When this country was founded, even the most progressive thinking people did not vision running water and electricity in each home. They could not visualize television, automobiles, airplanes, or the space shuttle hauling parts to build a space station. Only a few years ago the personal computer was not even thought of, and the Internet could not have been envisioned as it is today. Looking back just fifty years one could not have given a realistic evaluation of many common place items in use today. Yet in the next fifty years, our nation will experience a complete and through transformation.

Technology is developing faster than we can keep up. As one generation begins to fade away the births of their technology has accelerated knowledge well beyond their comprehension. The next generation uses the previous generation as a spring board to gain even greater heights.

This information explosion is splitting the population into segments. The very well informed who understand and use current technology, the not so informed who get by using current technology in a limited capacity and the many who can?’t keep up with current technology at all. This rift in our society is causing some to get very powerful while others concede to the status quo.

What do you think? Can we keep up or will we fall to our own doings?

There are various reasons for activating change. However, the foundation of each step on the path to better living was and is built on a firm belief in the system. It is a firm; deep-seated conviction in the belief that nothing is impossible for a society that challenges possibilities and forges its?’ own destiny. The possibility of flight brought about the challenge of accomplishment. The invention of the automobile brought about a whole network of highways to accommodate them. The challenge was immense but the possibility was inviting to those who rose the occasion.

One barrier was challenged over and over until it was finally overcome. The sound barrier proved to be a insurmountable challenge for hundreds of people yet, through belief and determination even it was overcome. Even the sky is no longer the limit because man has ventured into the heavens seeking answers to his origin. The quest of man is a powerful driving force that spears the mind to awe-inspiring heights. None of these and thousands of other challenges could have been accomplished without team effort. It takes a multi mind team effort to accomplish the improbable and set standards of accomplishment.

The team may see the universe as being within its grasp but here on earth, the individual flounders, why? Relationships, work ethic, morals, values, people have strayed from the belief in there own significance. They have taken the easy road, the road to self-indulgence and self-satisfaction. They look for the effortless path to wealth and happiness. They dream the impossible dream because impossible has crept into their minds and clouded their rationale. Determination has given way to limitation and the mind retreats to hopelessness in its self absorbed state.

The many concepts that bring the future into reality are spurred by inquisitive minds, healthy minds, full of willingness and vitality. The seekers, visionaries, doers and shakers of this generation. All revolutionary techniques or discoveries that provided a basis for modern life are possible in infinity. The concepts are only to be discovered by an inquisitive mind. It is the seeker that brings dreams into reality. What is a discovery but an expression of its initiator? The producers of our present day technology may have been called ?“dreamers,?” by many of their contemporaries but today it?’s their technology that drives the wheels of a nation.

Anything is possible to the believer ?– if he/she is also a ?“doer?”. For through belief comes faith and it is faith in oneself that motivates the mind into completion. Setting in a rocking chair conjuring scenes of future greatness may be enjoyable and relaxing, but it will never get the job done. It takes cold, hard-organized effort to create results.

About the Author

Donald Yates is an accomplished public speaker and writer who is new to Internet marketing. Donald lives in East Tennessee with his wife of forty-six years, one granddaughter and their four dogs. To learn more, visit
http://www.clean4profit.com
http://www.rockeriders.com

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Consider this sobering thought. In spite of the importance of successfully implementing workplace change for maintaining your business?’s competitiveness, most change initiatives fail to deliver the expected organizational benefits. This failure occurs for a number of reasons:

?• absence of a change champion or one who is too junior in the organization?• poor executive sponsorship or senior management support?• poor project management skills?• hope rested on a one-dimensional solution?• political infighting and turf wars?• poorly defined organizational objectives?• change team diverted to other projects

Do you recognize one or more of these in your organization from previous initiatives? You have probably experienced already one major cost of such failure. The cynical and burned out employees left behind only make the next change objective even more difficult to accomplish. It should come as no surprise that the fear of managing change and its impacts is a leading cause of anxiety in managers.

Your first step in becoming a successful change leader is fully understanding your organization and matching the initiative to your organization?’s real needs. This means not just adopting the latest management fad. Recognize that bringing about useful and meaningful change is fundamentally about changing people?’s behavior in certain desired ways. It is not primarily about installing a new system or rearranging the organizational structure. If people in the end do not behave and work differently, then the money and time spent in ?“doing stuff?” is wasted.

