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Leadership and Management Training Blog
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Soft skills training
Posted by Chris on 02/02/2012
Soft skills training
Soft skills training is training for those skills that are less tangible than the hard skills.
Hard skills include PC excel, Spread sheets, lifting and handling, employment law etc.
On the other hand
Soft skills are those skills and abilities that are your “people skills”.
These include the following:
1. Motivating others
2. Managing emotions
(read more)
How to create more self-confidence and energy
Posted by Chris on 01/02/2012
How to create more self-confidence and energy
Self-confidence is the result of believing that you DO possess the necessary attributes that will allow you to successfully achieve the tasks that you must.
Self-confidence then is based on self-belief.
• If you believe that you will win then your confidence increases.
• If you believe that you won’t win then your confidence decreases.
You can gain self-confidence by two means;
(read more)
The most common time management mistakes
Posted by Chris on 27/01/2012
The most common time management mistakes and how to fix them.
Although we are all unique individuals, we are all members of the species homo-sapiens, so we are all more similar than different.
We have a tendency to repeat the same mistakes.
And because these errors are shared by most other people around us, we take these errors for granted; we treat them as “normal behaviour” and carry on making the same mistakes day in, day out.
But remember that normal behaviour is not necessarily 'good behaviour'.
(read more)
What are the universal principles of personal achievement?
Posted by Chris on 25/01/2012
What are the universal principles of personal achievement?
What are the universal principles of personal achievement and personal development?
Universal principles are true statements that apply at all times, in all places.
As such, they are very handy to know because, in any situation, they offer a base of knowledge and a “plan of action”.
Science is the on-going search for the universal principles of each subset of reality. Biology, Physics, sociology, medicine, geology, astronomy etc.
(read more)
Clear communication skills
Posted by Chris on 23/01/2012
Clear communication skills
You live in a complex society that requires that you express yourself in words, both written and spoken.
You succeed only to the degree to which you can clearly express your thoughts both in the written and spoken form.
You need to be more clear, accurate, convincing and confident.
But for many, that is not easy!
In the hope it will help, I wrote the following:
In order to be more clear, accurate, convincing and confident you need to able to communicate the following:
(read more)
Change management
Posted by Chris on 20/01/2012
Change management
Change is inevitable
“You can’t step into the same river twice”.
Means that change is always with us.
Yet many people are troubled by change.
Why is that?
The reason is, that we are always running habitual “mental routines”: habits;
Habit patterns of thought and action.
You have evolved in order to achieve a biological mission: to survive and prosper!
In order to do that, your brain creates and operates complex “programmes” which it develops over days, weeks or even years of difficult and sometimes painful learning experience.
(read more)
Communication skills: The misuse of humour at work
Posted by Chris on 19/01/2012
Communication skills: The misuse of humour at work
Beware of the misuse of humour:
When you THINK you are coming across to everyone as Witty” when you are ACTUALLY coming across as a “clown”.
Laugh WITH people not AT them
If you are anything like me, you were taught, at a very early age, four things relating to laughter:
1. People like others who can make them laugh.
(read more)
How to have better leadership skills in 2012
Posted by Chris on 16/01/2012
How to have better leadership skills in 2012 The importance of goal focus
Goal focus is the most important aspect of leadership and management. Why?
If you accept that the term “LEADER“ can be defined as:
“The person in a team whose main responsibility is to create, sustain and communicated a clear goal, and then inspire the team to achieve it”,
Then the nature of the goal is that which defines the leadership.
(read more)
Retrun to work job interview skills
Posted by Chris on 12/01/2012
Return to work job interview skills
People often say:
1. “You shouldn’t judge others”
2. And “You can’t judge a book by its cover”
But the truth is the just the opposite.
You must judge others (i.e. you must judge whether to do business with them or not).
They must judge you (they must judge whether to hire you or not).
The only means they have to make such a judgement is by the evidence of their senses.
(read more)
Positive mental attitude and inspiring others
Posted by Chris on 10/01/2012
Positive mental attitude and inspiring others
Are you aware of how much your mental attitude affects the results you experience?
Your attitude is the sum total of your thoughts, feelings and beliefs about any issue. And because it is your thoughts that control your actions, you become whatever you think about.
Your feelings and thoughts control your actions: your actions drive your results.
So your consistent thoughts tend to manifest themselves in your experience: your thoughts become, to a certain degree, a self-fulfilling prophecy.
(read more)
Change management training
Posted by Chris on 06/01/2012
Change management training
Many people don’t like change!
Why?
Because change means that you must face an uncertain future.
And most people don’t like uncertainty: they say things like “Better the devil you know!”
Because change creates uncertainty, people don’t like change.
However: it is important to remember that:
1. If you want things to get better, then you must be willing to accept change.
(read more)
Conflict resolution training
Posted by Chris on 02/01/2012
Conflict resolution training
Conflict is inevitable.
You are bound to get some.
The reason you are bound to get conflict is this: People don't have the same ideas, as you.
So they will disagree.
There is disagreement on every level:
1. Existence
Whether something exists or not:
• Does God exist or not
(read more)
How to have a happy new year
Posted by Chris on 01/01/2012
How to have a happy new year, live long and prosper
Over the last three years, there have been a number of changes that have occurred in the marketplace:
1. Easy bank loans are harder to find
2. Governments spending is a little less abundant
3. Consumers are more cautious
So right now, things may be a little harder.
If you want to prosper in 2012, you may need to evolve.
Adapt!
(read more)
Time management and personal effectiveness
Posted by Chris on 29/12/2011
Time management, personal effectiveness questionnaire
Here is a brief questionnaire that will give you some good leads on how to improve your time management and personal effectiveness.
1. Do you have a good memory, or do you forget too much?
Most people don't train their memory. Some people do.
Make yourself one of the few people who consciously strive to improve their working memory.
Every day, practice memorising new material.
(read more)
PMA Positive Mental Attitude
Posted by Chris on 27/12/2011
PMA Positive Mental Attitude
How to create and sustain a positive mental attitude especially during tough times
In order to manage people, you must first manage yourself.
In order to get the best from others, you must get the best from yourself.
If you are angry and confused, then it is impossible for you convince or inspire others.
People management is predominantly self-management.
(read more)
The three laws of success
Posted by Chris on 23/12/2011
The three laws of success
Have you noticed that the number 3 seems to have a special significance?
We share a thought that:
• The genie grants Aladdin three wishes
• Disasters come in threes
In music, a chord is formed by selecting three notes from the octave:
1st note
3rd note
5th note
In science we have:
(read more)
Reason vs Excuse
Posted by Chris on 20/12/2011
Reason vs Excuse
Here is an important rule of thumb:
1. Clear thought is good.
2. Confused thought is bad.
The first step to wisdom is to have an accurate conception of things
Unfortunately, there is a series of “similar but opposite things”; i.e. dichotomies, that confuse the mind.
Dichotomies; confuse the mind because their two branches seem to be intermingled.
Examples of such dichotomies are:
(read more)
How to communicate with more intelligence
Posted by Chris on 16/12/2011
How to communicate with more intelligence
Nobody wants to be regarded as stupid.
We all want to be judged as intelligent.
Let us define intelligence as “A capacity to think clearly and accurately in order to be able to solve problems and arrive at correct conclusions”.
In terms of survival value, obviously, intelligence is very helpful.
In social terms, as I have said, we all want to be perceived as, at least NON stupid, and better still, intelligent.
(read more)
How to make 2012, your best year ever
Posted by Chris on 12/12/2011
How to make 2012, your best year ever
You may have noticed two things:
1. That Christmas and New Year are both fast approaching AND
2. There is a lot of pessimistic talk about next year being a bad one
The first statement is a certainty: Christmas and New Year will surely arrive: and probably bang on time.
The second statement is NOT certainty: 2012 does not have to be a bad year:
(read more)
Time management training tips
Posted by Chris on 09/12/2011
Time management training tips
In relation to time management we all tend to make the same mistakes.
Take a look around you and you will see that most people fail to concentrate their efforts.
Many fail to concentrate, and as a consequence, many people are suffering with one or more of the following symptoms.
1. Many spread themselves too thinly over too many tasks simultaneously, and so make only minimal progress on any one of them.
(read more)
Handling difficult people
Posted by Chris on 06/12/2011
Handling difficult people
There are fundamentally four ways to handle difficult people.
1. According to the principles of reason.
2. According to how they make you feel: i.e. angry.
3. According to how they make you feel: i.e. upset, tearful.
4. Avoid the whole thing: because handling difficult people is too difficult.
Can we agree that the only proper way forward, is option number 1?
When you are dealing with difficult people at work:
1. Don’t lose your temper and say too much.
(read more)
Motivational management training
Posted by Chris on 05/12/2011
Motivational management training
Motivation is one of the top priorities of leaders and managers.
If your team is not motivated, then you will not get the best from them.
If they are motivated, then you will.
How can you motivate others?
Let us look....
Motivation can be split into 5 categories.
Let us make a list of some of the things that motivate people.
Things that motivate:
1. The desire of a better future
(read more)
Time management training tips
Posted by Chris on 29/11/2011
Time management training tips
Time is your most precious resource.
Time is more valuable than GOLD.
Time is more valuable than a higher education.
SO you should never waste time.
But many people do.
Some people want to learn how to management their time, and are looking for some good ideas.
If you are looking for time management ideas, then please..... Read on.....
1. Learn the difference between being “busy” and “productive”
(read more)
Communication skills training
Posted by Chris on 25/11/2011
Communication skills training
In order to do well, you will need the cooperation of others.
You will need to gain the cooperation of many people, including:
1. Your partner
2. Your bank
3. Your customers
4. Your suppliers
5. Your colleagues at work
Failure to gain their cooperation will mean either:
(read more)
You become whatever you think about
Posted by Chris on 21/11/2011
“You become whatever you think about”
In 1903, James Allen wrote a famous work called “As a man thinketh”. The work has since become a classic and has been a source of inspiration for many.
BUT: The piece is now over 100 years old, and James Allen’s style is rather ornate and, on occasion, somewhat mystical.
So, I thought it might be a nice idea to re-draught his Great Work, into a more modern style, in the hope that you will find it easier to read.
Enjoy…..
(read more)
Communication and Conflict resolution training
Posted by Chris on 17/11/2011
Communication and Conflict resolution training
Conflict at work is inevitable: you are bound to get some.
The reason you are bound to see conflict is that people do not have the same ideas:
• What you think is good: they think is bad.
• What you think is unacceptable, they think is normal behaviour.
• What you think is true they think is false.
So you will have to deal with conflict situaltions.
