Keeping Teams and Staff Focused on Soaring Higher

Achieving Corporate Excellence, Inc. Newsletter

Vol. I No. 4 2009

Keeping Teams and Staff Focused on Soaring Higher

It is easy to lose altitude with a team and a staff when life is presenting challenges, however, leaders knows that it is their responsibility to ensure that staff and teams continue to soar, despite these obstacles. Through wisdom, teams and businesses thrive and grow. Building a relationship with employees is like building a home. It is done step by step. The mortar that holds it together is unconditional and solid. Yet the only way to know if the mortar is the right mixture is to see how it holds up during storms. Many people are experiencing such a storm or test in their business today. They have spent time and energy building teams and staff members and now they are asking even more. Will the staff and teams hold together or is the mortar too fragile? The most vital resource businesses have is their employees. Happy employees are excellent advertising agents, telling friends, family and even strangers about your company because they feel appreciated, they share openly in all areas of their life. But employees who don’t feel appreciated are even louder advertising agents, making negative comments about the company and the lack of appreciation that they feel. Realize that people believe both the happy and the unhappy employee.

If we sacrifice on what we give to our team and staff, then they became weaker, just like if we water down mortar it won’t hold a building up either. What have you done to keep your team strong? Have you offered training, rewards, etc.? What can you do to maintain these events for them? When we withdraw trainings or reward programs people feel less valued, less important and the morale can drop rapidly. I was recently talking with a friend who donated blood. She reported that during her last visit to the blood bank, there was a sign letting donors know that there would be no more distribution of gift cards for blood donations. While donating blood is typically done because it is the right thing to do, and not a $10 gift card or t-shirt (reward), donating blood is still an act that takes time out of someone’s day. It will be interesting to see if blood banks see a decrease in donations, since the perception of some donors may be that there is no reward or other appreciation for their time and effort.

So what can you do to make sure teams keep soaring? Here are some tips:

Tips for Keeping Teams and Employees soaring when others are losing altitude and gaining a negative attitude:

1) Seek to maintain focus for the team.

2) Keep lines of communication open and keep them informed.

3) Keep agendas and plans moving forward even if some modifications need to be made.

4) Be creative with both budget and work force.

5) Continue to offer training and showing the staff and team that they are valued.

6) If bringing in an outside trainer appears too costly – look at other options. (Would this program be able to be offered as a webinar or live Webinar?)

Creative Training Tips:

Many times I have worked with companies and even associations who are trying to figure out how to help their teams and staff succeed, but they report they don’t have the budget to do the training. It is easy to say what we don’t have and more challenging to see what we can find. One association realized they had enough budget to pay for a piece of cheesecake for dessert, but not enough to pay for the speakers fee. After talking they realized that they were paying for a dessert that not everyone would even eat. Two weeks later most would not even recall if a dessert was even served at the event, but they would remember the message the speaker presented.

Bring a program to your City: Schedule a program while Cindy is in your area.

2009 Confirmed Upcoming Events Public can attend:

Annual Gulf Coast Symposium - Houston TX, May 21, Cindy will present on Raising Presentations to New Heights. (HRCI program)

South Brevard SHRM Melbourne, FL, June 11, The Diversity of Change. (HRCI program)

Florida Association of Public Health Nurses Palm Beach, FL, Cindy will be doing the closing Keynote on August 4, 2009. Contact information: http://www.faphn.org/

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WEBINARS and TELE-SEMINARS

Scheduled programs can be delivered directly to your organization or professional association.

Call (772) 461-8313 USA Eastern Standard Time or Contact us for availability and fee schedule.

Have to watch the budget but still need to have training that has value? Then let us provide a teleconference or webinar just for your dept or organization. Contact us today to set up a program that will benefit your company and employees. Our time is your time, time zones and shifts are no problems. Let us see what we can do to offer what you need.

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ARTICLES:Have a custom article written for you association newsletter or trade magazine. Request reprint permission of an existing article.

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NEED A GREAT SPEAKER to get a convention going? Does your training need a lift and positive energy? Then call today and book Cynthia Krosky or her staff. Let us be your resources to help you grow. Call us at (772) 461-8313 USA Eastern Standard time. Do you know someone who could benefit from leadership or team-building programs? Then forward this to them! We are looking forward to serving you!