You will see from the above list of reasons for failure that lack of technical expertise is not the main impediment to successful change. Leadership and management skills, such as visioning, prioritizing, planning, providing feedback and rewarding success, are key factors in any successful change initiative. Concentrate on these skills that will help you get people on board and to keep them on board for the life of the project and beyond. Get your mentor or a training consultant to perform an honest gap analysis on your skill set and then get the coaching or training that you need.

Whatever change program you are implementing, one key area in which you need to pay close attention is the identification and management of your change program stakeholders. A stakeholder is any person with an interest in the change process or the outcome of your proposed change. Be politically savvy. Your stakeholders will bring a mix of competing interests and will often act to further their own power, influence and survival. An added challenge for you as change leader is that such political maneuvering is often disguised as impartial and rational argument. Think about who are your major stakeholders. Think about what you will say to them to get each of them on side. When you have done that, write up a stakeholder communication plan and make sure you follow through.

Another essential activity you would do well to not neglect is setting clearly defined and measurable objectives. Goal setting done well engages stakeholders and commits them to the program. Other benefits include focusing effort to where it is important and providing a yardstick for measuring program success. Are your program?’s goals fuzzy and hard to put a finger on, or are they specific and measurable? Do they link to the strategic objectives of your organization? Get all of the key stakeholders to work with you in devising the goals that will define the success of your program. Getting their input during the initial stages will give them a genuine ?“stake?” in your program.

Fundamentally, it is people and not money or infrastructure that will make your organizational change happen. Change initiatives fail where roles and responsibilities are left unclear or not agreed. In organizations with a toxic performance culture, many employees and managers spend much of their time and effort in hiding from responsibility. What are the key roles and responsibilities for bringing about the needed change in your area? Have you identified the key tasks for each person belonging to each of the four key change role groups: Change Driver, Change Implementer, Change Enabler and Change Recipient? Selecting the right people for the right roles is also critically important. Find out all you can about selecting, leading and managing teams.

I mention teams here because no matter what your change program is about, most likely the people working in the various change roles will not be working in isolation. More and more, results can only be achieved through people working collaboratively ?– in teams. Are your teams of the optimal size of around five to eight members? Is each team being led by the right team leader? Do they have the necessary technical and interpersonal skills? One reason why teams are much more productive than individuals working in isolation is that team members leverage off each other?’s strengths and compensate for each other?’s weaknesses. So, do your teams have the right balance of natural working styles? There will be times when one or more of your teams get stuck. When they hit a brick wall, make sure that you have a strategy in place for moving them forward. As you have already guessed, a permanently stuck team leads to a permanently stuck change program.

All this talk about the value of teams highlights the importance of training in skilling up teams and bedding in change. Many organizations, however, fail to benefit from the resources spent on training. Soon after the training is completed, employees continue to cling on to the old way of doing things. Review how successfully your organization is using training to improve people capability. Ensure that your change program has a well-articulated training plan based on a thorough analysis of skill gaps. I said that successful change is about changing people?’s behavior. So, make sure that your training programs focus on behavior change and are not simply about delivering the most content in the shortest possible time. To help bed in the new behaviors, budget and plan for lots of back in the workplace support. Change will not happen if your managers do not actively support the training. Make sure that they ?“walk the talk?” and are not simply feigning approval in front of the executive.

Even if your training is well delivered and supported, a proportion of your employees, customers and suppliers will resist your change efforts. Unless you have a well thought out strategy for dealing with negative reactions, these resisters will wear your program down until it fizzles out or ends with a bang. Find out which of your resisters are actively fighting out in the open and which are working from the underground. Sometimes the reasons given for resisting change are a smokescreen. In these cases, you will need to do some digging to reveal the real reasons for the resistance. In some instances, resistance is a natural reaction to the proposed changes. Help these people work through the psychological process of denial, resistance and finally acceptance. Importantly, develop a strategy before implementation for identifying sources of resistance and for turning it around.

You have before you a huge task fraught with uncertainty, but filled with incredible opportunity. The above guide to being a triumphant change leader is not the last word on how to bring about successful organizational change. In fact, it is just the beginning for you. Read all you can about leading, coaching and influencing people through change. Your most important and rewarding lessons, though, will be learned as you apply your new found knowledge to your real-life change initiatives. I suspect that the most important lesson that you will learn is that to be successful your change program must not be your change program. I wish you well on your journey.

