BEYOND GROW: A NEW COACHING MODEL


The International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching Volume I Issue I
November 2003

by Dr. Sabine Dembkowski and Fiona Eldridge


Introduction
Which ideas, models and processes do executive coaches use? Are they the best-kept trade secrets of people who prefer to produce results as if by magic? Or are models and processes used in a manner that is transparent for clients and shows them what coaches actually do and to involve them in the process?
Transparency increases trust. This is essential for any coaching relationship. Without trust the client holds back and does not reap the full benefits of the coaching relationship. It is our belief in the necessity of trust that led us to wish to uncover what actually happens in a coaching session facilitated by an excellent and effective coach. This article is the result of our quest to understand what makes a great coach and describes a new model to guide the coaching process.
We worked with and observed executive coaches in the US, England and Germany during coaching sessions with executives. Our guiding questions included:
• How does the coach achieve results?
• How does the coach have a positive impact on an executive's performance?
• What distinguishes an excellent coach from the average coach?
From our observations and modelling and study of coaching models we developed the seven-step Achieve Coaching Model™.

Our studies and training in the UK revealed that the model which has most strongly influenced the process of coaching today is the GROW model. This model was then used as the starting point for the development of ACHIEVE. -
What is the GROW model?
Goal
Reality
Opportunity
What next
The GROW model developed by Sir John Whitmore is probably the best-known coaching model in the UK. Many coach training programmes use this model as the framework for developing the coaching relationship. A recent study (2002) conducted by the Work Foundation and the School of Coaching revealed that 34% of respondents stated that they used the GROW model, one third cited they used a variety of models and the remaining third did not know what model or process was used in their coaching activities.
So what is the new model? As we stated above, it is a logical progression from GROW and follows the development of a coaching relationship in a systematic manner.

The new seven-step model

Assess current situation
Creative brainstorming of alternatives to current situation
Hone goals
Initiate options
Evaluate options
Valid action programme design
Encourage momentum
How the new model works
In this section a description of each of the seven steps is provided together with an overview of the skills and techniques which a coach can employ based on our direct observations of the best coaches.

Step 1 Assess the current situation
In this first stage of assessment coaches include all areas of a client's life. As one of the coaches we modelled in Germany explained, "... you cannot separate the different areas of an executive's life or for that matter anyone's life - they are an interlinked system". It is important to obtain an overview of the client's current circumstances before focusing on the chosen area.
The most critical coaching skills at this stage are: rapport building, the use of open-ended questions and active listening.
Great coaches establish rapport by employing three essential skills:
• Matching
• Summarising
• Respecting
Of the three, matching is key and involves matching both physiology and language:
• Posture (key) - especially spine and head tilt
• Gestures
• Facial expression & blinking (key)
• Breathing
• Voice - tone, tempo, timbre and volume
• Use of language - key words, common experiences and associations
The use of open-ended questions requires the client to answer with more than a simple yes or no. The purpose of this is to help the client to begin to explore his or her current situation which leads to different ways of thinking about it and ultimately to the self-generation of solutions.
In active listening coaches applied three techniques: repeating what was said word-by-word, reflective repetition (same sense) and interpretive repetition. In the latter step some coaches went as far as testing hypotheses and synthesising information from the client. All coaches observed their clients very carefully at this stage and had developed a high degree of sensory acuity. Sensory acuity includes observing such things as very small changes in skin colour and tone, the tightness of the muscles around the mouth, blinking rate and breathing rate. They showed genuine curiosity towards the client and their stories and were demonstrably keen to learn more about them. Based on the initial assessment the shaped the specific course of the coaching programme together with the client.

Step 2 Creative brainstorming of alternative options to a client's current situation
Clients who have either hired an executive coach themselves or where the organisation suggest one often experience a "stuck state". This is a situation where the client feels trapped as if there are no alternatives or keeps circling around the same issue without being able to generate new options for behaving differently. Top coaches ask open questions at this stage that allow the client to open up and/or view the problem from an entirely different perspective. A simple question such as "What would you do if money would not be an issue?" or "What would you do if you knew you could not fail?' really stimulate the client to think in a very different way. Questions like these have the power to invite very open brainstorming at this stage. It also was important for the coach to pace then lead the client. That is to continue the rapport building and gradually ease into a new approach once the client is following the movements and language of the coach.
Throughout this stage the coach observes the client very closely as even small facial changes or other shifts in physiology can be indicators that the client is beginning to change.

Step 3 Hone goals
At some point during the first few coaching sessions the coach and client begin to work on goals. Sometimes clients know exactly what they want however others require more help in formulating the goal. Whatever the starting point, all great coaches spend significant time to work with the client to hone the goal they wish to achieve from the coaching. In the numerous sessions we observed it became clear that it is not a strictly linear process as the coach and client work back and forth until the goal is clearly formulated. In addition, we noticed that great coaches made sure that goals formulated in the right way we recognised that they conform to the principles of SMART goal setting. SMART as an acronym has been quoted many times and there are several different translations for the acronym especially for the A and the R. All are good: Achievable, Attainable, Actionable, Reachable, Relevant, Realistic.The best coaches we observed asked penetrating questions about the goal to ensure that it had real relevance to the client rather than just being a restatement of organisational goals or a socially expected goal.
To be achieved a goal needs to become real to the client. As one US coach explained, "The more it matters to the client the more it acts as a magnet it will draw in the person rather than the person having to push for it." In fact for her this was the most critical issue in the process. Only those goals that have personal relevance and meaning are ones that are likely to be achieved and bring fulfilment in the longer term.
Further to this we observed that great coaches made additional efforts to help the client to build a complete projection of the goal by exploring how it will look, sound and feel when they have achieved the goal. A US coach stressed that the "aim of a small series of questions at this stage is to build a very real picture of how the goal will appear. This has the effect of making the goal seem achievable and helps the client have a much clearer idea of what they are endeavouring to achieve. By giving the client the experience of really sensing the goal the coach is giving the client the opportunity of testing that this is what they want and also gives them a benchmark to measure their progress against as they work towards the goal."

Step 4 Initiate options for goal achievement
They then move on to helping the client to initiate a wide range of options for behaving to achieve the desired goal. This is an important stage where we noticed that novice coaches are inclined to rush ahead and begin to make suggestions to the client rather than taking it slowly and allowing the client to generate his or her own options. One key skill here is according to a British coach "to know when to be silent and provide space". Long pauses are perhaps embarrassing in everyday conversation but they are a vital part of the coach/client relationship. A period of silent reflection may in fact be the most productive for generating fresh ideas and new ways of thinking about an issue. If the client generates options he/she also becomes more constructive in the face of other challenges that may appear in the future which currently appear to be unrelated to the subject of the current coaching sessions.
Having produced a range of options they establish criteria with the client for evaluating the different options.

Step 5 Evaluate options
For this to be successful requires the coach to understand the world of the executive and to be skilful in asking questions to help the client to weigh up the different options. We observed a German coach who used a matrix where he asked the client to evaluate the options in terms of short and long-term costs and benefits. Other top coaches asked clients to write things down as a list and then come back to them several days later with a fresh eye before determining which option was most appropriate. The coach also needs to be able to synthesise the different options so that a more comprehensive approach may be formed. The less experienced coaches we observed easily became impatient and rushed into the action plan design. Again a critical skill here is the development of patience to allow the clients to come to their own decisions.

Step 6 Valid Action Plan Design
This is the action planning stage where coach and client work together in developing a concrete plan to bridge the gap between where the clients are at present and where they desire to be. In our studies this step was revealed as critical to a successful outcome of the coaching partnership. A real difference emerged between coaches that were very successful and those that merely went through the motions. Good coaches are very rigorous and gain commitment from the client for action with concrete time lines and a clear statement of if and what support they need. The experienced coaches work with simple tables where they integrate all action items. They also ask for very precise questions about how the client will know when they have achieved each action - this provides key performance indicators which are again self-generated.
It also appears to be important that the client summarises the action plan in writing, often in an email, and commits to follow-up contact with the coach after each session.

Step 7 Encourage momentum
The final step in the process is ongoing. The coach encourages momentum and helps the client to keep on track. As a German coach explained, "however it is done (in person, by phone or email), it is vital that the coach should maintain contact with the client to maintain motivation and demonstrate belief in the client. The coach continues to encourage action that leads to the desired outcomes, motivates the client when the going gets tough, challenges when complacency sets in and demonstrates belief in the client. In this way the relationship is ongoing and the client knows that they have a partner who is solely dedicated to helping them achieve their goals".

Concluding remarks
The aim of this article has been to describe and provide insights into the practices of great coaches. The result of the observation and analysis of coaching models is the Achieve Coaching Model™. The model provides a clear and transparent process. Coaches can use the model to structure their coaching sessions and coaching programmes without it being a straightjacket which does not allow for flexibility and individuality. For those thinking about hiring a coach it provides transparency of what actually happens in a coaching session and coaching programme and can help with evaluating coaches when choosing with whom to work.

