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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
Praise for Developing Talentfor Organizational Results "Elaine Biech brings together some of the 'royalty' of American corporations and asks them to share their wisdom in increasing organizational effectiveness. In 46 information-filled chapters, these 'learning providers' don't just sit on their conceptual thrones; they offer practical advice for achieving company goals and the tools to make it happen."--Marshall Goldsmith, million-selling author of the New York Times bestsellers, MOJO and What Got You Here Won't Get You There "Recruiting, developing, inspiring, engaging, and retaining your talent are critical to the growth and success of all organizations. Developing Talent for Organizational Results is a rich resource that can help you cultivate your most precious resource."--Tony Bingham, CEO & President ASTD and Co-author of The New Social Learning "Hiring and developing talent is the area that I am most passionate about. . . . Developing Talent for Organizational Results covers all the important topics, uses multiple experts, and supports learning with ready-to-use tools to develop talent in your company. It is like having a million-dollar consultant sitting on your book shelf!"--Mindy Meads, former CO-CEO Aéropostale and former CEO/ President Lands' End The best companies win with highly talented, highly committed employees--hiring and developing the best talent is essential. In Developing Talent for Organizational Results, Elaine Biech brings together the work of many of the most renowned learning providers in the world--all of them members of ISA: The Association of Learning Providers. Filled with a treasure-trove of consulting advice from The Ken Blanchard Companies, DDI, Forum, Herrmann International, Bev Kaye, Jack Zenger, and others, this book delivers the answers you want to improve leadership, management, and communication skills; address training, learning, and engagement issues; and shape the culture and care for your customers to achieve desired results.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012
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Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Section I: Communicating to Succeed
Chapter 1: Communicate with Stories
Let’s Start with a Story
Remembering and Using Stories
I Couldn’t Possibly Tell That Story at Work!
A Good Story Well Told: Tips from the World of Theater
Review
About The Ariel Group
Chapter 2: Reclaiming Your Peer Power
Learn from Our Mistakes
Four Key Principles
Interpreting Your Responses to the About You Questionnaire
About NetSpeed Learning Solutions
Chapter 3: The Candor Advantage
A Working Definition of Organizational Candor
Putting Candor to Work
Conclusion
About Ridge Training
Chapter 4: Open Your Business to the World
Snapshot in Time
Communication in a Global Marketplace
How Culture Impacts Business: The Research
Language vs. Understanding
Establishing a Global Mindset
Stereotypes vs. Generalizations
Foundation for Improved Multicultural Communications
Global Business Is Not a Choice, It Is a Reality
About ECCO International
Bonus Activity I.1: Turning e-Mail Drains into Productivity Gains: Which e-Mail Would You Rather Read?
About Better Communications
Bonus Activity I.2: Build or Repair: A Tool for Difficult Communication
About Global Novations
Section II: Moving into Management
Chapter 5: Are You Prepared for Your Next Project?
What Is a Project?
The Four Vital Project Disciplines
The Four Distinct Project Phases
Project Management
Business Analysis
Product Development
Change Management
Roadmap to Project Success
Planning the Project
Specifying the Product
Building the Product
Implementing the Product
Where Do You Go from Here?
About Systemation
Chapter 6: Using Involvement in Decision Making to Increase Engagement
Results
Maximum Appropriate Involvement
Deploying the Model
About Interaction Associates, Inc.
Chapter 7: How to 10X Your Influence
Our Serious Problems Are Rooted in Human Behavior
Because We Lack Influence
Why Quick Fix Solutions Fall Short
Exponentially Increasing Your Success
The Study
The Six Sources of Influence
Using the Six Sources of Influence
The Conclusion
Next Steps
About VitalSmarts
Chapter 8: Speaking Up
Who Are They and What Is Their World Like?
Nine Tips for Success at the C-Level
Conclusion
About PowerSpeaking, Inc.
Chapter 9: Raising the Talent Bar
The Business Challenge
Business Acumen Defined
Business Acumen As a Leadership Competency
Business Acumen Training
Summary
About Paradigm Learning, Inc.
Chapter 10: Eliminate the Us vs. Them Dynamics
An Illustration
Phase I: The Five Steps of Initial Demonization (Downward Spiral)
Phase II: The Five Steps of Institutionalized Demonization (Emotional Investment)
Phase III: Reversing the Spiral (Conscious Humanization)
Soft Skills Are Hardest to Learn
About Learning as Leadership
Bonus Activity II.1: 3D Perception Sharing
About the Dede Henley Group
Section III: Executive Essentials
Chapter 11: Brilliance in Brief
The Main Message
Maximizing Brief Interactions
Conclusion
About Zenger Folkman
Chapter 12: Leading with Integrity
An Example
Walking Your Talk
Conclusion
About Strategic Leadership Collaborative, Inc.
Chapter 13: How to Tell a Story . . . and Why
How Do You Find a Story?
How to Tell a Story
Make It Memorable
About Kevin Daley Communications
Chapter 14: Your Invitation to Greatness
Are Great Leaders Born or Made?
Step 1: Practice the Top Ten Traits of Strategic Leaders
Step 2: Build Accountability with Consequences
Step 3: Build Strategic Leaders on Your Team
Take Action
About Impression Management Professionals
Chapter 15: How Does a CEO Do Engagement?
Beach Ball Meetings
Beach Ball Meeting Results
About Fierce, Inc.
Section IV: Developing Leaders
Chapter 16: Developing Future Leaders
Actions for Successful Leadership Development
The Ultimate Goal
About ebb associates inc
Chapter 17: Awaken, Align, Accelerate®—A Framework for Developing Leaders
The Six Principles of Awaken, Align, Accelerate
Applying Awaken, Align, Accelerate in Your Role
Applying Awaken, Align, Accelerate in Concert
About MDA Leadership Consulting
Chapter 18: Designing Great Leadership Development Workshops
1. Research-Based Content
2. Engagement
3. Storytelling
4. Feedback-Rich Environment
5. Appreciation
6. Intense Experiences
7. Peer Coaching
8. Self-Awareness
9. Performance Breakthroughs
10. Accountability for Learning
About Bluepoint Leadership Development
Bonus Activity IV.1: Historical Orienteering: Leadership Lessons from History
About Sonoma Leadership Systems
Sample Historical Orienteering Activity Handout
Sample Historical Orienteering Activity Card
Section V: Shaping a Vital Culture
Chapter 19: Bringing the Twelfth Man Alive in Your Organization
1. Use “Cultural Moments of Truth” to Show You Mean Business
2. Tell the Truth . . . Hear the Truth
3. Be Present
4. Tell Stories
5. Be a Healer
6. Lead Yourself
The Twelfth Man Lives
The Final Word
About The Whiteley Group
Chapter 20: Creating a Culture of Employee Work Passion
How Is Employee Work Passion Different Than Engagement?