?© Leslie Allan. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Leslie Allan is Managing Director of Business Performance Pty Ltd, a company providing practical online information and resources in a range of business areas. Find out more about change management and download the free introductory chapter to his practical guide, Managing Change in the Workplace.

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To initiate this process, I want to show you six common fallacies, which blur accurate analysis of ideas.

Learn them and apply them every day.

Democratic fallacy

Unreliable reasoning that stems from the idea that the “majority opinion” is a source of truth and a reliable guide for action.

This is a very dodgy way to discover “Truth”

For example;

Imagine a passenger aircraft is having engine trouble.

Would it be right for the pilot to hold a vote as to whether they should attempt an emergency landing?

If not, why not?

Is the majority opinion in the office a reliable guide to intelligent action?

Can a million people be wrong?

Be careful if you are tempted to reinforce your argument with the cry “everyone else thinks so, too.”

Correlation-cause confusion

Correlation-Cause confusion is a common trap that people fall into. Just because two things occur at the same time does not necessarily mean that one caused the other.

It is a mistake to treat a correlation as a causal connection

If I put on my lucky ring, and I go out and find a ten pound note, did the ring cause it to happen?

If a new boss comes to work and the sales next month go down, what does it mean?

Getting personal

Getting personal is the mistake of dismissing an idea because of the person suggesting it.

Imagine an overweight scientist has done research to prove that exercise reduces the risk of heart disease.

You could be tempted to say, “What does he know? Look at the state of him!”

Or you could say “He should practice what he preaches” and dismiss the valuable idea.

Halo effect

Halo effect is the reverse of the above. It means that you give extra credibly to an idea because of the person.

For example Elvis Presley was asked whether he thought the Americans were right to be at war in Vietnam.

He wisely answers ” I don’t want to get into that. I am an entertainer. Ask me about my music”

I remember a radio programme asking agony-aunt Claire Raynor what she thought about the state of the criminal justice system in England and Wales.

What specialised knowledge does her opinion carry?

Separate ideas from the person proposing them and evaluated an idea as a “thing” in its own right. Determine if the idea can act as a guide to intelligent action.

Arbitrary assertion

Is an unsubstantiated statement of belief with no principle, reasoning or sensory evidence to support it.

It is a mistake to grant plausibility to an assertion simply because it is forcefully delivered or repeated.

Frequency and volume should never take the place of logic in your decision to accept an idea as true.

Napoleon once quipped “Repetition is my strongest argument” (and then lost 250,000 in his disastrous Russian campaign)

Equally, it follows that you should avoid trying to convince someone else by simply becoming louder and more passionate. Instead strive to make your reasoning inescapable.

Gamblers fallacy

Is the mistaken belief that your chances of winning increases the longer you play.

This is a false idea.

If you are doing the wrong thing it makes no difference how long you do it. It still will not work.

If your current plan has not been yielding any meaningful results, it will not change fortunes tomorrow.

* Change your ideas.* Change the plan.* Change the actions.* The results must and will change.

Critical reasoning to develop clarity of thought will cause you to do three things:

You will:

* Listen more intently* Ask more questions* Think more before you make your decision

All of these will help you get better results

Four step formula for constructing an argument

1. Make sure that the reasons/evidence you offer are relevant to the conclusion. (Ensure your reasoning has no fallacies).

2. Is your conclusion the best based on the reasons or evidence? Ask, Is this conclusion justified.

3. If your conclusion is for some new action or policy, can the policy be carried out practically?

4. Consider the counter arguments that could weaken your position. Make sure you have accessed all relevant information.

About the Author

Chris Farmer is the leader of The Corporate Coach Group, and a publichsed author in Business Coaching. His training courses through the Corporate Coach Group have helped hundreds of managers become immediatly more effective.

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When Do You Need Project Management Training?

The boss has tossed you a small scale project, which turns out to be a titanic assignment for you because you do not have the skills to manage different capabilities and organize the whole show. Yet you take on the task hoping you pass muster and reap accolades for a job well done. You are one of the thousands of befuddled managers needing project management training.