In an exclusive European training event that will take place on 6 weekends in 2004 in London we will provide participants with the processes, methods and techniques that we identified in our international Best Practice Study and are now applying in organisations like Procter & Gamble, GM and Deutsche Telekom.

At the end of the training participants will …
• … be able to identify and apply a proven highly transparent coaching process that sets you apart with organisations and potential clients
• … be able to master the 5 core competencies of executive coaching used by highly successful international executive coaches
• … have identified a coaching style that is authentic for you
• … have the processes, methods, techniques and the marketing plan to promote your reputation inside an organisation or launch into creating your own coaching organisation and/or practice
• … tap into the energy and resources of like minded executive coaches and thrive in a strong international community

As a certified Achieve Coaching Model Executive Coach, you will be equipped and licensed for a lifetime to apply the Achieve Coaching Model. For more information about the training event please contact: sabinedembkowski@thecoachingcentre.com

™ Trademark accepted

Acknowledgements:
We wish to thank all of our coaching partners in the US, UK and Germany for so willingly giving of their time and expertise.

About the authors
Sabine Dembkowski PhD is based in Cologne, Germany. She is Director of the Coaching Centre, a certified coach with the Lore Institute, a Master Practitioner of NLP and co-author of two Financial Times management Reports. She has experience working in the USA and across Europe in Germany, England, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, France and Spain. Sabine can be contacted through- sabinedembkowski@thecoachingcentre.com

Fiona Eldridge is Director of Coaching and Communication Centre, a Master Practitioner and a Certified Trainer of Neuro Linguistic Programming. She is also a member of EMCC. Fiona has appeared on television and radio and is a frequent contributor to newspapers and journals in the sphere of education. She can be contacted through: fionaeldridge@coachingandcommunication.com


www.coaching-magazin.de
Artikel von und für Coachs
Ein Dienst des Coaching-Report – www.coaching-report.de – von Christopher Rauen

Time Management

Manage yourself, not your time

Time Management, Time management working with Microsoft Outlook, Project management for non-project managers, Assertiveness, Management Skills and Stress Management are some of the courses trained by Total Success in London and throughout the UK. We have over 18 years experience training people on strategies to improve productivity and enhance self development. Click on the link if you require further information on our training courses or if you wish to contact Total Success via e-mail. We will be delighted to discuss your needs and provide practical answers.

Many of us claim our days are never wasted. "I'm very organised" we say "I know where I am going and what I'm going to do". If you truly feel that way then you are in the minority. Most people become frustrated with a day that is unproductive . We would all like to get more done in a day

The idea of time management has been in existence for more than 100 years. Unfortunately the term "Time management" creates a false impression of what a person is able to do. Time can't be managed, time is uncontrollable we can only manage ourselves and our use of time

Time management is actually self management. Its interesting that the skills we need to manage others are the same skills we need to manage ourselves: the ability to plan, delegate, organise, direct and control

There are common time wasters which need to be identified
In order for a time management process to work it is important to know what aspects of our personal management need to be improved. Below you will find some of the most frequent reasons for reducing effectiveness in the workplace. Tick the ones which are causing to be the major obstacles to your own time management. These we refer to as your "Time Stealers".

Identifying your time stealers
Interruptions - telephone
Interruptions - personal visitors
Meetings
Tasks you should have delegated
Procrastination and indecision
Acting with incomplete information
Dealing with team members
Crisis management (fire fighting)
Unclear communication
Inadequate technical knowledge
Unclear objectives and priorities
Lack of planning
Stress and fatigue
Inability to say "No"
Desk management and personal disorganisation

Fortunately there are strategies you can use to manage your time, be more in control and reduce stress, but you can analyse your time and see how you may be both the cause and the solution to your time challenges.

Below, we examine time management issues in more detail

1. Shifting priorities and crisis management. Management guru Peter Drucker says that "crisis management is actually the form of management preferred by most managers" The irony is that actions taken prior to the crisis could have prevented the fire in the first place.

2. The telephone. Have you ever had one of those days when you thought your true calling was in Telemarketing. The telephone-our greatest communication tool can be our biggest enemy to effectiveness if you don't know how to control its hold over you.

3.Lack of priorities/objectives. This probably the biggest/ most important time waster. It affects all we do both professionally and personally. Those who accomplish the most in a day know exactly what they want to accomplish. Unfortunately too many of us think that goals and objectives are yearly things and not daily considerations. This results in too much time spent on the minor things and not on the things which are important to our work/lives

4. Attempting too much. Many people today feel that they have to accomplish everything yesterday and don't give themselves enough time to do things properly. This leads only to half finished projects and no feeling of achievement.

5.Drop in visitors. The five deadliest words that rob your time are "Have you got a minute". Everyone's the culprit-colleagues., the boss, your peers. Knowing how to deal with interruptions is one of the best skills you can learn .

6.Ineffective delegation. Good delegation is considered a key skill in both managers and leaders. The best managers have an ability to delegate work to staff and ensure it is done correctly. This is probably the best way of building a teams moral and reducing your workload at the same time. The general rule is -this; if one of your staff can do it 80% as well as you can, then delegate it.

7. The cluttered desk. When you have finished reading this article look at your desk. If you can see less than 80% of it then you are probably suffering from 'desk stress'. The most effective people work from clear desks.

8.Procrastination. The biggest thief of time; not decision making but decision avoidance. By reducing the amount of procrastinating you do you can substantially increase the amount of active time available to you.

9. The inability to say "no!". The general rule is; if people can dump their work or problems on to your shoulders they will do it . Some of the most stressed people around lack the skill to 'just say no' for fear of upsetting people.

10. Meetings. Studies have shown that the average manager spends about 17 hours a week in meetings and about 6 hours in the planning time and untold hours in the follow up. I recently spoke to an executive who has had in the last 3 months 250 meetings It is widely acknowledged that about as much of a third of the time spent in meetings is wasted due to poor meeting management and lack of planning If you remember your goal is to increase your self management, these are the best ways to achieve this;

There are many ways we can manage our time. We have listed some strategies you can use to manage your time.

1. Always define your objectives as clearly as possible.
Do you find you are not doing what you want because your goals have not been set. One of the factors which mark out successful people is their ability to work out what they want to achieve and have written goals which they can review them constantly. Your long term goals should impact on your daily activities and be included on your "to do" list. Without a goal or objective people tend to just drift personally and professionally

2. Analyse your use of time.
Are you spending enough time on the projects which although may not be urgent now are the things you need to do to develop yourself or your career. If you are constantly asking yourself "What is the most important use of my time, right now?" it will help you to focus on 'important tasks' and stop reacting to tasks which seem urgent (or pleasant to do) but carry no importance towards your goals.

3. Have a plan.
How can you achieve your goals without a plan. Most people know what they want but have no plan to achieve it except by sheer hard work. Your yearly plan should be reviewed daily and reset as your achievements are met. Successful people make lists constantly. It enables them to stay on top of priorities and enable them to remain flexible to changing priorities. This should be done for both personal and business goals.

4. Action plan analysis.
Problems will always occur, the value of a good plan is to identify them early and seek out solutions. Good time management enables you to measure the progress towards your goals because "What you can measure, you can control". Always try to be proactive.

Time management (or self management) is not a hard subject to understand, but unless you are committed to build time management techniques into your daily routine you'll only achieve partial (or no) results and then make comments such as "I tried time management once and it doesn't work for me". The lesson to learn is that the more time we spend planning our time and activities the more time we will have for those activities. By setting goals and eliminating time wasters and doing this everyday you may find you will have extra time in the week to spend on those people and activities most important to you.

http://www.tsuccess.dircon.co.uk/timemanagementtips.htm

Quote of the Day

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.
--Benjamin Franklin

Let Your People Shine:

What I Learned from this Week’s Apprentice

by Sean Yazbeck

Talented individuals are the driving force behind a good company. They’re the difference between high performance and mediocrity.

As a manager, you need to surround yourself with the best people. But you have to do something else too . . .

You have to let them shine

I liked the fact that James was confident enough in himself to do just that with his team this week. It was clear that Tim and Nicole knew just how to handle production and post-production. So James let them run with it - and he then wasn’t afraid to pay them kudos where it was due.

Managers, especially new ones, are all too often afraid to let their subordinates shine. They fear that giving credit to the people they manage will take away from their own performance.

Don’t. You’ll get more out of your employees if you encourage them to shine and then pass the praise around when things go right.

But there’s another thing too, which turns being a supervisor a leadership opportunity. You have to take responsibility when things go wrong.

Do YOU Have Questions for Sean?

For an opportunity to participate in a free Trump University teleseminar with Sean Yazbeck, click here!

Sean Yazbeck is newly appointed professor of entrepreneurship and leadership at Trump University. He is familiar to audiences worldwide as the winner of The Apprentice's fifth-season competition, in which he outdistanced 17 other candidates and beame the only one to hear the words, "You're hired!" from Donald J. Trump.