Understanding How Employee Work Passion Is Created—A Review of the Appraisal Process
Understanding How the Factors Influence Intent and Behavior
Discretionary Effort
Intent to Perform
Employee Endorsement
Intent to Remain
Organizational Citizenship Behaviors
Summary
About The Ken Blanchard Companies
Chapter 21: Owners and Renters
Set the Right Example
Provide Feedback
Manage Talent
About the Center for Creative Leadership
Chapter 22: The Commercial Impact of Employee Engagement
Methodology
A Business-Driven View of Engagement
Commercial Impact
Engagement and Strategy Alignment
Executive Influence
Factors That Erode Engagement
Summary
About Performance Connections International
Chapter 23: Thank God It’s Monday!
Who’s at Fault 1: Executives
Who’s at Fault 2: Managers
Who’s at Fault 3: Employees
About The Emmerich Group
Chapter 24: Improving Workplace Cultures Through Respect, Service, and Safety at Work®
Three Guiding Words
Crisis as Opportunity
Key Ingredients
A Tool to Emphasize a Culture of Respect, Services, and Safety
About CPI
Chapter 25: Building Organizational Change Capability
The Leverage of Building Change Capability
Training and Development in Change Leadership
Change: The New Strategic Discipline
Summary
About Being First, Inc.
Bonus Activity V.1: Exploring Culture Through the Canyon
About Root Learning, Inc.
Section VI: Invigorating Your Training Process for Results
Chapter 26: Getting More from Your Investment in Training
The Opportunity
Missed Opportunity
Organizational Factors
Sam’s Story
Carla’s Story
Beyond Training
Before, During, and After Learning Interventions
Wanted: A Learning Culture
About RealTime Performance
Chapter 27: Does Your Organization Have It Backwards?
Step 1: Focus on Business-Level Results
Step 2: Realign Training Resources to Support On-the-Job Learning and Performance
Step 3: Make Formal Learning Efficient and Tactical
Level 2: Add Confidence and Commitment
Level 1: Focus on Engagement and Relevance
The New “Business Results First” Approach
Your Flag in the Ground
About Kirkpatrick Partners
Chapter 28: Design the Complete Experience
The Complete Experience
Four Phases of Learning
Checklist for the Complete Experience
Summary
About Fort Hill Company
Chapter 29: Engaging All Learners in an Age of Information Overload
Delivering Learning to Overloaded Brains
Learning Designed with the Learner in Mind
Step 1: Understand Your Learners
Step 2: Think About Your Learning Design
Step 3: Put It All Together in the Context of the Reality of Your Learning Environment
A World of Choices
Practice It!
About Herrmann International
Chapter 30: Behavior Changes That Stick
Assessing the Learning Environment
Picking the Right Owners
Choosing Sustainment Activities to Fit the Learning Environment and the Ownership Approach
Going the Distance: Communication Planning and Systems Integration
Seeking Expert Help
The Execution Edge
About Forum
Chapter 31: Reinforcement
Reinforcement
The Manager’s Role
About MOHR Access
Chapter 32: Take Courage
Lesson 1: Focus on the Business
Lesson 2: Build a Bridge Between Line and Training Functions
Lesson 3: Look for Progress, Not Proof
Lesson 4: The Client Is Probably Already Doing Measurement
Lesson 5: Track and Connect, Cause and Effect
About Beyond ROI, Inc.
Section VII: Timely Training Techniques
Chapter 33: The Seven Separators of Great Facilitation
Separator 1: Level 3 Energy
Separator 2: Starting Questions
Separator 3: The Opening—Inform, Excite, Empower, Involve
Separator 4: The Why
Separator 5: Directions—PeDeQs
Separator 6: Engagement
Separator 7: Dysfunction
About Leadership Strategies
Chapter 34: How to Teach Wisdom
Wisdom in the Workplace
Examples of Wisdom and Tacit Knowledge
Transferring Unique Marketing Skills
How the Wisdom Questions Work
Example of the Difference This Made
About The Steve Trautman Company
Chapter 35: Maximum Value from Simulations
1. Choose the Best Simulation for Your Needs
2. Structure the Learning Experience
3. Create Learner Accountability and Reinforcement
About Insight Experience
Chapter 36: Virtual Classroom . . . Real Results!
Best Practices to Successfully Implement Virtual Classrooms
Go Forth, Virtually
About DDI
Chapter 37: Training Triage
Cracking the Code of High Performance
Finding a Path to High Performance
Triage for Training
Training Triage Applied
What’s Next?
About VisionPoint®
Section VIII: Focus on Individual Development
Chapter 38: Redirect the Development Dialogue
An Old Story
Education Required
Turning Complaints Abound
Planning for Stimulating Career Conversations
Here’s to YOU!
About Career Systems International
Chapter 39: Building Your Business Acumen®
Securing Your Seat at the Table
Seven Steps for Building Business Acumen
Get Started Today
About Acumen Learning
Chapter 40: Resilience—Build This Essential Personal Capability
Why Change Is Challenging
Personal Resilience
Developing Resilience
About Resilience Alliance
Chapter 41: The Promise of Peer Group Coaching to Develop High-Potential Leaders
What High-Potential Leaders Have in Common
A Scalable Approach to Preparing High Potentials
The Basics of a Peer Group Coaching Approach
Eight Guidelines About What Makes a Successful Peer Group Coaching Program
The Benefits of Peer Group Coaching
About The Eblin Group, Inc.
Chapter 42: Maximize the Results and Multiply the Impact from 360-Degree Assessments
What Is 360-Degree Assessment?
What 360-Degree Assessment Is Not
Why Conduct a 360 Assessment?
Who Will Participate?
When Will You Conduct the 360 Assessment?
Which 360 Will You Administer?