Here is why you need project management training:

* You cannot produce a credible project plan* Your project goes helter-skelter in different directions* Your risk management techniques are outdated or implausible* You cannot estimate work schedule confidently* Your monitoring tools are inadequate or inapplicable* You cannot run a motivated team* You lack leadership skills

Can tell your boss no? Or do you take the project and hit the books because your boss expects you to effectively run a project with few people and resources, on a tight schedule, and get maximum results?

What Is Project Management Training?

The project management training educates project managers to foresee dangers that may derail project plans and activities. They should be able to minimize risks and solve problems head on to make sure that the project is completed successfully notwithstanding the risks. If you had the opportunity to have this training early on, no projects would be too big or difficult to handle.

The training also takes up management of IT skills when overseeing a project. This is a convenient and faster way to keep tabs of what is happening to all actors participating in the project. Instead of lugging journals, logbooks, and calendars, you log on to your PC and look at the worksheets of everybody to check how the work is going.

Knowing the IT part of project management training is just an aspect, but the bigger picture is effectively managing resources and meeting the project deadline because extended or delayed project activities incur more expenses, and the company loses revenues.

Why is the Project Management Training Important?

Projects, big or small, need a good manager to keep the project going on schedule. There is the competition to think about and the revenues to be earned from the project. During the course of the project, there will be slip ups or the project may go full steam ahead; a good manager will answer the following questions:

* What factors contributed to the success and failure of the project?* What were the frequent problems that cropped up and why?* How much resources were used and how were these used?* Were resources available at the right time or not, and why?* Were the skills required available and competent?* What were the lessons learned?* Were all aspects of project implementation documented accurately?* Did management respond to issues quickly?

Project management training will help you see the big picture. The questions mentioned earlier are your guideposts to become an effective manager; hence, the training is important on two counts - career advancement and project success. Need you ask more?

About the Author

Don’t pass up project management training. You can always get PMI exam prep to help you hurdle your PMI exam. Get more details from threeo.ca now.

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If you read many of the reviews of how the science of leadership development has evolved, you could be excused for thinking that what we?’ve learned has followed an ordered path, with the development of a new approach coinciding with the abandonment of the existing one. For example, the early 20th century was a time when personality was the main focus of research on leadership, while the 50s and 60s saw a shift in focus to what leaders did in the workplace. This was when leader behaviours became the main focus of research efforts.

The challenge for experts at that time was the inconsistency of many of the research results. While certain behavioural styles and specific personality traits did predict leader effectiveness, they did not do so in all situations. But it wasn?’t all bad news. There was unrealised value in the approach of the trait theorists, and the researchers of leader behaviours never really went away. Those in the field of leadership began to realise that under different situations, different personality traits and different leader behaviours were more effective at predicting leader performance. This led to the so-called ?‘contingency?’ theories of leadership. These theories identified the situations under which the different combinations of leader personality traits and behaviours predicted performance. Today, it is widely accepted that both leader personality and leader behaviour are important predictors of leader effectiveness. Far from being conceptual cul-de-sacs, both traits and behaviours are critical to our understanding of leader effectiveness, and both approaches ought to be included in your leadership development programmes.

For you to use personality and behaviour effectively, we would make a couple of recommendations based on the research literature and our experience:

?• The first is with regard to personality. You need to interpret profiles of multiple personality traits, rather than looking at single dimensions of personality. The rational here is simple. Whether a leader is effective or not is likely to be judged on multiple dimensions. These dimensions are likely to be predicted by different aspects of a leader?’s personality ?– so we need to look at the whole of leaders?’ personalities.

?• The second recommendation is with regard to the way leader behaviour is assessed. Up until now, there has been a tendency to focus on broad dimensions of leader behaviour, for example, whether a leader is task focused or relationship focused. This has served leadership development researchers well for a long time. But there is a need now to move to a more finely grained model of leadership behaviour that focuses on specific aspects of being relationship or task focused. For example, being relationship focused may mean that you are good at developing people, or it may mean that you have high empathy. These different aspects of being relationship focused will predict different leader outcomes.

If you are able to consider the above when using models of personality and behaviour in your leadership development programs, you have a great chance of improving your effectiveness at identifying and developing organisational leadership capability ?– and not being taken in by the latest fad!

