FAQ & PRICING

HOW TO GET A JOB

Match Careers and Skills Set 

Sales / Customer Relations / Training – Extrovert, Communication Skills, Aggression

• HR, Training – Empathy, People Skills
• Operations, Production – Goal Orientation,  Aggression
• Finance / Statistics / Technology IT / ITES, Ecom, Purchase – Analytics, Domain Knowledge, Patience for repetitive work
• Field Investigations, Liaison, Media Research, Market Research – Energy, Inquisitiveness, Patience, Driving
• Marketing, Advertising, , Planning, Strategy, Journalism, , Direction, , Script Writing, –  Mental Toughness, Creativity

Top 10 Sites for your career

1. Linkedin
2. Indeed
3. Naukri
4. Monster
5. JobBait
6. Careercloud
7. Dice
8. CareerBuilder
9. Jibberjobber
10. Glassdoor

SKILLS

Non Tech Skill Sets

Communication Skills, Technology, Website, SEO, People Management, Leadership, Analysis, Writing Skills, Microsoft Projects, Web Designing, Graphics, Creatives,  Story Writing, Acting, Drawing, Art, Camera/Photography, Editing, Story Telling/Scripting, Journalism, Public Speaking, Liaison, Finance, Marketing, Music, Cinematography

Top 10 Tech Skills in demand

1. Machine Learning

2. Mobile Development

3. SEO/SEM Marketing

4. Data Visualization

5. Data Engineering

6. UI/UX Design

7. Cyber-security

8. Cloud Computing/AWS

9. Blockchain

10. IOT

11 Sites for Free Online Education

1. Coursera

2. edX

3. Khan Academy

4. Udemy

5. iTunesU Free Courses

6. MIT OpenCourseWare

7. Stanford Online

8. Codecademy

9. ict iitr

10 ict iitk

11 NPTEL

 

10 Sites to learn Excel for free

1. Microsoft Excel Help Center

2. Excel Exposure

3. Chandoo

4. Excel Central

5. Contextures

6. Excel Hero b.

7. Mr. Excel

8. Improve Your Excel

9. Excel Easy

10. Excel Jet

 

10 Sites to review your resume for free

1. Zety Resume Builder

2. Resumonk

3. Resume dot com

4. VisualCV

5. Cvmaker

6. ResumUP

7. Resume Genius

8. Resumebuilder

9. Resume Baking

10. Enhancy

 

10 Sites for Interview Preparation

1. Ambitionbox

2. AceThelnterview

3. Geeksforgeeks

4. Leetcode

5. Gainlo

6. Careercup

7. Codercareer

8. InterviewUp

9. InterviewBest

10. Indiabix

Prepare a CV & Get a Call

 

1. Identify your Passions, Strengths & Weakness and decide ‘Type of Job, Company & Location.
2. Open a gmail account & fix a password that you will never forget.
3. Select a mobile number that you will not change and a smart phone.
4. Take a passport photograph in a Formal Suit and a Tie (Bust -Chest & Face only)
5. Prepare 2 page CV & Covering Letter (Only summary – Name, Designation Education, Experience, Skills, Achievements). Take help if required.
6. Post CV on LinkedIn, Indeed, Naukri, Monster, Facebook, Twitter (Short profile)
7. Email CV as many placement agencies & contacts. 
8. Look for companies trying hire and register in Careers on their websites.
9. Speak to & Visit Placement Agencies & discuss your skills & Salary expectations. 
10. Send CV to friends & use get referred through Employee Referral Schemes.

 

11.               TYPICAL CALL (EXAMPLE)
Good Morning. My name is ________________ Mr.    ______________ gave me your name. Did I catch you at a good time?”  “The reason I’m calling is to seek your help me find a job in (City). I am an MBA from — and have – years of experience in —-as a Marketing Manager. My main skills are ——————————————-

 

REGISTER WITH THE FOLLOWING

www.indeed.com

www.naukri.com

www.linkedin.com

https://www.topexecutivesearchfirms.com/

Interviews

 

HOW TO PREPARE EMOTIONALLY FOR THE INTERVIEW

• Focused, enthusiastic, confident, crisp & to the point, passionate, ambitious, team person.
• Your energy, maturity, emotional stability& Cultural fit will determine whether you get hired. 

• First impression matters. Normally the most qualified person never gets hired. 

• Read the job description and research company carefully. Ask for more details
• Look into the eyes of the interviewer and act confidently.
• Be honest and enthusiastic and highlight your strengths by giving examples of Important Qualities – Personality, Motivation, Leadership, Flexibility, Decision Making, Go Getting Attitude, Conflict  & Problem Solving Skills, Loyalty, Integrity, Creativity
• Describe your personality honestly and why this job excites you. Do not speak ill of your previous company.
• Do not try making a Positive when asked about a Weakness “I’m a perfectionist” and turn it into a positive. Interviewers are not fooled. Honestly highlight a skill that you wish to improve upon and describe what you are proactively doing to enhance your skill.

 

Beliefs you must develop

You are a Winner & Good Things Will Happen

Failure is Not Final; Failure is Feedback 

Patience is a Virtue  

No One is a Finished Product 

Everyone is Created for a Bigger Purpose 

 

How to Dress up 

• Males – Formal (Coat & Tie), Females Formals or Saree, Sober Make up, light Deodorant/Perfume, bag, Pen , Highlighter, Certificates, CV, Visiting Card, Mobile Off, Reach 15 minutes early

HOW TO HOLD THE INTERVIEWER’S ATTENTION?

Attention Level – 0 to 10 Seconds is 100% ,10 to 60 Seconds it falls to 50%,  60 to 90 it falls to almost 10% if there are no interruptions. Near the end of your long response the interviewer starts to formulate their next question unless you keep them engaged. By asking a question you promote two-way communications and minimize the risk of talking too much.  This helps you ensure they are listening while you talk

 

SOME QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD PREPARE FOR 

Tell me about yourself?

EXAMPLE

 “I am a presently ‘Senior Executive Accounts’.  I have a lot of experience in tax issues and audit. (expertise and skills)  My experience includes carrying internal audit for ISO 9000 and resolving tax issues for the last 2 years (insert knowledge or skill)  I have worked in the Construction Industry and t6he Media Industry. My background also includes roles as Junior Accountant (position title), Senior Accountant (position title) and Senior Auditor (position title).  My education/certifications include CA (degree or certification) and M. Com.  I would like to be described by my Colleagues as ‘results focused’ & ‘details oriented. Highlights of my professional accomplishments include winning the “Employee of the Year Award in 2003 and the ‘Best Suggestion Award in 2004

 

• Why do you want to leave your previous organization and join us?

EXAMPLE –  “My company merged with another firm and the new management wanted to bring in their own team. Prior to the merger I was a strong performer with positive performance reviews.” Provide References and Proof – Provide references from a former colleague and boss to verify his performance. Demonstrating a confidence and willingness to provide references to support your reasons for leaving is a powerful way to ensure you are believed.

 

• Give an example of a successful project, your role & why it succeeded? 
• How would your subordinates describe your management style, strengths & Weaknesses? 

• Give me an example of handling underperforming employee 
• Where do you see the industry going? What are you doing to stay on top of these changes? 
• What are the most important things to you about any job?  Is it the pay, the opportunities, feelings of self-worth, fellow employees, location, benefits, etc.? 
• Tell me about a time when you accomplished something significant that wouldn’t have happened if you had not been there to make it happen. 
• Describe for me a time when you may have been disappointed in your behavior. 
• Tell me about a time when you had to discipline or fire a friend. 
• Tell me about a time when you’ve had to develop leaders under you.
• Do you want to ask me something?

EXAMPLE OF QUESTIONS YOU MAY ASK
– What position are you considering me for?

– What are the  top challenges that I’ll face in this job?

– What are the characteristics of people who are most successful in your company?

SOME QUESTIONS FRESHERS SHOULD PREPARE FOR

1. Tell me about yourself. 

2). Why do you want to do an MBA 

3. Where do you see yourself 10 years down the line?

4) What are your ambitions in life?

5. Who is your hero and why? 

6) Which is the field you want to take and Why?

7.  What are the qualities of a good Leader? 

8. What if you do not get selected?

9. You are a woman. How will you balance professional life and home?

 

 

1. Tell me about yourself?

 I have just completed my degree in biotech. I have an army background. My dad was in the army. He has taken premature retirement and is now in the corporate world. My mom is a home maker and I have got a younger brother. We are a small close knit family . I am a friendly and open person.

 

 

2. Why do you want to do an MBA

I come from In fact an army background. Everyone in my family has been in the army or has been an employee. No one has ever started a business on their own. I want to do MBA and get the knowledge of marketing & finance so that sometime later I can start a business of my own. My role model is Mrs. Kiran M Shaw who has opened a successful biotech co. I have just appeard for my final year biotech. But I don’t want to continue Btech & do Msc. b’coz I feel it is more important to know how to manage the business. I actually do not know much about business now. My father is in the corporate world and would guide me. I will work hard and build a successful future for myself. 

 

3. Where do you see yourself 10 years down the line? 

I will take up marketing because it is very interesting and very important to build a business. I want to pick up some knowledge in  finance and hopefully get employment in a biotech firm later. Here I’ll learn how business is done and gain experience.   I’ll try to start business and  hopefully down the line I see myself as a budding entrepreneur.  I work hard to make my enterprise a success. I’ll try to build a good team of dedicated people with whom I’ll share the success & the money which the enterprise makes.

 

5.Who is your hero and why? 

 My role model is Kiran Majumdar Shaw.  I like her and admire her. I too want to do something constructive in the field of business. She is one  who has started an enterprise built a strong team of managers around her & who can be credited for being  Pioneers in the biotech field in India. She has mastered biotech as a subject and the mechanics of setting up and growing a business. She has proved  beyond doubts that a women have a good chance of being successful in business.

 

6. Which is the field you want to take and Why?

I would like to take up marketing because its very interesting and also a very important step in business because unless the products of the company are marketed well, there is no scope for the expansion of the business by getting good contracts and deals.

 

7. What are the qualities of a good Leader? 

 A good leader is firstly, a good listener. He must listen to others and consider their suggestions. He must be patient. And he should not be self centred. He should think of the group as a whole. He should be a motivator & should be able to get the best out of the people. He should have a good understanding of human behaviour. He should know when he should be compassionate and   when he should be aggressive and demanding. I believe, a correct balance of this would make a good leader. He should have a ot of professional knowledge.

 

8. What if you do not get selected?

I’m quite sure I will get into one of the best business schools. 

I will go pick up some work in marketing or finance in a good company and learn to work in a team 

Psychological Preparation

 

How to prepare emotionally for the Interview

• Worst case – Not hired. –This is practice and I will learn from it.  It is one out of the 100 chances you will get. .
• I will be honesty & frankness – God will decide the result
• I will be Patient. I will not get stressed out. I will be positive and hopeful to the end.
• There is nothing to lose and all to gain.
• I will not be negative about my present Employer or any thing else.

 

Group Discussion

HOW TO DO WELL IN A GROUP DISCUSSION

• Grab the opportunity to be the first speaker and to Introduce the topic. Keep a pre-prepaired 5 sentence – EXAMPLE – Good Morning friends. – Name the Topic. – This has been the center of discussion in many forums and it the media. This topic has great importance s in our lives and I am glad that we are discussing this today. As per my view – I believe that ———.

Now let us have the views of some of us.

• Listening carefully and look for a chance of butting in (Don’t do this too often).
• Agreeing with a person and elaborating it by giving an experience or examples
• Disagreeing & giving examples.
• Looking on both sides of a coin. Intervening to get a balanced view.
• Intervening during a conflict between 2 people fighting immaturely.
• Co-operating & leading.
• No cornering or making fun of participants
• Intervening & giving a chance to a timid participant.
• Giving examples & experiences
• If you did not get a chance to start the discussion then you must try Concluding (EXAMPLE –This has been an interesting discussion. We have got diverse views. It appears to be evenly balances and hence we need to make our individual choices —— not your own view, no final decision )

 

Personality Traits Gauged in Group Discussion

• Ability to interact in a team
• Communications Skills
• Reasoning ability.
• Leadership skills.
• Initiative & Enthusiasm.
• Assertiveness.
• Flexibility.
• Nurturing & Coaching Ability.
• Creativity.
• Ability to think in ones feet.

GROUP DISCUSSIONS

 

STARTING A GD – Introducing the topic 

 

Friends, the topic given to us is —-This is perhaps among the most discussed topics. 

                    OR

This is almost an abstract topic or this is a very controversial topic & has been a subject of debate in the  media and open forums. 

 

As there are always cain 2 sides of a a coin, this topic also will be viewed from both sides. 

 

Our aim should be to evolve a balanced view or a consolidated opinion on this. The way I understand this topic is —- some may say —- some may say  —-. So let us proceed. 

 

Intervening when discussion goes out of control.

 

Friends! friends! I think we have to control this discussion. Otherwise vwe will end up with everyone speaking & no one listening. And we will not be able to come to a conclusion. 

Let us speak one by one & let us start with the people who have not got a chance yet.

 As for me, as I’ve spoken now, I don’t mind being the last to speak.

 

Ok! No.5 what is ur view on this? What woud u like to say?

 

CONCLUDING THE DISCUSSION 

 

Ok friends, for the last 10-15 minutes, we have generated a very interesting discussion. Some of us (smile) really pushing it very hard

 

So what is our consolidated view on this?

 

 I think that the overall consensus is that — 

 

Although we need to consider the points brought out by some of us —-

 

 Thus I believe that we should do the following:-

 

1. 

2.

3.

 

 

Written Test (Objective & Essay Type) 

 

OBJECTIVE TYPE QUESTIONS : – Normally has 4 Answers to select from

TYPES OF NEGATIVE MARKING

1.       Correct Answer +1, Wrong Answer – 1 – ANSWER ONLY IF YOU ARE SURE

2.       Correct Answer +1, Wrong Answer – 0.5 – ANSWER ONLY IF YOU CAN ELIMINATE 2

3.       Correct Answer +1, Wrong Answer -0.25 – ANSWER EVEN IF YOU CAN ELIMINATE 1

4.       NO Negative Marking – MUST ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS

ASSUMPTION – 

You are sure about (50 out of 100 Questions)

You can identify 1 wrong answer (34 out of 100)

You can identify 2 wrong answers (16 out of 100)

 

Negative Marking	+1& -1	+1 &-0.5	+1 -0.25	No Negative
Strategy – Answer if	(Only  sure)	(Only if 2 eliminated)	(if even 1 eliminated)	Ans ALL
Correct Known(50)	+50	+50	+50	+50
Eliminate 2 answer(16)	0	+ (8*1)–(8*0.5)=4	+ (8*1)–(8*.25)=6	+8
Eliminate 1 answer(34)	0	+(11.33*1)-(22.66*.5)=0	+(11.33*1)-(22.66*.25)=11.33-5.67=17	+17
Total Marks	+50	+54	+ 73	+75

 

ESSAY TYPE PAPER:- 

Divide Time by number of marks to find number minutes you can spend per mark and multiply by the marks for each Question. Then spend that much on that particular Question.

NOTE :- BASIC AIM IS NOT TO LEAVE ANY QUESTION – WRITE SOMETHING (minimum 10 lines)

Try to use the below format where ever possible:-

CENTER HEADING

Group Heading.

These are Group Headings like Introduction, Factors to be Considered, Effects of Factors & Conclusion

Introduction

For Group Heading have no full stop in the end & the writing starts on the 2 nd line. If you have multiple Factors here also then you list them under Para Headings as follows:-

1. Cause 1.  This is described in sentences starting on the same line
2. Cause 2.  Para Heading are in Bold. The writing starts on the next line. When you have multiple Factors to be considered then under each Para Heading  you list them under Sub Para Headings as follows:-

a.                   Sub Para Heading.

b.                  Effect of Cause 2:- 

                                                                                i.            Sub Sub Para Heading

                                                                              ii.            Result 2 is Severe Poverty

NOTE –

ALL LEVELS OF THE HEADINGS (Group Heading, Para Headings, Sub Para Headings and Sub Para Headings are in BOLD & are underlined. 

Exam Shortcuts 

Read Syllabus

Highlight When Reading

Speech Notes (mobile app) to dictate into (to get Notes)

2 to 5 Practice Papers must be done with proper Time Management

Never leave any Question Blank except in Objective Tests where Negative marking is more HALF 

Studying for Retention

• Highlight or underline as you are reading.
• Write important points / new words  in the margin
• Read Preface, Executive Summary and about the Author before you start the book.
• First run through the index.
• After you finish each chapter dictate the main points into a voice dictation software like Speech Notes (Android Play Store)
• Carry out an exercise or project to use that knowledge practically within 1 week.

Salary

It is best to avoid this question about your current salary during the first interview. However if it is asked again it should be given correctly – otherwise it will create problems later. If asked what your current expectations you can safely ask for an increase of 30%.

 

CAREER SETTLING DOWN

• Most Important subject (both personal & professional).
• Not taught but learned (eg Gandhi).
• Not theory but practical.
• Most important to understand the reporting structure and the  “Norms for communication laid down in a company  & Rules for the class ” These are not normally written down. You must read the HR Manual and the Employee Hand book thoroughly. Ask the HR to brief you in detail.
• Find a buddy who has been in the organization for over 2 years and take his help to understand the internal politics and power struggles and avoid them.
• Understand the etiquettes of not only speaking but  also written, e mail, phone call, body language that is established.