The Kick-Off
Logistics
The Role of the Superior Managers
Feedback
Coaching for Development
Organizational Impact
About The Glacel Group
Chapter 43: How to Present 360-Degree Feedback Effectively
Understanding Why People Reject Feedback
Scheduling the Feedback Session
Choosing the Location of the Feedback Session
Methods for Delivering the Feedback
Choosing the Right Approach for Your Organization
Making Sure Your Chosen Feedback Delivery Method Is Effective
The Group Work Session
Choosing Facilitators and Coaches
Conclusion
About West End Consulting
Bonus Activity VIII.1: Composing Your Personal Credo
About the Authors
Section IX: Caring Customer Service and Sales
Chapter 44: Twelve Building Blocks of an Uplifting Service Culture
1. Common Service Language
2. Engaging Service Vision
3. Service Recruitment
4. Service Orientation
5. Service Communications
6. Service Recognition and Rewards
7. Voice of the Customer
8. Service Measures and Metrics
9. Service Improvement Process
10. Service Recovery and Guarantees
11. Service Benchmarking
12. Service Role Modeling
A Final Note: Where and How to Begin
About UP! Your Service
Chapter 45: Who Killed Service?
Who Are Customers?
What Is LIST®?
Why Do We Use LIST®?
When Can You Use LIST®?
When Not to Use LIST®
Measuring the Success of LIST®
Why LIST® Works
About Sigma Performance Solutions, Inc.
Chapter 46: Taming the Sales Manager Ego
Red Flags
Tips to Improve Sales Leaders’ Skills
Ready for an Ego Check?
About Amplify
Recommended Additional Reading
Website e-Tools
About the Editor
Index
About This Book
Why is this topic important?
An organization’s success depends on the skills and knowledge of its employees. Developing Talent for Organizational Results brings together the work of many of the most renowned learning providers in the world—all of them members of ISA: the Association of Learning Providers—to develop the skills and knowledge of your employees. The book provides activities and surveys, insight, and ideas to develop the talent required to ensure your organization’s success.
What can you achieve with this book?
This book offers you a broad selection of topics that are critical to your organization’s progress and future. The members of ISA wanted to publish something that you can implement immediately, so the book offers a wonderful array of tools that you can use with confidence that they will achieve the results they promise. Each chapter is a stand-alone slice of content focused on one topic. In addition, most chapters are accompanied by workshop activities; assessments, surveys, or questionnaires; processes, models, and tools; or training, consulting, or coaching techniques. These tools can be downloaded from the website, saving you time and energy during your implementation step.
How is this book organized?
The book is divided into nine sections, forty-seven chapters, and six bonus activities. The sections address topics that are critical to attaining organizational results by developing talent: communication, management, executive skills, developing leaders, corporate culture, training process, training techniques, individual development, and customer service. Each chapter focuses on one topic within the section, and all will enrich your training design. In addition, you will find a reading list near the back of the book that the authors provided to accompany many of the chapters should you wish to delve deeper into the topic. The back of the book also contains a list and brief description of each of the electronic tools found on the website.
About Pfeiffer
Pfeiffer serves the professional development and hands-on resource needs of training and human resource practitioners and gives them products to do their jobs better. We deliver proven ideas and solutions from experts in HR development and HR management, and we offer effective and customizable tools to improve workplace performance. From novice to seasoned professional, Pfeiffer is the source you can trust to make yourself and your organization more successful.
Essential Knowledge Pfeiffer produces insightful, practical, and comprehensive materials on topics that matter the most to training and HR professionals. Our Essential Knowledge resources translate the expertise of seasoned professionals into practical, how-to guidance on critical workplace issues and problems. These resources are supported by case studies, worksheets, and job aids and are frequently supplemented with CD-ROMs, websites, and other means of making the content easier to read, understand, and use.
Essential Tools Pfeiffer’s Essential Tools resources save time and expense by offering proven, ready-to-use materials—including exercises, activities, games, instruments, and assessments—for use during a training or-team-learning event. These resources are frequently offered in looseleaf or CD-ROM format to facilitate copying and customization of the material.
Pfeiffer also recognizes the remarkable power of new technologies in expanding the reach and effectiveness of training. While e-hype has often created whizbang solutions in search of a problem, we are dedicated to bringing convenience and enhancements to proven training solutions. All our e-tools comply with rigorous functionality standards. The most appropriate technology wrapped around essential content yields the perfect solution for today’s on-the-go trainers and human resource professionals.
Essential resources for training and HR professionals
Copyright © 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Developing talent for organizational results : training tools from the best in the field / Elaine Biech, editor.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-118-12375-1 (pbk.)
1. Employees—Training of. 2. Organizational change. 3. Personnel management. I. Biech, Elaine.
HF5549.5.T7442 2012
658.3’124—dc23
2011048576
Acquiring Editor: Marisa Kelley
Director of Development: Kathleen Dolan Davies
Production Editor: Dawn Kilgore
Editor: Rebecca Taff
Manufacturing Supervisor: Becky Morgan
For Shane and Thad, my first developing talent experience
Foreword
It was scheduled for Atlanta and everyone would be there: prospects, customers, and competitors alike. It was 1977. Every year the ASTD national conference was the event that drew them together. “Why not have Forum Corporation host a cocktail party during this convention?” thought Richard Whiteley. “But a different kind of gettogether . . . one that excludes customers and suppliers. One that is for competitors only.”
That was the genesis of ISA (Instructional Systems Association). Invitations were sent to the CEOs and presidents of a number of prominent training companies of the day inviting them to a first-ever exclusive gathering of competitors. Wilson Learning, Psychological Associates, Xerox Learning Systems, Forum, and others were invited. In all there were about fifteen attendees.
“The atmosphere was electric and the sharing was candid and wide-spread. The desire to continue such dialogue was sown and ISA’s norm of open sharing was cast.”
Richard Whiteley
Between 1977 and 1978, three organizational meetings followed. Larry Wilson of Wilson Learning hosted the first in Eden Prairie, Minnesota; Chuck Cole the second at Tratec in Los Angeles; and John Humphrey the third in New York City. During these meetings, the association was named, its purpose was articulated, and the by-laws were drafted. Participants in these early start-up meetings included Mathew Juechter, Larry Wilson, Don Schrello, Chuck Cole, Tom Blodgett, Todd White, Bill Byham, Richard Whiteley, and John Humphrey.
By the end of 1978, the association received its formal IRS sanction as a 501(c)6 trade association. As a result, ISA’s first annual meeting was held in February 1979 at the Hilton Riviera in Palm Springs, California, where John Humphrey was elected ISA’s first president and Nancy Lague became the first administrator of ISA.
The first ISA membership roster consisted of nineteen firms—these were the forerunners in the practice of sharing competitive industry insights.