Sean was born and raised in London, England, and moved to the US in 1999. He resides in Miami, where he is a director of business development for a recruitment consultancy registered on the London Stock Exchange. Sean has brokered multimillion dollar deals wtih Fortune 500 companies in more than 20 global locations.
Posted on March 21 2007 at 2:10 PM
Categories: Apprentice, Management, Leadership
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5 Comments Post a comment

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Posted by member1539196 on 03/22/2007 2:39 AM
I agree with Sean that leaders need to let their star employees shine.

This however, should not be confused with letting any employee run the whole show or delegating tasks completely without monitoring. That reflects a purely laissez faire style and is a potential mine field of unpleasant surprises.

A good leader is one who is sufficiently astute to discern the strengths and weaknesses of their team members, and one who keeps his task leaders on their toes, without micro-managing them.

That said, I recognize that it is often difficult for managers who have had always been tight controllers to release their hold over their staff. The key is finding a delicate balance between control and delegation.

While it is simply too easy for us to critique our staff, we as leaders should support their professional development, whether via mentoring or leadership workshops.

Andrew Wee
AAE Immigration
http://www.aaeimmigration.com
http://www.invest-in-canada.com
Posted by member1366890 on 03/22/2007 6:04 AM
Great post! Great message! You know, in ancient Egypt, pharaons have lions beside them. This animals sense liars. Only few could be advisors and near to pharaon and his family. Liar detector with teeth:-)

Ina Matijevic***
Posted by user89187 on 03/22/2007 6:22 AM
TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT!
Posted by member1446977 on 03/23/2007 10:24 PM
what i learnt from the week 9 is that sometimes it is better not to think twice while taking tough decisions based on real facts and better being direct using your head (brain) rather than your heart (feelings)....Heidi has been in such a tough position when asked by Muna to take a very simple and hard decision about whether supporting her or not...well it's really tough for Heidi to take any good decisions because Muna craftily played her game on the feelings' sides while awaiting a final answer from Heidi who was totally confused and if - hopefully Mr. Trump intervened to make an end to that silly game - Mr. Trump didn't intervened that things would be lasted that long without any final results...So to cut it short very often in business people and most importantly deciders while taking important decisions concerning their people will be finding themselves in the battlefield opposing the head (brain) and the heart (feelings) and in order to take a better decision the best would be for sure to think about the facts instead of thinking about people's closeness or relationships and so doing without thinking twice and being straight decisive...

Ainrické Bo. Beothé
Posted by member1545375 on 03/26/2007 9:23 AM
Sean's comments are great, but the 3/25/07 episode hit a low point when one team told a customer that the other team was lying in order to get the customer's business.

Then, in the board room, Donald said that nothing unethical was done.

Lying to a customer so that you get the business is a sad state of affairs that need not be taught. Lying is how corporations steal from investors and create a distrust in corporate America.

I don't thing the winning team did anything that would shine a light.

Perhaps, the premise that you are a team until you don't win, at which time you must turn on your team members in order to survive is a mode of operation that creates distrust in an organization.

What You Can Learn from Last Night's Apprentice

by Sean Yazbeck

With this blog post, Trump University welcomes Sean Yazbeck, winner of The Apprentice Season Five, as a new member of the Trump University faculty. Let’s hear Sean’s views on last night’s episode.

The leaders of both teams faced a deceptively simple task last night. What could be more straightforward than putting honey in bottles and selling it? Yet both Aaron and Aimee, leaders of the Arrow and Kinetic teams, proved too weak to lead their teams to achieve optimal results.

Here are the lessons that you and I can take away and apply in our own careers.

Great leaders exert firm control ... but flexibly

Aaron was just not strong or flexible enough to control the members of his team, each of whom needed something entirely different from him. Surya was overcomplicating things terribly. That’s Surya! That is just what he does, but Aaron was unable to rein him in and make him keep it simple. James, with his alpha-male sales personality, needed something quite different ... a set of simple instructions from Aaron that told him what he needed to do first, second and third. The rest of the team, with their gregarious, outgoing personalities, also needed to be given roles that maximized their abilities. All of that, Aaron was unable to do. Of course, Aaron had a real challenge, because all the Apprentice candidates are extremely strong ... in effect, the future business leaders of America. But he didn’t rise to the challenge and he did a very weak job.

Don’t overcomplicate things

When Surya was laying out his marketing strategies, he made the task far too complicated. He was nervous. He wanted to show off his vocabulary and his knowledge. But as I mentioned earlier, the task was really only about putting honey in bottles and selling it! Again, it was Aaron who failed to focus Surya’s talents on the task at hand. But in your life and your career, strive to keep things simple. Focus your knowledge and skills closely on the task at hand. That’s a success secret that is sometimes forgotten by very smart people especially.

Stop to cultivate interpersonal relationships

As I mentioned above, Aaron was weak and unfocused in his leadership. But did you notice that his team supported him anyway, simply because he is a nice guy? They really hesitated to set him up as the scapegoat for their loss, because they liked him.

That s a very important lesson on The Apprentice, and in life too. The most important determinant of success is often not whether you win or lose, but whether people will stand by you because they like you.

When you look at Lee last season, you see that he actually lost more tasks than anyone else, but that he made it through to the final selection anyway. One reason was that he was a very capable and strong candidate. But another was that he got on so well with other people. Fair or unfair in business, if your company is laying people off, they will usually fire the people first who have not invested the effort to get along with other people. So remember, you can never lose sight of the personal side of building your success.

Say something!

I sat with Aaron in the boardroom firing in the previous episode and I don’t’ think he said one word. That was a mistake. He had been given the opportunity to shine in front of Mr. Trump and to say in so many words, “Hey, Mr. Trump, hire me. I’m worth it because I can vocalize my thoughts and my strategy and you need me.”

I see this problem in business quite a lot. I go into a meeting and there is one person there who doesn’t say a thing. I always start to wonder, “Is this person an intern here? Why doesn’t he or she say something?”

Don’t be that person. There will be times in business meetings when things are going way over your head and you have no idea what is going on. But say something anyway! Get something in there, even if you just agree with someone. If you remain silent for a long period of time, you end up looking like an idiot.

And one more thought . . .

Aimee may be in a lot of trouble next week. She waffled terribly as a leader last night and had the good luck to win anyway. But now her team is fed up and is gunning for her. She has done little to build supportive interpersonal ties to the other members of her team.

Like Aaron, she could fall quickly from the winner’s seat in the boardroom and get fired in only seven days. It could happen. And next Sunday, we will know!

To learn more about putting a fine edge on your entrepreneurial skills, enroll in The Entrepreneurship Mastery Program from Trump University. Classes are now forming.

Sean Yazbeck is newly appointed professor of entrepreneurship and leadership at Trump University. He is familiar to audiences worldwide as the winner of The Apprentice's fifth-season competition, in which he outdistanced 17 other candidates and beame the only one to hear the words, "You're hired!" from Donald J. Trump.

Sean was born and raised in London, England, and moved to the US in 1999. He resides in Miami, where he is a director of business development for a recruitment consultancy registered on the London Stock Exchange. Sean has brokered multimillion dollar deals wtih Fortune 500 companies in more than 20 global locations.

Posted on February 12 2007 at 1:36 PM
Categories: Apprentice, Entrepreneurship, Leadership
 
16 Comments Post a comment

Posted by lightwayvez on 02/12/2007 4:47 PM
I look forward to attending your University, however first I must earn it. I really enjoyed the format you used to write this article. You found the word I had been missing in all my discussions thus far. 'Flexibility' it fast tracked to the point of my written material.

In so far as making friends to get ahead, it is true you need followers to be a leader, I had mentioned the formation of ducks when they fly there is only ever one that leads the flock.

Inversely there are so many definitions of success that not everyone's definition of success would include followers.

Take Tara Conners for example. In the moment her definition of success is to recover her personality inspite of a past that hurt her youth.

So far very few friends have come forward in her defense, that I have come forward in her defense made her a success in that moment.

I recognized the tender issue of her youth not the value of her accomplishments. In this moment Tara Conners is a success, and will be a success in my future.
Posted by member1499085 on 02/12/2007 5:23 PM
As this season progresses, it seems like we see less of the teams in a setting where they are able to strategize and brain storm their ideas. I do agree that Aaron should have been the person to get fired. If he didn't like Surya's book smart ways of marketing, he should have said so. A saying in the military that stands out to me is KISS (keep it simple stupid). If I were Surya, I would be upset with his team because most of them wanted to throw him under the bus and send him packing. I'm a little concerned when a team wins because it allows the project manager to remain his/her team's project manager and allows that individual to go into the board room. Aimee struggled as Kinetic's project manager, but her teammates shined and came out victorious with this task. FYI: It was stated prior to Kinetic receiving their reward the Lakers have the most NBA championships (14). This is not true because the Boston Celtics have won 16.....rickyl
Posted by user89187 on 02/12/2007 6:36 PM
My, my you have come a long way from sex and romance in the work place. Not to mention making all those babies.