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Cynthia is a CSP, Certified Speaking Professional, the highest earned designation in the International Federation of Professional Speaker and the National Speakers Association. Of 4000 members, less than 200 women hold this designation. Seeking a professional for your next convention keynote or other programs, call us at (772) 461-8313 USA Eastern Standard Time

Handling Challenges Professionally

Vol. I No. 3 2009
Handling Challenges Professionally

Have you had to handle challenges lately? Do you find that as stress increases our ability to handle problems professionally, often decreases. The majority of business throughout the world are in the service industry. Fifty-five percent of the businesses in the United States are in the service industry. Many of us know from Customer Service basics that regardless of the business you are in you are serving someone. This means that we need to be ready to handle a variety of situations with ease. The best leaders know how to be adaptable and to adjust to people and circumstances. Professional leaders know how to be in control of themselves when challenges arise instead of letting challenges control them.

Life is more than happy to present us with challenges and to test our ability to demonstrate our leadership skills and professionalism. But many people lack the training or skills to handle these events professionally. As a trainer and consultant, I continue to come across numerous companies who are dealing with people who have managed to get into leadership positions but lack the skills to handle the challenges that come up with the job. Professional soft skills training courses in communication, conflict resolution, and handling aggressive customers can help employees refine their skills. However, many companies believe that we leaders learned these skills before they were put into a leadership position. The answer is that most people didn’t’ take a class in these areas, rather we learned our skills at home. When we grow up we learn and observer from the people that raise us or have the most influence on us. Some of the behaviors we learn we have to unlearn, because we later discover that there are more acceptable behaviors that we need to learn. Some of our learning and refining of behaviors does come with age and maturity, but a great deal of our learning comes from exposure and practice.

When I was growing up I learned many things from my family. My father was a successful businessman, owning shopping centers and over 13 retail chains. While he was successful and a good manager, at home he managed life at home was less professional. I once described my father as a football linebacker, turned into a Lion, as he was king of the family and when he roared we listened. Therefore, from my father I learned to live life in a ready to roar mode. This left me in a ready to detonate or explode at any given time. I was a walking time bomb and so was my father, as he had a massive heart-attack at 63 and passed away. I was only 21 at the time and realized that living life in a fired up state, was setting me up to follow in his footsteps and I wanted a longer life. So I started trying to learn from others who handled challenges differently and I began to practice a new way to respond.

What I learned was that when I had lived life in a ready to explode mode, there would always be something that could set off the trigger. As an adult, I soon came to realize that other people
didn’t like or respect this behavior. My only choice was to start refining my behavior.

Several years ago, I wrote an article about an encounter I had with an explosive Bank VP. She was screaming at her employees, as well as me, because a transaction had not gone as she had expected. Her screaming and ranting did not change the problem with the transaction. It didn’t seem to matter that people were trying to help resolve the problem, she couldn’t hear their solutions or suggestions, because her voice projected over theirs. In a course of approx. 2 minutes the people who had initially attempted to help resolve the problem vanished and she was still left with the same problem, only now her blood pressure was over the top and she couldn’t even think logically.

I remember having a similar verbally explosive moment, at home when my stepson locked us out of the house. Bbut losing my temper still didn’t unlock the house. I knew what he had done was an accident, but living on trigger mode, it was all I needed to lose it. I remember finally hearing my neighbor, who had heard my angry commotion, say ‘Will yelling unlock the house?’ No matter how big a fit I threw I couldn’t undo what had been done. Calming down was required to be able to speak to someone to get the house unlocked. An apology to my step-son, was required, as he had not planned on creating this inconvenience.

Our job is a leader is to demonstrate for others how to handle challenges. When events occur, we have a choice on how we respond and we should be held accountable for our responses. We also need to know that people are watching us and learning from us. We can take the agitated road that allows us to become angry or we can choose the road to be in more control and to find a better outcome.

As businesses look at budgets and try to determine how to be wiser in their spending, an area that is still has return on investment is investing in training for employees and leaders. Providing employees with the opportunity to improve their communication skills can result in improved customer satisfaction with both internal and external customers, boost morale as employees are more confident in how to handle challenges and builds trust among employees increasing retention.

