How To Tailor Your Communication Style to Meet the Needs of Others
It was a pleasure to be the guest blogger today on Jeannette Paladino’s Blog: Write, Speak, Sell (Profiting from More Effective Communication) where she asked me to write on:
“Tailor your communication style to meet the needs of others “. Remember, that to learn more on this subject, and to receive your free DISC profile valued at $50, I will be presenting at the ASTD (American Society for Training and Development) breakfast meeting on Friday January 15th at 7:30am at El Parador.
DISC has applications that will assist you in conflict resolution, leadership development, team building, as well as in sales. This tool is one of the most phenomenal tools on the market. One, because it is “dead on” and can feel like you’ve had your hand read. And two, because you can take it for different environments and occasions and it will show you and reflect how different you are say, at home than you may be at work; or how you relate to one problem employee compared to the rest of the employees; how you view and handle money; or even how you are in leadership as opposed to when you’re not. This becomes invaluable to me, as an Executive Coach, when working with individuals or the company as a whole. So, whether you come yourself, or forward this to a colleague or business partner, I guarantee that you’ll find value in this tool!
While You’re on Jeannette’s website, look around, she has not only done a beautifully job on her website, it is also informative and helpful as well. Jeannette was senior vice president for the venerable Bowery Savings Bank where the experience indelibly impressed on her how a culture of communication can work magic with employees and customers! Jeannette and I took the same blogging class that will begin again on January 11th. You may want to learn all the wonderful ways to promote yourself and what you passionately believe in through a blog. Check out the “ Become A Blogging Maniac ” webinar just click on the link in the article: “A Great Way to Promote Your Business and Work is with a Blog.” One of the best things about this class is that if you miss a session, it’s posted so you can go back at your convenience to go through it.
“The Generational Puzzle” Challenges of Four Generations in the Workplace pt. I
Women in Transportation Seminar (Nov. 12th ‘09 at the Manning House in Tucson) Ever find yourself feeling like you’re working with a person from another culture? If they’re of a different generation, then you are. Each generational “cohort” (Traditionalists, Boomers, GenerationX’ers, and the Millennials), were shaped by the prevailing values, events, crises and attitudes during their formative years. Each “cohort” has its own symbols, dress, mannerisms, values, method of communicating, and definition of success. These differences can create tension and conflict in the work environment. It is imperative that leaders and managers understand these differences in order to work skillfully with people of various generations. With understanding and training, the drama will be diffused, the barriers removed, enabling the company to function as a well-oiled unified team.
During this interactive training on the generations, one will begin the learning journey by:
- Identifying the generational differences
- Gaining an appreciation for each generation’s idiosyncrasies
- Identifying one’s own focus, while at the same time learning what motivates and demotivates each generation.
- Improving the hiring, retention, and management of the various generations
- Having fun by enjoying all the cultural diversity in the workplace - lol
It’s a fun, informative day of exploring our differences, laughing at our challenges, and gaining a competency that could be the very best skill to add to your skill set for the next decade. If you’re a leader, new or seasoned, your ability to cast vision, motivate, hire the right person for the right position, fire, and build a productive, cohesive team, will be enhanced incredibly with this knowledge/skill, expediting your goals exponentially! For more information, please refer to the flier, and contact Sue today!
MONDAY MORSALS for Leaders
Leaders are hired for their IQ and experience. They are FIRED for their EI The new standard we must judge ourselves and others by is no longer how 
smart one is, or even how much training and experience one may have. Peak performers have “Emotional Intelligence”, such as initiative, empathy, adaptability, the ability to bounce-back, and persuasiveness, to name a few. The website, Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations says, “Recent studies indicate that emotional intelligence influences behavior in a wide range of domains including school, community, and the workplace. At the individual level, it has been said to relate to academic achievement, work performance, our ability to communicate effectively, solve everyday problems, build meaningful interpersonal relationships, and even our ability to make moral decisions.“ says Emmerling R.J., Shanwal, V. K., & Mandal, M. K. (Eds.) Daniel Goleman , the founder and prolific writer of EI, says that it is a new way of being smart. That you must master these capabilities for your career and personal life to truly be successful. By in large, it is about how you handle yourself, work, leadership, and just plain how you get along with people. Being that this is more than likely the quality that makes one excel, not to mention be employable, it is time to take stock, and make large deposits of EI into ones bankrupt emotions and behavior, no longer relying solely on ones intelligence, good grades, or experience. This is a fabulous topic, and I by no means have done it justice here, but have provided a snap-shop of a program I’ll be offering to come.
