“It is simply impossible to become a great leader without being a great communicator,” observes leadership writer, Mike Myatt in Forbes magazine. As a leader, the responsibility of communicating effectively rests squarely on your own shoulders. This is true even if you are fortunate enough to have a communications department or team of speechwriters at […]
Read More...Training Breakthrough Webinar Series
Just a heads up in case you are interested… Along with my good friends, Hall of Fame speaker, customer service expert, and this year’s National Speakers Association President Shep Hyken; Hall of Fame speaker, leadership expert, and popular author Mark Sanborn; and sales guru and author Jeffrey Gitomer, I am part of a Tortal Training’s […]
Read More...How to Treat Your Sales People Like Real Business Operators
Leadership traditionally comes from the top down, and paradoxically leadership is also necessary from the bottom up. My friend and fellow speaker, Lee B. Salz is a sales management strategist who very wisely recommends giving sales people the responsibility of creating their company’s sales business plan. In taking on this responsibility, sales people become leaders […]
Read More...Leadership – It’s Not about Who Has The Best Ideas
My friend and colleague, Laura Stack’s newest book, Execution IS the Strategy was released today. Laura has been working with leaders in the areas of strategy execution, employee productivity, and team performance for 22 yeas; she is a true expert in her field. In Execution IS the Strategy, Laura explains that a leader’s biggest challenge […]
Read More...How to Add Value as a Speaker: Make Meetings Fun and Exciting
“OSCARS” – A Pacific Bell meeting was held around the time of the Academy Awards. The creative meeting planner set up an awards ceremony and asked the managers to wear formal evening dress. This sounded so creative to me that, even though my speech was later in the day, I wanted to be part of it (at no extra cost to the client). “Oscars” were given out in categories like customer service, sales, and money-making ideas. Wearing an evening gown, I sashayed across the stage to deliver the envelopes containing the names of the winners. As the nominees in each category were announced, a giant video screen showed their photos. The first two were always famous movie stars, the third an employee. Would you believe it? Pacific Bell employees beat out the movie stars every time! Everyone who accepted an Academy Award had to give a short speech. It was innovative, memorable, and fun.
Read More...“And What do YOU Do?” A Simple Booster That Adds to Productivity!
If we want to have strong, self-confident teams in our businesses, let’s ask, listen, and learn about each other’s accomplishments. You’ll be amazed at the talent all around you, some that even your colleagues may not acknowledge in themselves. One of the best ways to feel connected with others in a company is to have […]
Read More...What’s Your Cat’s Name? a Team-Building Exercise
Games are an ancient and fun way to get people interacting, even in stressful situations. At one of my seminars, an attendee, Susan Peters of BorgWarner PTC Shared Services, shared this technique that she and her colleagues had found very valuable. “After one of the sessions,” said Susan, “we spoke briefly about our company’s struggles […]
Read More...Spotting the Leaders
This is a story my Fripp Associate David Palmer, PhD told at our recent speaking skills class. Hope it makes you think and act like a leader. It was 1952. The Korean War had been going for three years…and the North Koreans were short of resources, especially soldiers. Both sides continued to take POW’s, but […]
Read More...Leadership Lesson 2: “I’m Glad You Asked”
Pam Kranhold’s Quality Department at Delta Dental Plan of California is revolutionizing the way they do business for government and their customers. “Over the last two years,” she told me, “we have changed our leadership from a very bland ‘government’ approach to an innovative vision-mission-value focus! It took a number of months to get the […]
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