Keep going!

Posted by member1447082 on 02/12/2007 8:55 PM
How wonderful to see Sean on the show!!! What a wonderful, wonderful opportunity. I love what you have to say. Now that's a good thing, Mr. Trump.

Posted by member1445505 on 02/12/2007 9:08 PM
Truthfully Sean I don't care for the candidates. I'm looking for honesty, integrity, loyalty, character. Someone who actually wants to go places. I've been looking for real team players and yet still are looking to grab the Gold. The Gold being The Apprentice position and not Donald Trump. There seems to be a great deal lack of respect for each other and Mr. Trump. I noticed it for you as well. Now lack of respect for each other is one thing. But they are looking to work for Donald Trump. Wouldn't you think they would show him more respect? For him as well as his goal, his purpose, his objective. If I were a candidate I would definitly go after what Mr. Trump was looking for. Not my own agenda. It seems the candidates have their own agendas. Who are they to do so? What background do they possess? What experience/experiences have they come in with? Some are still babies. What can they bring to the table? Granted, living in the backyard can't be easy. But look at your surroundings and see how they can be improved. Change your mindset as much as possible. Get up early look at the sunrise. Check out the stars at night. Imagine what it wouold be like to go planet hopping. Yes, I said planet hopping.
As far as living in the lower mansion, don't consider yourself to be so fortunate. You could easily be in the wrong place at the wrong tiime, doing the wrong thing and miss the greatest opportunity of your life. Your entire existance. Comfort at times is not success. Did I hear something about Heidi allowed to sleep in the upper mansion as a reward? Or was I mistaken? If so, GET HER OUT! She doesn't belong. She doesn't fit!
One thing, AAron had to go and Aimee isn't much better. I'm hoping she gets axed as well. Along with Heidi as soon as possible. She's a little to much of a control freak and really doesn;t have enough years behind her to make a difference. A bit of a liability not an asset. I'm looking at someone a bit older, more mature, focused on the real issue. Not jail bait. Someone who's background can actually enhance Trump Organization. Not someone who wants to simply stroke Donald. Believe me if he needs stroking he'll get it. But he's wisdom. He's not cheap. So let's see what happens next. I'm really tired of baby****. Times a wasting. There are things that need to be said and done. No time for foolishness. A series of events that need to take place. There's a spiritual presence around this show and guidelines must be followed. This is not JUST another show. Mr. Trump is not JUST another man.
Thank you Sean for allowing me this space.

Jerilynn

Posted by marysrose on 02/13/2007 7:01 AM
Welcome to Trump University! Look forward learning more of your insights on business. Agree with your points on this week's show. Think that Surya had better take Trump's warning to heart and learn to speak plainly and simply so that anyone can understand. Think that both project managers this week deserved to go- but- you have to lose to get to the boardroom. Also observed that Arrow fell apart at the end of the last task. One of the great things about Arrow is that win or lose- they stay together and have fun. But at the supermarket, after a great start, the demonstration table was left vacant- that time might have been the difference between winning and losing. Kinetic more than made up for their poor leadership- when something needed to be done- someone on the team stepped up to the plate and took over! That's a winning combination. Hope that Arrow works hard on team-building in the tents this week- because I love the Arrow team- they have so much more life and vigor than Kinetic and in the end- I hope that will help the major players go far. Your commentary had several good points that I will keep on my to-do-list. Thanks for your insights!

Posted by member1349490 on 02/13/2007 1:24 PM
At this point of the show I think it's probably the weakest season of The Apprentice to date.

For all the book smarts and business knowledge these individuals claim to have, they all seem extremely weak in even the most mundane tasks.

Posted by member1410030 on 02/13/2007 2:23 PM
2 things stood out in Episode 5. The task was bottle and sell honey. Surya made it too complicated. A sales rule K.I.S.S - Keep It Simple Salesman! Aaron failed as a leader : he did not delegate and he could not even not define a simple task - make the most money selling honey. And worst of all he said he was a salesman and he hated selling. He could have sold plenty of honey because he is likeable and people buy from people they like. Even if he did not lead he could have pushed his team over the top by simply selling honey. i-sell-homes@msn.com
nancychambers@weichert.com

Posted by Business 2000 Foundation on 02/13/2007 8:10 PM
It is great to see Sean. Wish more of the winners of Mr. Trump's show would post or write in the blog.

A miss opportunity: If you had an Olympic Gold Medal winner on your team would you have done a better marketing job? They did to a point. What a miss opportunity. Think simple: The consumers would have ate up an autograph copy of the honey.

Watching for new ideas.

www.business2000foundation.com
Posted by member1512794 on 02/13/2007 9:51 PM
Sean- I would appreciate if you could relay this message to your boss. I normally enjoy the Apprentice episodes, being a business woman myself. However, I have become quite disappointed with Mr. Trump, especially after this most recent episode. He said the word "ass" so many times I lost count. "Fire your ass" "Almost got your ass fired last week".... Please let him know that it is his hard work that has made him a success, not his macho talk. He does no compliment to himself, his organization or his show by swearing. It does not make him cool, in fact- it demeans him. There is no need in business for swearing. He has always gotten his point across in the past with his logic and reasoning. I suggest he return to that methodology and leave the swearing to the construction crew.

Posted by member1366890 on 02/14/2007 5:46 AM
Interesting! Last time Mr. Aaron sit beside Mr. Trump with lot's of fear in his eyes, although he won with his team. But, he lost himself. Sometimes, in life, you loose in others eyes, and win in your own. That's the most important thing in my -head:-). Now, Mr. Aaron lost, but I see that he might , win. And You, Mr. Sean, like Yourself, and that's , great.

Ina Matijevic***

Posted by member1501057 on 02/14/2007 12:43 PM
A board room requires a strategy. Not only what is best for your team and you, but what can deplete the other team, both as a team and individuals. Aaron, in his boardroom, did not have that stategy, neither did Aimee. Aaron and Aimee should have worked to take out the strongest opponent. That is basic marketing. Increase market share by taking out your opponent, the basis of mergers and acquisitions. Aaron should have aimed at Heidi. Aimee sided with Surya, clearly a strong opponent. These people show a lot of affection for each other. They are opponents. They should be trying to get each other fired. Stefani has shown strong abilities in up-front marketing, they could take lessons from her.

Posted by member1445505 on 02/14/2007 7:09 PM
I saw this headline. It seems to fit. Had to add it

"New York City Prepares For The Big Storm"

Jerilynn

Posted by member1469735 on 02/17/2007 3:08 PM
Dear Mr. Trump:

You always prove yourself to be the true master mind of the show by your unique ways of being fair and direct. I can't say so much for the losing team last week. They did not honestly appreciate of the young man that left a winning team to help them. They weren't willing to welcome and give him a fair chance to become accepted to the team. I believe that they would have continued to boost him up as long as they would have continued to win. One thing that was direct about their actions was to ambush Surya when things didn't go well. He was treated as an outsider of the happy-go-lucky team. They must have assumed that they were going to win just because he was on the team or because they were on a winning streak or something. They seem to be very out of touch with reality and the importance of implementing, "Elbow Grease" to any extinct it may take to acheive at a task. This has been apparent from the start. I received a feeling as though the team was a bit jealous of Surya being somewhat in the shinning spot-light.

It seems like they don't take task seriously. There was alot of playing and not enough work being done. Yes, it's good to have fun when possible but there's a time and place for everything. The individual's who were doing most of the joking and playing around, were the main one's trying to put the blame elsewhere. If there was less time playing, joking and socializing, there would have been more time to concentrate and/or perform with progressive results.

I consider this show to be a job preparation kind of show and not a gameshow. There's no money to win but it would mean more for me to receive Mr. Trump,his team's approval and the experience that could lead into a job. That team needs to get their true priorities together and focus more on the reason why they're suppose to be on the show. I would think it is to win and to prove how progressive they can be in any situation.

Maybe if Aaron was acting more like a stand-up kind of person during the preparation period and/or not enjoying the fun; they may have had a better chance of winning. There was a lot of time wasted and more of an interests in them being friends instead of business partners with
Mr. Trump in mind. Thank you for your time and I'll be watching Sunday for sure! I love the show and maybe I'll be a contestant one day. MGN

Posted by member1279957 on 02/18/2007 8:33 PM
Mr. Trump, this is of little consequence to the Apprentive TV show but the Celtics have won 16 World Championships. The Lakers have only won 14 as you stated correctly on your show. They are horrible now but I always stand behind my team and wanted to politely tell you of your error of the Lakers winning more championships than any other team.