On the personal note, here’s a little bit of my story, that goes along with this passion of EI. When my children were small my husband had enough EI himself to ask me, “When the children are older, what do you want to do?” I knew the answer immediately, because I had already been conducting DISC seminars and workshops. “I want to go into companies and corporations, and help people get along using DISC. That way they can spend the majority of their time getting their work done, rather than being bogged down with conflict, fractions, and dysfunction. That was almost 30 years ago, and I continue to have this passion. I am now certified in many competencies, utilizing more than DISC these days, adding Executive Coaching, strategic planning, team building, leadership development and speaking to my venue. In very simplistic terminology, I help people have success in their relationships with people, so that life can go well with them. For a while, I even used the tag line, “I get everyone in a company into the sandbox at the same time, and then MAKE them play together well.” People usually laugh. But what it really comes down to is that I myself am still a work in progress, and that really, I need to do this training predominately for ME.
One of The Best Profiles For a Leader or Manager, “FREE”
Free, that is if you’re in Tucson in January 2010 and attend the ASTD monthly meeting. For over 30 years I’ve been conducting leadership development, team-building, conflict-resolution, and communication-skills to leaders, entrepreneurs, as well as staffs of their companies, and I have yet to find someone who isn’t completely amazed at how accurate this report reveals who you are, and how your respond. Some have told me it was spooky how accurate it was, and felt like they’d had their palms read. Although it doesn’t tell the future, it will surely explain how you’ll respond to things to come. It reveals what motivates and de-motivates you, how you react and respond under pressure, what environment you thrive best in, which behavioral style you work best with, and which ones will be a challenge. In other words, it will assist you in leading and managing with confidence, all those challenging employees and staff that you have. It so transformed me when I was 22, that it has become not only the cornerstone of the work I do with people and companies, but a language my whole family uses on a daily basis to understand and give grace to one another. Ask my now grown children, and they will tell you that they are continually sharing the knowledge and understanding of DISC with those around them, because well, it just plain helps you “GET” people!! This is why I am so excited that Inscape Publishing, who I have been with for over l6 years, is giving me the opportunity to provide a free, yes I said FREE, Management DISC report in January to those who come to the Tucson chapter of ASTD (American Society of Training and Development) meeting in conjunction with my presentation. Don’t want to wait until then, or don’t live near Tucson but want this profile, contact me and I can give you more information. I’m sure I’ll talk about this more, but for now, take a look at what it offers. everything-disc-management
One Main Way You Can Avoid Failure and Financial Ruin as a Leader
If you are a new or emerging leader, and could receive the wisdom and training of the preeminent executive coach in the nation, and the cost was under $30, would you not take him up on it? You’d be a fool to decline wouldn’t you? Not only that, he would also provide, for your further development, a full library of resources to implement his time tested methods for team-building, communication, leadership, and coaching! So, how do you take advantage of this? By reading his book, “What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There“. A number one best seller from Amazon before it had even been released to the public. In it you will find what keeps us as leaders in delusion, as well as why we resist change. He expounds upon the guilty habits we indulge ourselves in, adding an emotional trigger, backing up his premise with real life examples - making us feel we can relate, and therefore find hope in the ability to live and learn, ultimately changing. He also clarifies our strengths, and shows us how to overcome our weaknesses and failures. This book is certainly NOT meant for light reading. The key to this book is a willingness on your part to ask yourself and those around you the tough questions about yourself, your leadership style, and the practices you use. It’s an opportunity to take a good long look in the mirror. Besides, it’s high time we discover and acknowledge what everyone else already knows about us. Goldsmith is able to, in practical terms, lead us to the closet of our lives, in our leadership role, and help us admit what’s within, while simultaneously building our belief that we can become the leader we know we can be. In my estimation, this book receives 5 stars out of 5. (5 being the best.)