Boss Handling

 

• Don’t try to get too close too soon
• Take notes and see that you complete assignments before time
• Discuss problems and obstacles directly with the boss well before the time line.
• Be honest and ask for training as soon as a task is assigned to you.
• Go well prepared for meetings and show that you fit into his team culturally and competence wise
• Never speak behind any one’s back.
• Show enthusiasm and energy and willingness to take bigger responsibilities.

 

Building a reputation

• Project a business like personality with great dependability and hardworking nature
• Don’t try to please everyone or get too close to seniors
• Show focus to adhere to time lines.
• Be honest and show willingness to learn.
• Show that you are a good team man and a good cultural fit
• Show dislike for gossip and politics.
• Show enthusiasm and energy and willingness to take bigger responsibilities.

 

Handling Office Politics

• Don’t try form groups
• Never try to corner any one
• Discuss personal problems in private with your boss only.
• Be honest and never try to manipulate.
• Understand the power structure and the tendencies of each person and the groupism.
• Never speak behind any one’s back.

SOFT SKILLS

• Communication.  (Written and Verbal) are of utmost importance in the workplace because they set the tone for how people perceive you.
• Teamwork. 
• Adaptability.
• Problem solving &Critical observation.
• Conflict resolution.
• Strong Work Ethic.
• Positive Attitude.
• Good Communication Skills.
• Time Management Abilities.
• Problem-Solving Skills.
• Acting as a Team Player.
• Self-Confidence.
• Ability to Accept and Learn From Criticism.
• Leadership Skills. Companies want employees who can supervise and direct other workers.
• Problem Solving Skills.
• Work Ethic. …
• Flexibility/Adaptability &Interpersonal Skills.

PUBLIC-SPEAKING	Preparation	1st Steps	Start	Dos & Donts	Survival Kit	Exercises	Conferences	Questions	Closing
CAREER & LIFE	Courses	Family	Children	Finances	Home Loan	Cars	Tax	Investments	Self Study

 

GET JOB	Get a Call	Interview	GP Discussn	Tests (W)	Salary	Settling	Boss	Reputation	Politics
SOFTSKILLS	Communications	Leadership	Social Skills	Negotiations	Networking	Etiquette	Teaching	Team Building	Motivating

 

Communications

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION

Only 7 % of communication happens through words and 93% of communication happens through non-verbal cues of which:

·         55% through facial expressions

·         38% through vocal tones

 

VERBAL COMMUNICATION

1. Conversations
2. Discussions
3. Telephonic discussions
4. Video Conference

NON VERBAL COMMUNICATION

2.                   – Communication is far more than what you say. It’s how you say. Body Language is “How you say it”. It involves intrapersonal communication, understanding yourself and participating in effective self-communication

3.                   Body language includes :-

• Kinesics, Proxemics & Paralanguage
• Intention
• Manner: directness, sincerity
• Dress and clothing (style, color, Appropriateness for situation) 
• Signs & Symbols.    

INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT BODY LANGUAGE

• It has no words or sentences, but it does send bits of information that combine into messages.
• Those messages, which are sometimes clear and sometimes fuzzy, are mostly about your feelings.
• People can learn to read those messages with a fair degree of accuracy.
• You cannot not have body language- you are sending messages nonverbally all the time. Especially when you are trying not to!
• Your preferred body positions and movements do say something about the kind of person you are.
• If your words say one thing and your body another then people will believe your body, not your words.
• You can change how you’re feeling by consciously changing your body language.

COMMUNICATION SECRETS

• Effective and persuasive communication is the greatest of all the keys to success. 
• Success = Talking so people listen and listening so people talk
• People are attracted to the people who make them feel secure, free and happy. 
• By making others feel special; they will realize how special you are. 

• How do you inspire people to communicate your point of view? 
• How do you encourage people in your life who currently ignore your ideas may reconsider and take notice? 
• What simple things can you do so people will pay attention to what U have to say at home, at work, among professional circles ?

ACTIVE LISTENING

• It’s about listening and responding and the act of mutually disclosing inner feelings and thoughts to others. Listening goes beyond attentively waiting for other people to stop talking. It really means getting inside of their hearts and minds and experiencing life situations
• Listen for concepts, key ideas and facts.
• Be able to distinguish between evidence and argument, idea and example, fact and principle.
• Analyze the key points
• Look for unspoken messages in the speaker’s tone of voice or expressions
• Keep an open mind.
• Ask questions that clarify.
• Reserve judgment until the speaker has finished 
• Take meaningful notes that are brief and to the point

• Avoid distractions
• Do not interrupt unnecessarily
• Be active (show interest)
• Paraphrase what you’ve heard
• Throw an echo

 

BODY LANGUAGE OF AN ACTIVE LISTENER

• The Listener keeps looking at the speaker
• The Listener’s body is in ‘open’ position
• The listener is smiling with a pleasant &encouraging expression
• Listener looks relaxed but alert, neither tense nor slouching
• Listener utters humming sounds 

WHILE SPEAKING OVER PHONE

• Write down in advance what you want to say and in what order
• Smile 
• Speak slowly
• Always be polite and friendly
• For long messages, follow a script
• Monitor your time
• Be clear and concise (tone, accent, emphasis, pronunciation) 
• Cite negative opinions honestly, but in a positive manner
• Seek Feedback

PUBLIC-SPEAKING	Preparation	1st Steps	Start	Dos & Donts	Survival Kit	Exercises	Conferences	Questions	Closing
CAREER & LIFE	Courses	Family	Children	Finances	Home Loan	Cars	Tax	Investments	Self Study

GET JOB	Get a Call	Interview	GP Discussn	Tests (W)	Salary	Settling	Boss	Reputation	Politics
SOFTSKILLS	Communications	Leadership	Social Skills	Negotiations	Networking	Etiquette	Teaching	Team Building	Motivating

 

Leadership     

Definitions 

Leadership is the process of influencing the thinking, behavior and efforts of team members towards the achievement of organizational goals.

 Leadership is a winning combination of personal traits and the ability to think and act as a leader, a person who directs the activities of others for the good of all.

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”  – Dwight D. Eisenhower

“A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done.” – Ralph Lauren

“The best leaders are those most interested in surrounding themselves with assistants and associates smarter than they are. They are frank in admitting this and are willing to pay for such talents.”

– Amos Parrish

“Reason and judgment are the qualities of a leader.”   – Publius Cornelius Tacitus

100 Answers to the Question: What Is Leadership?

If you Google the word leadership you can get about 479,000,000 results, each definition as unique as an individual leader.

It’s a difficult concept to define, perhaps because it means so many things to different people.

Here are 100 of the best ways to define leadership–choose the ones that fits best for you.

1. “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” –Lao Tzu

2. “A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit.” –Arnold Glasow

3. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” –Martin Luther King Jr

4. “You don’t need a title to be a leader.” –Mark Sanborn

5. “It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.” –Nelson Mandela

6. “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” –John F. Kennedy

7. “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” –Ronald Reagan

8. “Successful leadership is leading with the heart, not just the head. They possess qualities like empathy, compassion and courage.” –Bill George

9. “The task of leadership is not to put greatness into people, but to elicit it, for the greatness is there already.” –John Buchan

10. “A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together.”–Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

11. “When the leadership is right and the time is right, the people can always be counted upon to follow–to the end at all costs.” –Harold J. Seymour

12. “Leaders must be self-reliant individuals with great tenacity and stamina.”–Thomas E. Cronin

13. “Leadership: The capacity and will to rally people to a common purpose together with the character that inspires confidence and trust.” –Bernard Montgomery

14. “All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.” –John Kenneth Galbraith

15. “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” –Warren Bennis

16. “Leadership defines what the future should look like, aligns people with that vision, and inspires them to make it happen, despite the obstacles.” –John Kotter

17. ” I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” –Ralph Nader

18. “I think leadership comes from integrity–that you do whatever you ask others to do. I think there are non-obvious ways to lead. Just by providing a good example as a parent, a friend, a neighbor makes it possible for other people to see better ways to do things. Leadership does not need to be a dramatic, fist in the air and trumpets blaring, activity.” –Scott Berkun

19. “Leadership is the capacity to influence others through inspiration motivated by passion, generated by vision, produced by a conviction, ignited by a purpose.” –Myles Munroe

20. “Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better.” –Bill Bradley

21. “The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes.” —-Tony Blair

22. “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.” –Peter F. Drucker

23. “One measure of leadership is the caliber of people who choose to follow you.” –Dennis Peer

24. “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” –Steve Jobs

25. “Leadership is simply causing other people to do what the leaders want. Good leadership, whether formal or informal, is helping other people rise to their full potential while accomplishing the mission and goals of the organization. All members of an organization, who are responsible for the work of others, have the potential to be good leaders if properly developed.” –Bob Mason

26. “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it. “–Dwight Eisenhower

27. “The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision. It’s got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet.” –Theodore Hesburgh

28. “Leadership is the art of mobilizing others to want to struggle for shared aspirations.” –James Kouzes and Barry Posner

29. “A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.” –Rosalynn Carter

30. “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” — John Quincy Adams

31. “Leadership is not a person or a position. It is a complex moral relationship between people, based on trust, obligation, commitment, emotion, and a shared vision of the good.” –Joanne Ciulla

32. “The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.” –Jim Rohn

33. “Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.” –Peter Drucker

34. “Leadership is an opportunity to serve. It is not a trumpet call to self-importance.” –J. Donald Walters

35. “Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react. If you’re in control, they’re in control.” –Tom Landry

36. “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” –John Maxwell

37. “Leadership is the process of persuasion or example by which an individual (or leadership team) induces a group to pursue objectives held by the leader or shared by the leader and his or her followers.”–John W. Gardner

38. “My definition of a leader… is a man who can persuade people to do what they don’t want to do, or do what they’re too lazy to do, and like it.” –Harry S. Truman

39. “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” –Warren Bennis

40. “A leader is a dealer in hope.” –Napoleon Bonaparte

41. Leadership is the collective action of everyone you influence. Your behavior–your actions and your words–determines how you influence. Our job as leaders is to energize whatever marshals action within others. –David Caullo

42. “A leader has to be somebody who’s getting people to do things which don’t seem to make sense to them or are not in their best interest–like convincing people that they should work 14 hours a day so that someone else can make more money.” –Scott Adams

43. “Leadership is the ability to guide others without force into a direction or decision that leaves them still feeling empowered and accomplished.” –Lisa Cash Hanson

44. “The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.” –Henry Kissinger

45. “Leadership is about service to others and a commitment to developing more servants as leaders. It involves co-creation of a commitment to a mission.” –Robert Greenleaf

46. “Leadership is working with and through others to achieve objectives.” –Paul Hersey

47. “Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.” –Tom Peters

48. “Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.” –Norman Schwarzkopf

49. “A leader’s role is to raise people’s aspirations for what they can become and to release their energies so they will try to get there.” –David R. Gergen

50. “Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better.” –Bill Bradley

51. “Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.” –Stephen Covey

52. “Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.” –Colin Powell

53. “Leadership is the key to 99 percent of all successful efforts.” –Erskine Bowles

54. “Leadership is a matter of how to be, not how to do it.” –Frances Hesselbein

55. “Leadership is the ability to establish standards and manage a creative climate where people are self-motivated toward the mastery of long-term constructive goals, in a participatory environment of mutual respect, compatible with personal values.” –Mike Vance

56. “Leadership is getting people to work for you when they are not obligated.” — Fred Smith

57. “One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.” –Arnold Glasow

58. “Leadership is the art of influencing others to their maximum performance to accomplish any task, objective or project.” –W.A. Cohen

59. “A good leader is a caring leader — he not only cares about his people, he actively takes care of them.” –Harald Anderson

60. “There are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept.” –Ralph Stogdill

61. “The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.” –Harvey S. Firestone

62. “Keep your fears to yourself, but share your inspiration with others.” –Robert Louis Stevenson

63. “Without passion, a person will have very little influence as a leader.” –Michele Payn-Knoper

64. “Leadership is an intangible quality with no clear definition. That’s probably a good thing, because if the people who were being led knew the definition, they would hunt down their leaders and kill them.” –Scott Adams.

65. “Leadership is doing what is right when no one is watching.” –George Van Valkenburg

66. “Leadership is someone who demonstrates what’s possible.” –Mark Yarnell

67. “Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions.”–Harold Geneen

68. “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” –George Smith Patton

69. “Leadership by example is the only kind of real leadership. Everything else is dictatorship.” –Albert Emerson

70. “The leader is one who mobilizes others toward a goal shared by leaders and followers. … Leaders, followers and goals make up the three equally necessary supports for leadership.” –Gary Wills

71. “The leader must know, must know that he knows, and must be able to make it abundantly clear to those around him that he knows.” –Clarence Randall

72. “Leadership is about taking responsibility and not making excuses.” –Mitt Romney

73. “Leadership is difficult but it is not complex.” –Michael McKinney

74. “Great leadership is about human experiences, not processes. Leadership is not a formula or a program, it is a human activity that comes from the heart and considers the hearts of others.” –Lance Secretan

75. “Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.” –P.G. Northouse

76. “Followers are the gem cutters of leadership coaxing out its full brilliance.” –Ira Chaleff

77. “A leader cannot lead until he knows where he is going.” –Anonymous

78. “Leaders aren’t born, they are made.” ―Vince Lombardi

79. “The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men, the conviction and the will to carry on.” –Walter Lippmann

80. “The function of a leader within any institution: to provide that regulation through his or her non-anxious, self-defined presence.” –Edwin H. Friedman

81. “The greatness of a leader is measured by the achievements of the led. This is the ultimate test of his effectiveness.” –Omar Bradley

82. “The leadership instinct you are born with is the backbone. You develop the funny bone and the wishbone that go with it.” –Elaine Agather

83. “The best way to lead people into the future is to connect with them deeply in the present.” –James Kouzes and Barry Posner

84. “Leadership consists of picking good men and helping them do their best.” — Chester W. Nimitz

85. “To get others to come into our ways of thinking, we must go over to theirs; and it is necessary to follow, in order to lead.” –William Hazlitt

86. “Leadership requires using power to influence the thoughts and actions of other people.” –A. Zalenik

87. “The mark of a great man is one who knows when to set aside the important things in order to accomplish the vital ones.” –Brandon Sanderson

88. “Our work is our most important resource to develop our people.” –Jim Trinka and Les Wallace

89. “Successful leaders see the opportunities in every difficulty rather than the difficulty in every opportunity.” –Reed Markham

90. “The most important thing about a commander is his effect on morale.” –Viscount Slim

91. “While a good leader sustains momentum, a great leader increases it.” –John C. Maxwell

92. “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” –William Arthur Ward

93. “He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader.” ―Aristotle

94. “For me, leadership is making a difference. It’s using your agency to bring about change.” –Melanne Verveer

95. “That is what leadership is all about: staking your ground ahead of where opinion is and convincing people, not simply following the popular opinion of the moment.”–Doris Kearns Goodwin

96. “The way I would measure leadership is this: of the people that are working with me, how many wake up in the morning thinking that the company is theirs?” –David M. Kelley

97. “You don’t lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case.” –Ken Kesey

98. “Not the cry, but the flight of a wild duck, leads the flock to fly and follow.” –Chinese Proverb

99. “To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less.” –Andre Malraux

100. “Leadership is leading people with your whole heart.” – Lolly Daskal

 

 

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N A T I O N A L   B E S T S E L L E R

THE LEADERSHIP GAP

What Gets Between You and Your Greatness

After decades of coaching powerful executives around the world, Lolly Daskal has observed that leaders rise to their positions relying on a specific set of values and traits. But in time, every executive reaches a point when their performance suffers and failure persists. Very few understand why or how to prevent it.

BUY NOW

 

 

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Additional Reading you might enjoy:

·  12 Successful Leadership Principles That Never Grow Old

·  A Leadership Manifesto: A Guide To Greatness

·  How to Succeed as A New Leader

·  12 of The Most Common Lies Leaders Tell Themselves

·  4 Proven Reasons Why Intuitive Leaders Make Great Leaders

·  The One Quality Every Leader Needs To Succeed

·  The Deception Trap of Leadership

 

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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Lolly Daskal is one of the most sought-after executive leadership coaches in the world. Her extensive cross-cultural expertise spans 14 countries, six languages and hundreds of companies. As founder and CEO of Lead From Within, her proprietary leadership program is engineered to be a catalyst for leaders who want to enhance performance and make a meaningful difference in their companies, their lives, and the world.

Of Lolly’s many awards and accolades, Lolly was designated a Top-50 Leadership and Management Expert by Inc. magazine. Huffington Post honored Lolly with the title of The Most Inspiring Woman in the World. Her writing has appeared in HBR, Inc.com, Fast Company (Ask The Expert), Huffington Post, and Psychology Today, and others. Her newest book, The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness has become a national bestseller.