Sam Hensley
samhensley@hotmail.com

Posted by member1426549 on 02/18/2007 11:54 PM
Sean.
Yup, you are certainly gorgeous, smart, cute, sexy and very most probably, very wealthy....*sigh*
I am gonna listen to ANYTHING you have to say because you have BEEN there before, and won The Apprentice!
I think you sat next to Mr Trump, last week as if you'd been sitting next to him in the boardroom your whole life.
You were honest, on the mark, confident and as usual, drop dead bloody gorgeous!
You were BORN for this job with The Donald...and it shows....
I think you should seriously step in and sit exactly where Carolyn Kepcher USED to sit!
The ratings for this show would go through the roof if you were to be in the boardroom every week with the Boss and his daughter.

The Five Critical Habits of Real Estate Success

The Five Critical Habits of Real Estate Success

by Michael Sexton

In his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey observed that a lot of our success is built on the small habits that we cultivate daily. That principle applies to real estate investing too. If you observe successful real estate investors and developers, you will see that they have cultivated some highly effective habits too:

Habit #1: Being curious
Successful real estate investors hunger to learn something new every day. One day, they will learn all about a new kind of mortgage. The next day, it will be a new kind of insulation. Their learning never stops.

Habit #2: Staying flexible.
Only supple people triumph in real estate, because things change so quickly. One year it makes no sense to invest in a certain city; the next year, it is hot. One year adjustable mortgages seem ideal; the next year, they make no sense. Inflexible, opinionated people cannot adapt quickly enough to survive. To win, you have to stay open-minded and agile.

Habit #3: Looking at properties
You can learn a lot about real estate by reading books or Web surfing. But you cannot learn everything that way. After all, it is called real estate because it is all about real things: land, concrete and wood. That is why top investors never stop looking at properties. Doing so provides information that they can never find in books. Is the ground in one part of town mushy underfoot, for example? Are houses made by a particular builder more solid-feeling than others? Nobody is going to tell you that kind of thing; you need to get out there and see for yourself.

Habit #4: Cultivating the gift of gab
Nearly all successful investors love to chat with everyone they see in the course of their days - with shopkeepers, pedestrians, police officers and virtually anyone else who can offer insights on what is happening in different communities. If you don’t like talking to people, you are not going to make it in the real estate business.

Habit #5: Reading real estate ads - obsessively.
Your friends and family members might wonder why you sit there reading all those property listings every day. (Sometimes, you might wonder why you are doing it too.) But just as stock market investors pore over stock listings, successful real estate investors are addicted to property ads. Reading those ads daily, over a period of years, builds a broad knowledge base that no book could ever provide.

If this kind of thinking makes sense to you - and I believe that it should - I invite you to join us in Trump University’s Real Estate Investor Training Program. The time to start cultivating winning habits and knowledge about real estate is now.
Michael Sexton is President of Trump University.

Best Practices -

Use Three Power Elements By David Giber

As a leadership development consultant, I'm often asked about best practices, especially about which ones make the greatest positive impact on individuals, teams, and organizations-and which ones help turn training programs into a leadership system. Leaders want to know: Where is the biggest return on investment?

I rate the following three practices as most powerful in developing leaders:

1. Integrating classroom experiences with on-the-job application. Most firms have leadership programs that are highly rated in terms of the experience of participants but have little or no connection to rigorous application of the learning on the job.

Despite all the excitement over action learning and connecting classroom experiences to on-the-job assignments, this is still the biggest, most common gap in leadership development-often due to the difficulty of coordinating assignments and the discomfort many internal leaders feel when working as mentors and coaches. Training groups rarely determine how participation in the leadership training will integrate with larger talent and succession planning for on-the-job assignments and participation on task forces or initiatives. Even with the advent of communities of practice and electronic means of connecting globally, most leaders don't know how to build networks among those experiencing common leadership transitions and dilemmas.

The artful blending of classroom work and on-the-job assignments takes focus. At Federated Department Stores, for example, the Leadership Institute has refined the work of "step up" assignments over several years so that high-potential participants review their on-the-job application plans with their manager, their manager's manager, a group of their peers as well as a senior executive from another division. Alumni from past programs are also used to mentor and advise on these assignments. This scrutiny leads to broader, more strategic thinking and more "stretch" in the challenges participants take on. Leadership practitioners need to put as much work into determining the dynamics of on-the-job development assignments as they do into planning curricula.

Action learning done in teams is the best method for integrating leadership development and real-world issues and practice. The critical issue, as Henry Mintzberg points out, is to make it into "action-reflection learning," leaving the time needed to assure that the program is not dominated by actions to be taken or problems to be solved.

2. Connecting leadership development to the strategy and involving internal leaders as teachers and facilitators of that strategy. This goes beyond using leaders as teachers. It means involving them in crafting the strategic message and the issues to be tackled by the participants. It is more than telling leadership stories; it is teaching in a way that projects the participants into the strategic choices and decisions that their leaders are facing. I find that the personal involvement of senior leaders fundamentally changes their view of education and development. Taking on the role of teacher has a profound impact on leaders. However, these leaders are seldom provided with good models and training on how to be effective teachers and facilitators of strategic cases studies and interactive debates. Such teaching takes preparation and coaching, but it pays off by altering the leader's approach to asking questions, listening, and learning. In addition, leading organizations create their own toolkits for analyzing and solving problems, improving teamwork, and driving change. These then become teaching tools. Creating a committed internal leadership faculty is a powerful way to turn leadership training into true development and turning senior leader sponsors into passionate advocates.

3. Timing access to the leadership development to the right career or transition point. Are emerging leaders involved where they are most ready and open to learn? The timing element has both individual and organizational components. Has the organization communicated a development roadmap of where those leadership transitions are and what is needed to succeed at each point? Is the program connected closely enough to a transition point in responsibility or scope or when a change is recent or imminent enough that it rings powerfully in the experience of the participants? Are the developmental goals of a program or assignment clear to the participant, his or her manager and direct reports?

The individual component is one of engagement with learning and with change. Is the participant ready to engage with a new set of leadership issues? Does any assessment provided create an opening-not only through the typical 360-degree feedback process but also because there are new insights for participants on their personality, decision style, or strategic thinking?

Great timing also means that the learning needs to be applied during the class and reapplied more intensively soon after the class. Timing means engaging individuals, teams, and organizations at points where the connections to leadership learning hit with impact because success is not guaranteed and the stretch to improve and innovate effectively gets people's attention.

With these three practices, powerful leadership development is possible. Both practitioners and leaders should look for ways to bolster and maximize these three best practices as they seek an integrated approach to developing their leaders for the future.

This article originally appeard in Leadership Excellence Magazine - January 2007

David Giber is a senior vice president at Linkage, Inc. In that capacity, he has responsibility for the company's Research business, as well as the New Programs and Leadership Development segments of the company's Professional Services Group.

SECRETS TO BETTER TIME MANAGEMENT

SECRETS TO BETTER TIME MANAGEMENT
Discover the secrets to have more time/energy, be super-effective and productive, and achieve more out of every 24 hours.

Published by Shafir Ahmad
http://www.PlanYourTimeNow.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part 1 of a 7-Part eCourse
-----------------------------------------------------------

In Today's Lesson...

"The Simple 3-Step Formula To Planning Your Day"

-----------------------------------------------------------
Discover How You Can Reprogram Yourself To Eliminate Poor
Time Management Habits That Are Guaranteed To Reduce Your
Stress, Give You More Time For Leisure and Prepare You For
More Fulfilling and Successful Life.

http://www.PlanYourTimeNow.com/ebook.php


"The Simple 3-Step Formula To Planning Your Day"
by Shafir Ahmad


If I could sum up managing your time effectively in
3 simple steps, here is what they would be...

1) Define Your Goals for the day
2) Create your to-do list
3) Schedule it


Define Your Goals

Setting goals is key in time managment. Once your goals are
established, all your tasks will be goal driven and this
sets a motion in place. This will allow you to get a sense
of achievement, a feeling of security and confidence.

Define the time limits allowed for each goal. This is just
as important as the goal itself as this keeps you on track
on progress. Without any time limits set, you risk
procrastination or pushing it aside. So, go ahead! Ask
yourself what are the goals or mini-goals (those that adds
up towards achieving a bigger goal) you want to achieve for
the day.


Create Your To-Do List

Next important step is to create your to-do list. The key
to a successful to-do list is defined by these words:
"simple", "realistic" and "accessible". Write down
everything that you need to do.

There are four main advantages in having a to-do list:

- It ensures that you do not miss out all the things that you need to do.

- Prioritize and decide which jobs should be done first.

- It helps you to make use of your time productively. For example,
when you are out picking your groceries for the week,
you can also pick up clothes you sent for dry-cleaning.

- It allows you to track progress and any outstanding can
be carried over instead of being forgotten.


Schedule It

The to-do list is the foundation for a perfect schedule.
Scheduling is the act of assigning a designated time to
execute the tasks you have set forth to do.

As you plan on your schedule, assign the best time that
will correspond effectively with each activity in your
to-do, which also leads up to your goals.

-----------------------------------------------------------
In the next lesson, we'll cover...