By the way, the number one skill, according to “The Accidental Leader”, one I am still working on, is to GET REAL with yourself, take stalk, get honest, while looking for true, not fluffy, feedback from those around you that know you best. No growth can occur until you are first honest and transparent with yourself. This is a big part in paying the price for great leadership. Believe me, you’ll find these things out about your leadership one way or the other,through a kind messenger, like a book or coach, or through a harsh one, like your main staff quitting simultaneously. I’ve done both! Learned the easy and the difficult way. It’s really our choice which way it comes. But, it will come, I guarantee it.
Get your copy today. Just scroll over to the Amazon book site I have provided for you here on this blog, and order it today.
Understanding How To Recruit, Retain, Motivate, and Work with our Generational Differences.
During these uncertain times of economic upheaval, in an inconsistent business world, where mergers, downsizing and layoffs are a common trend. Those organizations that recognize that the key differentiator is people, are the ones that will remain and even thrive. They will be the ones to make history instead of “BE” history. I believe that the dominant factor in those who are successful in working with people, are those that gain the tools that will assist them to understand, recruite, retain and motivate people. One such tool to expedite this process is, a clear understanding of the impact of each person’s generation. It is imperative that as a leader we learn to know how and why we act and react the way we do, and be able to distinguish the difference between each cohort’s values and preferences. Lastly, successful organizations then take this knowledge, and translate it into a workable strategic plan. They are the top organizations that will continue to be relevant and prosper. Do you know why the younger adults in your work environment live at the tip of their fingers IMings, twittering, and loitering on facebook? Do you understand the Gen “X” cynicism, and the need to create a of trust before you can bring them fully on board? Are you honoring those of the Traditional Generation in your midst, giving them classes on technology at their level? And do you provide clear instructions in a polite, timely manner? These are just a few of the critical successes factors that will increase your emotional intelligence, and give you the edge in working with the four generations currently working in the same company!
There is one caution that I have in all this. You have to realize that any time you are attempting to place people by groups, you cannot help but use general stereotypes to categorize them. This means I run the risk of someone being offending by over-generalizing. Maturity connotes that you may not fit certain stereotypes, because you have consciously worked to eliminate those particular weaknesses that tend to be indicative of a particular generational cohort. Therefore, not everyone fits perfectly into the square boxe of their particular cohort. Understanding the dynamics, communication preferences, responses, and motivation of each generation is information that should be used for the explicit purpose of understanding, give grace, recruiting, managing and encouraging the people you encounter every day.
Want to learn more? There is a fun, and informative workshop coming up in September called “Generational Tsunami in the Workplace” that will provide you with these exact tools. For more information, and to sign up, go to the “Events” page of this website to learn more.
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
THE FIVE DYSFUNCTIONS OF A TEAM gives you the framework for understanding how and why companies get really messed up, and what you as a leader can do to build a great work culture. I am usually called in to revive a leader, or his/her team as a last resort. Kind of like marriage counseling is to couples, they don’t get help until it’s almost too late.
If you want to expedite your leadership learning curve, save thousands of dollars in consulting and coaching fees, then learn this material. Then, call me to do a fun team building retreat, or a strategic plan instead of conflict resolution. But if you’re already in the trenches with your employees firing at you from the enemy line, I do love a challenge. Do know that if I can learn leadership principles that can turn an organization around, anyone can! It’s not an accident you’re where you are, and it’s not failure to get the coaching you need before it’s urgent! Enjoy the video . . .
How my Leadership Ladder was Climbed I
Part I
Why is this blog called “Confessions of an Accidental Leader”? It’s because I myself never set out to “BE” a leader, or to be “LEADING” leaders. It was a natural progression of my interests, passion, and personality 30 years ago. It began when a friend shared that if you read 7 books on any one given subject, that you would be considered an expert in that field. While recuperating from surgery, I attempted just such a feat by consuming anything I could get my hands on regarding the behavioral styles method called DISC. From there, for fun and personal enjoyment I began sharing the information informally with groups. People found it instantaneously fascinating, and particularly helpful, so I was soon asked by friends and their husbands to conduct workshop for their office staff and employees. What started as a hobby, launched me into the arena of entrepreneurship, consulting, coaching, training on team-building, conflict resolution, communication and ultimately leading. I’ve since become certified in a myriad of applicable competencies see: www.dpdwebsite for more information on my journey.