 

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Six Traits of Effective Leaders 

1. Make others feel important 

2. Promote a vision 

3. Follow the golden rule 

4. Admit mistakes 

5. Criticize others only in private 

6. Stay close to the action

– Christian Nevell Bovee

 

STEPS TO BECOME A LEADER

1. Get your employees to want to do their job. Avoid controlling their every move.
2. Share your vision, enthusiasm and energy
3. Motivate employees with tangible rewards & your concerns for their  wellbeing & progress
4. Be accessible and transparent
5. Be strong and effective
6. Be a role model
7. Avoid exploiting your position
8. Find & Take full advantage of the skills and talents of your staff
9. Give credit and take the blame care of yourself

 

YOU MUST SHIFT YOUR STYLE FROM TRADITIONAL LEADERSHIP – TO – COLLABORATIVE LEADERSHIP 

1. Belief that Power comes from Designation  – TO – Power is greatest in building Teamwork
2. Secretive – Maintains Ownership of information  – TO – Transparent sharing of Info & Knowledge
3. Non participative management  – TO – Inviting Suggestions and Ideas
4. Top – Down Strategy  – TO – Bottom – Up and Democratic  Brainstorming Style
5. Focus on Execution Process & Efficiency – TO – Allow Flexibility & encourage Innovation & Risk taking
6. Resolve problems Firefighting with focus on Symptoms  – TO – Focus on Root Cause Analysis and prevention
7. Annual Performance Review – TO – Provide continuous Feedback & Personal Coaching

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Social skills       

PARTY ETTIQUETTE

• If Pick up is necessary then be there atleast 15 minutes early
• Sitting in car – Open the door for the lady normally left rear seat. (No need to do that for a male.  If the lady is alone then you must sit in the right side. If it is a couple then you should sit in the co driver’s seat. Avoid looking into the rear view mirror.
• Speaking to Driver should be polite and business like. Try using a language known to the guest
• Address the lady as Mrs. ___ or  Madam
• When you reach the destination get out first – walk around and open the Car door for lady.
• Walking abreast is best –  leading is also ok
• Avoid touching – it can be misunderstood
• It is good to introduce your guests and offer the first drink.
• Holding Glass to help is ok. But don’t do it too often
• Avoid winking & staring. It can be misunderstood.
• Laughing too much is not good
• Stopping conversation & guiding out
• Avoid hanging on to Top people
• Must take time to speak to your juniors & the host
• Avoid speaking with food in your mouth or while Proposing a toast
• Should prepare a Short speech well in advance 
• Organizing a party a multi – course dinner
• Leading to table 7 pulling a chair for a lady is good
• Napkin, forks, knifes, wiping hands
• Belching, coughing, sneezing, scratching head, combing hair, mining gold, yawning, loud speech, speaking without target hearing, giggling, ganging up
• Soup, Water, Finger bowl should be handled carefully
• Salt, pepper should be done carefully without affecting the person sitting next to you
• Serving & passing bowls should be done promptly
• Pushing back the chair
• Leading to husband.
• Thanking the lady of the house, cook waiters after the meal is a polite thing to do.
• Tips, speaking on behalf all guests.
• Short speech
• Leading the guest to the table and offering a plate is acceptable. But don’t try to serve the guest. Let the waiter do that.
• Napkin should be used for Wiping hands or face. Do not use it as a hand kerchief
• Water & Finger bowl should be asked only from the waiter.
• Soup / Tea sipping without noise
• Serving food for the person sitting to you is ok. Not for the one sitting opposite you.

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Negotiations

• Take clear boundaries from the management before you go for negitiations 
• Never lead. Listen to the other party first.
• Take notes and see that you want complete the assignments before time
• At all times be prepared to walk out
• Final rate given is never the last rate
• Play other parties and take assurances in writing if possible.
• Negotiate from a position of strength with many alternatives ready.
• Never show joy or regret.
• Never give false commitments. 

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Networking       

GETTING AN INTERVIEW CALL (RULES)

• Best place to start is your mobile phone contacts and your email / Facebook / LinkedIn contacts.
• Ask your friends, Family, teachers, mentors to help you.
• Make a personal connection with everyone you contact.
• Speak in your own voice and words.
• Keep track of every contact and schedule your follow-up calls.
• Save mobile no & email the first chance you get.
• Walk around when you make the calls.
• Describe what you’re looking for in detail.
• Ask for what you want specifically. 
• Commit to making a few calls every day.
• Set your pace and keep going.
• Get over any hurdles.  Keep contacting people. 

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ETTIQUETTE (TELEPHONE)

• Answering the call 

·         Answer the call within 2-3 rings

·         Greeting as per time of the day

·         Top Security – – – May I Help You Please.

·         May I Know Who is Calling Sir / Madam

·         Be cheerful while speaking 

• Body of the Call

·         Listen carefully to the Caller

·         Take permission to hold and announce the transfer

·         When returning to the Caller remember to Thank him / her for holding the Call.

·         Take accurate notes of addresses, date, time, telephone numbers and figures of amounts etc repeating back to recheck where necessary

·         Avoid negative phrases like – I don’t know.. Instead you can say Please let me find out.

·         Be aware of your tone and politeness

• Ending the Call 

·         Inform the caller the action you will be taking to resolve their problem.

·         Thank you for calling

·         It was a pleasure speaking to you.

·         I am very Glad you called

·         Please feel free to call back in case you have any clarifications or problems in future.

·         Good bye Sir / Madam

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•  

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Teaching

The skills needed for effective teaching involve more than just expertise in an academic field. It is not an easy job.

• You must be able to interact with people and help them underrstand a new way of looking at a topic or at the world as a whole. 
• The main function of a teacher is to prese.nt the topic in the best way so that it is easy to understand for the students depending on their level of awareness. 
• Over simplifying is ok but the other way is not ok.
• Good teachers – the take pains to prepare themselves well, they set clear and fair expectations
• They are good motivators. 
• The start with the over all macro level understanding of the subject and then get to the nuts and bolts.
• They always make a list of points to remember.
• They have a possitive attitude, are patient and never riducule students or make fun of them.
• The act as role models and have a mentoring attitude. 
• They find multiple ways of explaininga point and give real life examples and use training aids.
• They show enthusiasm and commitment. 
• The use simple language and  words which the students understand. 
• They are impartial. 

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Team Building       

• Be fair.
• Interview in detail before selection
• Get good attitude and good competence
• Look for cultural fit
• Maintain balanced distance as a leader as the situation demands
• Be transparent
• Show your personal energy and competence
• Have clear expectations.
• Maintain good communications within the team.
• Never play one against the other.
• Give credit for success but take the blame.
• Delegate and coach adequately.
• Have professional revenues and encourage accountability.
• Counsel alone but appreciate in front of others
• Never speak behind any one’s back.
• Show enthusiasm and energy and willingness to take bigger loads.

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Motivating       

• Lead by example
• Hold team members in high esteem
• Trust fully
• Delegate and empower
• Discuss problems and obstacles and coach how to overcome them.
• Be honest and focus on training.
• Share information freely and give them the bigger picture and the vision
• Show enthusiasm and energy and willingness to take bigger responsibilities.

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PUBLIC SPEAKING      

• Video on necessity
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjs7dyzLVco 
• Most important to rise in career
• Leaders greatest asset
• Shows confidence and competence
• Convey information correctly  and motivate
• Saves effort and achieves quick dissemination of information
• Most useful in Motivating and Team Building

 

 

 

 

 

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Preparatiion

 

 

MENTAL PREPARATION BEFORE YOU START

·         FIRST THING -Stop finding ways to escape. 

·         NO HURRY – TAKE TWO WEEKS  !!! Before you start you have to psyche yourself  !!! Take your time for this  !!!

·         ONCE FOR ALL DECIDE!!! There is no way you can avoid learning this skill as it will cost your whole career. Get into a room alone and speak loudly to yourself. Take your time to force your mind to believe that YOU CAN DO IT. 

·         You don’t have to be great at the English language to be a good speaker.

·         No one is a born speaker. All the great speakers have worked hard at this. To some it is easier in the beginning. But if you decide to work hard – There is no way you can fail.

·         IF YOU CAN DO WELL FOR THE FIRST TWO MINUTES ON STAGE – YOU WILL SURVIVE. Hence NEVER NEVER get on stage for the first time unless you are fully prepared – Practice, Practice, Practice!!!  

 

 

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1^st Steps

·         STEPS BEFORE FIRST TIME ON STAGE :-

• STEP 1 Best is to start with a bed time story to your son or any child in your mother tongue and then the same story in English. 
• STEP 2 To gain confidence and to prove to yourself practice in front of your friends or family – First in your mother tongue. Second time in English. Do this till you are confident. The arrangement should be as follows:-

·         You and your friends should be sitting on chairs and you should have script in hand 

·         Speak casually to one friend at a time.

·         Psyche yourself and Pretend to be confident

·         Despite all this you will definitely panic and forget what to say next!!!

·         Take a deep breath, smile at your friends.

·         To buy time – ask a Question or an opinion or tell someone to “Summarize what you have grasped so far.

·         Look at the script in style and continue. 

STEP 3 Write the whole script again in your own words. Use only short sentences and  only words you are very familiar with. Include a story or an experience if possible

STEP 4 Highlight the Key words in YELLOW – Make a separate list of these KEY WORDS in a small card and pin it to your script.

STEP 5 You should have memorized the first 20 lines.

STEP 6   Rehearsed at least 7 times before a Mirror.

STEP 7 On the day of the presentation go at least 30 minutes before the event and mentally get used to the environment. Have a spare copy of your Script and the Card with the Key Words in your pocket.

 

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Start or Opening

• A question

•  A newsworthy incident

•  A startling statement

•  A quote

•  A human interest story

•  Elevator Pitch
• Clear
• Catchy
• Creating impact
• Tell them what you are going to tell and how long

• Use facts/analogies / statistics / opinions (provide reasons for the same).

HOW TO START YOUR PRESENTATION.

·         Walk up to the rostrum briskly (watching your steps) and place your script on it. Keep the Key Words’ Card in your shirt pocket.

·         Wait for the Audience to settle down before you start speaking.

·         Speak your first 3 sentence and then take a deep breath.

·         THREE THINGS WILL DEFINITELY HAPPEN!!

1. FIRST THING – You will forget your script

2. SECOND THING Your heart will start pounding

3. THIRD THING You will panic. 

·         THIS IS THE MOMENT YOU NEED TO COLLECT YOURSELF – 

1. Take a deep breath. DO NOT LOOK UP
2. Take the Key Word Card. Look at in style. DO NOT HIDE IT.
3. Have a glass of water while looking at the Key Word Card.
4. If you feel confident – Then restart. No harm mixing languages
5. If you don’t feel confident JUST TAKE OUT THE SCRIPT AND START READING.
6. Keep reading and you will feel confident in about 30 seconds.
7. If still not confident continue reading till you feel confident.
8. Once you come back do it alone again and again till you feel confident.

 

 

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Dos & DON’Ts

 

DOs & DON’Ts

DOs 

·         Have direct eye contact with an individual at a time.

·         Speak to one individual at a time

·         Shift to another individual somewhere else randomly & NEVER LOOK at the Floor, OR at the ceiling NOT in thin air

·         USE SHORT SENTANCES AND WORDS YOU USE IN CONVERSATION

·         Speak deliberately

·         Talk loudly. Do not scream 

·         Face the Audience and then speak & not while looking at slides or while writing on Black Board

·         Use your natural accent and never try to copy someone else

 

DON’Ts

• Never insult someone. Never corner, joke about or embarrass a person.
• Never beat your own drums
• Never speak to fast – be slightly slower than your natural speed
•  Never jump to answer a Question from the audience — Throw it back – ask 2 – compile
• Never speak with your back to audience – pointing or writing.
• Never read. Note important points – Highlight – likely to forget
• Never apologize – Keep going -Don’t call attention to worst
• After you have finished your speech pause briefly, take a couple of steps back and then return to your seat slowly
• Never wink and show the relief as if you have escaped.
•  Never run after you finish – After you have finished your speech pause briefly, take a couple of steps back and then return to your seat slowly
• Never try to impress using big words. – try to simplify and make it understandable
•  Never try manipulating the thought process of the Audience 
• Avoid Mumbling, Reading, Filler Words, Looking Down, Panning, Looking at the roof.
• Avoid Overshooting Time Allotment 
• Avoid Shouting but it is better than being too soft

BEST WAYS TO OPEN A SPEECH

OPENING  60 seconds is most critical.    Your opening should be Clear, Catchy & Creating an impact. It can be any of the following :-

• A question

•  A newsworthy incident

•  A startling statement

•  A quote

•  A human interest story

•  Elevator Pitch

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Survival Kit for Public Speaking (On Stage)      

 

SURVIVAL KIT WHEN MIND GOES BLANK (Must practice before hand)

• Take a deep breath – smile – don’t show panic 
• Look at your notes boldly (Don’t hide the fact that you have forgotten your script) 
• Buy time by asking the audience for comments / questions 
• Giving your experience 
•  Tell a story 

 

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Exercises in Public Speaking 

EXERCISES TO IMPROVE PUBLIC SPEAKING SKILLS

• Exercise 1             Call out to a person 200m away
• Exercise 2             Announce (Shout) on Shop Floor ” Factory closed due to heavy rains”
• Exercise 3             Read out to your partner who will write facing away from each other
• Exercise 4             Give a Dictation to your partner standing 15 feet away
• Exercise 5             Dictation to whole class
• Exercise 6             Read out your essay to the class
• Exercise 7             Prepare a lecture and deliver to one
• Exercise 8             Prepare lecture and deliver to class
• Exercise 9             Extempore Lecture to class
• Exercise 10           Motivational Lecture
• Exercise 11           Organizing Lecture
• Exercise 12           Speak to Trade Union Leaders to pacify them
• Exercise 13           Speak to Boss and convince him that we need to start a new business
• Exercise 14           Conference call with 3 Departmental Heads
• Exercise 15           Introduce and Present a topic for discussion to the class
• Exercise 15           Introduce and Present a topic for discussion to the class
• Exercise 16           Extempore Speech on unknown topic -Survival on stage (Tricks) Ask Qs, Summarize with e.g.
• Exercise 17           Debate Prepared
• Exercise 18           Debate Unprepared
• Exercise 19           Group Discussions
• Exercise 20           Conduct Brain Storming Sessions
• Exercise 21           Panel Interview
• Exercise 22           Negotiation Skills
• Exercise 23           Bullying a subordinate
• Exercise 24           Happy Leader
• Exercise 25           Suddenly Losing Temper
• Exercise 26           Cornering a subordinate
• Exercise 27           Threatening with job or termination
• Exercise 28           Organizing a seminar
• Exercise 29           Introducing a Speaker
• Exercise 30           Giving a farewell speech
• Exercise 31           Addressing your Department for the first time

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Conferances

1. CHOOSE NOT MORE THAN 5 POINTS
2. Make sure you are clear about the key points that you want to make and repeat and emphasize them in the course of your presentation.
3. Transition from one point to another should be seamless.
4. Use facts/analogies / statistics / opinions (provide reasons for the same)
5. Talk, instead to reading
6. Stand up & Move around. Make eye contact with your audience & Don’t only look at one side of the room

VISUAL AIDS

1.       Do not use complete sentences.  Only bullet points.

2.       Follow the 6 x 6 rule: not more than 6 lines (max) per slide, not more than 6 words per line.

3.       Points should appear one at a time, using animation – helps to elaborate.

4.       Do not use more than three colour’s on your slides.  If you have to, then keep the shades the same.

5.       Ensure clear visibility of content through good contrast and big fonts.  Dark background, light font.

6.       Use effective titles/headings

7.       Lucid/self explanatory content on slide.  If not, elaborate.

8.       Talk to audience and not to the visual.  Draw attention whenever you want them to see.

9.       Don’t do the death by power point act.  Use flip charts and the white board too.

10.   Have a great last slid and NEVER use Thank You on a slide. Say it.

DRESSING UP

1. Dress to suit occasion, weather, your personality
2. Err on the conservative side when uncertain!
3. Avoid too much jewellery
4. Hair- neat, combed, gelled
5. Shave!
6. Ladies: Pin those dupattas & palloos

GESTURES

1. Natural
2. Use gestures to complement your speech
3. Avoid putting your hands in your pocket
4. Do not use exaggerated gestures that come up to the level of your face.
5. Avoid clasping, fig leaf position etc.