Bring a program to your City: Schedule a program while Cindy is in your area.
2009 Confirmed Upcoming Events Public can attend:
Federally Employed Women (FEW - open to Public see website for registration fees etc.), Cocoa Beach, FL March 4 & 5,: http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/groups/few/
Then click on TRAINING – Cindy is presenting on Unleashing our Leadership Potential

FAPE Conference Daytona Beach, FL CANCELED due to State funding
April 15-16,
Cindy will be speaking on: Three topics: Personality Styles: How to influence how we interact:
Reaching Across the Generations: and Achieving Cohesiveness with Ease: Teambuilding to Increase Your Teams Potential

Annual Gulf Coast Symposium Houston TX, May 21, Cindy will present on Raising Presentations to New Heights. ( HRCI program)

South Brevard SHRM Melbourne, FL June 11, The Diversity of Change an approved HRCI program

Florida Association of Public Health Nurses Palm Beach, FL, August 4 **************************************************************************************************************
WEBINARS and TELESEMINARS
Scheduled programs can be delivered directly to your organization or professional association.
Call ((772) 461-8313 USA Eastern Standard Time or Contact us for availability and fee schedule.
Have to watch the budget but still need to have training that has value. Then let us provide a teleconference or webinar just for your dept or organization. Contact us today to set up a program that will benefit your company and employees. Our time is your time, time zones and shifts are no problems. Let us see what we can do to offer what you need.
*******************************************************************************************


ARTICLES:
Have a custom article written for you association newsletter or trade magazine. Request reprint permission of an existing article. ******************************************************************************************
NEED A GREAT SPEAKER to get a convention going? Does your training a lift and positive energy? Then call today and book Cynthia Krosky or her staff. Let us be your resources to help you grow. Call us at (772) 461-8313 USA Eastern Standard time. Do you know someone who could benefit from leadership or team-building programs then forward this to them! We are looking forward to serving you!
********************************************************************************************************
Cynthia is a CSP, Certified Speaking Professional, the highest earned designation in the International Federation of Professional Speaker and the National Speakers Association. Of 4000 members, less than 200 women hold this designation. Seeking a professional for your next convention keynote or other programs, call us at (772) 461-8313 USA Eastern Standard Time
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Be an Encourager

When times are tough, it is easy to jump on the woe is me band and sing the sad song, but the job of a leader is to be an encourager. Perhaps you have heard a statement that so many philosophers and even parents have said, that our thoughts affect who we are and directly connects us to what we become. If we become what we think about then our performance and behavior can be changed by having someone who encourages us and helps us to see our potential instead of our mistakes. Leaders encourage those around them to learn how to express themselves so they can become more than they already are. As I work with corporate executives, I find those that have the greatest productivity from their team are the ones who encourage their team members to think and to express their ideas. These leaders create a platform for sharing and reward people for bringing forth ideas.

Our brain is a very powerful tool and when a leader encourages us to bring our brain to work and then encourages us to use it, great ideas grow. To use a gardening analogy, thoughts are seeds and our brain is a garden. Given the right conditions a garden or brain can grow anything – nourishing food or poison. Much the same as the earth grows what is sowed, so our brains also grow the thoughts (the 'thinking seeds') and the encouragement that we hear. Our brain cultivates these thoughts and this information giving us the nutrient and sustenance we need to grow, to deal with issues, and to solve problems. The challenge becomes to control what is planted in the brain – and to sow the right 'thinking seeds'.

There was a student named Tommy who struggled in school. He had difficulty keeping up and after much frustration with Tommy’s challenges his teacher dismissed him telling his mother that Tommy would not be able to succeed. Tommy was then schooled at home by his mother who believed in him and gave him encouragement to believe in himself. Well, Tommy grew up and became known by most as Thomas Edison, an inventor of over 1,000 patents, including the phonograph and the first electric light bulb. Who do you work with that could blossom if they were encouraged?

If you are in the workplace, remember you are doing more than renting time from your employees, you are spending your money to have them there. Spend some personal time encouraging them and you may be surprised that they do more than show up for work and that they are more productive at work. As I talk to employers around the world about working with the younger generations, they have come to understand that encouraging is the link that makes their young employees more responsive and that encouragement cost them nothing and got them everything that they were wanting.