(read more)
Time management skills
Posted by Chris on 15/11/2011
Time management skills
In order to be a better time manager, you will need to do two things.
1. Use good time management techniques.
2. Avoid making time management errors.
If you did all the GOOD things, and avoided doing all the bad things, then surely your life will get better.
So, we can begin by making two lists:
1. 6 Proper time management techniques Six GOOD things.
(read more)
Communication skills for trainers or presenters
Posted by Chris on 10/11/2011
Communication skills for trainers or presenters
As a trainer or presenter: You have three major goals.
To make your messages and material:
1. Informative
2. Enjoyable
3. Memorable
Let us look at each in turn:
Informative
Your delegate must find your material informative.
In order for that to happen, you must do the following:
1. Select the best material- picking out the most valuable material and giving them your best.
(read more)
Leadership and management training
Posted by Chris on 07/11/2011
Leadership and management training
Too much pessimism will cause you to fail.
Rational optimism will cause you to succeed.
The reason is that we act according to how we feel: so if you feel you will fail, you won’t take the necessary actions, or you take them without the necessary enthusiasm, and as a result you DO fail.
On the other hand,
Because we each act according to how we feel: if you feel you will WIN, you are inspired to take the necessary actions, and you take them with the necessary enthusiasm, and as a result you DO win.
(read more)
Management training skills
Posted by Chris on 04/11/2011
Management training skills
A manager is a member of a team or an organisation, whose primary role is the proper organisation of resources that will best achieve a predetermined goal.
In order to fulfil this role the manager needs 6 definite skills:
1. The ability to focus on a goal long enough for it to be achieved
2. The ability to use language so that his /her instructions are understood
3. The ability to build plans that are capable of achieving the goal
(read more)
Stress management and time management training
Posted by Chris on 31/10/2011
Stress management and time management training
Stress management and time management go together
Many people are feeling stressed: and part of the reason is their lack of time management skills.
So you can think “Stress” and “Time management” are like twins: where one is, the other is close at hand.
Here is a short list of three, common time management errors that people commit which causes them to stress out.
1. Leaving things they don't want to do, until the deadline is so close, it becomes a crisis
(read more)
Communication skills training
Posted by Chris on 25/10/2011
Communication skills training
At work, in order to become a more effective communicator, you need to develop three qualities:
1. Clarity: Everyone should be able to fully understand what you mean, even if they don’t agree with you. Remember that misunderstandings will cause problems. Clarity is your main communication goal.
2. Rationality: Being clear about what you mean is the most important thing, but it not the ONLY thing: next is REASON. You should always be able to explain the reasons for what you are saying.
(read more)
Managing your stress
Posted by Chris on 19/10/2011
Managing your stress - Stress management
In these days; many people say they feel stressed - which they consider to be a bad thing.
Being stressed is not necessarily a bad thing, because stress is the trigger for adaptation, and as any good scientist knows, adaptation is good.
BUT stressful circumstances, being forced to make adaptations can be uncomfortable and NO fun whatsoever. Because we don't like things that are uncomfortable and no fun, we don't like being stressed.
(read more)
Professional development training
Posted by Chris on 18/10/2011
Professional development training
Here is the question we are concerning ourselves with:
How can I get the best from myself and other people?
At work you need to get the best from others:
• Your suppliers
• Your colleagues
• Your bank manager
• Your customers
But you won’t get the best from others unless you develop yourself.
i.e.
You won’t get the best from others if you, yourself are:
(read more)
Time management training course
Posted by Chris on 14/10/2011
Time management training course
There are three time management mistakes that are extremely common.
If any of these three are your problems... read on
Let us take each one in turn and solve the problems once and for all.
Problem 1
You spread yourself too thinly over too many projects simultaneously, and , as a result, you make poor progress on all of them, rather than bearing down on a limited number and making rapid good progress on a smaller number of vital projects.
(read more)
Stress management training
Posted by Chris on 11/10/2011
Stress management training
The first thing to know is this: Stress is not a disease.
Stress is the trigger for adaptive improvements.
Indeed: The absence of stress is bad: if you take all the pressure off a muscle then it gets weaker.
If you take all the pressure off a personality, it gets lazy.
Nature’s law is: use it or lose it.
So pressure is good: BUT ONLY IF it is managed.
(read more)
Team building training
Posted by Chris on 07/10/2011
Team building training
How do you build an effective team?
Here are the steps
Understand what a team IS
You can define “a team” as:
“A group of two or more individuals working together, in harmony, in order to achieve
a predetermined goal".
Take each element of the definition and comply with its meaning:
Let’s take it, a step at a time:
(read more)
Leadership training
Posted by Chris on 03/10/2011
Leadership training
What are the definitions, examples and qualities of effective leadership?
Definition of leadership: A leader is person who is able to create and sustain a clear vision for a better future and who is able to communicate that vision so as to inspire others to act in order to achieve it . Examples of leadership
From politics:
1. M.L. king
(read more)
Handling difficult people
Posted by Chris on 26/09/2011
Handling difficult people
Some of your managers are not very good at handling difficult people.
Sometimes they mismanage the situation and make matters even worse.
You need to be able to handle difficult people correctly.
But how?
Here are some tips:
There are three fundamental ways for people to be “difficult”:
1. Some people don’t stick to the rules
2. Some people are bad: i.e. dishonest, lazy and disruptive
3. People have good character but have an abrasive communication style
(read more)
How to give constructive criticism
Posted by Chris on 21/09/2011
How to give constructive criticism
We all need to be corrected, sometimes.
We all make errors.
We all, occasionally, fall below our best.
We need someone to remind us of the correct way forward.
“Course correction” is a vital aid in your achievement of final victory.
The problem is this: Most people hate being corrected, by another. Most hate criticism.
(read more)
How to handle difficult people
Posted by Chris on 14/09/2011
How to handle difficult people
Advanced people management training
Everyone in a management position should be able to effectively handle difficult people.
Sadly though, many managers don't do this very well.
• Some managers can make matters worse by the clumsy use of their language.
• Some other managers are "too nice" and are a push-over.
(read more)
Supervisor skills training
Posted by Chris on 07/09/2011
Supervisor skills training
The supervisor has a difficult role.
They are under pressure from all sides:
1. From the more senior managers
2. From the customers
3. From the other team members
The supervisor is often promoted internally, from within the organisation, and may even be “managing his mates”: which is very difficult.
Your supervisor may not have had any special training.
You may owe him/her the support training he/she needs:
(read more)
Management skills training
Posted by Chris on 05/09/2011
Management skills training
Life can be confusing
Every day you are bombarded by a confusion of ideas, information and questions.
As a business manager you need to be able to sort out the confusion.
In order to sort out confusion, you need to be able to sort things into different sets: different categories of things.
And then, once things are in their correct category, you need to be able to differentiate them, one from the other.
(read more)
Communication skills training
Posted by Chris on 02/09/2011
Communication skills training
You could define “Good communication skills” as "the ability to accurately transfer information and emotion to /from the minds of others".
And as a leader-manager, you need to be good at both, i.e.
1. Explaining facts
2. Explaining feelings
A Thought Experiment:
If you were to make a list of twenty people you would regard as great leaders, and then, when you have that list, you asked yourself, “Of these great leaders, how many also qualify as great communicators?”, then you would find a strong correlation between the two attributes:
(read more)
Good communication skills
Posted by Chris on 19/08/2011
Communication skills - Distinguish “feedback” from “insults”
Occasionally you need to give feedback to other people
Giving feedback is a vital management skill.
Essentially, there are two kinds of feedback message:
1. Positive praise; which is easy to give because most people like receiving praise.
2. Negative feedback (constructive criticism) is not easy to give because most people can’t handle personal criticism.
But, as a manager, you sometimes have to criticise other peoples work.
(read more)
How are you doing?
Posted by Chris on 17/08/2011
How are you doing?
Last week, my friend greeted me with the question: “Hi, Chris, How are you doing?”
The thought struck me “THAT is an important question”:
“How are you doing?”
It is an excellent question
I decided to do an experiment and note the various answers to the question “How are you doing?"
Over the period of two days, I asked the question and made a mental note of the answers:
(read more)
Sales training
Posted by Chris on 08/08/2011
Sales training
How sales people mess up too many sales opportunities that they should have won
We have noticed a common error committed by too many sales people, especially those operating in the service sector.
We want to tell you what the sales error is, so that you don't repeat the mistake and lose sales (and money).
The error is this: After a successful first sales interview, the sales person fails to follow up on promises made to the prospect.
(read more)
How to get the most out of life
Posted by Chris on 04/08/2011
How to get the most out of life
How to get exactly what you want
We all want the same three things
We all want to be:
1. Healthy
2. Happy
3. And successful
Wouldn’t it be a good idea to devote yourself to three things:
1. Your own good health (And that of your family and friends)
(read more)
Time management training
Posted by Chris on 02/08/2011
Time management training
Feeling overwhelmed and stressed at work
You’ve probably heard people say "I always give 100% to everything I do!"
And: “If a thing is worth doing, it’s worth doing well.
These sayings sound really good.
And they sound like correct pieces of advice.
But ARE they correct?
(read more)
Management training - Interview technique
Posted by Chris on 29/07/2011
Management training - Interview technique
In business you need to be able to pick good people.
You need to be able to avoid the dangerous ones.
A candidate may look good, sound good and be well educated, but if he later turns out to be:
Lazy
Disruptive
Dishonest
Then he-she can cost you dearly.
Selecting the right person is a vital skill
Not hiring the wrong person will save you much time and tears.
If you don’t believe me, ask David Cameron.
(read more)
Management training: How to have better meetings
Posted by Chris on 27/07/2011
Management training: How to have better meetings
Do you ever attend non-productive meetings?
DO you ever sit in meetings and think “This is NOT the best use of my time”?
Many people do.
Every day, badly run meetings cost organisations dearly, in terms of:
1. Time wasted in poorly run meetings
2. Meetings that overrun
3. And that don’t add enough value
Instead, you need productive, well-run and profitable meetings.
(read more)
Eight reasons why people don't buy your product
Posted by Chris on 21/07/2011
Eight reasons why people don't buy your product
You have to be able to sell what you do.
Why?
Because ALL organisations have to sell what they do.
If a particular organisation cannot effectively sell what it does, (either to free market customers or to a funding agency) then it goes extinct.
In order to sell to the people who make the "buying / funding decision" you must be able to satisfy eight test questions.
(read more)
How to remember much more of what you hear, read and see
Posted by Chris on 18/07/2011
How to remember much more of what you hear, read and see
Do the following things happen to you?