 

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Questions Handling 

After or during a presentation the presenter encourages the audience to ask questions. This greatly improves the quality of the assimilation of the subject matter. Most of these are genuine but some of them may be mischievous or tricky. It is a skill the differentiate these. However it is wise to buy maximum time before you actually answer the question. You should also try first get other members of the audience involved in the effort. However the presenter should be always be in control of the situation. Hence the steps to be followed are as follows:- 

1. Encourage the person to come out with the question and mike.
2. Let the person ask the question without interruptions. (Never say anything sarcastic or discouraging)
3. Rephrase the question in your own words and ask the person if that is exactly what he /she meant
4. After getting the confirmation repeat the question deliberately for the whole audience. EXAMPLE – “Rohit’s question is – What are the other factors which we should consider to ensure that there are no injuries”- Friends now “Who would like this question?”
5. Encourage the 2 or 3 members of the audience to give their opinions.
6. Then consolidate those answers and give your own opinion and bring out the contradictions that have emerged. If the case is not resolved completely then let the person that you will get back to him.
7. Ask the person if he is satisfied with the answer before you proceed. 
8. THUMB RULES  – 

• Encourage & take the question from one individual, but answer for all in the audience
• Address the questioner directly only at the start and end of your response

 

 

 

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Closing the Speech

• Indicate to the audience that you are at the end of the presentation.
• Ask for doubts and questions
• Show actions to be taken
• Summarize main points at the end.
• Never walk of the stage in a hurry
• End on a friendly note and thank the audience

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CAREER & LIFE PLAN 

	Life Planner
Year	Age	Loc/Event	Education	Professional	Financial	Family	Others
1965	10						Learn cycling & Swimming
1966	11			Apply for Science Tallent			Individual Sport Tennis, Golf, Badminton. Billiards
1967	12			Join NCC			Team Sport
1968	13				Open Bank Savings Account		Debate & Essay Competition
1969	14		SSC	Do Part time Job	Learn Banking, FD, Draft		Do Social Work
1970	15			Apply for NDA			Run 10 Miles Marathon
1971	16		HSC	NCC Republic Day Parade			Run Full Marathon
1972	17				Learn Stock Market		Rock Climbing
1973	18						Do 5 Launches in Glider
1974	19	NDA	B Sc	NCC C Certificate			Learn how to book Air Tickets and
1975	20		BE
1976	21	NDA Pass	MBA1				Do Power Flying
1977	22	IMA Pass	MBA2
1978	23	Jhansi, Cmdo Belgaum		JOB 1	Start Tithe
1979	24	YO, Deolali, OPTC Pune	PUBLIC SPEAKING COURSE		ULIP STARTS, Term Insurance
1980	25				BUY M/CYCLE	MARRIAGE
1981	26		IIM(A) MID LEADERSHIP		Apply for Housing Loan		Start Yearly Holiday Scheme
1982	27				BUY HOUSE 1	Train Wife to be Independent
1983	28			JOB 2		CHILD 1
1984	29		NEGOTIATION SKILLS COURSE				Start support one orphan’s Education
1985	30
1986	31		PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT COURSE			CHILD 2
1987	32
1988	33		Do Entrepreur’s Course
1989	34			GM LEVEL	BUY HOUSE 2
1990	35
1991	36				START COMPANY
1992	37		IIM(A) Strategy Course			Make Child 1 LIFE PLANNER
1993	38			VP LEVEL
1994	39
1995	40					Make Child 2 LIFE PLANNER
1996	41		Start Ph.D			CHILD 1 SSC
1997	42			CEO	BUY HOUSE 3
1998	43					CHILD 1 HSC
1999	44					CHILD 2 SSC
2000	45		Finish Ph.D
2001	46					CHILD 1 B Sc/CHILD 2 HSC
2002	47			Start own company		CHILD 1 BE
2003	48					CHILD 1MBA1
2004	49					CHILD 1MBA2/CHILD 2 B Sc
2005	50					CHILD 2 BE
2006	51					CHILD 2 MBA1
2007	52					CHILD 1 MARRIAGE/CHILD 2 MBA2
2008	53
2009	54
2010	55					CHILD 2 MARRIAGE
2011	56
2012	57
2013	58			Take Company Public	RETIREMENT
2014	59
2015	60
2016	61						Go on world tour with Family
2017	62
2018	63
2019	64
2020	65
2021	66
2022	67
2023	68
2024	69
2025	70
2026	71
2027	72
2028	73
2029	74
2030	75

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Must do Courses / Self Study for Knowledge in       

 

Toasters’ Club (Public Speaking)

Train the Trainer (Teaching Skills)

Microsoft Projects (Project Management)

Law       

Compliance

World history       

Geography       

Physics       

Math

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GET JOB	Get a Call	Interview	GP Discussn	Tests (W)	Salary	Settling	Boss	Reputation	Politics
SOFTSKILLS	Communications	Leadership	Social Skills	Negotiations	Networking	Etiquette	Teaching	Team Building	Motivating

Competitive Exams

• CAT
• GRE
• IAS, IFS, IRS, IPS
• UPSC
• CDS (Army, Navy, Air Force,)
• Bank Officers

OBJECTIVE TYPE QUESTIONS : – Normally has 4 Answers to select from

TYPES OF NEGATIVE MARKING

5.                   Correct Answer +1, Wrong Answer – 1 – ANSWER ONLY IF YOU ARE SURE

6.       Correct Answer +1, Wrong Answer – 0.5 – ANSWER ONLY IF YOU CAN ELIMINATE 2

7.                   Correct Answer +1, Wrong Answer -0.25 – ANSWER EVEN IF YOU CAN ELIMINATE 1

8.       NO Negative Marking – MUST ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS

ASSUMPTION – 

You are sure about (50 out of 100 Questions)

You can identify 1 wrong answer (34 out of 100)

You can identify 2 wrong answers (16 out of 100)

 

Negative Marking	+1& -1	+1 &-0.5	+1 -0.25	No Negative
Strategy – Answer if	(Only  sure)	(Only if 2 eliminated)	(if even 1 eliminated)	Ans ALL
Correct Known(50)	+50	+50	+50	+50
Eliminate 2 answer(16)	0	+ (8*1)–(8*0.5)=4	+ (8*1)–(8*.25)=6	+8
Eliminate 1 answer(34)	0	+(11.33*1)-(22.66*.5)=0	+(11.33*1)-(22.66*.25)=11.33-5.67=17	+17
Total Marks	+50	+54	+ 73	+75

 

ESSAY TYPE PAPER:- 

Divide Time by number of marks to find number minutes you can spend per mark and multiply by the marks for each Question. Then spend that much on that particular Question.

NOTE :- BASIC AIM IS NOT TO LEAVE ANY QUESTION – WRITE SOMETHING (minimum 10 lines)

Try to use the below format where ever possible:-

CENTER HEADING

Group Heading.

These are Group Headings like Introduction, Factors to be Considered, Effects of Factors & Conclusion

Introduction

For Group Heading have no full stop in the end & the writing starts on the 2 nd line. If you have multiple Factors here also then you list them under Para Headings as follows:-

3.                   Cause 1.  This is described in sentences starting on the same line

4.                   Cause 2.  Para Heading are in Bold. The writing starts on the next line. When you have multiple Factors to be considered then under each Para Heading  you list them under Sub Para Headings as follows:-

c.       Sub Para Heading.

d.                  Effect of Cause 2:- 

                                                                iii.            Sub Sub Para Heading

                                                                             iv.            Result 2 is Severe Poverty

NOTE –

ALL LEVELS OF THE HEADINGS (Group Heading, Para Headings, Sub Para Headings and Sub Para Headings are in BOLD & are underlined. 

 

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FAMILY     

 

Ideal Age to get Married 

a.                  Male 28 to 32

b.                  Female 24 to 30

 

Select City & Location to retire and settledown as early as possible. 

a.                  Need to relocate family & parents , Siblings

b.                  Affordability based a 10% increase in your earnings due to Promotions and Increments

Plan for Safety & Insurance

a.                  Term Insurance

b.                  Health Insurance

c.                   Home or Property Insurance (Normally included in Home Loan Process

d.                  Over all Tax efficiency under Home Loan 80 C, Pention Plan

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Children & Health 

Ideal

Age to get married – Boy 28 to 33, Girl 23 to 3o

First Child – 30 to 34

Second Child – 36 to 40

 Must have Company Group Medi Claim

Must have Term Insurance of about Rs 50 Lakhs

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Home Loan for 1st Flat , Land Investment & Tax Planning

Cost of Flat 20 Lakhs

Cash down 15% = 3 Lakhs 

Home Loan about 17 Lakhs ( It is low interest between 8% to 12% and very Tax efficient).

Take max loan ie 85% of cost of flat for 20 to 30 years

 Try in a Class a City / Metro

Buy what you can afford as it can stabilize you.

Example :

Cost of flat – 20 Lakhs

Cash down – 3 Lakhs

Loan Amount – 17 Lakhs

EMI will be about 17000 (Eligible 80C & 2 Lakhs as deduction from Income tax)

If the cost doubles in 10 years your profit is 20 lakhs on an investment of 3 Lakhs.(Huge Profit)

 

2. BUY an Equity based Systematic Investment Plan

3.  Buy some land & Gold

 

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HEALTH 

 Good Health in the long run is fully your responsibility. Whatever your existing ailments or genetic tendencies – 95 % of the problems can be prevented with disciplined habits in eating, exercise, Yoga, Rest and Stress mitigation. You are also responsible for the health of your family who will emulate you.

 

HEALTH HINTS FOR YOU

                      

Two things to check! as often as you can

• Your blood pressure
• Your blood sugar

 

Three things to reduce to the minimum on your foods

• Salt
• Sugar
• Starchy products

 

Four things to increase in your foods

• Greens/Vegetables
• Beans
• Fruits
• Nuts/Protein

 

Three things you need to forget

• Your age
• Your past
• Your grievances

 

Four things you must have, no matter how weak or how strong you are

• Friends who truly love you
• Caring family
• Positive thoughts
• A warm home

 

Five things you need to do to stay healthy

• Fasting
• Smiling / Laughing
• Trek / Exercise
• Reduce your weight
• Voluntary work

 

Six things you don’t have to do

• Don’t wait till you are hungry to eat_
• Don’t wait till you are thirsty to drink_
• Don’t wait till you are sleepy to sleep_
• Don’t wait till you feel tired to rest_
• Don’t wait till you get sick to go for medical check-ups otherwise you will only regret later in life
• Don’t wait till you have problem before you pray to your God.

 

Golf

Watch 6 Videos on  You Tube Oversimplify Golf

 

GUIDELINES FOR A NEW GOLFER

 

INDOOR WITH RUBBER BALLS

ONLY DROP OUTS – For Good Health

AIM – 18 HANDICAP in 5 days (only 2% score that low)

5 RULES GOLF 

• FULL FOLLOW THROUGH
• NATURAL SWING(Start with half easy swing with ball in center & minimum divot)
• NEVER LOOK AT THE BALL – Head should not move & keep looking where the ball was lying
• PLAY TO GREEN CENTER – USE ONLY 3 CLUBS (5W/Hy,7 & PITCHING). Correct  CONSTANT ERRORS – Aim 8 Deg LEFT 
• WITHIN 30 YARDS ONLY USE PUTTER – UPHILL 18 inches + & DOWN HILL 18 inches short – use only shoulder

 

LESSONS

1 – SELECTING YOUR NATURAL SWING 

2 – USING THE SELECTED NATURAL SWING 

3 – USING PLASTIC BALLS & MAKING CORRECTIONS 

4 – CALIBERATING THE PITCHING WEDGE FOR SHORT GAME (Less than 80 Yards)

5 – PUTTING – THE MOST REWARDING TALENT

 

LESSON 1 – SELECTING YOUR NATURAL SWING 

1.    Never Copy Tiger Woods

2.    Stance – feet  2 ft between heals & almost erect – back straight

3.    Longer route Back Swing.

4.    Down Swing – Let it fall initially and then accelerate – no jerk on top or Head movement 

5.    Minimum elbow and wrist movement – just around your shoulders

6.    Back swing just enough so that the Head does not move

7.    Back swing never beyond the VERTICAL

8.    Easy – no pain -80 %

9.    Just scrape the ground –  no divot

10.  Full follow through – stop after club hits your back

11.  Head should not move – Never look at the ball – either the Tee or where it was lying

12.  No wrist or elbow and Left heal always on the ground

13.  Test the back swing where you can hit 9 out of 10. 

 

LESSON 2 – USING THE SELECTED NATURAL SWING 

1.    Pendulum using 7 IRON

2.    Scrape the ground 200 times with HALF SWING

3.    Keep increasing back swing till Head is forced to move

4.    Use NATURAL SWING with 4 HYBRID, 7 IRON & PITCHING WEDGE 50 times each.

5.    CHECK if LESSON 1 is being fully followed 

6.    RETEST – You can hit 9 out of 10. 

LESSON 3 – USING PLASTIC BALLS & MAKING CORRECTIONS 

1.    EASY NATURAL SWING with 5 HYBRID, 7 IRON & PITCHING WEDGE 25 times each.

2.    FOLLOW THROUGH – FULL,

3.    HEAD DOES NOT MOVE – Reduce Back Swing to HALF if Head is moving at the top of the swing 

4.    NO LOOKING UP- See the ball only when it is about to be hit by you. NEVER AT ANY OTHER TIME

5.    Minimum elbow and Wrist movement.

6.    Ball in center

7.    Minimum divot

8.    Correct direction by Closing Face (80% fade the ball – so Close the CLUB FACE & AIM 8 Degrees LEFT)

9.    Scrape the floor 200 times with HALF SWING

10.  Again use 5 HYBRID, 7 IRON & PITCHING WEDGE to hit the ball 25 times each.

11.  RETEST – You can hit 9 out of 10. If not again reduce Back Swing till you achieve that

 

LESSON 4 – CALIBERATING THE PITCHING WEDGE FOR SHORT GAME (Less than 80 Yards)

 

1.    ONLY CLUB WHERE YOU USE LESS THAN YOUR NATURAL SWING IS PITCHING WEDGE

2.    Use Table given below:-

a.             For 80 Yards – NATURAL SWING of PITCHING WEDGE 

b.            For 70 Yards – Three fourth of NATURAL SWING of PITCHING WEDGE 

c.             For 50 Yards – Half of NATURAL SWING of PITCHING WEDGE 

d.            For 30 Yards – One Fourth of NATURAL SWING of PITCHING WEDGE 

e.             For 20 Yards – One Eighth of NATURAL SWING of PITCHING WEDGE 

LESSON 5 – PUTTING – THE MOST REWARDING TALENT

 

1.    Different Styles Used

2.    Choose your own

3.    Aim is never to take more than 2 on the GREEN

4.    Putting should by the shoulders and not by the arms or hands.

5.    While putting down hill try to stop the ball just within 6 inches past the hole.

6.     For uphill putts try to go 2 feet beyond the hole.

7.    Uphill puts turn much more with the slope (but chipping a Pitching wedge turn least)

8.    Within 3 ft of the hole putt firm and don’t bother about the slope.

9.    For all putts the back swing and forward swing should strictly in line.

10.  Control distance by increasing length of Back Swing and not by hitting it harder

DETAILED NOTES & GOOD HABITS

 

a.     SECRET OF SUCCESS

·         Find and consistently use your ‘Natural Swing’ and the most comfortable Club Head Speed’.  Too fast or too slow are both bad.

·         Try to achieve the same distance with each club every time you use it.  Hard hitters are usually not as consistent 

b.    HOW TO BECOME A GOOD PLAYER WITHIN A MONTH

·         Golf is a game of Concentration and Full Follow Through.

·         Use only 80 % of your strength with full follow through and you will achieve the best accuracy with no mis-hits

·         Keep looking at the point you hit the ball. It is Caddy’s job to watch the ball NOT yours.

·         Keep your Left elbow straight as far as you can in the slow Back Swing.

·         Always hit the ball first and then scrape the ground

·         Irons are precision instruments and so your back swing should stop near the vertical position and start the down swing gradually.(use same for Fairway Woods without a Tee)

c.     HOW TO PLACE & HIT THE BALL

·         For Tee Shots – hit the ball on the upward swing almost near your front toe

·         For Fairway Woods – hit the ball near the bottom of the swing at the Centre point between your feet

·         For Irons – hit the ball first – then scrape the ground on the downward swing almost at the bottom of the swing around 1 inch before the Centre point between your feet. For Wedges – Place the ball opposite the rear foot heel’s inner point. The hands will thus be ahead of the ball. Use only maximum half the full swing.  Hit the ball first and then the grass just after that on the downward part of the swing.  Otherwise the sand will pad the ball and the distance achieved will be unpredictable

d.    HOW TO USE THE PUTTER

·         Putting should by the shoulders and not by the arms or hands.

·         While putting down hill try to stop the ball just within 6 inches past the hole.

·          For uphill putts try to go 2 feet beyond the hole.

·         Uphill puts turn much more with the slope (but chipping a Pitching wedge turn least)

·         Within 3 ft of the hole putt firm and don’t bother about the slope.

·         For all putts the back swing should be very slow and deliberate and keep looking at the spot where the ball was rather than follow the ball. 

e.     HOW TO HANDLE WIND

·         Head winds stop the ball much more than the amount tail winds help the ball.

·         The maximum height reached by all the clubs is quite similar and varies from 29 to 35 Yards and so is the Time of Flight at about 6 to 7 seconds.

·         Wind velocity is higher at higher height above the ground 

f.     HOW TO QUICKLY BECOME A GOOD PLAYER

·         Ensure that you do not mishit even a single ball.  Initially to achieve this, you will have to use a limited swing and use less force. Later you will develop better co-ordination- you can use a bigger swing and slowly increase the force.  But at no stage should exceed 85% of your full force.

·         In a practice round take all the risks but in a tournament don’t take any risk.  After a bad shot forget it and don’t try to recover in one shot.

·         Standardize your swing.  Your swing should be exactly the same irrespective of which Club you are using.  This will ensure that each club will give a specific distance every time you use it. (There is usually a difference a 10 yards difference between successive clubs). 

·         Make a table for distances achieved for each club with an easy constant swing for both headwind and downwind of about 10 Miles per Hour. 