About the Author

Tim Kennedy is writing for CHPD. Founded in 1996, CHPD teams up business and academic partners, including the London Business School and scholars from Harvard, to develop their leadership and developmentprogrammes. The management training company has offices in the UK, Australia and the States, and is now intending to open an office in India. Having grown from four initial members, there are now 60 full time staff and 150 external consultants working in 25 countries across the globe to provide exceptional leadership and team training, helping to find the leaders of tomorrow.

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If you read many of the reviews of how the science of leadership development has evolved, you could be excused for thinking that what we?’ve learned has followed an ordered path, with the development of a new approach coinciding with the abandonment of the existing one. For example, the early 20th century was a time when personality was the main focus of research on leadership, while the 50s and 60s saw a shift in focus to what leaders did in the workplace. This was when leader behaviours became the main focus of research efforts.

The challenge for experts at that time was the inconsistency of many of the research results. While certain behavioural styles and specific personality traits did predict leader effectiveness, they did not do so in all situations. But it wasn?’t all bad news. There was unrealised value in the approach of the trait theorists, and the researchers of leader behaviours never really went away. Those in the field of leadership began to realise that under different situations, different personality traits and different leader behaviours were more effective at predicting leader performance. This led to the so-called ?‘contingency?’ theories of leadership. These theories identified the situations under which the different combinations of leader personality traits and behaviours predicted performance. Today, it is widely accepted that both leader personality and leader behaviour are important predictors of leader effectiveness. Far from being conceptual cul-de-sacs, both traits and behaviours are critical to our understanding of leader effectiveness, and both approaches ought to be included in your leadership development programmes.

For you to use personality and behaviour effectively, we would make a couple of recommendations based on the research literature and our experience:

?• The first is with regard to personality. You need to interpret profiles of multiple personality traits, rather than looking at single dimensions of personality. The rational here is simple. Whether a leader is effective or not is likely to be judged on multiple dimensions. These dimensions are likely to be predicted by different aspects of a leader?’s personality ?– so we need to look at the whole of leaders?’ personalities.

?• The second recommendation is with regard to the way leader behaviour is assessed. Up until now, there has been a tendency to focus on broad dimensions of leader behaviour, for example, whether a leader is task focused or relationship focused. This has served leadership development researchers well for a long time. But there is a need now to move to a more finely grained model of leadership behaviour that focuses on specific aspects of being relationship or task focused. For example, being relationship focused may mean that you are good at developing people, or it may mean that you have high empathy. These different aspects of being relationship focused will predict different leader outcomes.

If you are able to consider the above when using models of personality and behaviour in your leadership development programs, you have a great chance of improving your effectiveness at identifying and developing organisational leadership capability ?– and not being taken in by the latest fad!

About the Author

Nigel Guenole is writing for CHPD. Founded in 1996, CHPD teams up business and academic partners, including the London Business School and scholars from Harvard, to develop their leadership and developmentprogrammes. The management training company has offices in the UK, Australia and the States, and is now intending to open an office in India. Having grown from four initial members, there are now 60 full time staff and 150 external consultants working in 25 countries across the globe to provide exceptional leadership and team training, helping to find the leaders of tomorrow.

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As we grow as Entrepreneurs we need to embrace this responsibility because of the personal growth it provides us; and because the people who join in your business deserve good leadership.

Although you may not consider yourself as a boss in traditional terms, others who join our teams will naturally look to us to guide them and teach them. A leader realizes to truly help and support others to success we must start with ourselves.

Here are some qualities of successful leadership that can make a huge difference in building a successful team - which will lead to a successful business.

Leaders develop courage. Courage is kind of a spiritual energy that causes us to take action. Courage is having trust that everything happens for a reason. Courage is a commitment to purpose in our business and our lives. Courage is easiest found when we commit to a mission larger than ourselves and for the good of others.

Leaders lead by example. Leaders are role models. Adopt the best characteristics of the leaders you admire. Who inspires you as a leader? Mother Teresa, Oprah, or Hillary Clinton. Don’t be afraid to adopt some of the specific characteristics of a leader from the opposite sex. You may appreciate Donald Trumps boldness in business. Adopting that trait does not mean you need to adopt that persons entire personality! As my inspiration Ellie Drake would say ?‘Be Humble on the inside and bold on the outside?’.