Blessing & WhiteDeltakDDIForumKepner-TregoeLouis A. AllenMcGraw-Hill (Edutronics)National Training SystemsOrganizational Dynamics, Inc.Practical Management AssociatesPsychological AssociatesResearch MediaSchrello AssociatesSystema CorporationThomas BLODGETT AssociatesTratecTraining HouseWilson Learning CorporationXerox Learning SystemsThis purposeful network of dedicated training industry architects changed the lives of the individuals leading these companies as well as those of their clients. Without realizing the long-term impact, these pioneers established a collaborative venue to test their thinking as they pursued the design, development, and delivery of solutions for their clients. Little did they know that their efforts and their support of each other would change the lives of corporate executives and enhance and accelerate the success of worldwide corporate enterprises.
In the early days of ISA, the issues focused on packaged, off-the-shelf products. The emphasis was on training for individual performance. Products were based on nearly 100 percent classroom instruction and were almost exclusively paper-based. ISA members had published a smattering of books, and content expertise was overwhelmingly focused in the soft skills interpersonal arena. ISA was on the budding edge of an emerging industry that didn’t have much boardroom clout. Neither we nor Wall Street knew much about each other.
By 1998, ISA member firms offered not only quality training products but extensive research and consulting capabilities for improving workplace learning and performance. The emphasis was on organizational performance and teams of individuals rather than “the” individual. Some form of non-classroom study was incorporated into the delivery of product and services and content emerged in every format—paper, CD-ROM, satellite, internets, intranets. By this time more than three hundred books authored by ISA members were on best-selling lists, and thousands of articles were in circulation. Many ISA members were considered “gurus” in the industry. While soft skills continued to be a significant offering, technical knowledge and skills was becoming a more prominent topic. ISA members recognized the significant investment their clients were making in their most precious asset—their people. They found themselves in frequent consulting discussions in the boardrooms of their clients.
“I am often asked what the acronym ISA represents. The easy answer is instructional systems association, but the significance is rooted in ISA’s foresight. Back in the founding days of the association, the founding members intuitively knew that inter-connectedness and inter-dependence were crucial in organizational learning—it would always require a system or systemic thinking and solutions to realize results.”
Pam Schmidt, ISA Executive Director
In 2005, ISA “renamed” the association in an effort to reflect the expansive nature of the solutions ISA members provide worldwide. When the membership was asked about retiring the ISA acronym, there was a strong majority, including many newer members beyond the founders, who wanted the ISA acronym to remain. Today ISA is known as ISA—The Association of Learning Providers.
In the late 1990s, thanks to the leadership of Jerry Noack, ISA member, Training magazine interviewed several ISA CEOs to discuss lessons learned over more than fifteen years. So much of what was shared is taken for granted today. These lessons are worth repeating and their underpinnings are embedded in the chapters of this book.
“When we ask customers what’s important, reliability is first and honesty—imagine that, honesty—is second.”
Richard Whiteley
“Reengineering is being bastardized across this country to manipulate and dislocate people.”
Steve Wall
“Boards are not holding CEOs accountable for dealing with some of those large change issues.”
Mathew Juechter
“Training has to connect not as a program but in increasing communication within the entire culture.”
Herb Cohen
“Once the company re-forms, training builds trust, it builds futures, it builds common dreams.”
Kevin Daley
Today, ISA member firms serve more than 100,000 client companies around the world. Every learning medium is utilized and every venue is committed to organizational results. The fundamental belief is that improved individual performance at every level of the enterprise will exponentially improve and enhance the performance of the organization. Agility, creativity, and innovation are critical skills in today’s organizations. Learning virtually and on mobile platforms is a necessity, not a convenience.
Despite the magnitude of global unrest and economic upheaval during the past decade, ISA continues to stand strong. The association enjoys an impressive retention rate greater than 90 percent and a promising trend in new member enrollments is gaining momentum. ISA membership is available to any firm whose business is dedicated to the transfer of learning and knowledge for work-related performance. The association is dedicated to helping training and performance firms build, enhance, and share their success with one objective in mind—the client. If you are interested in becoming a member of ISA, feel free to call me. I would welcome the conversation.
As for the industry, ASTD reports that business leaders continue to dedicate substantial resources to employee learning and development, estimating U.S. organizations spent $125 billion in 2009. In ASTD’s 2010 State of the Industry Report, it was reported that 26.9 percent of overall spending was spent on outsourcing (utilization of external providers). For the first time since 2004, there was an increase in utilization of external providers. And there is every indication that this will continue.
I am humbled by what ISA member firms have accomplished over the last thirty years. If you read the short company summaries after each chapter, you will be amazed at what they have done and stand ready to do for the future.
Pamela J. Schmidt
ISA Executive Director
3735 Franklin Road SW, #281
Roanoke, VA 24014
(540) 890-3197
www.isaconnection.org
Introduction
Any time a group of talented, professional leaders join forces to pool the best that they have to offer, the result is astonishing. Developing Talent for Organizational Results is a perfect example. The book brings together the work of many of the most renowned learning providers in the world—all of them members of ISA: the Association of Learning Providers. Forty-six inspiring chapters and six bonus activities present the wisdom of these leaders in the field of training and development. You know their corporate names: The Ken Blanchard Companies, DDI, Forum, Herrmann International, Career Systems International, Zenger Folkman, and others. All have generously shared insights in their primary areas of expertise. This book is filled with a million dollars’ worth of consulting advice to help your organization achieve desired results.
Why This Title?
The best companies win with highly talented, highly committed employees—hiring the talent when they can and developing it when they must. As the world turns faster, each organization recognizes the need to adapt to the future or face failure. Organizations are made up of people who lead, manage, create, produce, teach, learn, communicate, and engage. Developing an organization’s talent is a basic requirement to achieve positive organizational results.
According to the American Society for Training and Development’s (ASTD) 2010 State of the Industry Report, U.S. companies spend $126 billion annually on employee learning and development programs. This book brings together methodologies, practices, processes, and other key information that will help you make wise decisions about your organization’s investment in developing its talent. For example, do you need ideas for improving communication? See Section I. Do your leaders need to be developed? Section IV will have answers. You will find answers to many of your most sought-after employee development concerns to improve leadership, management, and communication skills; to address training, learning, and engagement issues; and to shape the culture and care for your customers.
How Do You Find Answers?