·         What I achieve with each club in No Wind conditions in yards – SW-60, PW-80, 9 Iron- 90, 9 Iron- 90, 8 Iron- 100, 7 Iron-110, 6 Iron- 120, 5 Iron- 130, 4 Iron- 140, 3 Iron- 150, Rescue 26 Degrees- 160, 5 W- 170, 3 W-180, Driver -240 yards.

 NOTE : Try to achieve the same distance every time you use each club. 

 

g.    HOW TO MASTER THE SHORT GAME – USE PLEZ 8 

·         Short game is most important. So concentrate on the 20 feet pitch with a Pitching Wedge (most of the time) and Sand Wedge (when there is less distance from the Apron to the Pin) and roll with a 9 Iron or a Putter (if you are on the apron). The swing in the short game should be shallow and only scraping the ground – NO DIVOT

·         The “Pelz” part of Phil Nicholson’s “Pelz-8” refers to the concept of controlling distance by controlling backswing length and the “8” is code for 8-iron, but the swing can be made with any club. It’s composed of a less than full backswing and produces slightly less distance and backspin. You stop the backswing when his left arm gets horizontal to the ground. The forward swing should be at the normal pace (not faster to make up for a short backswing).

·         By this you can develop amazing consistency in the distance your shots travel. This can be done for any club (wedges, 9-, 8- or 7-irons).

·          It’s like having an extra set of distances that he can produce on command depending on the wind, temperature and humidity. 

h.    HOW I PLAY GOLF 

·         Developed most easy swing which is same for all Clubs.

·         Close all clubs equally but enough to ensure that there is no Fade or Draw (Swing to Right or Left which will force me to aim left or Right – I always want to aim only at the target)

·         I use quarter swing only near the greens of different clubs for distances up to 50 yards  and then Full swings as follows:

a.     1 to 30 yards – Pitching wedge (punch the ball or use Sand Wedge to go over obstacle (quarter for 17, Half for 25 & Full for up to 32 yards)

b.    30 yards – Pitching wedge (quarter swing)

c.      40 yards – 9 Iron (quarter swing)

d.    50 yards – 8 Iron(quarter swing)

e.     60 yards – 7 Iron(quarter swing) 

f.     70 yards – Pitching wedge (Full Swing)

g.    80 yards – 9 Iron (Full swing)

h.    90 yards – 8 Iron(Full swing)

i.     100 yards – 7 Iron(Full swing)

j.      110 yards – 6 Iron(Full swing)

k.    120 yards – 5 Iron(Full swing)

l.     130 yards – 4 Iron(Full swing)

m.   140 yards – 3 Iron(Full swing)

n.    150 yards – 26 Degree 7 Hybrid Rescue(Full swing)

o.     160 yards – 19 Degree 4 Wood(Full swing)

p.    170 yards –  15 Degree 3 Hybrid Rescue(Full swing) 

q.    I90 yards  –  14 Degree Lady’s Driver(Full swing)

r.     240 yards –   11 Degree Driver(Full swing)

 

·         Short game is most important. So concentrate on the 20 feet pitch with a Pitching Wedge (most of the time) and Sand Wedge (when there is less distance from the Apron to the Pin) and roll with a 9 Iron or a Putter (if you are on the apron). The swing in the short game should be shallow and only scraping the ground – NO DIVOT

 

 

Yards	Steps	Aim Left Degrees	BEST Club	Three fourth Swing	Half Swing	One Fourth Swing
20	26	0	P4			S4
25	32.5	0	P4			S4.5
30	39	0	P4.5			9(4)
40	52	0	P2-			8(4)
50	65	0	SF	40	30	7(4)
60	78	0	P2.5			6(4)
70	91	0	P3			5(4)
80	104	0	PF	70	50	4(4)
95	124	0	9(3)			3(4)
105	137	0	9	90	80
115	150	3	8	95	85	5h
125	163	4	7	100	90	3h
135	176	5	6	105	95
145	189	6	5	120	110	R3
155	202	8	4	130	120	FW3
165	215	12	3	135	125
175	228	0	R 26	145	135
185	241	0	7W,R19
195	254	8	4W
210	273	8	D
230	299	14	D 10

How to reduce yourHandicap rapidly:
1. Hitting shorter with an easy swing and not mishitting a single ball.
2. Always remaining on the fairway. If outside come back and don’t try to compensate for a bad shot.
3. Always aiming at the Center of the Green and not on the Hole for the approach shot.
4. Follow through full and never looking at the ball till it has come to rest. Let your Caddie find the ball.
5. Try for a 2 Putt all the time.
6. Take atleast one Practice Swing. Never take it casual even for one shot.

OTHER GAMES WORTH PICKING UP

Tennis       

Swimming+

Billiards

Table Tennis

Bridge (Card Game)

 

PUBLIC-SPEAKING	Preparation	1st Steps	Start	Dos & Donts	Survival Kit	Exercises	Conferences	Questions	Closing
CAREER & LIFE	Courses	Family	Children	Finances	Home Loan	Cars	Tax	Investments	Self Study

GET JOB	Get a Call	Interview	GP Discussn	Tests (W)	Salary	Settling	Boss	Reputation	Politics
SOFTSKILLS	Communications	Leadership	Social Skills	Negotiations	Networking	Etiquette	Teaching	Team Building	Motivating

•  

GET JOB	Get a Call	Interview	GP Discussn	Tests (W)	Salary	Settling	Boss	Reputation	Politics
SOFTSKILLS	Communications	Leadership	Social Skills	Negotiations	Networking	Etiquette	Teaching	Team Building	Motivating

 

Self Study

 Chat GPT is our best knowledgeable servant! 

 

We should only know HOW TO ASK (Questioning or Prompt Engineering).

 

It is a MUST LEARN for all employees of service companies.

 

 It is incorporated FREE in Excel, Word, Outlook, Edge, Bing & all Microsoft products. All you need is to Download BING (Chat) 

 

It can write emails for you, summarise large essays, make Slides on any subject, teach any subject, generate sales leads,write software for you and almost everything else)

 

 

Very very simple to use.

 

You can just speak to it in any language and ask questions. It remembers what you asked earlier and provide follow up corrections.

 

 

This is called Prompt Engineering

 

 

 Optimising Prompts 

1. Be specific in requirement

2. Set Format

3. Limit length of response eg 1000 words.

 

Types of Prompts

1. Chain of Thought prompts – breaking down complex prompts to a sequence of smaller prompts. 

2. Role play prompts,

3. Prompt Priming – provide context or background

4. Avoiding Biases and Ethics in Prompt Engineering 

5. Use neutral Language and avoid steroids Types.

Eg 1 Create a banner for an online store summer sale featuring a beach background with the Text – Summer Sale up to 50% off

Eg 2 – As a CRM – Help a customer who is having trouble with logging into a website.

Eg 3 Write a Python function that takes a list of integers and returns the sum of all even numbers

 

DALL-E-2 website, Type in a Descriptive Text Prompt, Select preferred Image, Style & Parameters , Generate The Image & Download your Creative Video.

Use Deep Art,Photoshop neutral 

 

 

 

Try using FREE  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TOOLS  to improve our PRODUCTIVITY   like:-

 

(a) 12 Ft .com – for summarizing large White Papers and long Articles

 

(b)  YODDILLI.ai –  for improving  Communication Skills

 

(c) Signalhire.com  for LEAD GENERATION and finding Emails and Mobile numbers from LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media BEST (for Salesman)

 

(d) GPT SLIDES.com to get any Presentations on any subject within seconds

 

(e) Formula.dog.com –  to get formulas in EXCEL / GOOGLE SHEET etc (it writes code SQL, VBA, Python etc)

 

(f) Solves anything -Chat GPT

 

(g) Writes anything-Writesonic

 

(h) Generates Art -Midjourney

 

(I) Generates Code -Replit

 

(j) Generates Video -Synthesia

 

(k)Generates Music -Soundraw

 

(l) Generates TikToks – Fliki

 

(j)Generates Avatars -Starrytars

 

(k) Generates PPTs -Slides AI

 

(l) Edit Pictures – Remini

 

(m) Edit Videos – Pictory

 

(n) Summarises Notes – Wordtune

SALES TRAINING 

Watch the following Videos

https://youtu.be/7EVeze5sP-k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar_lpoZi-cI&list=PLvoqzZu9FF7dflcpzt-SMF1xLMncTPi79&index=3

https://youtu.be/7EVeze5sP-k

 

Also see the following links on my Dunn & Bradstreet Seminar presentation and some videos on sales.

•         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmYA5a_w3yE

•          https://youtu.be/Ar_lpoZi-cI  

•         https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvoqzZu9FF7dflcpzt-SMF1xLMncTPi79

•         https://youtu.be/7EVeze5sP-k

•         Oversimply Golf 6 https://youtu.be/OA2UGpTgOQE

PUBLIC SPEAKING VIDEO LINK   https://photos.app.goo.gl/3Uuj6AVm93epUd9W6

Exam Shortcuts 

Read Syllabus

Highlight When Reading

Speech notes into word to get Notes

2 to 5 Practice Papers

Time Management

Never leave any Question Blank except in Objective Tests where Negative marking is more HALF OR ABOVE

Studying for Retention

• Highlight or underline as you are reading.
• Write important points / new words  in the margin
• Read Preface, Executive Summary and about the Author before you start the book.
• First run through the index.
• After you finish each chapter dictate the main points into a voice dictation software like Speech Notes (Android Play Store)
• Carry out an exercise or project to use that knowledge practically within 1 week.

 

Man Management

 

TRAINING CARRIED FOR MBA BATCHES

1. Introduction and importance of communication 

2. Emergency announcements on shop floor(for rains/blast) 

3. Talk to late comers (genuine and naughty late comers) 

4. Stance and what to do with ones arms while speaking 

5. How to give a motivation lecture 

6. Talk about yourself 

7. Listening skills 

8. Eye to eye contact in public speaking 

9. Gestures, mannerism and being yourself 

10.  Leadership skills – Leadership is the process of interpersonal influence over the activities of team members towards the achievement of organisational goals in a given situation. In contemporary organisational life, managers must need to work effectively with peers, supervisors and subordinates. Understanding self and influencing others forms an integral part of this endeavor.

11. How loud one should speak 

12. Formal dressing 

13. Reading and writing in pairs (back to back) 

14. Reading aloud to class 

15. Short write up on subject of ones choice and presenting it 

16. Introduction to group discussion 

17. How to prepare a  c.v. 

18. What is assessor  looking for

19.  What are the opportunities in GD.

20.  How to introduce a topic

21  How to butt in

22  How to manage conflict

23  How to conclude and sum up

24. What is an interview and how to prepare for it

25. Emotional preparation for an interview

21. How to dress and how to move

22. How to collect information about a target company

23. How to follow up on an employment call

24. How to control body language

25. How to participate in a conference

26. How to behave in a social party /hosting skills

27. Table efficiency

28. How to interview workers

29. How to negotiate with trade union

30. Written communication  (types of letter)

31. Making off light conversation  and what topic to avoid

32. How to talk with senior management

33. Telephone ettiqute

34. Official spokesperson and P.R.O

35. How to avoid being misquoted

36. Conflict resolution

37. How to make friends

38. Maintaining a contact list

39. Debate

40. Talent Exhibition

41. How to get an appointment with senior official

42. How to built and assess the culture of an organisation

43. On the spot speaking / how to cover up on hault while speaking

44. Presence of mind

45. extempore agility

SKILLS YOU MUST PRACTICE

• – Induction Speech
•  – Speak on my family 
•  – Speak any thing for 2 minutes in any language 
•   Make announcement on shop floor.
•    Call out to a worker far away.
•    Drill Square Command
•  – Read to the wall while partner writes on board.
• – Write a speech and deliver it.
• – Convey message by action/body language
• – Convey moods by action.
• – Group discussions.
• – Interview.
• – Multiple Choice Questions answering strategy
• – Making a CV
• – Teaching Techniques
• – Debate Competition
• – Brainstorming sessions – Organization
• – Conducting a meeting.
• – Conducting a game.
• – Motivation lectures by Manager
  – Addressing your team to pull up their socks and start performing failing which each will be  terminated
  – Thank you 
  – Condolence speech on some ones death
  – Appreciation on a job well done
  – Conflict Management and how to avoid conflict with other departments
  – Proposal
  – Visioning
  – Apology 
• – Company Profile / History
• – Conducting a Quiz Competition.
• – Speaking a trade union leaders.
• – Organizing a party game.
• – Delivering joke
• – Singing a song to an audience
• – Party Etiquette
• – Attending Calls
• – Soft skills
• – Call Centro Training
• – Dressing up
• – Tennis
• – Golf
• – Bridge (card game)
• – Rummy (card game)
• – Cricket
• – Important Personalities in Indian and World History
• – National & International by Cultures
• – Communication Theory
• – Leadership Capsule
• – Formal-Informal Communications
• – Job Search techniques
• – Formation of Clubs
• – Organizing an event with checklist
• – Students to make presentations in team and video taped.
• – Organizing a Picnic
• – Talent Exhibition
• – Speaking only in English
• – Reading Economic Times every day
• – What I learned this week to be given
• – My favorite subject
• – Self Assessment Essay
• – My Strength
• – My Weakness
• – My Ambition
• – My Dreams
• – Basic Computer knowledge 
• – Using the Internet
• – Using Outlook and PowerPoint
• – Making Graphs
• – Writing a Biz Plan will help of a template
• – Using templates for everything
• – Using MS Project 2003
• – Basics of Project Management
• – Evolving a Sales talk
• – Introducing Speech
• – Value System of your Company
• – Leadership
• – Empathy
• – Team Building
• – Biz games
• – Basics of Project Marketing
• – Organizing a Project Team
• – Dealing with Foreign Delegation
• – Dealing with Politicians and Ministers
• – Tendering Process
• – Basics of Stock _
• – My experience in Industry
• – HR Subjects
• – Bribing and Biz Development
• – Insurance 
• – Housing & Loans
• – How to find information 
• – Attitudes of a winner
• – Planning your career
• – Planning your investments
• – Indian Culture
• – Building Organization Culture
•  

50 WEEK MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

WEEK 1	THE GROW MODEL FOR COACHING
WEEK 2	DEVELOPING INFLUENCE AND ASSERTIVE LEADERSHIP
WEEK 3	VISIONING
WEEK 4	THE CHANGE CURVE
WEEK 5	THE LEADERSHIP PIPELINE
WEEK 6	EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND THE THREE-FACTOR THEORY
WEEK 7	THE NINE PRINCIPLES OF MOTIVATION
WEEK 8	SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP (LEADERSHIP STYLES)
WEEK 9	THE JOHN WHITMORE MODEL
WEEK 10	ACTION-CENTRED LEADERSHIP
WEEK 11	THE SIX STEPS OF DELEGATION
WEEK 12	KOTTER’S EIGHT–STAGE PROCESS FOR LEADING CHANGE
WEEK 13	SIX PRINCIPLES FOR GAINING COMMITMENT
WEEK 14	BELBIN’S TEAM RULES
WEEK 15	DRIVERS OF TRUST AND THE TRUST CYCLE
WEEK 16	THE TRUTHS OF STRATEGY
WEEK 17	SWOT ANALYSIS
WEEK 18	SCENARIO THINKING
WEEK 19	THE BALANCED SCORECARD
WEEK 20	THE 7S MODEL
WEEK 21	THE RULE OF 150
WEEK 22	THE SERVICE PROFIT CHAIN
WEEK 23	UNDERSTANDING AND AVOIDING INERTIA
WEEK 24	THE SIX RS OF BUSINESS
WEEK 25	THE BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP MODEL
WEEK 26	THE PARETO PRINCIPLE
WEEK 27	BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY
WEEK 28	BENCHMARKING
WEEK 29	THE PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE
WEEK 30	SYSTEMS THINKING
WEEK 31	MARKET BARRIERS
WEEK 32	THE SIX PS OF STRATEGIC THINKING
WEEK 33	PORTER’S GENERIC COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES
WEEK 34	PESTLIED ANALYSIS
WEEK 35	THE DYNAMICS OF PARADIGM CHANGE
WEEK 36	ANSOFF’S PRODUCT MATRIX
WEEK 37	RESOURCES AND THE CRITICAL PATH
WEEK 38	DEVELOPING INTANGIBLE RESOURCES
WEEK 39	MARKET POSITIONING AND VALUE CURVES
WEEK 40	COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS: PORTER’S FIVE FORCES
WEEK 41	INNOVATION HOTSPOTS
WEEK 42	DEEP DIVE PROTOTYPING
WEEK 43	DEVELOPING CREATIVE THINKING
WEEK 44	THE DISCOVERY CYCLE (ORCA)
WEEK 45	THE FORTUNE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PYRAMID (BOP)
WEEK 46	THE SIX THINKING HATS
WEEK 47	INNOVATION CULTURE
WEEK 48	DISNEY’S CREATIVITY STRATEGY
WEEK 49	THE MATE MODEL FOR STRATEGIC SELLING
WEEK 50	THE TEN CS OF SELLING ONLINE

 

 

WEEK 1

THE GROW MODEL FOR COACHING

The single most important technique for executive coaching 

 

The GROW model, developed by Sir John Whitmore, provides a frame-work for coaching. GROW has four stages: Goals, Reality, Options and Way forward. Responsibility for setting goals rests with the coachee. The coach works in a non-directive way, supporting and challenging. 