Leaders continue to learn. Look for Coaching by inspirational people like Ellie Drake. Reading books such as The Magic of Thinking Big, Life is Tremendous, anything by Stephen Covey, or Brian Tracy. Learn everything there is to know about your industry, company, its service or product and the benefits it offers people.

Leaders listen ?– remember we have two ears and one mouth for a reason. You can help others best by listening to their needs, dreams & desires.

Leaders are committed. They look at commitment as a positive and trust the journey. They put off instant gratification in favor of the greater rewards generated from consistent action over time.

Leaders care ?– they connect with others. When you help enough other people reach their dreams your dreams will follow.

Leaders are people of action ?– embracing each task as part of the process.

Leaders manage their time ?– your most precious commodity. Practice discipline in doing the most critical tasks first and be strict in keeping distractions out of your way (a daily occurrence). Delegating is also important because you can?’t do it all. Do what you are best at and have others do what they are best at.

Leaders are persistent, consistent and set goals ?– if you don’t have a map to where you are headed the only place you will end up at is lost.

Leaders are positive thinkers, in terms of solutions rather than problems. They feel enthusiasm from the inside.

Leaders don?’t let failure stop them ?– they take the lesson each situation offers and use it to step up to a higher level. They choose to rise above the challenges of today and keep moving forward.

Leaders have principles and are authentic to their own values.

Few if any of these traits can be mastered overnight, but with a commitment to excellence you can grow into a person your people will be proud to follow.

About the Author

Businesswoman, Friend, and Team player, Debbie Amon assists Women to be multi-dimensional success stories and inspiration to others. The fact that you are investigating the home-based business industry is a sign that you have dreams and trust in those dreams. Let me assist you further: go to my website and register for the FR.EE newsletter and receive a copy of the FR.EE “Building Business Report”.Visit: http://www.BraveHeartWomen.com/courage

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1. Purpose2. Communication3. Plan Ahead4. Conflict5. Inspire Self towards the positive6. Inspire Others towards the positive

These six can be summarised as;

“Be clear, treat people and problems according to the laws of reason and then, within reason, maintain a positive mental attitude.

Clarity is the most important characteristic of the leader manager.

Clarity relates to developing two specific forms;

1. purpose2. communication

It means knowing what goals you want to achieve and the ability to focus your mind without distraction for months and years.

Any person, who takes the necessary time to achieve a state of definite purpose, has the potential to lead others to that purpose.

CommunicationYou may have clear ideas, but you may not be able to express those ideas to others such that they understand the full meaning.

Anyone wanting to develop their skills as a leader should develop their ability to use language:

* With accuracy* With persuasion

The leader needs to be able to simultaneously be able to clearly explain complex ideas, and do so in language that will inspire other people to act.

Reason is the ability to think clearly

It means developing the ability to build plans of action that are likely to achieve the goal.

There are two main aspects where you may want to use your powers of reason;

1. Planning2. Conflict resolution.

Planning

Planning is the ability to;

1. Prioritise tasks according to value and deadline2. Delegate relatively lower value tasks3. Handle interruptions4. Make accurate decisions5. Get the maximum value from every hour spent

Planning is a prerequisite of continued achievement.

Conflict

Conflict is inevitable and even beneficial, provided conflict is resolved rationally with no anger or enmity.

If conflict remains rational, better solutions emerge. When two people’s ideas contradict each other, through synthesis, a new idea emerges.

The team leader must be able to resolve conflict;

1. Quickly2. Objectively3. In a factual way4. According to rational principles

This takes careful thought and careful language.

Emotions

The Positive emotions such as;

1. Enthusiasm,2. Confidence3. Energy

Are the spark that transforms logical plans into action.

Most people live in the hope that something outside of them will inspire positive emotions inside of them.

But the environment has a tendency to de-motivate, because bad news sells more copy than good news.

We are fed “fear messages”

To keep going through the disappointments the leader must create enthusiasm

The ability to manage the emotions has two aspects;

1. Your own emotions2. The emotions of others

Manage your own emotions

If it is the leaders job to inspire others, then who inspires the leaders?

Nobody.

The leaders inspire themselves.