1. You read a page of a book, then realise that NONE of it stayed in your memory? i.e. You can’t remember any of what you just read. If someone was to test you, on the content of that page, then you would score 0/10
2. Or you come out of a sales meeting, and then can’t even remember the guy’s name?
3. Or you attend the briefing about the new job that has just come in, and when you come out of the meeting, you can barely remember anything of use: and your written notes don't help.
(read more)
How to maintain your confidence during tough times
Posted by Chris on 15/07/2011
How to maintain your confidence during tough times
Confidence is a valuable asset.
That is literarily true.
Since the major currencies severed the link to the gold standard, the value of a pound sterling or a dollar or a Euro is based on the amount of “confidence” the purchaser has in that currency.
Once confidence in a currency is lost, then that form of money reverts to its true intrinsic value of zero!
(read more)
Are you an Optimist, a Critical Thinker or a Cynic?
Posted by Chris on 13/07/2011
Are you an Optimist, a Critical Thinker or a Cynic?
Here is an interesting way of looking at people:
Your work colleagues can be split into three categories:
1. Optimists
2. Critical thinkers
3. Cynics
• Two of these categories, you need;
• One, you don't!
But how do you know, who belongs to which category?
Let us investigate….
(read more)
How to cut costs and become more efficient
Posted by Chris on 05/07/2011
How to cut costs and become more efficient
Here is a good motto to memorise “Complexity and waste thrive on each other”
You want to achieve your goals. In order to do that you must:
1. Maximise your productivity
2. Minimise your costs
Efficiency is the ratio that relates your productivity to your costs:
1. High productivity and low costs= high efficiency
2. Low productivity and high costs = low efficiency
If you are inefficient you will lose ground to those who are more efficient.
(read more)
Time management training
Posted by Chris on 01/07/2011
Time management training
Time management training is important to your organisation because you are in business to add as much value to "the marketplace", per day, as you can.
In a society based upon TRADE (i.e. “trade” means: a mutual exchange of values), the degree to which you are successful in adding value to others, is the degree to which you also expect to GAIN value from others.
So the question of time management training becomes:
How can you improve the rate at which you add value to others?
(read more)
People management skills
Posted by Chris on 24/06/2011
People management skills
Why do people do what they do?
As a leader and manager you have a need to understand why people behave the way they do.
If you are trying to get the best from others, then it is imperative you know the principles that drive people to act, in the way they do.
If you have that knowledge, then you might be able to influence others.
If you lack understanding of what makes people tick, then you will have trouble influencing others.
If you want to gain knowledge on people skills then there are two major subjects you can study.
(read more)
Most common communication mistake and how to fix them
Posted by Chris on 17/06/2011
Most common communication mistake and how to fix them
What is the most common mistake in your communication with others?
Possible answer:
Saying what you think, as opposed to thinking about what you say.
Most people believe they should say what they think. They call such communication, being up front; being a plain speaker.
John Joke says "I call it, as I see it! If you don’t like it, tough!”
(read more)
The most common management mistakes and how to correct them
Posted by Chris on 16/06/2011
The most common management mistakes and how to correct them
Most people share the same mistakes.
We do the same, wrong things.
As a result, the “wrong thing” becomes “normal behaviour”, and as such, seems to be acceptable behaviour.
BUT consider this:
Statistically, the number of excellent examples of ANYTHING is only 16% or less, of the whole sample.
That means that 84% of any set or group is of only average quality or worse.
(read more)
Networking
Posted by Chris on 14/06/2011
Networking
Networking is a form of marketing that uses your social skills to find new customers, leads and referrals.
In order to be good at networking you need develop some specific social skills and develop a method. The following notes are deigned to help.
Be clear on your purpose
In order to achieve any goal you must be clear on what that goal IS:
and what it is not.
When networking: Your purpose is:
1. To find prospects
2. To make appointments to meet the person again for a more formal sales interview.
(read more)
Management skills training
Posted by Chris on 10/06/2011
The key question WHY?
Everyone loves the question WHY?
Toddlers keep pestering their mothers with WHY questions.
Why?
• Why is the sky blue?
• Why does the cat wag its tail?
• Why is it snails have shells?
The “why” question is so common, because we instinctively know that we need to understand the causes of events.
If we understand the causes of an event, it gives us the feeling that we may be able to influence the event and make it correspond to our own best interests.
(read more)
What can your business learn from studying nature?
Posted by Chris on 08/06/2011
What can your business learn from studying nature?
In the natural world, as in the business world, there is a struggle for survival.
Failure means you will fall behind in the struggle for survival.
In the natural world there is a finite volume of food; each organism must compete for its share of the supply.
Failure means extinction.
In the business world there is a finite volume of money and each organisation must compete for
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Management skills training
Posted by Chris on 02/06/2011
Management skills training
Life can be confusing
Every day you are bombarded by a confusion of ideas, information and questions.
As a business manager you need to be able to sort out the confusion.
In order to sort out confusion, you need to be able to sort things into different sets: different categories of things.
And then, once things are in their correct category, you need to be able to differentiate them, one from the other.
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Communication skills training
Posted by Chris on 27/05/2011
Communication is the transfer of information and emotion
Good communication is defined as: the accurate transfer of information and emotion.
The three laws on good communication give three principles that you can apply to improve your skills as a communicator.
The first law of communication
Memorise this phrase:
“Clarity is a virtue. Vagueness is a vice”
“Vagueness” is defined as:
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Improved communication skills
Posted by Chris on 24/05/2011
Improved communication skills
Communication is one of your most important attributes. You cannot do the work, all by yourself: so you must gain the cooperation of others.
In order to do that, you must communicate effectively.
In order to do that: you should study and improve your communication skills!
You should study two forms of communication skills
1. How to communicate in order to transfer information.
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Memory training
Posted by Chris on 19/05/2011
Memory training
Have you heard it said that we live in “the information age”?
In the middle and dark ages, in England, you succeeded in life to the degree
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Advanced Communications Skills
Posted by Chris on 17/05/2011
Advanced Communications Skills Advanced Communications Skills - Choose your words carefully Mr Bond, they may be your last!
It is possible to mess up BIG TIME, in the blink of an eye, by the clumsy use of language.
Words have power. This power can make you more successful or it can destroy your career.
Example:
Gerald Ratner, a British businessman, Chief executive of RANTERS jewellers, destroyed his career by making a joke. On 23rd April 1991, during his speech at the Institute of Directors; he said the following about one of his company’s products:
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Communication skills: A simple method to improve your skills
Posted by Chris on 16/05/2011
Communication skills: A simple method to improve your skills
Communication is the accurate transfer of information and emotion.
The key word here is Accurate.
An inaccurate transfer of information would spell trouble for all concerned.
An inaccurate transfer of information would lead to people doing the wrong things: and that leads to confusion and conflict.
So, accurate communication is a virtue:
And vagueness is a vice.
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Change management training
Posted by Chris on 13/05/2011
Change management training
Many people fight change.
The reason for that is that change implies uncertainty.
And the human mind does not like being uncertain.
Hence, many will put up with circumstances they DO NOT like, for fear of making a change.
They justify that by saying things like "Better the devil you know".
Change creates uncertainty so people resist change.
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Communication skills training
Posted by Chris on 06/05/2011
Communication skills training
You would benefit greatly if you were to improve your communication skills.
How do I know that you would benefit from some communication skills training?
Because: Everyone would
Why?
You need to gain the cooperative efforts of others.
i.e. You need other people to help you:
Why? Because you can’t do it all on your own. You don't have sufficient knowledge to allow you to get by without other peoples experience, knowledge and skill.
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Time management training skills
Posted by Chris on 02/05/2011
Time management training skills
Time management training is about the application of straight thinking and good ideas.
Time management is equally about the avoidance of crooked thinking and bad ideas.
There are two common bad ideas that cause people to make the same errors, every day, for years.
The early correction of these two errors will make you more effective.
The two false ideas are:
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Problem solving method
Posted by Chris on 25/04/2011
Problem solving method
If I am reading your situation correctly, you have some problems that you urgently need to solve.
Recently one problem particularly, has been playing on your mind.
I know that is true, because that is also true for everyone.
So how do we go about solving problems?
Here is a method for problem solving.
To work this method you will need to have with you:
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Time management training
Posted by Chris on 20/04/2011
Time management training
Time management training is important to your organisation because you are in business to add as much value to "the marketplace", per day, as you can.
In a society based upon TRADE (i.e. “trade” means: a mutual exchange of values), the degree to which you are successful in adding value to others, is the degree to which you also expect to GAIN value from others.
So the question of time management training becomes:
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Accelerated learning
Posted by Chris on 11/04/2011
Accelerated learning - Teachablity index
There are some people that cannot progress in their work because they refuse to learn.
• It is not that they cannot learn (they aren’t stupid).
• And it is not that they don’t need to learn (they don’t know it all).
It is rather because, they won’t learn: in the sense that they refuse to study new knowledge.
Some people operate on the notion that they already “know everything they need to know” and when it comes to gaining new skills, they have “shut up shop”.
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First line management training
Posted by Chris on 07/04/2011
First line management training
The role of the first line manager is a difficult one.
The first line managers often have to “do the front line job”, as well as “lead the team”.
They have to deal with problems from all directions:
1) From the middle managers, sending paperwork problems down, to be resolved.
2) From the customers who are unhappy about some failing of the service.
3) From the team itself who don’t like what’s going on.
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Motivational management training
Posted by Chris on 06/04/2011
Motivational management training
Motivation is one of the most important aspects of people management.
The reason is that people’s productivity is affected by how they feel.
If they are demotivated they don't work well.
If people are well motivated, then they produce more.
Since you have to pay them anyway: whether they produce at their best or not, then their levels of motivation make a big difference on the rate of return on your financial investment.
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The 7 people management skills
Posted by Chris on 04/04/2011
The 7 people management skills
In order to improve your ability to get the best from other people, there are seven main categories of people management skills that you should consciously work to improve.
Here are the seven categories of people management skills:
1. Logical thought
2. Emotional language
3. Organisation
4. Grooming, manners and politeness
5. Fairness
6. Sales
7. Role modelling
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Communication skills training
Posted by Chris on 31/03/2011
Communication skills training
If you are anything like the rest of humanity, then you may have the following situation:
1) You are NOT getting all of what you DO want, AND
2) You ARE getting some of what you DON’T want.
There are many reasons for that: These reasons fall into two categories:
Group one:
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People management skills
Posted by Chris on 28/03/2011
People management skills
People management skills involve formulating good answers to one question:
How can you get the best from other people?