 

GOALS 

This focuses on the coachee’s aims and priorities. It sets the agenda for the coaching conversation. The coach should be flexible and prepared to explore, question and challenge. This is achieved with questioning and empathy. The outcome is a clear set of goals for the session and the overall coaching relationship. 

 

Questions include:  What is your goal?  What are your priorities? What are you trying to achieve?  How will you know when you have achieved it?  Is the goal specific and measurable?  How will you know when it has been achieved?  What will success look like?

 

REALITY 

Explore the learner’s current position: the reality of their circumstances and their concerns relating to their goals. The coach needs to help the coachee analyze and understand the significant issues relating to their goal through intelligent questioning. The coach can also provide information and summarize the situation to clarify the reality. 

 

Questions include:  Can you control the result? What don’t you have control over? What are the milestones or key points to achieving goals?  Who is involved and what effect could they have?  What have you done so far and what are the results?  What are the major issues you are encountering?

 

OPTIONS 

The coach helps the coachee to generate options, strategies and action plans for achieving goals. This can uncover new aspects of the individual’s current position with the result that discussion reverts back to the coachee’s reality. This is fine if it is productive or enlightening – the aim is to help the individual, not rigidly follow a process. 

 

Questions include: What options do you have? Which do you favour and why?  If you had unlimited resources, what options would you have?  Could you link your goal to another organizational issue?  What would be the perfect solution?

 

WAY FORWARD

Do not rush the final stage. The aim is to agree what needs to be done. It can help for the coachee to develop a practical plan to implement their option. The coach should be a sounding board, highlighting strengths and weaknesses, testing the approach and offering additional perspectives. 

 

Questions include  What are you going to do – and when? Who needs to know? What support and resources do you need?  How will you overcome obstacles and ensure success?

 

Finally, the most effective plans incorporate a review and feedback process to check progress and provide motivation.

WEEK 2

DEVELOPING INFLUENCE AND ASSERTIVE LEADERSHIP

Providing support and challenge while strengthening results and relationships. 

 

Whether you are giving feedback or selling a product or an idea, influencing requires an understanding of how your behaviour affects others. 

 

Overview 

All individuals have their own personality – the result both of nature and nurture – and this remains largely unchanging. However, behaviour is different: it is flexible and capable of being developed and enhanced. It’s useful to consider behaviour (yours and others) in terms of warmth or coldness, dominance or submissiveness.

• Warm means being supportive, open, positive, empathetic, constructive and engaging – not simply ‘friendly’. 
• Cold means being suspicious, detached, not focused on people or relationships. 
• Dominant means being challenging, in control, confident, strong, authoritative and direct. 
• Submissive means subduing your own thoughts or actions for something or someone else. 

 

The diagram below (the assertiveness model) highlights different types of behaviour (based on the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument). 

Dominant

 

Aggressive behaviour Assertive behaviour

·         Argues  •  Professional 

·         Needs to win  • Inquiring

‘Sort yourself out.’ ‘Tell me what’s on your mind.’

       Cold           Warm 

Avoiding behaviour Appeasing behaviour

·         Uninvolved       • Over-friendly 

·         Indifferent   • Talkative (rambling) 

‘I’ll deal with it later.’ • Highly positive

• Too agreeable

 

Submissive

 

Aggressive: dominant and cold behaviour 

When dealing with aggressive behaviour, the best approach is to: 

• increase your dominance to match their high dominance levels 
• ensure that you are demonstrating behaviour that is assertive and warm rather than aggressive 
• use open questions to generate understanding 
• use body language and tone of voice to increase your dominance levels.

 

Avoiding: cold and submissive behaviour

When dealing with avoiding behaviour, the first priority is to get people engaged. Useful techniques include displaying lower dominance and higher warmth, using open questions aimed at making them feel secure and softening body language and intonation while continuing to smile. 

 

Appeasing: warm and submissive behaviour 

When dealing with appeasing individuals, it can help to: 

• stay focused to keep them on track 
• use open questions that appeal to their social needs but temper these with closed questions when they waffle
• ask summary questions to maintain clarity and focus
• use their name if you are interrupting them. 

 

Assertive: warm and dominant behaviour

When dealing with conflict, it can help to be assertive and encourage others to be assertive as well. Consider how easy it is to warm up behaviour: why and when is it not easy? Why do we, as individuals, not behave in an assertive manner? What is it that hinders supportive and challenging behaviour? Finally, what are the most important questions for you to ask?

WEEK 3

VISIONING

Creating your future 

 

By imagining the future you want and then translating those ideas into practical and actionable plans, you will make it happen.

 

Orienting thinking towards the future is particularly important for middle and senior managers and leaders because it provides focus, determines the company’s culture, builds resilience and adaptability and engages employees. 

 

The need 

A powerful vision motivates and guides everyone at all levels in a company. People manage what is in front of them, as daily and short-term tasks understandably dominate our routine and thinking. This certainly keeps things running smoothly in the stable present but is ill suited to coping with change or taking advantage of (or creating) opportunities. Visioning liberates us from simply managing the present, achieving more of the same or being unprepared for new developments, and thus enables us to build a more successful future. 

 

The process 

Visioning involves assessing and challenging current thinking and methods, developing new ideas and deciding on the future you would like. It is also necessary to look outside your company – noticing and understanding trends, identifying threats and opportunities. 

 

It can be helpful to involve others in a visioning exercise by asking their views on various issues. These questions will prompt thinking and encourage each person to consider and challenge the company’s aims and activities and to suggest new options (giving reasons for their choices).

 

Using these answers, you identify the most common issues and ideas, reduce these options to the ones that are most significant and then draft a provisional vision statement – this can be done by a smaller group of people, with the final vision being reviewed and approved by everyone involved. As well as generating ideas and opening up discussions, a major advantage of involving others in the visioning process is that you will gain their commitment to the final vision. 

 

Once you have developed your vision, determine how it can be achieved:

• Deal with any barriers that may stand in the way and consider how future events may affect it.
• Develop a practical plan and communicate the vision and plan to every-one – show people why it is important, what it will achieve and how it will work and gain their commitment. 
• To bring others with you, your vision needs to be clear, convincing, credible, easy to grasp, actionable, inspiring and focused – but not overly prescriptive, to provide flexibility and adaptability. 

 

What’s next? 

A vision is for nothing if it is not acted upon. You should ensure that all strategy and decisions are guided by the vision and that everyone remains committed to the vision. A vision also needs to be reviewed and adapted to changing circumstances to ensure that it remains relevant and useful.

 

WEEK 4

THE CHANGE CURVE

Understanding how people respond to change

 

The human reaction to change is now well understood. The change process is commonly understood by reference to the research on people’s reaction to bereavement. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross has been a great contributor to our understanding of the experience of loss and bereavement, as well as how we react to changes more generally. The stages of loss that people typically go through are now commonly known as the Change Curve. 

 

Overview

Organizations often refer to the Change Curve in the context of job loss and redundancy. Dr. Kubler-Ross undertook her research on dying by interviewing terminally ill patients. Although this is one of the most extreme and disturbing changes that anyone can face, the reactions to it are the same as for many different types of change. There are several key stages that people go through, as shown in the graph below: 

 

2. Denial 6. Acceptance and integration

 

1.    Shock 3. Frustration 

    and anger 

 

5. Experiment 

    and decision

4. Depression

1.    Shock. The first reaction can often be shock – and all the emotion that results from this. 

2.    Denial. This is a typical reaction and it is important and necessary. It helps cushion the impact of the inevitability of change. 

3.    Frustration and anger. The person resents the change that they must face while others are less affected. 

4.    Depression. First, the person feels deep disappointment, perhaps a sense of personal failing, things not done, wrongs committed. Around this time they may also engage in bargaining: beginning to accept the change but striking bargains -for more time, for example,

5.    Experiment and decision. Initial engagement with the new situation and learning how to work in the new situation, as well as making choices and decisions, and regaining control. 

6.    Acceptance and integration. Dr. Kubler-Ross describes this stage as neither happy nor unhappy. While it is devoid of feelings, it is not resignation – it is really a victory. 

 

People who are made redundant can go through a similar process. Just as with other types of change, people often go through a first stage before denial – that of shock or disbelief. We have witnessed people in shock following news of their redundancy. It can take a long time for people to reach the acceptance stage and often people oscillate between the different stages. 

 

WEEK 5

THE LEADERSHIP PIPELINE

Developing a leader-powered business 

 

Performance is inseparable from a company’s approach to leadership development. Developed by Ram Charan, Stephen Drotter and James Noel, the Leadership Pipeline is a company-wide framework for developing future managers and leaders. 

 

Overview

The Leadership Pipeline is a continual process that ensures a throughput of talented leaders. It is a practical, easily understood system that clearly explains what is required to work successfully at each leadership level, helping:

·         individuals and companies to understand what is required for excellence at each level

·         individuals to develop their skills, optimize potential and progress their careers 

·         organizations to manage and develop talent, and to build strategic an organizational capabilities.

 

How it works 

The Leadership Pipeline represents the flow of internal talent into business-critical roles. As such, organizational structures, processes and reward mechanisms are geared towards encouraging preferred behaviours. For the individual, the Pipeline clarifies the development path that will build the leadership capabilities required to operate successfully at higher levels. At each stage: 

• people need to be clear about the capabilities needed for each level 
• managers and leaders should use the skills and values that are expected at each level so that others can operate effectively. 

 

Traditional approaches to leadership development tend to simply strengthen existing skills, and inadequate attention is paid to learning new ones. The Leadership Pipeline formally recognizes that change and improved performance occur best when the skills that are needed for the next level are built on a solid foundation at previous levels and when individuals are given the time and correct support and training to learn the skills, time management and values required for the new role. 

 

This clear framework makes it easy for people to see what capabilities and values are needed for successful career progression and it focuses people on the skills the organization needs – thus improving both current and future performance. 

 

Working towards successful transitions 

 

Typically, career progression involves making successful transitions at six key stages: 

1.    From managing yourself to managing others 

2.    From managing others to managing managers

3.    From managing managers to functional director 

4.    From functional director to business director 

5.    From business director to group business director 

6.    From group business director to company director. 

 

In reality, people often make these transitions with little support and inad-equate preparation, commonly modelling themselves on their predecessors and learning what works through trial and error. The Leadership Pipeline makes explicit what is required for success at each level. In particular, it clarifies the requirements in three key areas:

1.    Developing new skills 

2.    Improving time management 

3.    Adopting the values the organization is looking for. 

 

Acquiring these capabilities at each level builds the foundation for success at the next level. Consequently, this focus on skills, time management and values prioritizes improved performance for advancement – benefiting both the individual and the company.

 

 

WEEK 6

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND THE THREE-FACTOR THEORY

The three things that matter most to people at work 

 

The factors that influence employee engagement combine in different ways and at different times for each person. Obviously, pay and leadership are important – with a direct relationship between pay and effort and the quality of leadership being critical to employee engagement. In addition, people like to do work that has meaning and purpose. 

 

Following international research, Sirota Consulting developed the Three-Factor Theory, addressing employee engagement by addressing three basic needs: equity, achievement and camaraderie. 

 

Leaders need to engage, inspire and energize their people. Gaining commitment and getting people to acquire new skills and achieve their full potential leads to ongoing improvements in performance, benefiting all concerned – individuals, teams and companies. The Three Factor Theory establishes a self-sustaining cycle of effective employee engagement by ensuring that practices and policies focus on equity, achievement and camaraderie. 

 

Equity 

People need to feel they are being treated fairly – especially in relation to others both inside and outside the company. This includes:

• physical aspects – for example, working in a safe environment and being physically able to do a job
• economic factors – people need to feel that their pay, benefits and job security are fair 
• psychological issues – including being treated with respect and consideration. 

 

Achievement 

People work better and achieve more if they believe in what they are doing and have confidence in the direction they are going. In short, they work best when they feel they are achieving something. Six issues influence this:

1.    Having challenging work and being able to use their skills 

2.    Having the opportunity to develop their capabilities and to take risks 

3.    Having the resources, authority, information and support to work effectively 

4.    Knowing that the work is important and has value and purpose 

5.    Receiving recognition – both financial and non-financial 

6.    Having pride in the company’s aims, ethics, products and brand values.

 

Camaraderie 

It is important for individuals to have good relations with co-workers. This requires congenial, co-operative, interesting and supportive relationships at all levels, with the most immediate ones being the most significant. This involves relationships: 

• with co-workers 
• within the business unit 
• across on-site departments 
• across the whole company. 

 

WEEK 7

THE NINE PRINCIPLES OF MOTIVATION

Creating the right environment 

 

So much in business depends on motivating others. There is only so much any one person can do, so getting the most out of others is crucial to success. This all begins with winning trust – everything else follows.

 

Motivating others is an essential part of leadership. Your ability to motivate others relies on what they think of you and how they think you view them. This requires planning and vigilance and knowing that different people are motivated by different things. To motivate effectively, you need to know what motivates each person, the pressures they face, what influences their decisions and thinking, and how you can make a difference. These nine principles of motivation will help you to help your colleagues. 

 

1.    Be motivated yourself

Self-motivation rallies others. People will ‘step up to the plate’ if you do so yourself. Knowing what motivates you will help you to motivate others. 

2.            Recruit people who are highly motivated and assign them to the right position 

Match people’s motivation to their job. Some are motivated by making sales while others are motivated by following processes, building teams or pursuing new ideas. 

3.            Treat people as individuals 

We all have different values and personalities. What works for one may not motivate another. So, tap into what motivates each individual to improve performance. 

4.            Set challenging but realistic targets

Nothing is more demotivating than unachievable targets. Nothing is more motivating than achievable, we-can-beat-the-competition targets – they tap into our competitiveness and desire to produce something to be proud of. 

5.            Focus on progress – it motivates 

Everyone responds to a pat on the back – they’ve earned it and deserve it, so make it happen. The result: an upward spiral of people wanting to achieve more. 

6.            Develop an environment that motivates people 

Eliminate or minimize anything that blocks motivation – from bureaucracy and unnecessary procedures to lack of resources. Provide training and coaching to develop skills and to make people feel valued.

7.            Ensure that people receive fair rewards

Promotion, pay rises, sales commission, profit share, work benefits, additional responsibilities: these motivate people. They give people a reason to stay and to help your company excel. 

8.            Recognize people’s work 

We all want our efforts to be acknowledged. Recognition is needed to maintain commitment. 

9.            Be honest about your intent

Honesty lies at the heart of motivation. Be clear about what your intentions are. People will be motivated only by those they can trust. 

 

WEEK 8

SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP (LEADERSHIP STYLES)

Adapting your approach 

 

Situational leadership improves your ability to lead others and to respond effectively to situations. 

 

Different leadership styles 

By adjusting your style to match each challenge, you are more likely to achieve your desired outcome. To decide which approach is best, you need to consider the issues, what needs to happen and the people involved. To develop your situational leadership, you must be self-aware and understand your own style and how it impacts others. 

 

The model of situational leadership developed by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson identifies and details the different leadership styles. 

 

Leadership style	Characteristics
Directing ………..telling	Centres on structure, control and supervision and one-way communication  Effective for teams that are new, temporary or forming  A hands-on, decisive and involved approach that directs and emphasizes tasks and deadlines
Coaching  ……….engaging	Focuses on directing and supporting – using teaching and guiding skills Works well with teams that have worked together for a period of time Promotes a balance between short-term and long-term needs – such as monitoring target achievement while developing longer-term priorities
Supporting ……….developing	Involves praising, listening and facilitating development  Appropriate for teams that continue to function well  Leaders are no longer involved in short-term performance and operational measures  Long-term aspects are more important, with a focus on individual and team development, planning and innovation
Delegating  …….hands-off  …….facilitating	Responsibility for routine decisions is handed over  Works best with a highly experienced, successful team when little involvement is needed  The focus is on working externally for the team by developing networks, securing resources and sharing best practice  Intervention is usually at the request of the team wanting support and advice with defining problems, devising solutions or handling problems

 

Using the right style 

Each situation should use the most appropriate style. For example, directing is useful in exceptional circumstances such as a crisis requiring people to follow a particular course of action or when handling difficult personnel issues. 

 

To decide which style is appropriate, assess the competence, ability, confidence and motivation of those involved. For example: 

·        Low confidence may indicate reduced commitment, so a supportive and encouraging style is appropriate.

·        Low motivation requires a listening approach, to identify the causes and change the situation. 

WEEK 9

THE JOHN WHITMORE MODEL

Are you setting the right goals in the right way? 

 

Sir John Whitmore gave us the GROW model for coaching and he also highlighted a model for goal-setting that is SMART, PURE and CLEAR, ensuring that you and your colleagues have goals that are appropriate, achievable and successful. 

 

Goal-setting is vital whenever you need to focus someone (including yourself) on a specific objective or series of objectives – for example, at an annual appraisal, when someone starts a new role, or simply at the start of a new project. 