That means;

1. Constantly being positive2. Setting up challenges that they can meet3. Expecting things to be better in the future4. Refusing to accept the words “I can’t” and replacing them with “We can, if…”5. Taking defeat as temporary and always coming back stronger with a better plan.

This is each person’s individual choice: to be as confident in the future as his or her present circumstances reasonably permit.

This takes mental discipline, the ability to control your own mind, and the constant practice of the art of positive affirmation.

The ability to inspire others.In this regard there are three typesThe person who does inspire you. You may know at least one person that you can rely on to raise your spirits,These people represent the ideal.

The second type is the person who is up one day and down the next,On a good day this person is optimistic.On a bad day this person is equally negative.This does not represent the ideal because the moodiness creates uncertainty.

The third type is consistent but they are consistently down and pessimistic.You can present this person with any situation and they will see the reasons why it is bad news.This type represents the antithesis of the ideal.

In summary these virtues are;

1. Clear Goal2. Clear communicator3. Planner4. Rational conflict manager5. Ability to inspire self6. Ability to inspire others

Our suggestion to you is;

Memorise the above six, and consciously develop yourself in each area.

About the Author

Chris Farmer is an expert in Leadership Management Training. His training courses through the Corporate Coach Group have helped hundreds of managers become immediatly more effective.

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Criteria for Winning the Canadian Society for Training and Development Awards

1. Originality - Entry addresses current need in an enterprising manner.

2. Instructional Design - Entry respects Adult learning principles

3. Evaluation Strategy - entry measures Kirkpatrick?’s 4 levels of evaluation.

4. Packaging - Entry has visual appeal

5. Communication Style - entry is well-organized, clearly written and easy to follow in language, grammar and content.

6. Overall Value - Entry offers value to the organization/purchaser and to the training profession.

The awards are given based on merit of submission, not in comparison with other submissions.

Entry Categories for the CSTD Award

1. WOW Award - Process or program that introduces a new idea into the marketplace in the form of a new product or service or n improvement in organization or process.

2. External Learning Program - Classroom based programs and/or a blend of learning modalities designed for sale on the open market.

3. Internal Learning Program - Classroom based programs and/or a blend of learning modalities designed for exclusive use within a company.

4. External E-Learning Training Program - Instructional content or learning experiences that are delivered, enabled, or mediated by electronic technology and designed for sale on the open market.

5. Internal E-Learning Training Program - Instructional content or learning experie4nces that are delivered, enabled, or mediated by electronic technology and designed for exclusive use within a company.

Award Benefits

As a member of the CSTD, you gain professional recognition, educational resources, services, networks and international partnership with others in your industry. You will find validation that your learning product uses “best practice” learning principles as well as receive feedback outlining merits and areas of improvement at the Canadian Society for Training and Development Conference. Recognition of your learning product through being awarded the CSTD Award for Training Excellence will enhance your marketing through a profile in the Award ceremony booklet during the presentation at the CSTD

All of these things will benefit your company or organization as well as give authority in your industry. Your clients will have confidence that your learning program or products will provide above industry standard training for their employees. With this confidence of authority in your field, your company is sure to guarantee superior training methodology to future clients.

The CSTD Canadian Awards for Training Excellence have honored innovative, Canadian-developed learning products and programs since 1995. This program is open to all member organizations. Entries are judged on originality, instructional design, evaluation strategy, packaging, communication style and overall value. The CSTD is a strategic world leader, striving for excellence in the workplace learning and performance business applications. Validation through peer feedback is an ideal way to ensure your learning product or training program uses best practice learning principles.

About the Author

A Canadian Society for Training and Development Awards gives your clients and peers confidence that your Management Training program exceeds industry standards.

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To head off complaints and ensure maximum productivity, consider these important issues in planning a meeting:

Timing is everything. Don???¦t plan a meeting for Monday morning when people are trying to get their head in the game, schedule their week and answer their emails. Avoid right after lunch when people sink into nap mode. And forget about holding a meeting on Friday afternoon when everyone wants to get out the door for the weekend.

Invite the right people. Invite the people who will most benefit, those who can make real contributions and those with the power to make decisions. Send a meeting summary to other interested parties. Research indicates that 5 to 9 participants is the optimal number for productive discussion and decision-making. Break larger groups into small work groups after the initial introduction.