With this book, you hold in your hands ideas from 52 of the top consulting and training firms in the United States. Each has provided you with complete information to address an issue that may be plaguing your organization, to launch an idea you may have considered, or to implement a process.
Several of the activities could fit into more than one category; for example, Chapter 12, “Leading with Integrity,” appears in Section III, Executive Essentials. It could just as easily have appeared in Section V, Shaping a Vital Culture. I advise you to use the table of contents and the index liberally to ensure you identify all of the chapters that may be related to your need. A general description of each of the sections may give you a head start.
Section I, Communicating to Succeed, delivers content about good communication skills such as using stories to communicate, being more candid, assessing your interpersonal skills, and communicating in a world economy. Two bonus activities address better use of email as a communication tool and provide a tool to use to build or repair a relationship.Section II, Moving into Management, addresses skills new managers need to develop such as project management, building engagement through decision-making, increasing influence, speaking to senior executives, developing business acumen, and overcoming emotions as a leader. The bonus activity is one I’ve used often. It is a favorite of mine. It is invaluable for addressing conflict between two groups.Section III, Executive Essentials, focuses on the high standards we have for our leaders who reside in the C-suite, presenting topics such as finding time to communicate, leading with integrity, communicating with stories from the top, building accountability, and improving employee engagement.Section IV, Developing Leaders, delivers on three different concerns when you design your leadership development programs. It also features a creative bonus activity you will want to build into your final leadership development training design.Section V, Shaping a Vital Culture, addresses the elusive topic of culture change. The research behind these topics is impressive. So what changes are required in your culture? Building a high-passion/high-performance work environment? Increasing engagement or respect and safety? Building the capacity to change? The bonus activity will assist you in any of these situations by helping you explore your organization’s culture.Section VI, Invigorating Your Training Process for Results, incorporates ideas that will help you kick your training up a notch. Topics include evaluation tactics, measuring return on investment, designing from start to finish, and ideas for ensuring that learning occurs and behaviors change.Section VII, Timely Training Techniques, introduces ideas for refining training in your organization such as expanding facilitation skills, maximizing simulations, getting results from e-learning, and developing ways to teach wisdom. If you don’t know what you need, a training triage process is also presented.Section VIII, Focus on Individual Development, is important because it all comes down to people. People make up your organization and developing talent is about the people in your organization. The chapters in this section address a variety of topics such as a process to communicate about individuals’ development and the importance and development of business acumen and resiliency. Individuals need feedback, and three chapters are dedicated to obtaining feedback from peers and 360-degree assessments. The bonus activity brings it all together with a way for individuals to figure out what is important to them.Section IX, Caring Customer Service and Sales, reminds us that an organization is in business to serve customers. Each of the ISA organizations addresses the topic in its own unique way. All three provide you with creative ideas to consider.Need More Assistance?
As we developed this book, we wanted to ensure that it is as useful as it is impressive. We wanted to ensure that the content is something that you could easily implement in your day-to-day work. And we wanted to ensure that you had a way to find all the support you required to apply the content to what you do. To address this, we have provided a resource list, downloadable tools, and contact information for each of the ISA member contributing companies.
Reading List. After reading the chapters, you may want additional resources to delve deeper into the chapter topics. Most of the chapters are accompanied by a reading list in the back of the book to make it easy for you to find additional resources.
Ready to Deliver Tools. Each chapter is also accompanied by a tool—a survey, process, questionnaire, assessment, tips, quick references, and the like—that is briefly described in the back of the book. You can download these tools directly from the website at www.pfeiffer.com/go/isa [user name: training; password: biech] for your immediate use. Here’s the best part—as long as you maintain the copyright information and the “used with permission” designation on the tools, you may use all of them for your daily work. This is a generous gift from the ISA companies.
Contact the ISA Member Companies Directly. Do you need more specifics? Want to take the concept to the next level? Want to bring the company on-site? All contact information is located at the end of each chapter. These companies are interested in your success. Call them and schedule a meeting or a conversation. The ISA member companies either have the answers you need, or know how to help you find them.
ISA’s Developing Talent for Organizational Effectiveness is the culmination of the efforts of many of the most influential and respected leaders in the learning and development field whose work continues to shape the industry.
And It Would Not Have Been Possible Without . . .
Pam Schmidt, ISA’s competent executive director, who created the vision and ensured that we stayed true to it throughout. Thank you.The expert authors, who skillfully synthesized some of the best learning techniques into single chapters and an exciting ISA project, a tool that will be used globally. Thank you.ISA board and member companies who envisioned a practical go-to resource to boost organizational success. Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of this worthwhile project.Lisa Shannon and Marisa Kelly, editors, who recognized the uniqueness of this book and broke a few rules to ensure we offered the readers the best of the best. Thank you both.Susan Rachmeler, Kathleen Dolan Davies, and Rebecca Taff editors, who are wise, wonderful, and oh so competent. What a delight to work with all of you.Dawn Kilgore, production editor, for a winning design. Great job!Lorraine Kohart, ebb associates’ right hand, who juggled authors, submissions, permissions, and timelines. Thank you.Dan Greene, who turned my frets and rants into productive processes. Thanks . . . again.Elaine Biech
ebb associates inc
Norfolk, VA
January 2012
SECTION I
COMMUNICATING TO SUCCEED
Introduction
You spend most of your working time communicating. We all need to write and speak no matter what our jobs happen to be, whether we are directing, collaborating, supervising, instructing, inspiring, persuading, leading, or selling. And you had better be darned good at it if you expect results—both personal and business. Your career advancement depends on your ability to communicate well. Your success in achieving organizational and department goals depends on your communication abilities as well.
The changing environment and increasing complexity of the 21st century workplace make communication even more important, and it is not getting easier. Technology has in fact made communication faster, more complex, and expanded the volume. There are more communication methods, and each generation has its own preference—and all are correct. In addition, the increased global presence of organizations and the expectation of 24/7 communication makes clear, complete, and concise communication more crucial than ever.
Good communication matters because business organizations are made up of people. In business, communication is everything. Although often termed a “soft” skill, communication in a business organization provides the critical link between functions, creates avenues to our customers, and ensures the goals of the organization are achieved.
Consider the alternative—poor communication, or even worse, not communicating at all. Oh, you have had that experience? Communication still reigns as the number one issue in almost every employee satisfaction survey.
Good communication is good business. We need to continue to work toward improving communication personally, interpersonally, and corporately. Communication is a broad topic that covers many aspects. It is fitting that the four chapters in this section are spread almost as far as the topic of communication itself.