People management skills is an “umbrella term” that covers a wide range of skills, which together induce other people to give you their best.
Here is a list of 11 people skills we believe form the foundation of the subject of people management skills.
1. Clear communication skills
Which breaks down further into
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Communication skills training: Voice tone
Posted by Chris on 25/03/2011
Communication skills training: Voice tone
Your communication skills training should include some notes on the effect of your voice tone on others.
“Voice tone” relates to the musical aspects of your voice:
It pertains to pitch, volume, pace, and emphasis.
People respond instinctively to voice tone; either positively or negatively.
There are certain people who have a warm, attractive welcoming voice quality. Their voice tone has a positive effect on others. One of the best examples of a person with a good voice tone, in my opinion, was the actor Richard Burton.
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Influencing skills - Being right is not enough to win
Posted by Chris on 23/03/2011
Being right is not enough to win
You can be right and still lose.
You can be right and still lose if you use the wrong tactics.
If you are right, but you word your message carelessly then you could easily lose-out to a person with a weaker idea, but who can explain it properly.
So, it is important to have two things in your favour
1. A good idea
2. The ability to explain it in such a way that it is, understandable, attractive and memorable
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How to make stress make you feel stronger
Posted by Chris on 21/03/2011
How to make stress make you feel stronger
Stress is a common problem, due to the difficult situation the world is in right now.
Stress can have two consequences:
1. Positive (excitement, growth stimulation and progress)
2. Negative (fear, exhaustion, overwhelm and sickness)
Positive stress management
Leads to excitement, growth stimulation and progress.
Negative stress management
Leads to fear, exhaustion, overwhelm and sickness.
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Time management training
Posted by Chris on 18/03/2011
Time management training
Time management training is more important now than ever.
Time management training can help you to get the most out of every hour.
This is vital because when times are harder, we need to be more effective.
That means continuing to act in a positive way especially when things have turned negative.
Time management training is based upon a number of essential skills and attitudes.
Here they are:
1. Formulation of a clear goal
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Good time management training
Posted by Chris on 15/03/2011
Good time management training
Many of us have days when we are busy, but feel we are not making progress.
Some of us have days when we are busy but feel we are going backwards!
Possibly, you sometimes feel overwhelmed and stressed by the volume of the work to be done and the size of the challenge ahead.
It this is true then that a good time management training course would help you?
To learn the difference between being “busy” and “productive”.
(read more)
People management skills training
Posted by Chris on 09/03/2011
People management skills training People management skills
People management skills are a set of "soft skills" that enable you to inspire the best from others.
People management skills training is important because your organisation pays large sums of cash to people in exchange for their productive effort. But people are motivated to produce by many factors, other than money; these factors are the social factors of motivation.
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12 Time Management Training Tips
Posted by Chris on 08/03/2011
12 Time management training tips..
Time management is one of the most important things because if you fail to manage your time, you become inefficient. If you become inefficient, you will lose ground to those who are doing a more effective job than you are.
So, having only poor time management skills can cost you dearly.
Charles Darwin put it like this:
"In the struggle for survival, the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment."
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Time management skills: Making good written notes
Posted by Chris on 04/03/2011
Time management skills: Making good written notes
How good are you at taking written notes in meetings?
Some people are good at this: they take accurate, neat, structured, legible, written notes:
This ability makes them look good, sound good and helps them to be more effective.
Other people are not good at taking written notes: their notes are a mess: illegible, untidy, incomplete, and useless.
As a result, their notes make them look amateurish, ill prepared, and they negatively affect performance.
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The best management skills training
Posted by Chris on 02/03/2011
The best management skills training
“Management” is the ability to plan and organise resources in a way that will most efficiently achieve a stated goal.
“Management skills” is the set of skills that are consistent with the above definition.
“Management skills training” is the specific training that teaches the skills needed to achieve good management.
“The best management training” is the training that can deliver that knowledge most effectively.
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How to manage change - change management
Posted by Chris on 24/02/2011
How to manage change - change management
Everything keeps changing; yet in another sense everything stays the same.
The French say it like “Plus Ça change, plus c'est la mÊme chose”.
“The more it changes, the more it is the same”.
Everything around you seems to change:
• The children
• The weather
• The political landscape
• Your face
• The Tax rates
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Problem solving method
Posted by Chris on 21/02/2011
Problem solving method
If you are to make progress towards your goals, then you must solve the problems that stand in your way.
In order to solve problems you need to understand them. In order to understand them you need to analyse them.
Analysis
Analysis is the act of dividing a thing into its components and identifying:
1. The nature of each component and
2. How each component relates to the whole
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Time management training Effective meetings
Posted by Chris on 18/02/2011
Time management training Effective meetings
Time management training Effective meetings
Meetings take up a lot of time.
And many meetings can degenerate into a waste of time.
Have you ever attended a poor meeting which was a waste of your time?
You are not the only one!
Because time is money, meetings should be conducted properly!
Luckily we know that there are proper ways to do anything.
(read more)
When to compromise and when not to
Posted by Chris on 16/02/2011
When to compromise and when not to
Compromise is the act of finding the middle- ground between two opposing points of view, in the hope of finding the “Happy medium” that is acceptable to both parties.
It can be a useful and valid method of handling conflict situations or solving dilemmas.
BUT..
It can also be a terrible mistake that will cost you all your credibility as a decision maker!
Please be aware that there are circumstances that demand that you do compromise; and that there are many others that demand you should stand firm and do NOT compromise.
(read more)
Management training courses
Posted by Chris on 09/02/2011
Management training courses
There are numerous types of management training courses and the different types vary in their approach.
1. Some are geared towards “having fun”.
2. Others are geared towards “the sharing of ideas”.
3. Others are DESCRIPTIVE training sessions. They describe the situation you are facing.
4. The final type (our type) is the PRESCRIPTIVE training course: they prescribe best responses.
(read more)
Change management training
Posted by Chris on 07/02/2011
Change management training
Change is always with us; you have heard the saying "You can’t step in the same river twice".
No sooner have you recovered from the latest policy change, then, along comes the next policy change and you have to start again.
For many people, change is a de-motivator because change creates uncertainty.
Most people don't like feeling uncertain, so most people don’t like CHANGE.
Change leads to uncertainty: so we don't like change.
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Time management: How to be more efficient in times of austerity
Posted by Chris on 04/02/2011
Time management: How to be more efficient in times of austerity
In these days of austerity, it is important to cut back on wasteful or inefficient activity.
We must become more efficient.
We need to ensure that the money we spend is spent only on things that add real value.
And since “time = money”, we also need to ensure that we spend time only on those things that add real value.
Today, you need to look for ways to do that: To help you, we have prepared a short list of four things for you to check:
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Management Training Courses
Posted by Chris on 02/02/2011
Management training courses: Why should you attend management training courses?
Why should you invest any time and effort to attend a management training course?
There are four good reasons:
1. If you are in business, you are in the businesses of serving people.
People are your primary resource. People are your customers, suppliers, financiers and workers. To get the most from your business, you need to get the most from people. Good management training courses are about getting the most from the important people in your life.
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Communication skills training
Posted by Chris on 31/01/2011
Communications skills training
Communications skills training is important to you because you don’t live on a desert island. You live and work around other people; other people are at the same time:
1. The cause of all your problems
2. The solution to all your problems
So you need to get on well with others.
“Well” means “harmoniously, happily and productively”.
Some people don’t get on well with others: They live inharmoniously, unhappily and destructively.
(read more)
Man Management Skills
Posted by Chris on 30/01/2011
Man Management Skills
Man management skills
“Man management skills” are important to you because some of the men (and women) in your organisation need careful managing.
And, as you may have observed, managing people is not always an easy task.
Proper man management training can be defined as:
"Learning a set of personal skills that combine to allow you to inspire the best, most productive effort from every member of the team".
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Management skills training
Posted by Chris on 28/01/2011
Management skills training
Management skills training is important to your success because every organisation must act in a co-ordinate, intelligent way in order to achieve its goals. Uncoordinated and poorly managed action, even if done with sincerity and enthusiasm, will not be efficient, and may cause the organisation to fail: especially during tough economic times.
So, “Management skills” are vital skills. They can be defined as follows:
“Management skills are the ability to properly coordinate and organise resources (money, machines, information and people) in such a way as to achieve a desired goal in the quickest and most efficient manner possible.”
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Time management training
Posted by Chris on 27/01/2011
Time management training
Time management training skills
In these days, good Time management skills are more important than ever. When money is scarce you must wring every penny you can from each hour of your time invested.
Time is money; so poor time management skills will cost you dearly.
If your time management skills are poor, what should you fix?
Here are six ideas on what things you should be working on:
1. Goal focus
The following four lines are the best time management advice you will ever read:
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Man management training
Posted by Chris on 20/01/2011
Man management training
“Man management training” is the name given to a panoply of skills that enable the manager to trigger productive effort in the team.
There are many skills that are sub sets of “man management training”.
They include:
1. Communication
2. Conflict management
3. Proper use of Non verbal communication
4. Motivation
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Special theory: S.M.A.R.T. TARGETs
Posted by Chris on 17/01/2011
Special theory: S.M.A.R.T. TARGETs
Clarity of purpose
The first and most important ability for a leader manager is to provide a sense of “clarity of purpose”.
Purpose statement
A written document that identifies the reason for the team’s existence. The purpose statement identifies the “target to be hit”. Without a clear purpose the team fragments.
Clear standards
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Time management skills training: Prioritisation matrix
Posted by Chris on 14/01/2011
Time management skills training: The time management prioritisation matrix
The time management prioritisation matrix.
Time management is the art of doing the right thing, at the right time, which will result in producing the greatest value for yourself and your organisation, per hour.
In order to do that, you must be able to evaluate tasks according to a correct method that will allow you to decide, which task should take precedence over which.
The way to do that is to measure everything you do against two criteria:
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Improve your mental focus and concentration
Posted by Chris on 10/01/2011
How you can improve your mental focus and concentration?
How can you improve your mental focus and powers of concentration?
It is important because there are many people who have poor concentration.
They can’t keep their mind on the job!
How many people do you know suffer from having a butterfly mind?
A butterfly mind is one that never settles on anything long enough to allow for any meaningful progress to be made before they:
(read more)
Presentation skills for business people and engineers
Posted by Chris on 07/01/2011
Presentation skills for business people and engineers
Business people and engineers have to be able to explain themselves!
They need to explain their:
1. Products
2. Services
3. Procedures
4. Processes
5. Ideas
6. Rational
They need to be able to explain themselves to customers, sales people, buyers and other engineers.