Set a specific goal. Meetings are more apt to stay on track when participants know exactly why the meeting has been scheduled and the specific goal to be accomplished. Decide why you???¦re getting together. Is it to share information, brainstorm or make a decision? Send participants an agenda prior to the meeting so they arrive prepared.

Stay on track. People lose interest when a meeting veers off-track. Stick to your agenda and meeting timeline. Changing presentation media or tactics periodically will help meeting participants refocus on the agenda. Keep a running list of off-task ideas or questions in a ???§parking lot???? so you can continue with the agenda without losing useful ideas that can be addressed later.

When people communicate, they gain 10% of the meaning from words, 20% from delivery style and 70% from non-verbal cues and body language. The presenter and presentation are more important than the actual words in getting your message across. And in our harried, multi-tasking world, attention span isn???¦t what it used to be. These factors are particularly significant given the growing number of businesses who are using teleconferencing and videoconferencing to mitigate increasing travel costs and narrowing employee time constraints. Meeting planners can take a tip from television which uses the formula: tighten, dazzle and flow to rivet audience attention.

?„XTighten. Tighten the focus of the meeting by setting just one or two goals. Tighten your delivery with preparation and practice. Tighten control of the meeting environment by optimizing room temperature, ventilation and lighting. In a recent poll, poor speaking skills (monotone voice, repetition, over-gesturing and buzzword overuse), lack of direction and physical discomfort were most cited as causes for loss of concentration during meetings.

?„XDazzle. Be enthusiastic and share your passion or belief in the task or goal. Enthusiasm is contagious and engages the attention of participants. Use the tactics listed below to keep the meeting fresh and interesting. Wake people up by doing the unexpected: Meet in a restaurant instead of the conference room, play a game, switch visual media, solicit audience participation, etc.

?„XFlow. Maintain continuity by sticking to your agenda and time frame.

To keep meeting participants energized and engaged, try these 10 tips for holding your audience???¦s attention during a meeting:

1. Use humor. Tell a joke, funny story or personal experience related to the meeting topic. Or open your presentation with an amusing slide, famous quote or cartoon. Dilbert is great for poking fun at meetings and corporate life.

2. Offer refreshments. Cool, refreshing beverages ??V ice water, juice, soda, iced tea ??V and easy-to-eat salty or savory snacks can help participants stay alert.

3. Busy hands. Place small jigsaw puzzles, mini Lego kits or tiny cans of Playdough in front of each participant. Some people think and concentrate better when they have something to do with their hands. Invite those who care to ???§to play???? while they work.

4. Pose a question. Ask a question early in the meeting, but tell participants you don???¦t want an answer until the end. To encourage active listening, offer a small prize (quarters for the vending machine or a Starbucks coupon) for the first correct answer.

5. Engage participants. Encourage and solicit the views and discussion of all participants. Use eye contact to draw people in. Toss a Nerf ball around the room. The person who catches the ball must offer a comment or suggestion before tossing it to another participant. Have participants show agreement or disagreement by holding thumbs-up or thumbs-down.

6. Get personal. Credit meeting participant???¦s when facts, statistics and ideas are presented. Encourage participants to share ownership of the meeting by offering details of their involvement or accomplishments.

7. Show and tell. Use visuals to get your point across. Wake things up with a hands-on demonstration or PowerPoint graphics. Use a variety of visual tactics to keep things fresh.

8. Unlock the mystery. Abstract concepts and statistics can cause people???¦s eyes to glaze over. Provide an understandable comparison or explain the real world implication. When possible, relate the numbers to the participants???¦ personal lives.

9. Shake things up. Pop a Q&A or brainstorming session into the middle of a discussion. Do some role-playing to revitalize attention. Solicit alternative perspectives and stimulate creative thinking by passing out sheets of paper on which each participant writes a problem or concern. Papers are passed to the right where the recipient has 60 seconds to write down his first thought about the problem. Continue to pass the papers every 60 seconds until each person gets his own sheet back. Invite the group to share and discuss responses.

10. Snappy ending. Keep the end of the meeting from getting bogged down in repetitive comments and summary. Give each participant a blown-up balloon. If he feels someone is winding on too long, he can pop his balloon to ???§stop the hot air.????

About the Author

Amy Linley is the conference call expert at Accuconference. Read more from Amy or find out about video conferencing services at http://Accuconference.com.

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