In Chapter 1, “Communicate with Stories” by The Ariel Group, you will receive tips for selecting your own stories to tell to make a point. Telling stories is an effective method of communicating, and most of us do not practice this skill often enough.Chapter 2, “Reclaiming Your Peer Power” by NetSpeed Learning Solutions, will challenge you to be a better communicator by examining your interpersonal strengths, weaknesses, and beliefs. You might be surprised at how a slight attitude adjustment might increase your communication abilities.Chapter 3, “The Candor Advantage” by Ridge Training, delivers a strong argument for why we need to be more candid in conversations. The chapter also identifies techniques for fostering candor in your organization.Chapter 4, “Opening Your Business to the World” by ECCO International, will open your eyes to ways to improve global communication. Naming a product is communication at its simplest level. Yet products have failed in other countries simply because a name has a different meaning in translation: the Olympic copier Roto in Chile (roto in Spanish means “broken”); the Chevy Nova in Puerto Rico (no va means “doesn’t go”); or the successful European chocolate product introduced to the U.S. with the unfortunate name “Zit.”Accompanying the four chapters are two dynamite activities.
Bonus activity 1 is “Turning e-Mail Drains into Productivity Gains,” submitted by Better Communications. No one can argue that a good email requires a good communicator, and this activity shows that a few tips can make a huge difference.Bonus activity 2 is “Build or Repair,” submitted by Global Novations. This activity is sure to have your team back on track with improved communication and a renewed attitude about working together.Chapter 1
Communicate with Stories
THE ARIEL GROUP
In This Chapter
How to identify effective stories.How to communicate using stories.How to integrate a story into a conversation or presentation.Tips for telling a good story.Storytelling is a powerful communication tool.
An engineer I know makes a compelling case for telling stories in business. Now, of course, we don’t often connect engineers, those whose livelihood depends on facts, empirical data, mathematical formulae, and structural accuracy, with the softer, creative, and somewhat vague notion of storytelling. But this particular engineer was the grandson of Choctaw Indians from Northwestern Oklahoma. As a young boy he’d listened to the history, tradition, and knowledge of his tribe passed down to the younger generations by the elders through stories told around the coffee shop on a Saturday evening. He remembered these stories because they made an emotional connection as well as an intellectual one. He retained the information in his brain because of a connection that was made with his heart. Of course, still being an engineer, he had reduced this concept to a formula that looks like this:
DATA + STORY = KNOWLEDGE
As Peter Guber, the well-known producer, once said, “Although the mind may be part of your target, the heart is the bull’s-eye.” Data, while the lifeblood of an engineer, does not amount to knowledge unless combined with the story of its application. The engineer knew that his calculations had to be exact if the bridge he was building was to bear the appropriate load without collapsing, and he appreciated the elegance of the technical designs he created. But he also knew that the stories about who would be crossing the bridge—the families that may be united, the businesses that would thrive, the relationships that could develop, the cultures that could collaborate, the goods and services that would be delivered, and the city that could grow—were what would ultimately get that bridge built.
As with the engineer, stories are an effective way for a leader to communicate information to an audience while also building a relationship with them. When you tell stories, especially personal stories, it helps people relate to your message and allows you to show your strengths, challenges, and vulnerability. Stories can be used to communicate your values, help to develop trust, inspire your employees, and move your audience to take action. Presidents from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama, both brilliant storytellers, brought their legislative initiatives to light by telling the stories of real individuals during important speeches.
Here are some of the most effective ways to use stories to communicate.
Share Yourself: Share moments that made you who you are or that clarified your values so that others understand your leadership perspective.Share Your Organization: Share values of your organization. What makes up the DNA of your organization?Teach a Lesson: How you learned something through failure or success, how you mastered an organizational capability, how you overcame resistance to change.Provoke Change: Create dissatisfaction with present, share dangerous mistakes in business, establish the case for change, create a vision for future state.Change Perspective: Allow your audience to see a problem through a different lens, change the emotional climate.Build a Relationship: Sharing personal or personal business stories with direct reports or clients can highlight the common ground between you.With all of this evidence supporting the effectiveness of storytelling, why do we use them so infrequently to communicate? Why do so many of us leap into our PowerPoint presentations replete with data, research, facts, and figures and then watch the faces glaze over as this presentation blends with three others the audience sat through that day?
Many people have told us, “I’m just not good at telling stories” or “I just don’t have any good stories to tell.” Nonsense. Every human life is full of interesting stuff. As many of you read this, several interesting things have already happened on the drive to work, in a conversation with your partner, as you walked to the office. From the knock, knock joke your five-year-old told you over breakfast to the inspiring and life-changing efforts of your team to develop an entirely new and exciting product, stories from your everyday life can contain universal themes relevant to your organization’s or clients’ key issues. Why not leverage the archetypal nature of stories by creating a catalog of some of the significant moments in your personal and business life as a resource to draw on when planning any meeting, conversation, or presentation?
What follows is a process we use to coach our clients on how to identify, refine, and tell a good story in the context of business. We hope that by following these steps you’ll discover stories from your life that you can use to further your business or organizational goals. At a minimum we hope that just taking the time to reflect on life will prove to be an enlightening exercise and prove that you’ve got some darned interesting stories to tell.
I’ll start by sharing a story I’ve told in a business setting a number of times. Then we’ll tackle the issue of how to identify and remember stories that can be valuable in a business context. Once you’ve started to collect your stories, we will share some ideas about how to categorize them into types of stories that make specific points. A minister we know, for instance, has a filing cabinet with a range of topics for future sermons. He will often drop a scrap of paper with a simple topic like “Leaving your turn signal on” into a folder for future sermons, which are always illustrated with wonderful stories.
Of course, just remembering stories and cataloging them isn’t enough. Learning how to integrate a story into a business context can be tricky. Luckily, we have a simple framework that will help get you started. Finally, we come to the telling—the performance of your story that brings it to life for the listener. Drawing on our experience from theater, we encourage you to rehearse your story (and any presentation or critical conversation) so that you can add the appropriate emphasis, emotion, timing, and body language to have maximum impact. We don’t expect you to become Shakespearian actors overnight, but you’ll be surprised by the increased impact you will have by employing some theatrical tips.
Let’s Start with a Story
Running a small company (that teaches leadership) and attending various conferences and meetings, I’m called upon to speak to groups large and small. Here is a story I told at a trade association meeting. It is drawn from personal experience many of us can relate to—when stress from work and family clash and how that can undermine our most precious relationships:
It has been a stressful eighteen months. The recession has hit business hard and I’m about to send a second child off to college. I’m working long days and I’m managing tight budgets at the office and at home.