They need to be able to explain themselves in situations that are:
(read more)
Clarity is power
Posted by Chris on 05/01/2011
Clarity is power
If “Success” is defined as: “The achievement of a goal”, then the idea success without a goal is meaningless.
In the 1970’s psychologists tried to correlate “success” with various indicators so that they might discover why some people are more successful than others,
They tried to link success with SOCIAL CLASS............ and failed.
They tried to link success with RACE .......................... and failed.
(read more)
Advanced Management training: Causality
Posted by Chris on 02/01/2011
Advanced Management Training: Causality
You will sometimes need to identify the causes of an event. If something fails, you need to identify the causes of the failure. That can be a complicated issue because most situations have multiple causes.
Today, I want to show you a model to help you to identify causes.
How to find out why something happened
Causality is defined as: The study of the logical relationships that exists between events.
There are four distinct kinds of causes:
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New Year's Resolution
Posted by Chris on 30/12/2010
New Year’s Resolution:
We have a new year approaching:
A.D.2011 is upon us.
A year is an appreciable amount of time: 365.242 days.
Presumably you want the year 2011 to be better than 2010:
You would like to see improvements to your financial situation: more money would be helpful.
You would like to feel improvements to your health: more energy, not less
You would like to make improvements to your levels of attractiveness: we all want to feel more attractive.
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Why? Everyone loves that question!
Posted by Chris on 29/12/2010
WHY?
Everyone loves that question. It is supposed to be profound.
Kids love asking WHY?
Mum, why is the sky blue?
Mum, why does the moon change shape?
Mum, why do I have to go to school?
Why do snails have no legs?
Mum, why is Granny so fat?
Why, why, why?
It drives mum crazy!
(read more)
Motivation by fear or desire
Posted by Chris on 28/12/2010
Motivation by fear or desire
Motivation is important.
All managers need to know something about motivation.
Motivation is the compulsion to act.
We know we must get people to act, so we must be able to motivate them.
But how do you do that?
Answer: Understand the two great motivators:
1. Fear
2. Desire
(read more)
Time Management Skill - Momentum and Inertia
Posted by Chris on 27/12/2010
Time Management Skills - Momentum and Inertia
Mental Momentum and mental inertia are important concepts that all time managers should know about.
Inertia
Inertia is a measure of a body’s resistance to change.
Inertia represents the extra effort you must put into a system to just to start it moving.
For example, if you need to push a car, you have to push it really hard to get it to start moving.
(read more)
Time Management Training: How to gain more Leverage
Posted by Chris on 24/12/2010
Time Management Training: How to gain more Leverage
If you want things to get better, you need to get more leverage.
A lever is one of mankind's oldest tools. With a simple lever, you can lift ten times more weight than you could, without the lever.
So a Lever is a way to improve your productivity.
Archimedes c. 287 BC – c. 212 BC was the first to properly study the lever. He said “Give me a place to stand and a lever long enough, and lo, I shall move the world!”
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Answer the right question
Posted by Chris on 16/12/2010
Answer the right question
The human mind has evolved to answer questions.
And the first question is this: “How can I survive?”
For 100, 000 years that question was the sole preoccupation of every man, woman and child.
But in 2010, in Western Europe, your basic survival needs have all been taken care of.
So, presumably you have:
• Clothing
• Shelter
• Access to clean water
• Sufficient food
(read more)
Management Training: Overcoming the fear of failure
Posted by Chris on 14/12/2010
Management Training: Overcoming the Fear of Failure
Managers, trainers and leaders must understand the fear of failure:
There is one common factor that stops people from expressing their full potential.
It is this: The fear of failure.
Many people say to themselves:
“If I were to set a goal, and fail to achieve it, I will have failed.
I don't think I can handle that kind of disappointment. In order to avoid failure, I will not set any goals.
(read more)
Where should you start as a leader and manager?
Posted by Chris on 10/12/2010
Where should you start as a leader and manager?
Everything in the universe has a beginning
1. Your beginning was the fusing of 23 chromosomes from your dad with 23 chromosomes from your mum. And, hey presto you sprang into existence!
2. The Honda Corporation began when Soichiro Honda decided to attach a small motor to his push bike.
3. Geometry began when a chap called Euclid wrote down five self evident statements that he thought would be the starting point of the science of geometric maths.
(read more)
Stress management by means of time management training
Posted by Chris on 08/12/2010
Stress management by means of time management training
Today, there are many people who feel stressed.
Many are looking for ways to reduce their stress. So they search Google for “stress management training”, to help them.
Which is fine...
BUT, I have observed many times that “Work stress” is often a result of poor time management skills.
i.e. Suppose Sam is messing up in terms of his:
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A Neglected Time Management Training Skill
Posted by Chris on 03/12/2010
An obvious but neglected Time management training skill
Sometimes, an obvious fact is not easy to see?
For example:
For centuries many people did not know that the atmosphere even existed.
They thought the atmosphere was “nothing”. We still say, " I can’t make it out of thin air".
Meaning, “ I cannot make something from nothing”.
We don’t see the obvious. It does not impinge on our senses because it is there all the time.
(read more)
Time management training
Posted by Chris on 24/11/2010
Time management training
Every day, four times each day, ask yourself this one question:
“What is the most valuable use of my time, right now?”
The key word here is “valuable”.
If you want to be more successful than you are now, then find ways to add more value, per day, to others.
Add value, to whom?
There are three categories
Try to add value to:
1. Your family
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Advanced training for senior management and leaders
Posted by Chris on 15/11/2010
Advanced training for senior management and leaders
Define your personal philosophy and make it clear to everyone.
Tell them exactly what you believe in and why.
Definition of personal philosophy
Your personal philosophy is the most important thing about you.
It is the sum-total of all that you believe in.
Thus, it affects every action and decision you make.
Your personal philosophy governs how you feel: whether you are optimistic about the future, or pessimistic.
(read more)
Stress management: Recovery ability
Posted by Chris on 08/11/2010
Stress management: Recovery ability
Recovery ability is the ability of your “mental- emotional- physiological” body to absorb, metabolise and bounce back from, the various stressors that affect you, every day.
Recovery ability is a combination of many factors including: · Immunology and resistance to disease · Mental toughness · Good relationships with those close to you · Good nutrition · Good health practices · Positive attitude · Elimination of fear. Recovery ability is important because your life is a network of competing and diverse pressures, all of which represent a "HIT" on your mind- body-soul system.
(read more)
Practical Stress management training
Posted by Chris on 27/10/2010
Practical Stress management training
Definition of “Stress”:
Stress is: A mental and physiological reaction to the environmental pressures and the associated meanings given to them.
Definition of “Stress Management”
Is the art of controlling:
• The focus of your mind
• The physical state of your body
So as to create optimum emotional responses appropriate to the circumstances that face you.
(read more)
Senior and Advanced Management Training
Posted by Chris on 13/10/2010
Senior and Advanced Management Training
All senior managers need to be highly skilled.
That means highly trained.
There are many management models that have been around for a long time and are the staple diet of management training courses.
These familiar favourites include:
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
• Theory X theory Y
• Learning styles
• Situational leadership
• NLP: Visual, auditory, kinaesthetic
(read more)
Thinking logically
Posted by Chris on 08/10/2010
Thinking logically
How thinking logically can make your life better
Your ability to Reason is your means of success.
And logic is the method of reason.
In business, you must react to people and problems according to the principles of reason.
If you become UN-reasonable you will:
1. Make unnecessary enemies
2. Not get the best from customers and colleagues
(read more)
Advanced management skills: Knowing when to stop
Posted by Chris on 04/10/2010
Advanced management skills: Knowing when to stop
Simple, but not easy
There are some simple skills that are NOT easy to master.
Walking is one. It took you over a year to learn to walk. But you finally succeeded.
Tying your laces is another. Do you remember that? Presumably, you finally succeeded in that too.
But how about the skill of “Knowing when to stop”?
(read more)
Time management
Posted by Chris on 29/09/2010
Time management
There are two ways to improve your performance.
1. Increase the number of good and right things that you do.
2. Decrease the number of bad and wrong things that you do.
Doing good things is obviously good.
But did you know that you can do 100 things that are right, and still mess up the whole deal by doing ONE thing that is wrong.
I call this the “One bug rule”.
(read more)
Time management training
Posted by Chris on 23/09/2010
Time management training
Time management is important to your better future.
Time management concerns itself with this question:
How can you get the most from each hour?
Here are four actions to take:
1. Operate according to your plan, not your mood.
Each evening, make out a plan of action for the following day.
Then the following day; just do it!
Don’t put it off because you are “not in the mood”.
(read more)
Advanced management training: The three laws of logic
Posted by Chris on 15/09/2010
Advanced management training: The three laws of logic
There are three laws of logic.
If you want to think logically, you should know all three.
Here they are, as a list:
1. The law of identity.
2. The law of excluded middle.
3. The law of non contradiction.
Let us look at each one and what it means in practice:
The law of identity
(read more)
The ten commandments of better management skills
Posted by Chris on 09/09/2010
The ten commandments of better management skills
Tradition holds that Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the revealed truth from God. Moses was able then to tell us, exactly, how we should act, if we wish to gain grace and favour with GOD (Exodus 20)
But now, we live in more uncertain times and it is rare that we are in receipt of such definite advice from THE BIG GUY UPSTAIRS!
Luckily, we were endowed with a rational faculty which allows us to figure things out for ourselves.
(read more)
What makes people do what they do?
Posted by Chris on 31/08/2010
What makes people do what they do?
In order to get the best from yourself and others, you need a good answer to this question.
What makes people do what they do?
i.e: What is the cause of human action
Traditionally there have been two answers to this question.
“Nature” and “nurture”.
The so called BIG debate is “Are you determined by your nature or your nurture”?
The "Determined by nature" has many variants
(read more)
How to be more successful
Posted by Chris on 09/08/2010
How to be more successful Because of the law of cause and effect, there are causes for everything.
Everything that occurs has definite causes.
If you want something specific to occur, then you must affect the specific causes.
If success is what you wish to achieve you must affect the specific success causes.
What are the causes of success?
Good question!
One way to answer it is to look at numerous instances of "success" and try to discover the common elements that are present in all the instances.
(read more)
How to delegate
Posted by Chris on 29/07/2010
How to delegate
Delegation: the act of entrusting a task to another person.
Delegate as many lower value tasks, as you can, to the right people, for the right reasons, using SMART.
Delegate by means of SMART Targets
Smart targets allow you to communicate the task with greater accuracy and understanding to the other person. SMART means:
Specific – Use numbers. Describe the task by always making reference to numbers. Example:
(read more)
How to give constructive criticism
Posted by Chris on 14/07/2010
How to give constructive criticism and praise
There is a difference between constructive and destructive criticism isn’t there?
