5 Ways to Reduce Stress Using Communication Skills

Blog Art Doc Girl 210It’s one thing for an individual in an organization to find themselves in a state of stress. But when events occur bringing on stress for most everyone in an organization, now you have a critical challenge on your hands. This stress spills out into families and the communities causing more critical and, in some cases, disastrous challenges. Seeing life from someone else’s perspective takes an open mind, active listening takes effort, and understanding takes commitment. These can take time. What are some additional elements that can help?

DISC,, Communication,

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Connecting with Communication

DISC COM 210

We know how to communicate. We have a thought, we spot our listener, we open our mouth, and pour out the contents of that thought into our listener’s ear. We make an instant connection with one another. The listener hangs on our every word with respect and admiration, absorbs the intent of the thoughts we are conveying, behaves just as we are expecting, and acts upon that information exactly as we intend for them to.  This process occurs every time, no matter what we’re speaking about or who we’re speaking with, right? No? You’re kidding! Well, it can’t be our fault!! What could be wrong with our communication process or style? Why didn’t the listener connect?

Communication,

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10 Misconceptions About the DISC Assessment

DISC Post WEB210Let’s be real. No one hiring tactic, tool, process, or system is perfect. On the other hand, having nothing in place is disastrous. Having only one or two tools, tactics, or a broken system in place is just as dangerous. Or, as my colleague Marc Simms owner of Right Performance Management, suggests, “It seems that some companies jut flip a coin, but guesswork and luck are not a formula for hiring success.” Taking a chance is still taking a chance. Can we afford to take such chances with our most priceless asset, our people?

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EQ and Its Impact on Your Bottom Line

EQ Mtg 210Business is serious. The success of business affects stakeholders both inside and outside any organization. We use general terms when describing these stakeholders like, the Board, the community, the employees, the customers, the vendors, the management, (the insert yours here) __________. Yet, each of these collective nouns consist of individual people with individual characteristics, talents, attributes, skills, needs, wants, and goals. Without these individuals, in their collective noun categories, we have no business and consequently no stakeholders. Which has more impact on business, the skill of these individuals or their EQ?

Teams,, EQ,, EI,

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How to Think About Thinking

Thinking 210When we were small children, our parents thought we didn’t need to do it, so they did it for us. In school, our teachers tried to help us understand it and teach us how to do it. When we were teenagers, no one thought we did it at all! Even as adults, it is an enigma to many. As leaders, we need to do a lot of it, and we need to do it well.  What is this that both follows us and seemingly escapes us throughout our lives and careers?

Critical Thinking; Business,, strategicthinking

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Stay Competitive Through Lifelong Learning and Reskilling

Reskill 210Individuals who take pride in not having opened a book since high school or college, may need to rethink their priorities. Granted, there is a difference in people in that some love learning and could devour books, research, and webinars all day every day.  Others only want to learn about topics when they need to know something to accomplish a task or complete a project. Still others think they know everything already and learning is not necessary, and they can skip this article. However, being a lifelong learner does seem to be a trend now. Why is that?

Devlopment,, Lifelong Learning, Reskilling

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5 Ways to Uncover Your Talent Blind Spots

Blind Spot 210Most articles on blind spots are written about leaders and their blind spots. OK, in the interest of transparency, even I’ve written a couple in that same vein The RX for Diagnosing and Curing Blind Spots and  Seeing Your Blind Spots

People at all levels in all organizations have a blind spot about something. Since leaders in the C-Suite bear a lot of responsibility, blind spots can be expensive and therefore garner the most attention. However, regular people, like you and me with the non-leadership salaries, need to be just as aware of our own blind spots that you may think don’t matter. And why is that?

Talent Management,, Blind Spots,

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Team and Individual Coaching: vive la différence! Really?

Team Ind 210Both individual and team coaching enjoy a rich history. Despite its widespread popularity, coaching remains an enigma for leaders.  Despite its effectiveness for many, leaders remain hesitant to implement this tool. Further, adding to the confusion, even though many individuals and teams report an improvement in productivity, focus, and even life-changing breakthroughs, there are a lack of studies to help support these important claims. What’s the difference between team and individual coaching? How does a leader determine whether to implement individual or team coaching? In addition, how does a leader know if any coaching is worth the ROI?

Coaching,, Leadership; Teambuilding

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