One dark evening in mid-January, I’m standing in my kitchen transferring three days of dishes from the sink into the dishwasher. The children have used every cup and bowl we own, including a decorative Bavarian beer stein that is now encrusted with fossilized cereal! I’m muttering bad language under my breath.
“Hey pops, whassup? How was your day?”
Clare, my seventeen-year-old daughter enters. I tense, expecting this to be an expensive conversation.
“Sooooo, I wanted to ask you something. Julie’s family is going to Vegas and then Miami for winter break and they’ve invited ME! Can I go?”
I explode.
“We’ve had this conversation! We have a lot of expenses right now and you still owe me money from last summer. You are supposed to be saving for college. I can’t believe you’re even asking!”
She explodes back.
“I can’t believe you are yelling at me! You’re not even listening to me. Julie’s dad has free tickets. I just picked up more hours at the restaurant. Ugh! You never listen. And you’re never around and you’re always preoccupied and we never have any time alone together. You’re just mean and grumpy all the time!”
She pauses, picks up a piece of paper, and throws it at me.
“Oh and by the way, here’s my report card. I made honor roll. Again!”
She runs to her room in tears.
What did my daughter teach me here? Well, I learned that under stress I have much less patience, I don’t listen, and I jump to conclusions. And that this behavior can cause a breach in a precious relationship.
The lesson for me is to be sure to take my own emotional temperature at home and at work, particularly in times of stress or extreme busyness. I also learned that it is important to stop, be fully present, and truly listen to what others are telling you before answering. This is hard to do when stressed out and in a hurry, but not doing these things can cause great damage to relationships and, ultimately, to productivity.
Remembering and Using Stories
You, too, already have dozens of stories like the one above at your fingertips—actually remembering them when you need them is the hard part. Begin collecting stories from your life that might serve as powerful illustrations of your ideas. Next, write down impactful stories from other sources such as your friends, the news, or the movies. You don’t need a full-blown filing system like our minister friend—a simple manila folder titled “story ideas” would be a useful place to collect ideas that strike you during the day. Even better, keep a journal specifically for stories and enter any interesting daily occurrences. A comedian we know who teaches stand-up keeps a small notebook in his pocket at all times and records anything that he thinks might be the foundation of a good joke. Eighty percent are tossed, but the 20 percent he keeps are gems. If paper isn’t your thing, engage technology: one of our execs actually calls himself and leaves himself a voice mail with story ideas. Another—slightly more technically sophisticated—uses the note app on his iPhone to record ideas.
If you don’t do it often, remembering and using stories can seem like an insurmountable task. We experience so much in the course of a day that is it hard to identify individual moments and turn them into stories. It can help to think in terms of categories or “types” of stories as a way to identify and store stories for future use. Below is a tool that can help you start. Start by thinking about small moments rather than complete stories and record them in the following categories. Don’t try to be perfect right away. Simply start writing, like our comedian friend, and understand that for every ten moments you come up with, at least two or three will be perfect. So quiet the inner critic and take a few moments to jot down some thoughts below:
STORIES I COULD TELL AS A LEADER IN A BUSINESS SETTING
The following story planning tool can be downloaded at this chapter’s online tools.
Personal Stories
Think of:
Moments that made you who you are or that clarified your valuesMoments when you discovered your voice or leadership potential“When I was seventeen . . .”I could tell a personal story about . . .
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
This would be a great story to tell at the following event/for the following purpose:
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Personal Business Stories
Think of:
Heroic moments—difficult but worthwhile struggles or extraordinary feats in businessTimes when you or a company overcame an obstacle such as resistance to changeMoments of truth“When I was working at . . .”I could tell a personal business story about . . .
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
This would be a great story to tell at the following event/for the following purpose:
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
General Business Stories
Think of:
Dangerous mistakes in businessStories of how your company has handled these things in the pastStories of how the future could look: bright or dark“The day Jack Welch started at GE . . .I could tell a general business story about . . .
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
This would be a great story to tell at the following event/for the following purpose:
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Universal Myths or Fables
Think of:
The Trojan Horse from Homer’s “Odyssey” as a metaphorThe “Three Little Pigs” fairy tale as an analogyI could tell a universal myth or fable story about . . .
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
This would be a great story to tell at the following event/for the following purpose:
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
I Couldn’t Possibly Tell That Story at Work!
HOW TO INTEGRATE A STORY INTO A CONVERSATION OR PRESENTATION
Now that you have a variety of stories at your fingertips, it’s time to try incorporating one into a conversation or presentation. Here is a basic format to get you started:
1. Introduce the Subject Matter or Business Content
Conversation example: “I think you’ve been doing a great job heading this initiative despite the hiccups you’ve encountered along the way and I want to make sure you don’t beat yourself up over this too much. . . .”Presentation example: “Today I would like to speak to you about a new marketing strategy for our product. . . .”2. Transition into the Story
Conversation example: “In fact, back when I was a team leader, I had a similar experience . . .”Presentation example: “Let me share with you a story to illustrate a vision of how we can work together . . .”3. Tell the Story
Set the stageDescribe the conflictDescribe the resolution“It’s 1982. I’m out on the soccer field with my son when he turns to me and says. . . .”4. Connect the Story to a Teaching Point or Subject Matter
Personal Learning: “What my son said to me reminded me so powerfully that there is always a fresh, new way to look at any challenging situation.”Message for the Group: “Ladies and gentlemen, are we willing to shift our marketing strategy in a whole new direction, to take a risk in the way that my son did? I certainly am.”A Good Story Well Told: Tips from the World of Theater
“Once more into the breach dear friends!” Not every story should be delivered like the fiery, troop-rallying Saint Crispin’s Day speech from Shakespeare’s Henry V. Actors need to modulate their tone, expressiveness, body language, volume, and facial expression to suit the role and circumstance of their performance. Whether speaking one-on-one with a peer or simply trying to get focus from your team on a new project, picking the right story and then telling it in an appropriate manner for the situation is important to consider.
With practice, stories will come to you in the moment as you need them. You will even be able to use the same stories in multiple situations by changing the delivery and shortening or lengthening them on the fly. Until then, you will need to take time to walk through your story in advance, particularly if you are using it for a large presentation—after all, actors like to say it takes six weeks of rehearsal to sound spontaneous!