It is the same distinction that exists between giving:· Valuable feedback and
(read more)
Online training
Posted by Chris on 08/07/2010
Online training
Advances in technology make your life better.
For example
If you assume that the first technological advance was the taming of fire:
Just think how thankful your ancient ancestors were when, in the middle of a freezing winter, one of them found the first box of matches!
That night there was much rejoicing.
Later, the Greek, Archimedes, invented the lever and its sister invention the pulley: now you could lift four times your own weight, which can be useful.
(read more)
How to give staff appraisals
Posted by Chris on 30/06/2010
How to give staff appraisals
Why appraisals are important
Appraisals are the time when you are asked to give feedback to others.
Feedback is a subset of the Continuous improvement cycle.
1. Set the goal
2. Write the plan
3. Take the actions
4. Give feedback on the actions
5. Change and adapt according to the feedback
The value of accurate feedback
Feedback is a specialised form of information that:
(read more)
Stress management training
Posted by Chris on 15/06/2010
Stress management
Stressful situations are common
They are most often triggered by threat situations.
If you percieve no threats to your continuued prosperity and health: you feel no stress.
If you percieve there are threats to your continued prosperity and health, then you DO feel stress.
You cannot wish the threat away, so instead you should:
(read more)
Communication skills
Posted by Chris on 08/06/2010
Communication skills
Improve your use of language
Some say “Judge not, lest you be judged”.
But the truth is, you will be judged by others.
People must make judgements about you:
• Whether to believe you or not.
• Whether to treat you well or not.
• Whether to give you the position or not.
So prepare to be judged.
Do everything you can to help them make a decision that is good for you and your family.
(read more)
Managers: How to think and grow rich
Posted by Chris on 19/05/2010
Creativity as the sources of new profits
There is one thing that will be the source of your greatest profits in the future: your MIND.
Your minds capacity to imagine, and create new ideas, that can be sold can create fantastic wealth.
It has not always been that way: In the past wealth has been defined by many things.
In early history (even up to the present time) Food production was the source of wealth. If you could grow enough food, you were wealthy. If not you were poor: Many went hungry and even starved.
(read more)
Change management
Posted by Chris on 10/05/2010
Change management
Change is in the air: Change of economic condition; climate change; political change.
The Laws of Darwinian evolution demand that you adapt and change.
There are two kinds of change:
1. One is good
2. The other is not so good
Here is the good change:
Change in behaviour that is intended to result in you arriving at a specific place in a specified time.
Here is the not so good change
(read more)
How to gain confidence
Posted by Chris on 30/04/2010
A simple way to gain confidence
There is a two word phrase that you can use to be the source of confidence The same phrase can also be the source of desperation.
If you use this two word phrase positively- it can breed confidence, success and happiness.
If you misuse this two word phrase -it will cause you anxiety, pain and fear.
The phrase in question is:
"WHAT IF.....?"
(read more)
How to improve your communication skills
Posted by Chris on 27/04/2010
How to improve your communication skills
An easy way to improve your communication skills Here is an easy way to improve your communication skills by a factor of two!
USE NUMBERS
Let me explain...
Everyday speech is filled with vague terms that are easily misunderstood
Terms like:
As soon as possible:
• Better
(read more)
Volcanic cloud chaos - Crisis management
Posted by Chris on 18/04/2010
Volcanic cloud chaos - Crisis management
What do you do when it all goes wrong?
The volcanic eruption that grounded aircraft has caused many businesses and individuals a crisis situation.
What should you do in a crisis situation?
Here are the steps:
Step one
Guard against emotional and intellectual overwhelm.
The collapse of the original plan will throw some into an emotional collapse and into a mental fog.
(read more)
How to improve your communication
Posted by Chris on 12/04/2010
How to improve your communication
There is a simple way to improve your communication:
“Think before you speak”
Before you say anything, ask yourself this question:
"What will be the likey consequence of what I am about to say?
Will it lead to a consequence that is...
1. Beneficial
2. Neutral
(read more)
Work pressure
Posted by Chris on 01/04/2010
Work pressure
Pressure is a part of life.
But sometimes it can overwhelm you and be the cause of physical and mental problems.
You cannot get away from pressure, because running away from problems always creates worse ones!
The way to deal with pressure is to learn to handle three things:
1. Your mind
2. your body
3. your reactions
(read more)
How to manage stress
Posted by Chris on 01/04/2010
How to manage stress
We live in a world that creates pressure to achieve more with less.
That constant pressure can have an effect on some people from time to time.
They may feel it as stress, tiredness or a drop in motivation.
It may even create absenteeism.
So, “How to handle pressure at work” is an important skill that means mastering the following skills:
Creating and sustaining a positive attitude
Because the best way to handle pressure is manage your own mind.
(read more)
Do you need time management training
Posted by Chris on 31/03/2010
Time management
Many people do because many people do not plan ahead.
They are too busy mopping up after the mistakes caused by a previous lack of planning.
Make a mental shift from the immediate moment into the middle future.
You need to be thinking now about things needed for next year.
That will require planning.
And planning takes effort and an act of will.
It may also takes training.
Each individual must learn the principles of prioritising to allow time to plan.
Question
(read more)
A good time management tip?
Posted by Chris on 26/03/2010
A good time management tip
Don’t waste time on the wrong things!
How can you figure out what are the right things?
Suppose we categorised every item on your list and placed them in one of three categorries
1. All the things you can control
2. All the things that you cannot control - but can INFLUENCE
3. All the things that you cannot control NOR influence 1. All the things you can control control
The things you can control are the things that should grap the lion’s share of your attention.
(read more)
Time management - Three common problems
Posted by Chris on 17/03/2010
Time management - Three common problems When I run time management courses I learn what problems are common to many people Then I think about what we might do to improve on the situation.
When it comes to time management, there are three very common problems that are shared by
almost every busy person.
Let us list them and solve them one by one:
Three common time management problems are:
1. Butterfly mind
2. Starting too many tasks
3. Distractions
(read more)
Time management skill
Posted by Chris on 02/03/2010
Time management skill: Finding the high value task
Here is a time management question for you: What is "A high value task?" Whenever we are trying to improve our time management we must answer this question.
What is the most valuable use of my time?
What is the most valuable use of my time? Notice the key word in that sentence is VALUABLE.
The word “valuable” is a subjective, not an objective word.
(read more)
Time Management Training Advice
Posted by Chris on 22/02/2010
Time management training advice - Part 1
Here is a time management question for you
At your place of work.....
(read more)
Change management
Posted by Chris on 15/02/2010
Change is inevitable
You cannot avoid it.
Many people do not like change, because change creates uncertainty.
Then again, all improvements are change
Therefore even changes that are improvements can be unsettling to the majority. “Better the devil you know” is a common expression
How can you make improvements and change more palatable? Here are five points to bear in mind that will help you to manage change. 1. Actively Communicate the purpose for the change
(read more)
Problem solving for managers
Posted by Chris on 28/01/2010
This is one of the best pieces of advice a manager can learn
Memorize it and quote it to others.
“Do what you can, with what you have, from where you are.”
October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919; pronounced was the 26th President of the United States. He is well remembered for his energetic persona and his leadership. There will always be some managers who will shy away from taking action because they claim that they don't have:
(read more)
Help for managers with poor communication skills
Posted by Chris on 18/01/2010
A common management mistake you should avoid There is a common mistake made my many managers.
It is a cause of “errors in judgment”.
Managers, since your future is based partially on your “good judgment”, sources of error should be eliminated.
Here is the source of the error.
It is called “cause-correlation” error.
The cause correlation error is defined as:
(read more)
Mind control - Control your mind
Posted by Chris on 08/01/2010
How to control your mind May I recommend an author to you?
Go onto the web and find James Allen: and his small book “As a man thinketh”.
It is a free e-book because the copywrite has expired.
I have paraphrased some of James Allen’s work below.
Your mind is similar to a garden.
You may look after it and use it to produce food, fruit and flowers.
Or you may neglect it.
But if you neglect it, your mind will still produce: it will produce the equivalent of weeds.
(read more)
New year resolutions
Posted by Chris on 04/01/2010
New year is the time for resolutions
1. The adoption of a new good habit.
And
2. The elimination of an old bad habit. If you have been scratching around looking for a resolution to adopt, let me suggest one of each type
• Something that would be good, to initiate
• Something that is bad, to eliminate New habit to initiate
Whenever you say that:
1. you should,
(read more)
Persistence
Posted by Chris on 29/12/2009
Lindsey’s Christmas Puzzle
Over Christmas lunch 2009, we opened Christmas crackers.
Inside one cracker we found a simple “Chinese puzzle”.
It consisted of two metal sections that were entwined.
The question was “how to separate them?”
Everyone tried to solve the puzzle.
Everyone tinkered with the entangled steel pieces.
Everyone failed.
After half an hour of frustrated effort, I concluded that, “If I could not do it - then it cannot be done!"
(read more)
Leadership training skills
Posted by Chris on 23/12/2009
Leadership skills - How to know what to believe
There are so many conflicting opinions about every issue how can you know what to believe?
• How do you know what is true?
• How do you know what is false?
This question is important because can lose everything you have worked for if you
• Believe something that is false
• Dis believe something that is true
And you can have more of everything you want, if your judgment is sound and you can recognise
(read more)
Effective Leadership and Management
Posted by Chris on 16/12/2009
There are many qualities of effective leadership and management.
Here are fifteen of them.
Read them and score yourself out of ten for each.
Add up your score.
If you have scored less than 75 points book yourself on the two day programme.
Fifteen qualities of leadership and management 1. Are you committed to “continuous improvement”?
This presupposes that improvement is always possible.
Also that the nature of business is to improve.
Never to be 100% satisfied.
(read more)
How do I give constructive criticism?
Posted by Chris on 11/12/2009
Get the timing right
When you are intending to give
• Corrective feedback or
• Constructive criticism
it is important to get the timing right.
When giving critical feedback to another, what does "Get the timing right" mean? It means four things
Do it soon
You need to give people accurate feedback on their performance
The feedback can be positive or negative but it should always be
(read more)
How to manage yourself during the recession
Posted by Chris on 03/12/2009
What should you do when it is difficult?
Each year has four seasons:
Spring, summer, autumn, and winter
It is in the winter that we have most trouble. Each work project has the same four seasons. Spring, summer, autumn and winter. We sometimes find ourselves in a “winter of discontent”. The four seasons
• Spring is easy: you are starting the new project and feeling good. • Summer is fun: when the sun is shining and the project is going well. • Autumn: when the leaves are falling off and the skies begin to darken. • Then, winter!
