Sunday, September 23, 2007

The Indispensable Person - Anon

Sometime when you’re feeling important,
Sometime when your ego’s in bloom,
Sometime when you’re feeling quite certain,
You’re the best qualified one in the room.

Sometime when you feel that your going,
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow this simple instruction
And see how it humbles your soul.

Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up to the wrist,
Take it out and the hole that’s remaining
Is the measure of how much you’ll be missed

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Producing Results With Others 2-day Workshop Overview

The purpose of the 2-day PRODUCING RESULTS WITH OTHERS® (PRO) workshop is to better understand how to interact with others to produce the results you want, espe­cially in a work or organisational setting. Each of us, by necessity, interacts with others on a daily basis. Consequently, each of those interactions either works for us, or against us in producing results.

What you will be doing over the course of this workshop is to analyse how different people interact with you and what you can do to make these interactions more productive.

A major part of achieving this goal is to use other participants in this workshop as resources. You can draw upon their wealth of experiences, skills and knowledge to assist you in understanding and utilising the information presented in this workshop.

­People form distinct impressions of others almost immediately upon meeting. You may decide that someone is serious, aggressive, quiet, funny, pleasant, introverted or extro­verted, causing you to act as if those impressions are true.

If your impressions are true, you can communicate more effectively. However, if you have misjudged an individual, your relationship will probably run into trouble.

Thus, a good relationship with another person frequently depends upon an accurate and objective interpretation of that person's behaviour. Once you know a person's behaviours, you will be better prepared to relate to, and communicate with, him or her more effectively.

To produce more effective results in your interactions with others, there are two topics to explore in the PRO workshop:

1. Understanding Social Style: This is the topic of discussion for the first part of the workshop, starting with the basics of behaviour and then introducing the SOCIAL STYLE MODEL™ a well-researched, well-documented approach to analysing interpersonal behaviour. TRACOM developed this model in the early sixties and continues to prove its validity today.

2. Increasing Interpersonal Effectiveness: Once you understand behaviour, you can then decide how to respond more appropriately in interactions with others. This is the topic of discussion starting with Versatility and continuing throughout the remainder of the workshop.

Of course, if you want to be successful at understanding behaviour and learning appro­priate responses, you will have to work on the concepts and skills discussed in this workshop. These skills are presented in a building-block style, so you should partici­pate fully from start to finish.

You will receive your SOCIAL STYLE™ Profile, which is the result of the checklist given to five individuals who know you. The profile will also indicate your self-per­ception of your SOCIAL STYLE position. This score will come from the itemised checklist that you will have completed prior to the workshop. Both scores will be discussed thoroughly to make sure you understand what they mean and what they say about you.

Do not confuse this workshop with any kind of sensitivity training. The workshop is not aimed at "getting inside your head" or using any psychology. This is an awareness and skill-building workshop.

For further details of how this workshop could benefit you and your organisation, please contact Hugh Jones at CPD Training Ltd.

© TRACOM group. All rights reserved.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Seven Steps to Goal Setting

Step 1 - Make a decision

The first step is a decision. You may have previously decided that you were going to set goals, but then something cropped up, or you got frightened (of success?), or you had a business trip, or you had pressing family matters, or you wanted to read another book on the subject. Stop! Decide to do it (once more with feeling!). This time you will do it, beginning with step 2.

Step 2 - Make a list

Brainstorm all of the things your heart desires. Consider all areas and aspects of your life. Always wanted to attend an Opening Night at Drury Lane? Write it down. Own a Porche? Write it down. Hot Air Ballooning over the Grand Canyon. Write it down. Have a goal weight in your mind? Write it down. You get the idea. Big or small, tangible or intangible, personal or professional, just write them down! Keep this list and know that you can add to it any time you wish. Once you have a good number written down (at least 20 ideas would be a good start – 50 or 100 would be better) - move to step 3.

Step 3 - Make it your passion

Pick from passion. Read over your list. What jumps off the page at you? What fires you up? Highlight or circle one or two of these items. They may be long or short term, it doesn’t really matter too much – just follow your heart or intuition to pick which goals you are going to start with.

Step 4 - Make a map

Pick a process. Thousands of books, tools and tapes exist on goal setting. While there are principles that you will read over and over, there are nuances to each process. Any of them will work if you work with them. It doesn’t matter which one you pick, just pick one. Begin to apply the steps in that process to the 1-2 goals you selected in step 3.

Step 5 - Make do with less than perfect

Let go of perfect. One of the major stumbling blocks for people is that they think they have to follow the process perfectly or do everything perfectly. It won’t happen perfectly and according to your plan. But if you begin to work your plan great things WILL happen. In the end, this exercise is about the destination, not the journey. Let go of perfect and get going.

Step 6 - Make a plan

Build an action plan. Whatever goal setting process you have selected, it will include action planning. Setting a goal is one thing, but then you must have a plan for how you will get there. If one of more of the goals you selected above is a long term goal, build an interim step and build the plan to that interim step or stage. Make sure your plan has clear and actionable steps.

Step 7 - Make the first step

Take the first step. Step one urges you to decide and do. You have another decision to make now. You have some goals and you have a plan – congratulations having goals and steps are great! But they’re not enough. They don’t matter at all if you don’t actually take the real first steps in your plan. Perhaps you have arrived at this step before only to be frustrated. It is time to get past that and achieve your goals. Take your first step. Right now. These steps will absolutely work, but only if you take them. Goal setting is great; goal achieving is even greater. Now is the time. Your desired future awaits.

Potential Principle - It is time to set goals – for yourself and your team. These seven steps will help you get started. Stop knowing and start doing!

Thanks to Kevin Eikenberry http://www.kevineikenberry.com/