call to discuss them with me personally!

Categories
Growth Human Resources Leadership Skills

Belle’s World – Age

Original Prompt published on July 15, 2017 on Belle’s World.

Age is something we don’t really talk about. So my question is why?

As our cultural paradigms are shifting, individuals are redefining what age really means.  When people tell me, I look young or they mention an age much younger than my age, I used to feel frustrated. Today, I take it as a compliment and very proudly announce I am 40 years old and at the tail end of the X-Generation.

Why is it important for me to let someone know my age?  It’s important because if someone assumes I am much younger they are not giving me credit for the experience (professional and life) that I bring to the table.  I appreciate the world giving me the compliment of being youthful but I also want to be known for my knowledge and the impact I can make.

Each age brings something to the table and we should appreciate the individual, for their life journey and what they offer rather than having a bias on age.  It’s important for us to engage the benefits of being in a certain generation based on age.

Millennials were brought up with technology and are adept at learning to use them and make things efficient or easier through it.  They spend much of their time interacting with each other through their devices and have always had information overload since they were children.  Millennials worry about the generation coming after them, that have had technology in their hands since they were born.  Let’s utilize the Millennials ability to be comfortable with technology to teach other generations especially boomers how to make it useful in their lives.  They may not have as much life experience but they are the driving force of how we interact with technology going forward and how most businesses are transforming to engage with them as consumers.

The X – Generation created many of the technologies that were the forefront of our technology acceleration today.  They are the conduit between technology and the human element of still interacting with people to build relationships.  They have 20 – 30 years of business experience and are able to translate much of the technology paradigm shifts along with cultural paradigm shifts.  They are going through an awakening of understanding they have a much longer life span and are still not in the prime of their lives like they expected to be.  They are sandwiched between the Millennials and Boomers and are quietly trying to transform how we live, work and play while the media focuses on the outer generations.

Boomers have experience and have built relationships over many years.  They also are living longer and healthier lives.  Retirement as it once stood has been turned on its head and many boomers are continuing to work because they enjoy it and not necessarily because they need to.  They have been doing it for so many years that it’s become a part of who they are and it continues to motivate them to enjoy their life journey.  The Boomer generation didn’t grow up with the technology, but many of them are very open to learning it and have adopted it as part of their life.  It’s key to remember that adopting technology takes a mental shift and those Boomers who are adapting are critical to our changing lifestyles.  If we have an open mind that they are more than just “old” people we could be utilizing their experience and loyalty to help move us forward.

Lastly, the silent generation, who aren’t around much but those that are live their life and are proud of how far they have come and truly appreciate the people in their life.  If we all have something to learn, it is to understand what really matters in the long run. The one main idea they all resonate with are the experiences and people in their life matter today.  The work, the money, the success are all part of the journey but they are not what brings them to happiness today.

Be proud of your age / generation and what you bring to the table.  There are no rules anymore of what you should be doing or how you should look at your age.  Own this valuable piece of your life journey and let others know what you can do to make an impact on their organization or in life.

 

Welcome to Belle’s world. Everything in this world is based on a bell curve. Our media concentrates on giving advice to make everyone be a part of the masses.

This is a weekly series of Urvi’s insights on her perception of the world. They say perception is reality and she lives in her own fantasy world. This allows her to delve into the human element of our lives, helping individuals decipher their own souls, to understand, who they are and what they want, in the journey of life.

Belle’s world explores the extremes and goes beyond the surface. Ready to read about some of the “elephants in the room?”

 

Contact urvi, for a free, 30 minute consultation, if you want to build your emotional wealth and enhance your life based on your inner core. #thehumanelement

Categories
Growth Leadership Skills

How to Publish a Book

How to Publish a Book – What are the Options?

You have a wealth of knowledge about running a company. You want to share your knowledge in a new way – through publishing a book. You may have a body of work ready to repurpose (such as a blog you’ve maintained for several years) or a ghostwriter at the ready. Or you just really like to write; you find that writing the book comes easy.

How do you share your book? How can you get your book published? There used to be only one option: a traditional publisher. Now you have several choices.

PDF Ebook. Probably the simplest method to publish a book, all that’s required with an ebook is to click “Save as…” in your Word document and choose “PDF.” Then you can sell the resulting file on your own website, or upload it to a number of other ebook marketplaces online.

However, as a member of a c suite, you may want a higher profile product. Ebooks don’t have the authority that printed books carry. But this can be a viable option to get you off the ground. It’s also a great way to share your book with people who will write reviews for you before you publish your book. Advance readers will give you those all-important testimonials.

Kindle. Amazon’s Kindle marketplace makes it easy for you to publish your book. In fact, with just a few minutes of formatting, and another several minutes spent on their step-by-step uploading system, you can have your book on their virtual shelves in less than an hour. You can also readily find people with experience in formatting a book for Kindle. Check out a site I use, http://upwork.com, where you can hire people for a project like this.

With its incredible popularity and the ability to offer “free days” during which anyone can download your book at no cost, Kindle is a great way to build a buzz quickly.

Print on Demand. Print on demand means just that. Someone orders your book and it is printed in response to that order. Print on demand is a more economical model than vanity presses which require you to pay for hundreds if not thousands of copies up front, leaving you with a room full of books to sell on your own.

Create Space is the giant in this industry. As part of Amazon, Create Space makes it easy for you (or your graphic artist hired through Upwork) to load a book and its cover.  I recommend you hire someone to do this. It is not hard, but there are steps best tackled by someone who understands the process.

Buyers order your book from sellers such as Amazon and the book is printed and shipped the next day. This makes it easy and cost-effective for everyone to become a published author. But not all self-published books are well-written. Invest in an editor to polish your manuscript, to catch those embarrassing typos, and to help ensure that what you wrote is going to be clear to others.

Traditional Publisher. The options for self publishing have had a profound impact on traditional publishers. Their world has shrunk, and this affects you as an author if you are seeking a traditional publisher. They are bombarded with manuscripts and are very selective about the ones they take on. There are advantages to signing on with a traditional publisher. Getting your book published with a traditional print publisher will get you the most audience and press. The publisher may hire a publicist to get you on radio interviews, for example.

It is extremely difficult to get a traditional publishing house to take on a new author. An agent can be effective in getting the attention of a publisher. Your name, your brand, your platform (the ability to attract buyers) are crucial and may be even more important to the publisher than your content.

If you do manage to get a publisher, your royalties (the amount you earn from your book) will be very small—maybe as little as 8% of the net cost. The publisher may ask you to purchase a specific number of copies of your book and will rely on you to help promote it.

Indie Publishers. These publishers vary from the pattern of traditional publishers in the sense that they may expect you to make a substantial financial contribution to underwrite some of the costs of producing a book. The publisher spreads the risk to you, knowing the sad truth that the majority of books don’t sell well.

Be sure to thoroughly read a publishing agreement so you understand the terms of a traditional or indie publisher, if you decide to take this option. I recommend having an attorney familiar with publishing contracts give you some guidance.

The important thing is to get your book written, and then publish where you’re most comfortable. The rest will come naturally.

There are an unbelievable number of books languishing on hard drives because the author did not take action to release them to the world. Share all that knowledge you have learned through your experiences in a corporate world!

Pat Iyer is a ghostwriter who has written or edited more than 800 books, chapters, online courses, case studies or articles. Her website is http://editingmybook.com – check it out for more information.