(read more)
Leadership training question
Posted by Chris on 01/12/2009
I recently had a conversation with a manager from a service sector organisation.
Her name was Susan. She was a senior manager with a problem.
I asked “What is troubling you, Susan?”
She frowned and said “We have a number of managers that need to hold interviews with colleagues in regard to the colleague’s breaches of standards.
These interviews have, on certain occasions, been badly handled. For example: one person holding an interview seemed to prejudge the issue and failed to ask the correct questions.
(read more)
Leaders and Managers
Posted by Chris on 27/11/2009
Leaders and Managers - Thought to inspire
The way you feel today is dependent on what you think about.
1. If you have a mind filled with thoughts of doom and impending disaster, then you will feel anxious and worried.
2. If you have a mind filled with thoughts of future success and achievement, you will feel stronger and more confident. So it is important to plant the seeds of optimism into your brain, and into the brains of others, so that seeds might flourish and produce a more positive attitude.
(read more)
Management training: How to develop trust
Posted by Chris on 20/11/2009
Trust is a vital element in the relationships within a team.
Trust is an emotion.
You trust other people to the degree that you believe they will do all that they say they will do.
And
You trust other people to the degree you believe they will NOT do what they promise they won’t do.
Trust is a highly regarded quality
We want to be trusted and we want to be able to trust the others. A lack of trust in a team is a recipe for disaster. Without trust, all chance of success will be obliterated.
(read more)
Managers are stressed
Posted by Chris on 13/11/2009
Read the following and see if this rings bells with you. During a course last week I had a conversation with a manager, called Mark, and he was explaining to me the stress he was under. Mark said “I am a manager of a large team, and some of the people in my team are very difficult. They seem to go out of their way to be troublesome. They keep avoiding work and when I pick them up on it, they claim that I am BULLYING them and threaten to go sick with stress. Some of the worst offenders, even complain that I am victimising them, if I try to manage their performance". I sometimes lose my temper and end up shouting at them. Of course that makes matters worse. So presently, I am the subject of a disciplinary action against me and that is why I have been sent on this conflict course. I said, “Mark, you are right. Some people are dishonest and use the organisational systems which were designed to help the weak, to their own dishonest advantage.
(read more)
Time management skills
Posted by Chris on 05/11/2009
A Time management question relating to office gossip
On the last presentation of the effective leader manager course, one delegate asked me an interesting question that you too, might have wondered about. During the time management section of the course, we were talking about "the best use of your time" . I was suggesting the idea that distractions can steal too much productivity from your day, and that we should reduce the amount of time given over to chatter and gossip. One of the delegates, a lady by the name of Tricia, asked:
(read more)
Change Management Training
Posted by Chris on 27/10/2009
Change is the only universal constant
You can be certain that the current situation will not last.
It will be swept away and replaced by a new situation.
That can be either a source of comfort - or a warning. The certainty of change as a comfort.
If the current times are difficult for you, then take heart: the pain is NEVER permanent.
I know that because nothing is permanent.
If you keep working and keep improving those things that you can improve, then eventually the wheel of fortune will turn and you will see the sunshine once again.
(read more)
Time Management Training Tips
Posted by Chris on 22/10/2009
Time wasters: The Butterfly mind Last week, during the Effective leader manager course, in Birmingham, we discussed this important time management question:
“What personal habits do YOU have, that causes you to waste your OWN time?”
One delegate, Toni answered:
“I have a “butterfly mind”. I keep losing my mental focus. My mind wanders off what I supposed to be doing.
What can I do about it, Chris?” I said
(read more)
How do I delegate?
Posted by Chris on 19/10/2009
Delegation
Delegation: is the act of entrusting a task to another person. • You cannot do everything.
• So you should do only the highest value things on your list.
• What should you do with the lower value items?
• You should delegate them to others. There are good five good reasons to delegate some of your work to others: 1. To give you more time for to do higher value work 2. The person you delegate to may be the best person for the job. 3. Delegating tasks evens the lead across the team 4. Delegating tasks may be seen as a form of training 5. Delegating tasks may be seen as a motivating factor as it shows trust.
(read more)
Improve my management skills
Posted by Chris on 12/10/2009
All good management is based on a “Success Formula”
It is a formula for all successful action and it looks like this:
The success formula
The five steps of the success formula are as follows: 1. Name a clear purpose
2. Formulate your best, written plan
3. Take decisive action
4. Gather the feedback: both on target and off target
5. Change in the light of off target feedback.
(read more)
Change management
Posted by Chris on 02/10/2009
Change Management
There is a management puzzle for you to solve: 1. All the improvements that you wish to make imply making changes to your current methods. 2. But many people do not like making changes to their current methods: change unsettles them. 3. So many people DO NOT WANT TO MAKE THE IMPROVEMENTS necessary because that will mean they have to accept change - which they do not want to do. Change
(read more)
Development of good management skills
Posted by Chris on 21/09/2009
WHY Should I develop my management training skills?
Why should you expend effort to develop your management skills?
After all, many people do not bother.
“WHY?” is an all important question.
We have four answers to the why question: 1. If you are in business, you are in the businesses of people.
People are your primary resource. People are your customers, suppliers, financiers and workers. To get the most from your business, you need to get the most from people. Our training is about getting the most from people. 2. In business, you cannot force people to do anything.
(read more)
Management training skills - A good sense of humour
Posted by Chris on 14/09/2009
A good sense of humour is important. You have heard that it is good to laugh.
That you should not take yourself too seriously and that you should be able to laugh at yourself. Yet surprisingly, the ability to laugh is NOT a universal good. As a leader manger you need to be able to discriminate between the proper and the improper uses of humour. It is true that your good humour is an important attribute.
It is one of your assets. Let us give it some thought and discriminate between the proper and the improper uses of humour.
(read more)
Time Management Planning
Posted by Chris on 03/09/2009
When on time management training I often suggest to delegates:
“Always work to a detailed written plan.” That often stimulates a response from at least one delegate who says:
“I prefer to improvise. I don't like to plan because, where I work-it so chaotic, making a plan is useless. So I prefer to improvise.” This is a common interjection.
Yet it is faulty. Why?
Because “Planning” and “improvisation” are not opposites from which you must choose. The choice is NOT :
(read more)
Six things that will destroy your brain
Posted by Chris on 26/08/2009
A warning for managers There are certain things that will harm your ability to think straight.
It would be good to avoid them.
In order to avoid them, you must first recognise them. Here they are: Six things that will destroy your brain. High carbon monoxide
Your brain demands 30% of all the oxygen you breathe. If it becomes short of oxygen will not work properly.
Oxygen is carried to the brain in the red blood cells via a protein called “Haemoglobin”
(read more)
Management Skills: Creative problem solving
Posted by Chris on 17/08/2009
Right now, you are probably facing problems.
How did I Know?
Because we all are.
The question is: are you able to solve the problems that face you?
Or not?
Problem solving is the MASTER LIFE SKILL
(read more)
More advanced communication skills
Posted by Chris on 07/08/2009
More advanced communication skills - How to get to the truth Introduction I was in SAUDI ARABIA this week running a management course. We were discussing the problem of asking incisive questions to discover the truth, or specific facts. Mohammed, a delegate asked me: "Have you got any tips on how to get at the truth, when interviewing another?”. I said "Yes".
He said “What are they?” I said … “There are three categories of thought on this issue: 1. Things to ask about
(read more)
Conflict Management Skills
Posted by Chris on 03/08/2009
Notes on Compromise During a course in Manchester, England, Sam x, a perplexed middle manager of seven years experience asked me “I am wrestling with a question. Can you help me with it?
Should I always “compromise” and find the middle ground?
I feel like I should, but I don’t always want to.
What do you think? I said “What do you mean by the term “compromise”, Sam? There are two distinct meanings to the idea of compromise. One is good and the other is bad.
(read more)
Motivation for managers
Posted by Chris on 28/07/2009
Introduction In any context, people’s reactions will be driven by two major influences:
• Their knowledge
• Their emotions This article is about their emotions.
How can you inspire people to gain the best result possible? If people feel de-motivated, they will not even attempt to win. If people are inspired to feel motivated, they are capable of amazing feats. So it is vital for you to be able to motivate others. How can “the science of human motivation” benefit us? Let us examine the facts…….
(read more)
How some managers fail
Posted by Chris on 19/07/2009
How some managers fail (and how to avoid the same mistakes)
The five part success formula is:
1. Develop a clear purpose
2. Formulate an intelligent plan
3. Take decisive action
4. Gather and analyse the feedback
5. Change in the light of feedback The failure formula is the opposite method: 1. Have a lack of purpose
2. Have No plan
3. Suffer with a lack of action
(read more)
Assertiveness
Posted by Chris on 10/07/2009
People often ask me how they can tell the difference between “Assertiveness” and “Aggressiveness”. 1. You need to be assertive
2. You must not be aggressive
So, you should know the difference. Assertiveness
Assertiveness is a form of communication that is rational, based on a logical interpretation of the facts and implies a willingness to negotiate.
(read more)
Time management skills training
Posted by Chris on 05/07/2009
Here is an important question
Are you trying to do too much?
Many people think that "there is too much to do".
The truth is that:
They are trying to do too much. Here is the solution to your problems
Stop trying to do too much! Here is another question
Should you try to do it all?
There are two possible answers to the question
1. Yes - I should try to do it all
(read more)
Improve the management team
Posted by Chris on 30/06/2009
What is a manager for?
Your managers are there to achieve one goal:
To improve productivity.
They do that by adding value to your organisation in three ways:
1. Managers are the members of your team who are primarily responsible for the creation and communication of clear goals,
2. Then, they should have the ability to build intelligent plans that will achieve the goal in the quickest and most efficient manner possible.
(read more)
Better Time Management
Posted by Chris on 29/06/2009
Beat the BIG THREE time wasters Introduction To a certain degree everyone wastes time. The reason is:
there are THE BIG THREE time wasters that effect everyone. The big three are: 1. Other people
2. Your own bad habits
3. Poor systems If we each could beat these three, we would have more productive days. Let’s take a closer look at the big three time wasters and see if we can make some progress. First of the big three: Other people Are there other people in your work that occupy your time but without any added benefit? One of these people may even be a colleague. This person talks too much about the wrong things. He-she has the ability to distract you-
(read more)
Clarify your communication
Posted by Chris on 17/06/2009
Four ways to clarify your communication Clear communication is essential to your organisation. Communication is the transfer of information.