"How to Overcome the Most Challenging Aspect of Taking
Control of Your Time"

That's it for today, hope you have benefited from today’s
lesson. Watch out for your next lesson in 2 days time!

FACE–TO–FACE VS. PHONE SALES: A CASE STUDY

I recently was halfway around the world, meeting a new business
partner, and found myself in the midst of a seller’s nightmare: I had to do
an in-person prospecting call on one of the world’s largest banks,
with an unfamiliar business partner, with no idea of the reason behind
the cold call, or the people who would be there.

When I was picked up from the airport I was told of this meeting, and
there was no one available to discuss anything with me until we were at
the client site. Nightmare.

As we entered the building, I quickly asked the history of the prospect
relationship, the expected outcome, and the level of the folks we were
meeting with. The news wasn’t good: this was the first prospecting
call and they weren’t sure who would be attending, but they hoped I
could help them open the account by using my Buying Facilitation model to
encourage a working relationship.

Great. Just great. Unprepared. No data. No strategic planning. The
prospect would see an unknown vendor, coming for an unknown reason,
dragging along a very tired – and unknown – foreigner. They’d most
likely know nothing about my work, models, or books. They wouldn’t know
how to differentiate me from the competition, or how to choose me.

What would success even look like? And other than what I’d read and
heard about this Middle Eastern country I didn’t even understand the
cultural norms of vendor/client communication, not to mention if my
being a woman would be a negative.

THE NEED FOR FACE MEETINGS

When Dale Carnegie introduced the need for face meetings, face time was
vital due to the difficulty in getting broad exposure for products.
Now, we can take it for granted that the next seller who stands in front
of our prospect – if we can even get an appointment! - will be just as
charming, caring, well-dressed, smart, and professional. And if a
personal relationship is the only criteria for a prospect choosing a vendor,
then the seller has a truly long slog here, to find only those buyers
with buying patterns and personalities that match the seller’s selling
patterns and personality.

I don’t believe in using my body as a prospecting tool. I believe
that if it’s important to a seller to have a face meeting, they should
first become part of the prospect’s decision team and have already
decided collaboratively, with the prospect, how they plan on working
together and how best to use a face meeting. Then, a face meeting cements
the relationship and brings together the rest of the decision team, even
on the first meeting. Otherwise, the only prospects who will agree to a
face meeting are those already in the market, and interviewing untold
others. Not to mention that when several things seem the same, the only
differentiator is price.

But I didn't have much choice in this instance, and there was no
agreement, action plan, or stated outcome that a prospecting call using
Buying Facilitation would have ensured.

I realized that I would be out of control during this call, even if my
training would solve their business problem: there was no prior
decision on who should attend the meeting and an untold number of people from
the decision team wouldn't be present (and would need to be managed
afterwards somehow); and if they were willing to see us on a cold call,
they were certainly seeing others.

CASE STUDY OF A FACE-TO-FACE PROSPECTING CALL

Given that my choices were limited, our meeting proved interesting. I
believe I made a difference in our ultimate outcome, but I’m not sure
that a face meeting was any more successful than if I had used
Facilitative Questions on the phone.

I’ll describe the face visit conversation, and then offer a mock
Buying Facilitation conversation as to a phone call I might have had prior
to the meeting.

Meeting

At the prospect's site, a large man with a gentle persona, followed by
a smaller, local, man, came out to bring us to a small office in which
sat a very professionally attired woman. The large man sat down in a
tiny chair, and the smaller man went behind a very large desk. As they
introduced themselves, I barely had time to peruse the 2 business cards
handed to me – the men gave me cards, but not the woman.

I addressed my first Facilitative Question to the man behind the desk:
“How are you currently adding new sales skills to the ones you’re
already offering your
staff?” I realized that I had addressed the question to the wrong
man, as I noticed everyone looked to the large man in the small chair for
an answer. I quickly glanced down at the business cards and noticed
this man was the big big boss. He began telling a charming story of how he
was just in the country for a few weeks, and newly brought in to head
up this division and bring in new thinking. He said he was delighted
that I asked that question.

OK. I was on the right track but there was a major problem: the local
man at the big desk had been at the bank for a long time, and was the
sales manager for 5 years. If he had been doing a good job, the new man
wouldn’t have been brought in! Not to mention that the smaller man
most likely had a team of loyal followers (in countries outside the US,
folks stay at their jobs for decades) who would have some strong feelings
about a new man, from another country, coming in with big ideas that
would certainly change their status quo.

The problem was much, much bigger than needing new sales skills. All of
the brilliance I offered would be moot if they couldn’t manage the
internal politics that this problem created. And, obviously, I couldn’t
manage the internal politics for them: while their Identified Problem
was something I could solve with my product, until they could manage
their internal politics, they weren’t going to take any action.

The internal problem

Once I recognized the elephant in the room, I decided to ask a tactical
Facilitative Question to help my prospects begin to make sense of their
main issue:

“Since you (the man at the desk) have been around for some time and
have a loyal team behind you, how can you bring in new thinking (which
he obviously had failed to do) that might represent change, and have the
team remain loyal?”

The man behind the desk nodded:

“No problem. No problem. We can handle this. We are very excited to
have someone new join us with new ideas. We look forward to change and
hearing how you could help us.”

Right.

The boss quietly said:

“That is why I’m here: to bring in new thinking, and manage
implementations. I’m sure that we can all get on board here and there
shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve done this sort of thing in other banks, and
we’ve been successful. I have met the folks here and they are great.
It will be fine.”

OK. Now I had a larger problem. They were either really going to be
fine, they were doing denial, or just giving me, the outsider, the company
view. I had no way of knowing. I turned to the woman (turns out she was
the training manager) seated, quietly, next to me and said to her:

“I’m so glad that everyone is getting on so well, and I’m sure
that it will work out fine. I’m wondering what you would need from a
vendor to ensure an easy implementation?”

She briefly opened her eyes wide, and quickly returned to her very very
composed, professional behavior.

“Thanks for bringing that up and caring. I’m sure that there
won’t be a problem, like the gentlemen said (smart woman). In case there
is, maybe you could explain to us what you have done in the past when
bringing in new material? And possibly give us a run-down on what you have
that might be interesting to us to help us differentiate ourselves from
our competitors, as I saw on your website (Ah. The woman had done her
homework.)? If what you have has value for us, maybe you and I could
have further conversations about the content. Along the way, if any
internal issues come up – which I don’t think there will be – we can
discuss them at the time.”

Good. I just got onto the decision team.

“Great. It seems to me there are several issues here. One: how will
you all decide on the specific type of new thinking you would be willing
to bring in; Two: how you’ll know that one specific set of skills
would work better than another since you wouldn’t have a way to
understand the outcome before you start; Three: how you could ensure, before
you start, that a new skill set would work comfortably with that your
folks are already using; Four: how will you know when it’s time to
address implementation issues; Five: how would you know we would be the type
of partner who could help you manage all of these issues?”

Follow-up action

The boss nodded vigorously and smiled. He asked me to write down the
points I’d just made, email them to him, and contact him in two weeks
to move the conversation forward. Sounded great – until I called him
at the appropriate time, and he told me that he had handed everything
over to the training manager. I had to ask permission to speak with her
as no one had given me her number. I have left a message for her and
have gotten no response yet.

I believe my ‘relationship’ with them all is as good as their
memory. Did they like me? Appreciate me and my questions? Yes. Did that move
the sale along? Not convinced – they still have too many internal
issues to manage. And now I have to find ways to maintain the relationship
and conversation, while living half-way around the world.

Because there was so much going on in the room, I'm not convinced they
understood the difference between Buying Facilitation and a more
conventional selling model. I have started a conversation, and we have
developed some rapport. I believe they trust me a bit, and might consider a
pilot – but I’m also sure they will pilot other programs as well.

Since I teach that it’s not necessary to make a face-to-face visit
until the internal decision team has agreed to change and has a model for
the specifics of how to bring in a new idea/product/vendor, I was
curious if what happened in this interaction could have been managed better
on the phone. I think so.

MOCK CONVERSATION OF TYPICAL BUYING FACILITATION SEQUENCE

I've never had a face meeting prior to signing a contract with a major
corporation, and yet on a second or third conference call, I've met
with the entire decision team and made collaborative decisions involving a
great deal of buy-in and change. I will create a similar conversation
here, much like I've done (literally) thousands of times before. Note
the difference with the absence of the political issues, and how far I
can get using these Facilitative Questions on the phone:

SDM: How are you currently offering new selling skills to your sales
people?

Boss: We haven’t been. I’m just here a few weeks, and I was brought
in to help us differentiate ourselves from the competition. I’m
actually seeking new material to trial now as part of my purview.

SDM: That sounds exciting. What fun! What has stopped your group from
achieving this until now?

Boss: The past manager was very good at keeping the status quo and
managing the office politics. My job is to find new thinking and bring it
in. Do you have something new for us?