Below are some tips to prepare and rehearse your story before you use it:
BE SUCCINCT
Boil it down. It’s possible to tell a powerful, complete story in under a minute. Practice alone and time your story. Consider recording and listening to yourself. Cut out anything that doesn’t serve the main point of the story. You may end up with several good short stories from one long one!
Use “bullet phrases” instead of lengthy sentences. For example, the word “CRASH!” can be more powerful (when spoken expressively) than saying “Suddenly, the car I was driving collided with another vehicle.” Take note: this method is particularly effective in a group presentation but could be jarring in a one-on-one situation.
Delineate a clear beginning, middle, and end—each can be as short as a sentence or two. Set up the context, describe the event and tie it up with a conclusion or learning point.
EMPHASIZE THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT
Slow down to accentuate and experience for yourself moments of real feeling: anger, fear, joy, a realization, etc. If you feel something, the audience will.
Many good stories have drama or conflict. For example, instead of saying “Company X’s costs were higher than their profit,” underscore the drama by saying “Company X was on the verge of collapse and hundreds of people’s jobs were at stake.”
Highlight the “emotional arc” of the story. How does the main character change? Is he or she different at the end of the story? What did he or she learn? If you are the main character, what was the emotional arc you went through? Some of the best stories involve a setback or failure and the personal learning we gain from going through something challenging.
CHANNEL YOUR FAVORITE ACTOR OR ACTRESS
Be careful not to overdo it and only do what is comfortable, but adding some theater and drama to your stories will allow them to hit home effectively.
Think about how actors use tone of voice and body language to bring a story to life. Be expressive.
If your story involves different characters, play those roles when appropriate, rather than just talking about them. Let your body and voice change in small ways to suggest how they looked and sounded. You could even speak as the characters; even a brief dialogue and you’ll help capture your audience’s imagination.
MAKE IT HAPPEN NOW
Bring your audience right into the action by employing what actors call the vertical take-off. Instead of leading up to the real story with a lot of runway time, for example, “Before I describe what happened that day, let me give you a little background. . . .” Begin in the middle of the action, e.g. “From the tense look on Rob’s face, I can see the meeting is a disaster. . . .”
Re-experience your story as you tell it. Imagine that it’s happening right now. Let it affect you emotionally. Speaking in the present tense, whenever possible, can bring the audience into the action, for example, “It’s the day of the big announcement. I’m nervous as heck.” You can also begin in the past tense and shift to present tense for the climax of the story.
Don’t give away the ending. As much as possible, tell the story from a “point of innocence” as if you don’t know how it will end. This will keep your listeners waiting for the outcome, and the impact will be more profound, particularly if the ending is a surprise.
EXCITE THEIR SENSES
Sensory details help people visualize the story. Try “marble conference table” instead of “conference table” or “ten-pound computer printout” instead of “computer printout.” These examples evoke senses of vision and touch. You can also appeal to your audience’s sense of smell, hearing, and taste.
In fact, a good way to remember a story is to think back on some of the sensory details of the event. How old were you? What were you wearing? What was the weather like? Who was there? How were you feeling? Be sure to be selective with your use of sensory details. One or two are sufficient at the beginning of a story to set the scene; then use them sparingly but effectively throughout.
Review
Let’s recap here by going back to the story I told about losing my patience with my daughter. First, let me admit that I was reluctant to tell this story. It was quite personal and exposed things about me that I’m not proud of: my impatience and short temper. But I’m glad I did because sharing my vulnerability with that group of people really connected us. Some speakers, up on the platform, delivering pearls of wisdom from their extensive research, can seem distant and superior. As I told this story I saw nods of understanding and smiles as I seemed to hit a universal chord that many of us encounter. As leaders I encourage you to think about personal stories first as you explore the notion of storytelling in a business setting.
Take a look back at my story and notice where I may have used the tips and techniques we discussed here. Was the story personal? Did it have a lesson? Could you imagine using a similar story in a business setting?
Although you can’t tell from reading it, I did my best to re-experience the moment as I told the story. I used short phrases, sensory detail, and, for the most part, present tense. I also kept it short—it was probably no more than ninety seconds. Preparing that story definitely took some rehearsing and practice to get it down to its essentials, but in the end, it was well worth the effort.
Let me end with another story:
It is 1958. John Kavanagh, my father and the eldest son of Annie Malone, a widowed Irish Catholic from Liverpool, England, is walking to Manchester to pawn his accordion. He is the young father of three children who has just lost his day job as a lab technician and he hopes the accordion will bring him rent money and bus fare home. Of course, selling the instrument also means he’ll be stopping his evening job as a stand-up comedian, which he did several nights a week to make some extra cash.
On the bus home he determines that if he can make twelve pounds a week, he’ll be fine. He recalls that the salesmen at his old company wear suits and drive cars and decides to apply for a position in chemical sales. Twenty years later he is the managing director of Phillips Petroleum, Europe, the $700 million European subsidiary of the American oil company.
So how did this uneducated son of immigrants make it so far? Well, he was certainly smart and ambitious, but I would argue that his storytelling skills, honed in the theaters and clubs of the north of England, played a significant part in his success. His ability to match his message and delivery to his audience made him an inspiring boss and a gregarious colleague—one who could just as easily have dinner with the prime minister as have a pint with a dockworker.
What kind of leader and colleague are you? What stories do you have that can engage an employee, connect with a co-worker, or inspire a crowd? These stories are inside you, lying dormant and ready to be discovered and brought to life. The process described here will help you discover and exploit this amazing natural resource to improve your communication.
About The Ariel Group
Using an unorthodox experiential approach, based in the performing arts, The Ariel Group helps individuals discover their authentic leadership talents and make enduring improvements in their ability to connect with clients and employees. Our powerful experiential executive training programs are led by facilitators with a unique combination of experience in theater, business, and education. Since 1992, The Ariel Group has provided transformational learning experiences to 30,000 people in over a dozen countries. We have coached executives and CEOs of the world’s largest companies as well as teachers and non-profits.
Our leadership and communication skills training workshops have been integrated into leadership development programs at major corporations around the world. We also deliver our workshops as part of the executive education curriculum at leading graduate schools of business, including Harvard, Columbia, Darden, and Duke.
Submitted by Sean Kavanagh, CEO
The Ariel Group
1050 Waltham Street, STE 600
Lexington, MA 02142
(781) 761-9000
www.arielgroup.com