Mis-communication causes a loss of information.
Mis-communication will cause you to lose. How can you gain greater accuracy in communication? 1.Focus on delivering an affirmative message
Say what you want
Telling people what you do not want is only useful if it is immediately followed by an accurate description of what you do want.
(read more)
Conflict communication skills
Posted by Chris on 10/06/2009
Conflict communication skills Introduction You have to manage different character types.
Some people are easy to manage and some people are not easy.
You may find some people difficult to manage; especially in a conflict situation. Let us think of a continuum with extremes of character on each end. 1. On one end are the “toughies”.
2. On the other end are the “softies”. The toughies are: • More confident
(read more)
Emotional Management
Posted by Chris on 01/06/2009
Emotional Management
We all need to manage how we feel.
We want to feel stronger and more confident.
So, we need to learn the art of emotional management.
Emotional Management is the art of controlling the focus of your mind and the physical state of your body, so as to create optimum emotional responses appropriate to the circumstances that face you.
Do you want to know how to manage your emotions?
If, yes, read on…... First Point to note:
(read more)
Leadership training
Posted by Chris on 25/05/2009
Common causes of failure in leadership
Good leaders and managers constantly improve their abilities in specific areas: Particularly in communication, planning and motivational skills. They do this in order to get the best from themselves and others. Poor leaders, by neglect, fail to develop their skills.
As a consequence they pay a heavy price. Below are the six common causes of failure.
Read them through and ensure that none of them apply to you:
(read more)
Management training
Posted by Chris on 21/05/2009
Management training
All good managers should be given sufficient management training so that they are able to give “constructive criticism”.
Not destructive. Constrictive criticism is defined as:
“A specialised form of communication that identifies a wrong action and seeks to gain a commitment to change it to a right action, without causing offence”. Destructive criticism is defined as :
“A corrupt form of communication that identifies a wrong action and seeks to emotionally undercut the person for doing it wrong” Here are the steps to master in order to give constructive criticism.
(read more)
Time management training
Posted by Chris on 21/05/2009
Time management training Good Time management boils down to this:
Operate according to your plan! Not to your mood, nor to the moment. Many people do not plan.
They are too busy mopping up after the mistakes caused by a previous lack of planning.
Leader-managers make a mental shift from the immediate moment into the middle future.
They need to be thinking now about things needed for next year. That means rational planning. It takes effort and an act of will. It also takes training. Each individual must learn the principles of prioritising to allow time to plan. Question
(read more)
Management communication skills
Posted by Chris on 11/05/2009
Management communication skills
Distinguish between reasons and excuses Is there a difference between a “reason” and an “excuse” for not doing something?
You bet there is a difference! A reason is true, logical, undeniable and unavoidable.
An excuse is none of these. (i.e. an excuse is untrue, illogical, dishonest or avoidable).
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How do I gain respect as a new manager?
Posted by Chris on 30/04/2009
How do I gain respect as a new manager? On courses, I am constantly asked the very similar questions from various people, who work in very different types of business.
The product the business supplies have little to do with the daily troubles some people have managing others. The problems/ challenges are similar because the common denominator is “human beings”
• Managers manage human beings
• Managers are (for the most part) human beings themselves.
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Management Question:
Posted by Chris on 30/04/2009
Management Question:
I know I should delegate; but I don’t. Why is that? Answer
There are three common reasons people give for not delegating when they should. All of them are false
Read the following three excuses and ask yourself which ones are yours: Excuse one: by the time I have explained it would be quicker to have done it myself.
The truth is you have failed to recognise that although there is an upfront investment required to explain the task there is an ongoing benefit.
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Conflict management skills
Posted by Chris on 21/04/2009
Conflict management skills
Conflict management skills: Do you know any managers who mishandle conflict situations and make things worse?
They would benefit from learning how to handle difficult people with more skill.
They might benefit from learning how to apply the proper conflict resolution skills.
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People management skills
Posted by Chris on 20/04/2009
People management skills
How can you get the best from yourself and others?
Answer: develop your: “People management skills”
People management skills are the “soft skills”.
Some people develop them all naturally; and sadly, others don’t.
Do you know anyone with good technical skills, but poor people management skills?
Their effect can be devastating, cant it?
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Train to gain leadership and management courses
Posted by Chris on 17/04/2009
Train to gain leadership and management courses
Train to gain: what is it? “Train to gain” is a pot of government funding for your business to help with the costs of training key staff.
It amounts to £1000 of matched funding to go toward relevant training.
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Personal Management
Posted by Chris on 08/04/2009
Personal Management 1. Live life on your own terms
a. Don’t be a victim 2. Realise that you can control only one thing: The content of your mind.
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Managing the team
Posted by Chris on 23/03/2009
Managing the team
Three facts about good teams All great teams share the same three qualities.
1. Great teams form in the pursuit of a clear worthwhile purpose.
2. Great teams have the ability to write practical plans.
3. Great teams remain positive during difficult times.
Great teams form in the pursuit of a clear worthwhile purpose.
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Communication skills
Posted by Chris on 13/03/2009
Communication skills
If you want to improve your management ability, you may wish to master this important communication skill Notice the distinction between1. An answer to a question 2. A response to a question
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How to build successful teams
Posted by Chris on 05/03/2009
How to build successful teams
Success is not an event
It is a process
It is a five-part process that can be boiled down to five steps: Purpose Plan Action Feedback Change
Let’s look at the five part Thomas Edison Success formula:
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Managers and leaders need to be confident and optimistic during tough times
Posted by Chris on 19/02/2009
Managers and leaders need to be confident and optimistic during tough times The emotions of confidence and optimism tend to improve performance.
They allow you to think and solve problems more effectively.
By contrast, the emotions of fear and pessimism reduce performance by interrupting the ability to think and solve problems.
When tough economic or market conditions arrive, they represent major problems.
So, it is AT THAT MOMENT, important to create MORE confidence and optimism.
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The ten commandments of Time management
Posted by Chris on 10/02/2009
Time management is about doing the right thing in the right order
That calls for accurate thinking
1. Accurate thinking habits lead to good time management decisions.
2. Poor thinking habits lead to poor time management decisions. Here is a list of positive affirmations and action plans designed to improve your effectiveness.
1. Memorise this list
2. Then erase this file
Tell nobody about this material!
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Management training
Posted by Chris on 27/01/2009
Seventeen Personal skills of the effective manager The management of others depends primarily on the management of yourself. Here is an interesting list of seventeen personal management skills.
Read them through. As you read, ask yourself, - Which ones am I doing?
- And which ones am I NOT doing?
Make your analysis an honest one, and you will identify at least two aspects of your performance upon which you should focus your attention. Remember: Your goal is to succeed. To succeed, you would profit by: - Identifying any errors
- Replace them with skills
With that in mind, here is a list of seventeen skills.
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Positive Leadership and Management: Training the attitude:
Posted by Chris on 16/12/2008
Have you ever thought of the effects continual repetition of negative predictions for 2009 may be having on the minds, and therefore the actions of those who listen?
I would like to suggest that it is the job of leaders to promote a Positive attitude regarding the future.
Also to refrain from doing anything that unnecessarily induces feelings of fear, doubt or pessimism in the minds of colleagues or customers.
A “Positive attitude” has a definite beneficial effect on the country and its economy,
By implication, a “Negative attitude” is a threat to the country’s economy. The general atmosphere in the minds of many people in the country for 2009 is uncertain and lacking in confidence.
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Leaders and managers
Posted by Chris on 26/11/2008
Sometimes, leaders and managers have to do public presentations of ideas their ideas to .
But some leaders and managers are not comfortable in their role as public speaker.
To those of you who quake at the thought of public speaking, I address the following notes to you. Ten top tips for presenters 1. Structure your presentation
Gain a clear mental grasp of your material.
Decide what points are the "fundamental issues".
What points are the main themes?
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How to be an Effective Leader Manager
Posted by Chris on 11/11/2008
Two day management development programme
All effective leader-managers share certain characteristics. In order to improve your abilities as a better leader and manager, we suggest that you should focus on developing six specific characteristics.
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Confident leaders and managers
Posted by Chris on 28/10/2008
Manage your team through a Positive Mental Attitude I want to show you a powerful eight-point plan for developing a positive mental attitude.
If you take these ideas and apply them you will very rapidly achieve excellent results. 1. Set achievable goals and makes written plan for their accomplishment
Nothing succeeds like success. When you choose a goal and you see yourself achieve it, your confidence in the future strengthens 2. Seek out the company of positive people
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How to manage constructive criticism
Posted by Chris on 15/10/2008
How to manage constructive criticism
“Critical feedback” is built into the success formula.
For some people, criticism is a painful experience.
Therefore, for some people, the success formula is a painful experience!
Some people cannot take criticism because they mistake all criticism as “a put down” or an insult- i.e. something to be avoided.
All Champions (like us) distinguish between feedback (which they welcome) and insults (which they ignore).
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Successful Leadership Questionaire
Posted by Chris on 20/05/2008
All successful organisations have effective leaders and managers
All effective leader-managers display six key virtues.
Check against these questions and give a score out of ten:
1. Do all your leader-managers have a “clear vision” for the next six months and beyond? (10) Or is there an element of “drifting”? (1)
2. To what degree is the communication in your organisation “clear and accurate”? (10) Or does a lack of clear communication cause frustration and problems that can slow things down? (1)
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Management Development Skills
Posted by Chris on 04/04/2008
Management Development Skills - Six key attributes of leadership A theory for effective action In order to do well in life, we must engage in certain virtues and refrain from certain vices.
Of the many virtues required for success, six in particular are crucial. These six can be summarised in just three words.
They are clarity, reason and emotion.
I call these the primary virtues.
Clarity
Clarity relates to developing internal mental clarity.
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Six motivators
Posted by Chris on 18/03/2008
Motivation is an important but complex issue. Here are six ways to motivate others. Money
Money motivates most people.
Why? Because it allows people to buy the things they need (shelter, food, electricity) and want (fancy car, clothes, perfume). However, money may not be enough, on its own, to carry us through any particular day.
People are more complex than that. They need more! Security
Once we have enough money to take care of our immediate needs, we turn our attention to keeping what we have.
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What is an Effective Manager?
Posted by Chris on 09/01/2008
What is an Effective Manager?
Effective leader managers share common key skills and abilities Here are some of them: (Note: All references the effective leader manager as a “He” denotes also “She”) Appearance
A leader manager is aware that he is judged partly on appearance
So he looks professional. That does not mean, “flash”.
It means well groomed, clean and functional. Knowledge of products and systems
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