Bring a program to your City: Schedule a program while Cindy is in your area.
2009 Confirmed Upcoming Events Public can attend:

Federally Employed Women Beach, Cocoa Beach, FL March 4-5: http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/groups/few/
Then click on TRAINING – Cindy is presenting on Unleashing our Leadership Potential FAPE Conference, Daytona Beach, FL April 15-16:
http://www.meetingmakersinc.com/Register/FAPE_Reg.asp
Cindy will be speaking on: Three topics: Personality Styles: How to influence how we interact, Reaching Across the Generations, and Achieving Cohesiveness with Ease: Teambuilding to Increase Your Teams Potential Annual Gulf Coast Symposium, Houston TX, May 21: Cindy will present on Raising Presentations to New Heights (HRCI program) South Brevard SHRM, Melbourne, FL, June 11: The Diversity of Change an approved HRCI program Florida Association of Public Health Nurses Palm Beach, FL, August 4

Take Responsibility for Yourself

Have you ever wished you could take a day off from responsibility? That somebody else would answer the questions or make the decisions. That would be a dream world. Not matter you’re your position or role in life we all have responsibility for our actions. When you think of it responsibility is a unique concept. Whether it is in your personal or professional life we have learned that when you share responsibility you are still held accountable for doing some portion of the task. When you delegate it, you still need to know the status on what is being done. Some leaders who are not careful tend to micro-manage the people they delegate to and this causes conflicts and mistrust. From the early childhood we sought to be given responsibility. To be permitted to have a say in what we wanted to do, to be considered mature enough to make our own decisions. Little did we know or understand what that was getting us into, but we wanted to and celebrated the milestone markers in life when we were given the chance to be trusted.
As adults we know that leaders seek people who they can trust people who they know will accept responsibility. Never more than today do we understand how important it is to accept responsibility for our action or lack of actions. We know that even if we want the world to stand still and let us take a break, it won’t happen. While we can take a break and I encourage people to de-stress by taking a break, we know that the world will keep on moving. Ready or not we have to take responsibility for our actions or our lack of actions. With economic turmoil and a great deal of uncertainty facing people, there are some who are choosing to complain rather than choosing to do something.
While there are days I would rather be irresponsible and get someone else to make every decision for me, the fact that I am being asked to make a choice or provide information, is a reminder that I am still a player in the game of life, and ultimately that is a good thing. At work and at home we have to make decisions, tough decisions, lonely decisions, costly decisions even unpopular and unpleasant decisions. But we must be courageous and decide. Sitting on the fence, playing it safe won’t move us ahead. John Maxwell writes: “If you decide to fish, fine; if you decide to cut bait, fine; but if you decide to do nothing your not going to have fish for dinner.”
It is a new year, a time to embrace the changes that lie ahead instead of fear them. A chance to be more responsible for your actions. Many people make New Years Resolutions and break them within a month of making them. I ask you to make a resolution to be responsible and to hold yourself accountable. It is a matter of psychology, not letting ourselves have the out or the excuse. Maybe you may know someone who is habitually late, so they set their clocks ahead in order to arrive on time. If it works that is what matters. So lets think about changing the way we think of the months.
January - Just do it – don’t delay take action today.
February – Fear nothing and see what you have to gain or to learn.
March – Demonstrate confidence and be a role model for others
April – Ask Questions see what you can learn.
May – Give 100% everyday. Be committed to everything you do 100%.
June - Be a role model – someone is always watching you so what do want them to learn
July – Strengthen your character.
August – Appreciate others. Seek to make someone else’s day better. Do a kind deed without any expectation of appreciation
September – Share your knowledge
October – Get out of your comfort zone
November – No excuses
December – Dare yourself to grow to learn something new

May you have a great start to 2009. Hope to see you soon!
Bring a program to your City: Schedule a program while Cindy is in your area.

2009 Confirmed Upcoming Events:Big Brothers Big Sisters, Port St. Lucie, FL Jan. 13,; BOMA: Orlando, FL Jan. 21; Siemens Energy Inc. Feb. 5; Federally Employed Women Beach, Cocoa Beach, FL March 4-5,:18th FAPE Conference Daytona Beach, FL April 15-16, Annual Gulf Coast Symposium Houston TX, May 21, South Brevard SHRM Melbourne, FL June 11, Florida Association of Public Health Nurses Palm Beach, FL, August 4