Archives for September 2016

September should be declared self-development month. In the USA the children head back to school. It also seems that the end of summer turns our thoughts to being even better leaders in the coming year. It has always been one of our busiest new business months. This year is no exception. We feel very blessed in the opportunities to provide individual coaching. Our goal is to service our individual coaching business, and still build new products.

We are also excited about the new horizons and developments.  We continue to develop our smartphone Diamond Principle app to provide persuasion and influence in your pocket. We are in the alpha stage at this point, which is going very well.

Katie Welsh is leading the marketing of the Change Masters Academy. Our The Sport of Business (TSOB) video series we have been working on for three years will be moving into beta testing next month. We are receiving wonderful feedback and we look forward to releasing the series more broadly.

Customer Feedback is Exciting

You may have noticed that I tend to focus on what is new and being developed.  We received some wonderful feedback on products we have offered for years. We recently did a review with a group of clients who gave us feedback one year after our PPEP workshop.

Persuasion, Perception and Executive Presence™ (PPEP) is the only in-person workshop we offer. Several years ago, we eliminated all other workshops. We planned to also eliminate PPEP. One of our customers convinced us to continue. I am very glad we did. The PPEP workshop is clearly making a difference in peoples’ lives, and it is cost effective per individual. This month, we had a follow-up call with participants from a workshop we did last fall. Examples of the feedback were:

• “The self awareness of my own executive presence grew exponentially, as did my ability to analyze people in meetings more rapidly.”
• “The PPEP increased my ability to coach junior people – just coached junior person who presented to two VP’s – she did a great job but looked like she was going to a bar in the way she dressed! I told her that, was able to position it as an opportunity and she really appreciated it. It made us closer than ever before. The power of honesty, once the intention was clearly established, was amazing. I saw that modeled in the PPEP session.”
• “You have ruined me for all time! 🙂 I thought I had a high level of awareness – until the PPEP Change Masters experience!”

The 23 Mundane Moments that Can Make or Break Your Career (23MM) is a part of the workshop follow-up. Participants also commented about the impact of the video series:

• “During the week I would watch the 23 MM videos and then see people doing the exact opposite of what they should be doing! It was freaky how that happened! I literally wouldn’t have seen the behaviors before. The videos were so self-explanatory, I could instantly see in others the impact their behaviors were having.”
• “Discussing [23MM] with my peer opened up my eyes to so many things he saw that I didn’t, and vice versa. It was amazing how I would see something from the series on Tuesday and that same exact area would show up during the following week!”
• “I’ve been critical of myself and judgmental about others. The 23 MM series has been a vitamin pill I took every week to realize that the energy I burned by being judgmental was HUGE! I was giving away too much of my power by being so judgmental. It set me up. I realize now this is not how I want to use my precious energy during the workweek.”

In addition to being part of the PPEP workshop, the 23MM series can be purchased separately by an individual or for groups.

Here are some recent blog topics of interest:

All the Work and None of the Benefit?

You can do the best technical work ever, but if you can’t influence others to buy it or want to see it, it’s all for naught.  Use Change Masters Seven Steps to help you influence better at work or at home. Be able to answer the following questions to influence more effectively:

1. What do you want? Be clear on precisely what you’re trying to get done and list the concrete actions you need to take to move your idea one step forward or get you to the next meeting.

2. Who needs to change? Make sure you’ve included all the parties this change touches.

3. What’s the relevance? What is the importance of your idea to others?  Be able to simply … [more]

Coffee Was the Mother of Webcams

Webcams have been around for 25 years. They are built into most laptop computers, tables and higher-end smartphones.  Computer geeks at  University of Cambridge are credited with creating the first webcam. Their motivation was a cup of coffee.  In 1998 the BBC did a story on the birth of the webcam. A camera was [full story …]

 

Blindspot: Book Review

I am continually interested in how perceptions are formed and how the gaps in our perception impact everyday life. When I found the book, Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People by Mahzarin Banaji and Anthony Greenwald, I was curious. The book focuses on documented and generally accepted social science studies to look at our preconceptions in many areas. Why do we enthusiastically support our local sports team? Why do we think God is on our side when we go to war?

The authors look at the gaps in the discussion of race in the United States. Why do so many [more …]

Key Communication Differences for Each Decade of Your Career

Powerful interpersonal communication is a key factor in your success as an executive or professional. What the vast majority of career executives do not know is that the communication skills necessary for success in the 20’s are not the same communication skills necessary for success in your 40’s or 50’s.

Let’s take a closer look at the interpersonal communication skills necessary for each decade of your career, and the differences in each decade. The same behaviors we accept from a 25-year-old we won’t accept from someone who is 35 or 45 years old.

The 20s – In your 20s, it’s all about making your mark through task completion which [more …]

Listening Saves You Time

Are you a good listener? You may think you are, but are you actually putting your whole head and heart into the task? “But I don’t have time to listen to the …” are often used words from the less effective and poor listeners.  You may think you are a good listener … you are probably not as good as you think.

Good listening actually saves you time. Let’s take a closer look at how to be a good listener and how to save time by listening. The top attribute of the best senior leaders is that they are good listeners. Hearing what others say is not good listening. Having the other person feel you heard them is being a good listener.

The Listening Executive
When asked for the traits of a good listener, these are the responses from [see the list ...]

Tech Tip – Bedtime Function in Apple IOS 10

There are a number of “hidden” new functions for those with an Apple iPhone or iPad when they upgrade to the latest operating system as of September 2016. One that relates to most of our clients is that management of good sleep. There is ample evidence that getting enough sleep improves effectiveness as well as health and well-being.  Apple has added a new function that is designed to help set and track your sleep objectives.

The function is inside the “Clock” application and called “Bedtime”. You can view a brief video at Short Video on Bedtime IOS 10 Function

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