 

When developing people, it is important to provide a focus for action and to ensure a sense of purpose. This is the value of the John Whitmore model: it provides a checklist for goal-setting. So, when you are goal-setting, keep it simple and check that each goal meets the 14 criteria in Whitmore’s model. 

 

Specific	The right goal	Challenging
Measurable	Positively stated	Legal
Attainable	Understood	Environmentally sound
Realistic/Realistic	Relevant	Agreed
Time- constrained	Ethical	Recorded

 

When goal-setting, distinguish between end goals and performance goals: 

·         End goals are the ultimate objective. They could typically be to gain promotion or additional responsibility or to complete a major project (e.g. I need to achieve sales of £300,000 this year’).

·         Performance goals establish the level of performance that will help an individual to achieve their end goal. Performance goals include such elements as quality standards, time management and production targets (e.g. ‘I need to develop my negotiating skills’).

 

Think about a current goal you have or one you want to address in the future. Answer the following questions to assess the robustness of your how approach to goal setting, monitoring and achievement. Also comment on how you could improve your approach.

 

·         What is your goal?  ·         Is it specific? What, exactly, will success look like? Is it an end goal or a performance goal?  ·         Is it measurable? How will progress be measured and monitored?  ·         Is it attainable? Do you have the skills and resources needed? ·         How will you succeed and what will you do? What could go wrong? What are the risks?  ·         Is it realistic? How does it relate to other people and activities? Are these links understood and could this goal benefit from other activities or expertise elsewhere in the organization?  ·         What is the timescale? Are there milestones or dependencies in the plan?  ·         Is the goal stated as positively as possible, in a way that will engage and encourage people?  ·         Is it understood – is there a clear vision and view of what success will look like? ·         Is it relevant – how well does it relate to other issues and priorities?  ·         Is it ethical?  ·         Will it provide the right level of challenge?  ·         Is it legal and are there legal (or regulatory) issues to consider?  ·         Is it environmentally sound?  ·         Is everyone agreed or is more agreement needed?  ·         Has the goal been recorded and is it being monitored, with progress assessed and lessons learned?

 

 

WEEK 10

ACTION-CENTRED LEADERSHIP

Managing the task, team and individual 

 

John Adair’s Action-Centred Leadership model views the role of leaders as integrating three areas: ensuring that the task, the team and the individual are working effectively and that their needs are met. Success relies on ensuring that all three responsibilities are mutually reinforcing.

 

Overview 

As a leader, people look to you to set the direction, to support them, to help them achieve their goals, to ensure that team members work well together .and to make sure that the structures and procedures are in place (and working effectively). It is not enough to have a great idea; you are responsible for making it happen. In short, leadership is a total activity. If individuals aren’t motivated, teams will not function well; if teams don’t work well, tasks will fail and individual satisfaction falls, and so on. Whether you are leading one team, a business unit or an entire company, you need to provide for:

• the needs of the task – provide the appropriate systems, procedures and structures
• the needs of the team – promote team cohesiveness so that team members work well together
• the needs of the individual – engage each person (by considering pay, their sense of purpose, their need to have achievements and contributions recognized, and their need for status and to be part of something that matters). 

 

A functional approach to leadership 

To provide for the needs of the task, team and individuals, John Adair out-lines eight leadership functions: 

1.    Define the task. Everyone needs to understand what is expected, so be clear about the task at hand – make it SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-constrained).

2.    Plan. Identify options, look for alternatives, make contingency plans and test your ideas. Working with others in a positive, open-minded, constructive and creative way will help you to develop the best plan. 

3.    Brief others. To create the right conditions and bring people with you, you have to keep people informed. Both teams and individuals will work well only if they have access to information and your thinking – without open communication, confusion or even distrust can seriously hamper business strategy.

4.    Control effectively. You need self-control and you need to positively control others. Put the right procedures and monitoring in place, delegate tasks and trust others to both take responsibility and deliver results. 

5.    Evaluate. Assess likely consequences, measure and judge the performance of both teams and individuals and provide necessary feedback and training. 

6.    Motivate. Motivate yourself – if you are not motivated, it will be difficult to motivate others. Recruit people who are highly motivated. Set realistic and achievable targets – people respond to doable goal Focus on progress, reward success and recognize achievements.

7.    Be organized. Be organized yourself and ensure that teams and individuals have the necessary skills, procedures, structures and resources in place for them to do their jobs efficiently. 

8.    Set the right example. The example you set to others influences their behaviour, motivation and willingness to follow you. 

 

WEEK 11

THE SIX STEPS OF DELEGATION

Developmental, productive – the cornerstone of leadership 

 

Without delegation, leaders cannot lead and managers cannot manage. Delegation develops skills, challenges and retains great people, and in-creases productivity. Yet many people have difficulty delegating. These six steps will help you to delegate effectively. 

 

Delegation requires empowerment and trust. You need to empower people give them the skills and confidence to act and take risks. You need to trust them and accept that mistakes will happen – mistakes that can be rectified and learned from and that are more than made up for by the progress that is achieved. Delegation is essential precisely because it goes directly to the bottom line – it has a huge impact on productivity, innovation and employee engagement and retention. 

 

Delegation can be learned but, to be successful, it rests entirely on having the right mindset. It is about bringing people with you. While experience helps, what is more important is attitude, good communication skills and confidence in yourself. These six stages provide a framework to help you delegate successfully:

 

1.    Prepare to delegate 

Know what you want to achieve. Be clear about goals and priorities and decide how these can be achieved. Plan what needs to happen, and when, and bring people along with you. Winning hearts and minds and making sure people know the reasons for your plan and what is expected of them are essential.

 

2.            Match the person to the task 

Know your people. Understand what they can do, their potential, what would challenge and stimulate them. It also helps to understand their future career plans. Make the most of each person’s abilities. Look for potential and take risks. With encouragement, training and trust, you will get more from each person. 

 

3.            Discuss and agree objectives 

Engage people with the task that needs to be completed. Everyone needs to understand your thinking, agree with the plan and be clear about what needs to be done and when. Consider constructive criticisms because it can improve your plan and gain the buy-in of others. 

 

4.            Put resources and power in place 

Provide the necessary resources and authority. In this way, your people can make decisions and act. Support your people whenever this is needed – they need to know you are behind them. 

 

5.            Monitor progress 

Ensure that people are accountable for delivering what is expected of them. Having overall goals and interim targets will help people to stay focused, to meet deadlines and to ensure that standards and results additional art met. The goal is to keep people motivated and on track and to provide support where needed. 

6.            Review progress 

Learn from experience and feedback. Compare and discuss results and objectives with those involved. Look at what worked well and what could have been done better. Use this to improve future plans. 

 

 

WEEK 12

KOTTER’S EIGHT–STAGE PROCESS FOR LEADING CHANGE

Achieving progress and getting the right things done in the best way possible

 

The eight-stage process of creating major change was first outlined by John Kotter in his bestselling book Leading Change; it describes what the leader needs to do to ensure that beneficial change is achieved.

 

1.    Establish a sense of urgency 

As a leader, you should initiate or take control of the process by emphasizing the need for change. The more urgent and pressing the need, the more likely people will be focused. Usually, the leader’s role is to stay positive and build on success. However, it can also help to emphasize failure – what might go wrong and how, when and what the consequences could be. You can also emphasize positive elements such as windows of opportunity that require swift and effective change. 

 

2.            Create the guiding coalition 

The guiding coalition needs to understand the purpose of the change process. Members should be united, coordinated and carry significant authority. The coalition needs to have the power to make things happen, to change systems and procedures, and to win people over. 

 

3.            Develop a vision and strategy 

The guiding coalition needs to create a simple, powerful vision that will direct and guide change and achieve goals. You need to develop a detailed strategy for achieving that vision. The strategy needs to be practical, work-able, understandable, simple and consistent. 

 

4.            Communicate the change vision

Use every means possible to constantly communicate the new vision and strategies. This will build pressure, momentum and understanding, sustaining a sense of urgency. The guiding coalition should lead by example and act as role models for the behaviour expected of employees.

 

5.            Empower broad-based action 

The leader and the guiding coalition cannot achieve change in isolation – it needs the commitment and effort of others. Provide a blame-free and supportive environment and empower your people by removing obstacles, changing systems or structures that undermine the vision and encouraging risk-taking and non-traditional ideas

 

6.            Generate short-term wins

These produce momentum and provide an opportunity to build on success. To do this, plan for visible improvements in performance – or ‘wins’, create those wins and recognize and reward people who make wins possible. 

 

7.            Consolidate gains and produce more change 

Once the excitement of the start-up phase has passed, the successes have been built and people know what is needed, people can tire and problems can arise. The key is to move steadily: maintain momentum without moving too fast. You need to continue by using increased credibility and understanding of what is still needed, hiring, promoting and developing people who can implement the changes and reinvigorating the process with new projects, themes and change agents. 

 

8.            Anchor new approaches in the organization’s culture 

A key danger in managing change is to finish too early. The best situation is often where change, development and continuous improvements become the norm. What matters is making changes that are firmly grounded in the organization. This requires you to explain the connections between the new behaviours or actions and success. 

 

 

WEEK 13

SIX PRINCIPLES FOR GAINING COMMITMENT

Achieving employee engagement during times of transition 

 

What is the goal of employee engagement? Quite simply: to maximize performance and profit. These will not happen if leaders don’t have their people’s commitment. Gone are the times when leaders simply informed others; nowadays a dialogue needs to take place. People need to feel valued and listened to, and leaders need to inspire, win hearts and minds, and harness talent and potential. 

 

Successful transitions depend on gaining commitment. Without it, companies underperform and strategy is harder to achieve. John Smythe developed six principles to engage employees – releasing creativity, raising productivity and promoting commitment and loyalty. They give people a compelling reason to work for you, to excel, and to implement plans successfully. By listening, engaging, empowering and encouraging people to share ideas, you will build confidence, loyalty and camaraderie. 

 

1.     Develop the right plan and make sure that everyone agrees

Ensure that the senior team has explored all options and developed the best strategy. While teams often agree on a plan, some people may have held back ideas or not been on board. Making sure that everyone at the senior level is on board is critical. 

 

2.            Plan the transition process and prepare a timeline 

When planning the timeline for implementation, consider the timing of all demands that will be placed on people, including emotional and motivational aspects. 

 

3.            Decide who is to be involved – and how 

Make sure that everyone is clear about who is involved and how and why they are involved – or affected. When people know what their role is and understand your strategy, they are more engaged, adaptable and committed. 

 

4.            Set standards (including role modeling and measuring progress) 

Putting standards and timed goals in place enables people to measure progress. The key is to win and maintain people’s commitment: measures need to work with people; they should not demotivate. When setting goals, consider the people involved – ask yourself how they would respond. 

 

5.            Connect with each person as an individual

Include opportunities for people to reflect, learn and enjoy working for your company. Implementing a new strategy should be enjoyable – emphasize the excitement, the potential and the opportunities. Include opportunities to celebrate past achievements – moving to the future without a nod to the past is discouraging. 

 

6.            Tell and sell the new strategy 

Tap into people’s desire to be part of something and interpret situations from their perspective. Empathy is an invaluable tool for generating enthusiasm and commitment. Remember: the version of change you are giving is not the only one people hear. Be honest, keep people informed, and offer a better, more inspirational and convincing explanation of events and strategy. 

 

WEEK 14

BELBIN’S TEAM RULES

Building, managing and understanding teams and teamworking

 

R. Meredith Belbin identified nine ways people work together in teams. Understanding these types will help you build and lead better teams. 

 

Leading a team 

While people can have characteristics from different categories, one style tends to dominate. To manage teams effectively, you need to identify and understand the style each person uses. Knowing the type of person each team member is will help you to build the right team, get the most out of people, delegate effectively and manage situations successfully. The information can be used to motivate, secure commitment, encourage the behaviours and actions you are looking for, and help you understand when to challenge and when to hold back. This insight enables you to know what type of support to offer, as well as knowing how to avoid conflict or manage it effectively should it arise. 

 

Belbin’s nine team roles 

 

Team role	Strengths – contribution to team-working	Weaknesses – problems for team-working
Plant	Plants are creative and imaginative individuals. Their approach can be unorthodox, unusual or freethinking. As a result, they are particularly effective at solving difficult problems.	A propensity to ignore details and become too preoccupied or-focused on one issue, hindering communication and collaboration.
Resource investigator	Typically resource investigators are outgoing, extrovert, enthusiastic and communicative. Skills include the ability to explore opportunities and develop contacts.	Over-optimistic and positive, rather than realistic or resilient. This can mean that they lose interest after their initial enthusiasm.
Coordinator	Coordinators are mature and confident, able to connect big-picture thinking with detailed implementation, good planning and organizational skills.	Too much delegation and co-ordination of others can be seen as manipulative, and they can sometimes be perceived as offloading work.
Shaper	Shapers are challenging, action-oriented and dynamic. Within teams they enjoy decision-making and problem-solving, and bring the drive and courage needed to overcome obstacles.	Prone to provocation, and may risk offending team-members’ feelings with their focus on action and results (rather than people).
Monitor Evaluator	Monitor evaluators’ strength is their sober, strategic and discerning approach. They contribute to team effectiveness by viewing all options and displaying sound, accurate judgement	An ability to monitor, evaluate and assess is not always dynamic, and their weaknesses can include a lack of drive and ability to inspire others.
Teamworker	Teamworkers are especially co-operative, perceptive and diplomatic. They complement a team with their ability to listen, build on ideas, promote collaboration and mutual support and avoid friction.	A key weakness is indecision in crunch situations, including those scenarios where there is no ‘right’ way forward.

 

Team role	Strengths – contribution to team-working	Weaknesses – problems for team-working
Implementer	Implementers contribute to teams by being disciplined, reliable and efficient. They are especially skilled at turning ideas into practical actions and results	Can slow down teamworking by being inflexible or slow to respond to new options.
Completer finisher	Completer finishers deliver on time and succeed by providing the team with a conscientious, anxious approach that looks for errors and omissions.	Completer finishers can worry unnecessarily or excessively and sometimes be reluctant to delegate.
Specialist	Specialists are single-minded, dedicated self-starters. who contribute to team effectiveness by providing valuable knowledge and skills.	The specialist’s weakness is their tendency to concentrate on technicalities and they may only contribute in a single narrow area.

 

The diagnostic questionnaire for BeIbin’s team role analysis is available at Belbin Associates’ website (www.belbin.com).

 

WEEK 15

DRIVERS OF TRUST AND THE TRUST CYCLE

What we look for when choosing to trust someone 

 

The drivers of trust are the attributes that lead to effective relationships. 

The cycle of trust is the process through which trust can be developed and maintained. 

 

Overview 

Trust matters because success can be achieved only by working through others. By inspiring trust, you will encourage those around you to be flexible and collaborative. Developing the drivers of trust and maintaining the trust of others will lead to productive business relationships. 

 

The drivers of trust 

 

The main drivers of trust are: 

 

fairness  dependability  respect  openness  courage

unselfishness  competence  supportiveness  empathy  compassion

By promoting these qualities, relationships with colleagues, customers and stakeholders are more beneficial to everyone involved. 

 

The reality of trust 

 

In reality, the attributes we are more likely to encounter (the reality of trust) are: 

 

likeability  dependability  critical  ambition fairness

professionalism  competence  respect  controlling  predictability

 

The trust deficit

People look for the drivers of trust when deciding when, and how much, to trust someone. When people’s expectations are not met, trust and indeed the entire relationship are seriously undermined. It would seem that without a concerted effort to develop and demonstrate these qualities we are unlikely to develop the rapport we need for good working relationships. Avoiding a trust deficit becomes all-important if we are to get the most out of business relationships. By understanding the drivers of trust, along with the cycle of trust, we can better shape the way we relate to others and build successful, reliable and productive relationships. 

 

The Trust Cycle 

 

Explore – understand the issues and priorities		Commit — agree what you will  deliver, how and when
Confirm — check that delivery has met the person’s expectations		Deliver — take action and achieve  what you have promised

 

By continually following these stages, you will build and maintain the trust that is essential for effective, productive relationships. As trust is such a fragile commodity, failing to achieve any one of these stages will damage the relationship and require you to go back and rebuild it. For this reason, ensuring that trust is maintained – by continually developing the drivers of trust and following the cycle of trust – is less disruptive, less time-consuming and less stressful. It creates the positive and productive relationships that are necessary for success.

 

WEEK 16

THE TRUTHS OF STRATEGY

Who, what, how: succeeding with business strategy 

 

Developing a distinctive, successful business strategy is often over-elaborate and over-complicated. Strategy is simply about understanding where you are now, where you are heading and – crucially – how you will get there. 

 

The idea 

Strategy has three essential elements: development, implementation and selling (meaning, obtaining commitment and buy-in). Underpinning all three is choice, in particular the need to choose a distinctive strategic position on three dimensions:

1.    Who to target as customers (and who to avoid targeting) 

2.    What products to offer 

3.    How to undertake related activities efficiently

 

In practice 

Strategy is all about making tough choices in these three dimensions: who, what and how. It means deciding on the customers you will target and, just as importantly, the customers you will not target. This issue requires a focus on customer segmentation and geography.

 

Delivering a successful strategy also means choosing the products or services you will offer and what product features or benefits to emphasize. Finally, strategy means choosing the activities you will use to sell your selected product to your selected customer. 