SDM: Well, I’ve got a new sales model, but let’s discuss that in a
few moments as I think there are other issues we’d need to manage
first. I suspect you’ll have to manage some internal, personal issues
with the old manager and his team with whatever material you choose. How
would you need to work with a new vendor to ensure that you, the
decision team, and the vendor, would all work well together while
implementing a trial?

Boss: We’d all have to get on board here, make some team agreements,
and monitor the implementation from the beginning. I would bring in the
training manager to help with this as I believe her to be very
committed to success. I’d also have to understand that your material, over
the more conventional material, would bring me the new skills that I’m
seeking while not creating too much confusion for our sales folks who
have been using SPIN for a long time.

SDM: So as we move forward, we’d have to ensure that there is buy in
from the decision team, and be aware of any danger signs. We could work
that out between us. Before I give you data about my Buying
Facilitation Method®, can you tell me what would new skills give you that you
don’t have already?

Boss: We’re having great difficulty differentiating ourselves in this
market: our products appear similar to our competitors, and clients
don’t know how to buy us. We’ve tried educating them, but that
doesn’t seem to make much of a difference in our numbers.

SDM: My model, Buying Facilitation, helps buyers know how to choose you
over the competition. It’s a collaborative decision making model,
rather than a product placement or problem solving model – it gives
sellers the tools to teaches buyers how to buy, rather than approaching it
through the product sale. How would you know, before we were to do a
pilot, that you and the rest of the team would be willing to consider a
model this unusual?

Boss: I’d have to understand it better, and the team would have to
agree to consider it. How can we get a hold of material that would help
us learn more about it?

SDM: In addition to sending you some reading material, I’m actually
coming to that part of the world in a few weeks. I would love to stop in
and meet with all of you. What would be the best use of our time
together once I’m there? And, given all of the political issues you’re
facing in your new assignment, who should be at the meeting, what would
you need to see from me, and what sort of an outcome would we be
seeking? I think it would be best to plan all of this before I get there.

Different outcomes

In my estimation, had I been able to use Facilitative Questions on the
phone prior to our face meeting as I did in the mock conversation
above, I could have helped the Boss recognize the internal issues (politics,
relationship issues, and management issues, etc.) that needed to be
managed outside of the purview of the Identified Problem and accelerate
his decision cycle accordingly. I would have become his decision partner
and eschewed the uncomfortable relationship issues that came up during
our meeting. By the time it was relevant to discuss and pitch my
product, he and the team would have been in a position to make a purchasing
decision - or not, and I would have known that prior to making a face
visit. [Note: Buy the book that breaks down the decision segment from the
product sale segment: Buying Facilitation: the new way to sell that
expands and influences decisions, at www.buyingfacilitation.com]

Use face-to-face meetings to cement the decisions the entire decision
team needs to make with you; use the phone to help the early decisions
get made and the decision teams coalesce and start taking the action
they need to take anyway. It’s the internal, unique, and idiosyncratic
systems end of the buying decision that’s been hidden from us for so
long, but is now able to be managed with the Buying Facilitation
Method®.

The time it takes buyers to come up with their own answers is the
length of the sales cycle, whether it's a decision to buy an insurance
policy or a company-wide implementation. By leading the buyer through the
entire range of necessary decisions, you can reduce the length of the
sales cycle by 75% and you can do much of this on the phone. By sticking
to Dale Carnegie's belief that sales calls need to be face-to-face,
you're 1. helping delay the sales cycle, 2. not getting to partner with the
decision team in a truly supportive way until farther into the sales
cycle than necessary, 3. wasting unnecessary time on prospects who won't
buy, 4. keeping yourself solidly in a price, product, and service
competition, and 5. waiting in the dark as the decision team figures out the
decisions they need to make that you could have sequentially walked
them through much more quickly.

Use the phone as a smart business tool. Save the face visits for when
it will actually support a closed sale with a ready prospect. Do you
want to sell? or have someone buy?

----------------------------------------

ABOUT MORGEN FACILITATIONS

COACHING

Do you need a thinking partner to help you walk through your own
decisions around how to manage your sales team? Choose new sales people?
Carry out new initiatives? Rebrand a product line and help sellers position
it in the market? Help your sales folks use the phone better? Sharon
Drew is available to do hourly coaching. Contact her at:
sdm@austin.rr.com to set up an appointment.

PRODUCTS

Many of our products can help you learn how to develop the Facilitative
Questions. While you can learn about the mode in full by buying the
ebook (or MP3) Buying Facilitation: the new way to sell that expands and
influences decisions (www.buyingfacilitations.com you can also listen to
Sharon Drew make prospecting, qualifying, fund raising, and customer
service calls for over 2 hours on her audio CD’s. Visit
www.buyingfacilitation.com and purchase a product to help you understand the model and
take away some action items. Of course, training is also available for
long or short programs, should you wish your team to learn the Model.

BLOG

Sharon Drew welcomes active participation in her blog, at
www.sharondrewmorgen.com/blog/. She is also supporting conversations on,
www.salespractice.com/forums/t-3547.html. We hope to see you there

Creating a New Standard of Excellence –

Six Things You Can Do

Recognizing that the time had come to replace our hot water heater, my wife called our plumber to schedule an appointment. She placed the call at about 11 a.m. When the agent asked, "Would you be available between one and three?" Lori asked, "Which day?" The agent replied "Today of course."

Hearing a strange noise coming from our furnace, another call was placed. Again, the appointment was made and the problem was solved the same day. (Are you surprised that the furnace and the plumbing company have the same ownership?)

Earlier this week my wife had a problem with her knee and after seeing our family doctor she was referred to a knee specialist - a specialist considered one of the best in Indianapolis. When she called for an appointment, I feared the worst. Instead, she had an appointment within 24 hours.

My guess is that as you read each of these short stories. You are surprised at the service we received. The fact is, this level of service should be the norm, but sadly isn't. Our experience has lowered the expectations of most of us.

The Good News

The good news in these examples is that it is easier than ever to stand out. When you are good, people will notice. When you are excellent, they will rave.

This goes for us personally, professionally, or as an organization.

Below are six steps that you can take to continue to raise your own standards of excellence. These steps will make it easier than ever to stand out, be noticed, and have greater levels of success and satisfaction.

What You Can Do
Get a current check on performance. Talk to those you served, whether your family, coworkers or Customers. Find out from them, how well you are doing in meeting their expectations. Listen to their feedback. Don't justify your current performance or blame others. Simply listen.
Determine the standard they want. Again, ask your Customers or those you serve for their input. Listen to their needs, wants and hopes.
Determine the standard you want. Remember that their expectations may not be very high based on their experience. Take their feedback and ideas into account, but remember that it is your responsibility to set the level of excellence you want to reach. Set the bar is high as you wish.
Under promise and over deliver. Taking the first three steps will heighten awareness and likely raise expectations immediately. As you work to grow your standards remember that you can reach your goal is small steps. Make promises based on your current capacity, not your fondest wish. Make the promise, then deliver more, then raise the level of your promise a bit the next time. Steady and slow wins the race – and remember it won’t take long to leave those you are racing with far behind. This approach will help you raise your standards, and the trust others have I you too.
Ask "what's not excellent?" This question will help you continue to find ways to improve your standards and delivery. Ask this question of yourself, of your teammates, and of other interested parties.
Measure performance. You've set new standards for yourself. The only way to reach them and maintain them is to measure your performance against those standards. Depending on the standards you are setting this may be very simple or quite complex. Don't make the measurement more difficult than necessary, but remember to measure.

It is clear that these steps have obvious application for serving Customers better. While I encourage you to consider their applications to customer service, I also hope you will consider using them in other areas on your life.

It's time to raise the bar. It's time to set new standards. Standards won’t raise themselves; we must raise them consciously and consistently. The steps above will help you take that conscious action.

http://www.kevineikenberry.com/uypw/ezine/06/issue3_05_print.asp

Seven Lessons to Learn From Great Salespeople

Chances are this article’s title gives you a strong opinion about whether or not to continue reading. You are either in sales and want to understand your work better and therefore very interested, or you are being kind and giving me until the end of this paragraph to convince you to continue, because you aren’t in sales, you don’t want to be in sales, and you don’t see a connection between your work and sales.

If you are in the second group, please give me just one more paragraph before you decide, ok?

If you think of the stereotypical high pressure used car salesperson when you think about sales, rest assured that isn’t what I’m referring to. Think about this. Do you ever need to persuade others to see your position or take a particular action? Do you ever need people to follow your recommendations? Do you ever benefit in a tangible way when you are able to be more successful in persuading others? If your answer is yes to any of these questions (and I’m sure it is for everyone), then you are in sales – regardless of your job title or how you feel about “salespeople.”

So regardless of your experience in or feelings about sales, there are likely things you can learn from the best in the sales field – because we are all in sales.

The Model in your Mind

With all due respect to the many truly outstanding used car salespeople, the “high-pressure, used-car-salesperson” stereotype is one held by many people. And while we may have experience with this type of salesperson, most of us also have experience with someone who was extremely helpful. Someone who helped us select the best possible product or service for our situation and really cared about the results we would receive from the products we were buying. In other words, when we stop to think about it we all have some very positive experiences with salespeople.


It is those positive experiences that I want you to reflect on as you read the seven lessons below. Chances are some – or all – will be consistent with your experiences, and by reflecting on your experiences as you read you will make these lessons even more valuable for you.

The Seven Lessons

Listen more talk less. How can a salesperson know what you need unless they listen? If they don’t listen they are making assumptions as to your needs, wants and desires. The same is true for us. We will get much further much faster when trying to persuade or influence others when we talk less and listen more.

Ask more and better questions. One of the ways to talk less is by asking more questions. Great salespeople are masters at asking questions. They collect and use questions intelligently to learn more about our needs. They use questions to understand us better and to strengthen their relationship with us. Questions are one of our greatest learning tools and one of the best ways to further relationships. Whatever your work, being more skilled at asking questions will make you more successful.

Focus on the longer-term, big picture. The best salespeople aren’t trying to sell one car today. They are trying to sell you your next 5 (or 10) cars. They know Rome wasn’t built in a day and that they won’t reach their goals – or best serve you – by pressuring you to buy now. So it is for you in your interactions. When we think about the longer term we will make better decisions and behave more appropriately.

Build relationships. Business success is about relationships, and great salespeople know that. One of the fastest ways to become more successful is by building more and stronger relationships. One of the fastest ways to lose your job is by neglecting relationships. Take it from the best salespeople – business is based on relationships.

Follow-up and follow through. One of the ways to build relationships is to follow-up and follow through. Ever had a service provider call you and check on your satisfaction? How did you feel about that provider and his/her organization after that? How do you feel about people who send you handwritten thank you notes? How do feel when people go above and beyond to stay in touch with you and make sure you are satisfied? You feel good about them and their services, right? Apply those approaches to your work. Send a note. Remember a birthday. Mention the article you read that they would be interested in. Do what you said you were going to do. Follow-up and follow through.

Lose the techniques – focus on the other person. There are many helpful techniques that we can learn from training, from watching others and reading. We look for a magical formula or approach. While it is important to learn the techniques, they will only help us if we integrate them into who we are and what we stand for. For example, there is a difference between practicing active listening techniques and actively listening. When the focus is on the result, we relax and use the techniques in support of the end goal. Great salespeople learn the skills, but focus on their Customer. In an almost paradoxical way, by focusing on the Customer (remember your colleagues and your boss are your Customers too) and being sincere and genuine, you will gain the advantage of the techniques you were trying to use to begin with.

Help them buy. People don’t want to be sold, but they do want to buy. Just like a master salesperson, help people be persuaded to your position. Help them see the value. Help them own the decision. Help them remove the roadblocks – real or perceived.

Some Final Thoughts

There are likely many areas of your life where you can apply the lessons above. Consider your work, but also your role as a neighbor, in a community group and as a parent as places where you can benefit from these lessons.


http://www.kevineikenberry.com/uypw/ezine/06/issue3_31_print.asp

How You Impact Your Organization’s Culture

Bob moved to a new company, and it wasn’t too many days before he was invited to a meeting. The meeting announcement he received said that the meeting started at 9 am in room 105. At 8:55 he walked into an empty room. Frantic he went back to his computer to see if he had the details right. He checked and double checked and realized he was right – 9 am, room 105.

As he briskly walked back to the meeting room he was puzzled. He thought, “Why was the room empty, when it is almost time for the meeting to start?” He walked in at 9:02 and still no one was there. He sat there for a couple of minutes when he saw someone he recognized – who also was on the invitee list – walking by the door. Bob asked if the meeting was still on and if it was still for 9 am? Susan replied that the meeting was on, that Bob was in the right place and that “meetings never start on time here.” Sure enough, about 9:15 everyone, including Susan, arrived and the meeting got started.

That night Bob told his wife the story and related how different this was from his last company. “There, everyone was there five minutes early, because we always started on time.”

Bob is learning – first hand – about his new organizational culture – one quite different from what he is used to.

What is it?

Organizational culture – it’s something we don’t usually talk about, but we feel everyday. A culture is defined by what is expected of people and what is valued. It defines the norms of behavior and “how things are done” in an organization – whether that organization is a family, a team or a business.

To be successful in any setting it is important to understand the culture – this understanding allows us to navigate successfully through our day and be productive. Culture is important then because it defines the boundaries of behavior and performance, which allow us to produce rather than discuss “how” to do everything – it becomes a short hand way to get things done.

Cultures often develop from people’s early experiences in an organization and over time these experiences become the unspoken “rules of the road.” This is natural and usually just fine, except that sometimes what naturally develops or evolves isn’t exactly what we might want those “rules” to be. While they may have worked in the past, now they no longer serve the organization very well.

What now?

Since these rules develop gradually and become deeply engrained, what do we do if we want to change them?

In most organizations, if this question is asked at all, the answer would be to point to senior management. After all, they are those in charge of the organization – if something about the culture is holding the organization back, they should be responsible for fixing it.

This is a logical assessment, but woefully limited in application. In reality the culture doesn’t belong to a CEO or a senior leader. It belongs to everyone. And while there are cultural norms that spread across an entire organization, there often are differences within a department, a workgroup or a geographical region.

Perhaps there are things in your organization’s culture that you would like to change – Bob certainly preferred meetings that started on time, for example. So if the culture belongs to everyone, what can you do to change it for the better? What role can you play as an individual?

What You Can Do

Have a clear picture of what you desire. If, for example, you want to build a more positive and fun work environment, you need to be able to describe what you are looking for – not just think you will know it when you see it. Getting a clearer picture of what fun means in your situation is critical to you successfully adjusting the culture.

Understand the benefits of the change. You need to see the benefits clearly so that you will stay motivated to change, but also because others won’t change without understanding why. Define benefits organizationally and personally.

Communicate with others. Once you have a clear picture of what and why, it is time to help others see your new picture. How can you expect them to buck the trend of “how things are done” if they don’t see a better way?

Model the new behavior. Want the culture to be different? It starts with you. Gandhi said, “We must be the changes we want to see in the world.” These five steps form a specific plan that you can use to create the changes you want to see. But this fourth step is critical – you must embody and personify the new cultural norms yourself.

Begin to expect it of others. Unfortunately, this won’t be as easy as flipping a light switch. It will take some time for people to get onboard with a change even if they agree that it’s a positive step. You start by encouraging them, supporting successful change and recognizing progress.

You can do these things regardless of your position. Start small (like with yourself). Then expand it to those immediately around you. If you are a production worker your actions won’t affect the culture of your multi-national employer overnight, but they can begin to positively change your immediate work environment. Regardless of your role, you can positively impact the culture in which you work, but only if you are willing to stand up and be accountable.

Don’t shrug your shoulders; do roll up your sleeves. You are a co-owner of your organization’s culture, and you can make a difference.

How You Impact Your Organization’s Culture

Bob moved to a new company, and it wasn’t too many days before he was invited to a meeting. The meeting announcement he received said that the meeting started at 9 am in room 105. At 8:55 he walked into an empty room. Frantic he went back to his computer to see if he had the details right. He checked and double checked and realized he was right – 9 am, room 105.

As he briskly walked back to the meeting room he was puzzled. He thought, “Why was the room empty, when it is almost time for the meeting to start?” He walked in at 9:02 and still no one was there. He sat there for a couple of minutes when he saw someone he recognized – who also was on the invitee list – walking by the door. Bob asked if the meeting was still on and if it was still for 9 am? Susan replied that the meeting was on, that Bob was in the right place and that “meetings never start on time here.” Sure enough, about 9:15 everyone, including Susan, arrived and the meeting got started.

That night Bob told his wife the story and related how different this was from his last company. “There, everyone was there five minutes early, because we always started on time.”

Bob is learning – first hand – about his new organizational culture – one quite different from what he is used to.

What is it?

Organizational culture – it’s something we don’t usually talk about, but we feel everyday. A culture is defined by what is expected of people and what is valued. It defines the norms of behavior and “how things are done” in an organization – whether that organization is a family, a team or a business.

To be successful in any setting it is important to understand the culture – this understanding allows us to navigate successfully through our day and be productive. Culture is important then because it defines the boundaries of behavior and performance, which allow us to produce rather than discuss “how” to do everything – it becomes a short hand way to get things done.

Cultures often develop from people’s early experiences in an organization and over time these experiences become the unspoken “rules of the road.” This is natural and usually just fine, except that sometimes what naturally develops or evolves isn’t exactly what we might want those “rules” to be. While they may have worked in the past, now they no longer serve the organization very well.

What now?

Since these rules develop gradually and become deeply engrained, what do we do if we want to change them?

In most organizations, if this question is asked at all, the answer would be to point to senior management. After all, they are those in charge of the organization – if something about the culture is holding the organization back, they should be responsible for fixing it.