 

This approach sounds simple but there are several key points to note to ensure a successful strategy:

• Ensure that your strategy creates a unique strategic position. This is achieved by focusing on who your customers are, the value proposition offered to these customers and how you can do this efficiently. 
• Make distinctive, tough choices. To be distinctive and meaningful, strategy must make difficult choices and combine these choices in a self-reinforcing system of activities that fit. Common mistakes include: keeping options open; permitting incentives in the system that enable people to ignore choices; searching for growth in a way that forces people to ignore the firm’s strategy, and analysis paralysis. 
• Understand the importance of values and incentives. In particular, the underlying environment of your organization creates the behaviours of that organization. The organization’s culture and values, measurement and incentives, people, structure and processes all determine the underlying environment. 
• Gain people’s emotional commitment to the strategy. Any strategy, however brilliant, will fail unless people are emotionally committed to its success. 
• Remember, understanding is not the same as communicating. Explain why the strategy is important to the organization and the individual. 
• Do not overlook the knowledge-doing gap. Individuals tend to do the urgent things and not the important ones. There is a gap between what they know and what they do. Remember, what gets measured gets done. 
• Do not believe that ‘strategic’ means important. Closely linked is the mistaken view that only ‘top’ people can develop strategic ideas. Ideas can come from anybody, anytime, anywhere. 
• Keep your strategy flexible. All ideas are good for a limited time – not forever. Keep checking the answers to the ‘who – what – how’ questions. Strategy does not need to be changed too often but it will occasionally require adjusting to suit external circumstances. So, give your people freedom and autonomy to respond and to adjust, without waiting for permission or instructions. 

 

WEEK 17

SWOT ANALYSIS

 

A valuable decision-making technique 

 

SWOT analysis can work at many different levels: from the overall operation of the organization as a whole to the separate and independent issues affecting a department or a single product. 

Strengths Opportunities

Weaknesses Threats

 

Internal sources of strength and weakness 

These are typically found within an organization, whereas opportunities and threats are most often external. Some factors can be sources both of strength and weakness: for example the age of employees. Older employees may denote a stable organization, able to retain employees and maintain a wealth of experience, or it may simply mean that the organization is too conservative. Many factors can be either strengths or weaknesses and they can change from one to the other surprisingly quickly. 

 

External sources of opportunity and threat 

These are more difficult to assess than internal ones. Examples of sources of opportunities and threats are detailed below.

 

Sources of opportunity include:  new markets (including export markets)  new technologies  new products and product enhancements  mergers, acquisitions and divestments  new investment  factors affecting competitors’ fortunes  commercial agreements and strategic partnerships  political, economic, regulatory and trade developments

 

Sources of threats include:  industrial action  political and regulatory issues  economic issues  trade factors  mergers and other developments among competitors  new market entrants  pricing actions by competitors  market innovations by competitors  environmental factors  natural disasters  crises, notably including issues of health, safety, product quality and liability  key staff attracted away from the business  security issues, including industrial espionage and the security of IT systems  supply chain problems  distribution and delivery problems  bad debts (resulting from the fortunes of others)  demographic factors and social changes affecting customers’ tastes or habits.

 

 

WEEK 18

SCENARIO THINKING

Walking the battlefield before battle commences 

 

Scenario thinking is a tool for exploring possible futures. It is used to stimulate debate, develop resilient strategies and test business plans against possible futures. It enables us to think innovatively and to develop strategy that is not constrained by the past. It provides the insight needed to manage uncertainty and risk, set strategy, handle complexity, improve decision-making, reveal current potential, promote responsiveness and control our future. 

 

Overview

Scenarios inform and guide our understanding of possible futures that lie ahead and the forces contributing to those events. The outcomes of different responses to potential developments can be tested, without risk, through exploring various scenarios. The aim is not to predict the future accurately but to experience events before they happen. 

Scenario thinking allows us to: 

• reveal new perspectives and identify gaps in organizational knowledge 
• challenge assumptions, overcoming business-as-usual thinking 
• understand the present and identify potential e promote awareness of external events 
• encourage people to share information and ideas 
• improve our responses to events 
• promote a shift in attitude and develop greater certainty 
• promote a shared purpose and direction. 

 

The Strategic Conversation is an ongoing process of assessing the present, creating and testing scenarios, developing and analyzing options, and then selecting, refining and implementing the chosen options. Scenarios should: 

• Involve people at all levels 
• be relevant and valued 
• avoid existing biases 
• be rooted in a thorough analysis of the present. 

 

Initial planning 

Create a separate team to plan the process – preferably external people known for innovative, challenging thinking. They should: 

• identify gaps in knowledge, given the business challenges to be faced 
• agree the project’s duration 
• interview members of the scenario workshop – asking each person for a ‘history of the future’ (what could happen and how it happened) 
• collate and analyze their responses in a report, identifying the main issues, ideas and uncertainties. (This will set the agenda for the first workshop.)

 

Developing the scenarios 

The aim is to understand the forces shaping the future. The workshop should develop scenarios that create and assess possible events and their consequences. Participants should: 

• identify the forces that could impact a situation 
• agree two possible opposite outcomes (and the forces involved) 
• identify how these forces are linked 
• decide whether each force has a low or high impact and a low or high probability 
• develop likely ‘histories’ that led to each outcome, detailing the factors involved.

 

Analyzing and using the scenarios 

Identify the priorities and concerns of people responsible for key decisions in the scenario who are outside the organization – including their likely reactions at different stages in the scenario. Then develop an action plan by working backwards from the scenario’s future to the present in order to identify the early signs of change. These can be recognized and acted upon swiftly and effectively, thereby influencing the strategic direction of the company. 

 

WEEK 19

THE BALANCED SCORECARD

Developed by Robert Kaplan and David Norton, the Balanced Scorecard is a valuable adjunct to traditional business measures that are limited by their focus on past performance. The Balanced Scorecard overcomes this limitation by providing a means of assessing future performance to better inform and guide strategic development. 

 

Overview 

The reason for its success is its ability to integrate measures of performance to present a balanced view of a company’s overall performance and to pinpoint areas that need completion or further development. The process generates objectives in four areas – financial data, customers’ perceptions, essential internal processes, and innovation and learning – and puts in place action plans and continuous assessment. It has been criticized for being too prescriptive and quantitative, but its use can be broadened to include qualitative aspects. 

 

How to use the Balanced Scorecard approach 

The approach taken will depend on the company’s type, size and structure. However, there are five broad stages: 

1.    Prepare, define and communicate the strategy – people need to understand the objectives and how to achieve them

2.    Decide what to measure – typical measures are shown in this table: 

 

Area	Aim	What to measure
Financial	To increase profitability share price             performance  return on assets	Cash flows Cost reduction  Gross margins Return on capital / equity / investments / sales Revenue growth Payment terms
Customers	To improve:  customer acquisition  customer retention  customer satisfaction  cross-sales volumes	Market share  Customer service and satisfaction  Number of complaints  Customer profitability  Delivery times  Units sold Number of customers
Internal processes	To improve:  core competencies  critical technologies  employee morale … and to streamline processes	Efficiency  Lead times  Unit costs  Waste  Sourcing and supplier delivery  Employee morale and satisfaction, and staff turnover  Internal audit standards  Sales per employee
Innovation and learning	To promote:  new product development  continuous improvement  employees’ training and skills	Number of new products  Sales of new products  Number of employees receiving training  Outputs from employees’ training  Training hours per employee  Number and scope of skills learned

 

3.            Finalize and implement the plan – this stage ensures that measures are workable, tailored and adopted. Essentially, this is managing by setting objectives. 

4.            Publicize and use the results – being seen to act is important. Also, while ensuring that everyone understands overall objectives, decide who should receive specific information, why and how frequently. 

5.            Review and amend the system – to solve any problems and to set new challenges.

WEEK 20

THE 7S MODEL

Assessing business performance 

 

The 7S model is a framework for assessing the performance of a company. It views all seven elements as equally important because they impact on each other – with failure in one area undermining the others. By appreciating how they are related, and assessing performance from this perspective, companies and teams can better align activities to achieve goals. 

 

Overview 

First developed in the 1970s by McKinsey and refined by Tom Peters, Robert Waterman and Richard Pascale, the 75 model works from the principle that success relies on simultaneously pursuing a combination of seven hard and soft aspects of running a business. Known for changing people’s thinking at the time, it still provides a useful framework for assessing and improving a company or how a team is working – identifying gaps and enabling adjustments to be made to ensure that all seven aspects are aligned, working together, and supporting and reinforcing one another. By knowing how things are interrelated, the framework raises awareness of the full impact of any changes. 

 

1.    Strategy 

These are plans that determine, define and outline how to fulfill the company’s goals and purpose and to achieve competitive advantage. 

2.    Structure

This is how the company is organized and how each part relates to the others. 

3.    Systems 

This is about how both formal and informal business processes function. 

4.    Shared values (superordirlate goals) 

These are the company’s beliefs, values and guiding mission that draw people together and that directly influence their approach, thinking and actions. 

5.    Skills 

These are the capabilities of both the people and the organization. 

6.    Staff 

This concerns the nature, type and general abilities of the people employed. 

7.    Style 

This is the organization’s culture and style of leadership that, along with having an internal impact, determine how people outside the organization view the company. 

 

The main point is that all seven elements are interrelated, with each affecting the others. In this, it can be viewed as an early proponent of holistic business. Significantly – and this is of particular relevance to leaders today – it reveals how underperformance can be attributed to neglect in any one of the seven aspects, regardless of strong focus and capabilities in one or more of the others. Richard Pascale subsequently argued that, while it is generally important to view all seven as equally significant to achieving success, having shared values (superordinate goals) is the element that binds all the others together. 

 

 

WEEK 21

THE RULE OF 150

A bold way to create the right working conditions.

 

This rule is about limiting the number of people at any one location to 150.

 

Overview 

The rule is based on the idea that 150 is the largest group size that people can deal with – beyond that number, it is increasingly difficult to form bonds with others. If groups are larger, hierarchies, regulations and formal measures are required. However, with fewer than 150, goals can be achieved informally and people work better and are happier, more motivated and more productive. 

 

Why it works 

Co-workers find socializing, teamworking, innovating, collaborating and sharing knowledge easier to achieve in groups of fewer than 150 people. By organizing operations into smaller groups, large companies can gain the benefit of smaller groups – being closer, driven, entrepreneurial, supportive and productive. 

 

The rule in practice 

Gore Associates, a high-tech firm, uses this rule. It has 15 plants all within 20 kilometres (12 miles) of one another, and each with fewer than 150 employees. It has resisted the option of merging its separate sites – despite potential cost savings – because the small size of each unit ensures that everyone knows everyone else and works well together. 

 

By organizing itself in this way, Gore, despite being a large company with thousands of employees, is still able to enjoy the entrepreneurial approach of a small start-up. Each unit enjoys the benefits of collective management, which are 

• improved communication 
• greater initiative 
• flexibility. 

 

It is notable that employee turnover is significantly less than the industry average and the company has enjoyed sustained profitability and growth for over 35 years. 

 

This does not mean that Gore has no control or input. It has put a strong managerial system in place to oversee each unit, to ensure that activities are coordinated and efficient. The company also encourages a sense of community and teamwork within these groups – after all, the rule only means that it is possible for workers to form positive bonds with each other, so efforts must still be made to ensure that this happens. In addition, Gore makes sure that it develops a sense of community across the company by encouraging people to communicate and collaborate with workers from other groups. 

 

 

WEEK 22

THE SERVICE PROFIT CHAIN

Managing the vital link between people and profit 

 

The service profit chain highlights how employee engagement drives improvements in company performance. When employees are able to see the impact of their actions, it changes their approach and improves results.

 

The idea 

The service profit chain is based on the premise that market leadership requires an emphasis on managing value drivers those factors that have the greatest impact on success and provide the most benefit to customers. This concept is then focused on the value drivers that are the most important determinants of success: employee retention, employee satisfaction and employee productivity – it is these that strongly influence customer loyalty, revenue growth and profitability.

 

How the service profit chain works 

 

In practice: Sears 

In the 1990s US-based retailer Sears reversed significant losses by focusing on employee issues in order to turn around the company’s fortunes. They examined: 

• how employees felt about working at the company 
• how employee behaviour affected customers 
• how customers’ experience affected profits. 

 

Sears asked employees to estimate how much profit was made for each dollar sold. The average answer was 46 cents while the real answer was 1 cent – demonstrating that profitability was poorly understood. The company introduced changes in order to engage with employees and to get them to understand what influences profitability – in particular, to make clear the link between employee behaviour, customer satisfaction and company success. By understanding the implications of their actions, it changed their approach, resulting in sustained improvements in profitability. 

 

In practice: B&Q

At UK retailer B&Q, each percentage increase in staff turnover was costing the company £1 million. By reducing staff turnover from 35 to 28 per cent through its Employee Engagement Programme, the company reduced costs and increased turnover per employee by 20 per cent. 

 

WEEK 23

UNDERSTANDING AND AVOIDING INERTIA

When success traps us in the past 

 

It might seem counterintuitive to warn people about the dangers of success but that is exactly what Donald Sull did when he developed the concept of ‘active inertia’ – where people repeat the strategies and activities that have worked well in the past. 

 

A reliance on previous thinking and approaches – the formula of success – can cause a company to fail to respond properly to new developments. By applying past approaches to new conditions, the end result can be a downward spiral – leaving an organization vulnerable to more dynamic companies with approaches better suited to the new environment. 

 

How active inertia works 

A firm correctly discerns gradual shifts and developments in the external environment, but fails to respond effectively.

 

Managers get trapped by success, often responding to the most disruptive changes by accelerating activities that succeeded in the past.

 

The source of active inertia is a company’s success formula, the unique set of strategic frames, resources, processes, relationships and values that collectively influence managers’ actions. 

 

With time and repetition, people stop considering alternatives to their formula. The individual components of the success formula grow less flexible. 

 

How active inertia happens 

Active inertia occurs because people come to rely on a past formula of success, where accepted approaches become entrenched and people stop considering alternatives. Consequently, people continue to respond to external changes by pursuing fixes and activities that worked in the past. However, these responses are likely to be ineffectual because they are based on past success and not current and future needs. 

 

Why a past success formula does not guarantee a successful future 

Essentially, like it or not, our brains are lazy – subconsciously preferring the easy route to solving problems and then, equally subconsciously, superimposing a solid layer of reasons to justify our decisions. So it is hardly surprising that our brains fool us into being happy to rely on approaches that have proven successful in the past: it is easy and we have a ready-made wall of rock-solid excuses to hand. 

 

As individuals, our thinking, strategies, Methods, use of resources, relationships and values all become firmly entrenched. The consequence for companies is that this formula becomes so deeply embedded that they are left vulnerable when faced with changing conditions. 

 

It is understandable that past approaches should be so revered and relied upon – they are, after all, the reason for the company’s current success. However, we should keep in mind that this formula is exactly that: suited to the current, stable situation – not the future. Companies can suddenly find themselves commercially stranded.

 

The bottom line is that, when faced with new developments, your approach needs to change accordingly – essentially, the survival of the fittest depends on adaptation. 

 

WEEK 24

THE SIX Rs OF BUSINESS

Business is a total activity 

 

Luis Gallardo’s Six Rs is a total approach to business — where all activities work together, moving the whole company forward in the same direction. 

 

Having all company activities support one other enables us to develop the right mindset, strategy and approach for growing a successful business. This holistic approach ensures that no part of a company undermines overall goals or the activities of another part of the business. The Six Rs are: 

• Reason 
• Revenue 
• Rousers 
• Reputation 
• Relationships 
• Resilience. 

 

Why the Six Rs matter 

The Six Rs should work together, supporting one other and never undermining other business activities or goals. As companies can discover to their cost (witness the damage to sales when legal tax avoidance is revealed), any aspect of running a business can have serious consequences. Conversely, when the various corporate activities support one other, they will strengthen the brand and promote success. Essentially, everyone and all activities should pull together. To have parts, even unwittingly, pulling in different directions will derail strategy and cause a company to veer off course. 

 

Reason 

The starting point, and ongoing requirement, for setting and directing all activities is to know the reason why you are in business – your vision, values and purpose. This sets the tone and gains commitment and, consequently, has an enormous impact on customers and achieving goals. Your purpose should be communicated to everyone in the organization. Also, by fitting your products and services to your reason and values, customers and employees will understand what your company means. 

 

Revenue 

Managing and maximizing revenues is essential for enacting strategies and building resilience. An often overlooked but critical aspect is the portfolio of clients – it reveals strengths and gaps elsewhere in the company. The important thing is to manage revenues through the prism of the rest of the 6Rs – and to manage the others through the lens of revenue.

 

Rousers 

Engaging your people and aligning their thinking and behaviours to the rest of the company’s activities depend on being able to inspire them. This has an enormous impact on all areas of a business – especially customers – and sets the right conditions for people to be innovative and to adapt successfully to change. 

 

Reputation 

Reputation is critical to success. It affects employees as well as current and potential customers and all stakeholders. The important point is that reputation can be affected by any aspect of the business – emphasizing the need to ensure that other activities do not undermine reputation. 

 

Relationships 

All business – internal and external – is about handling relationships. Everything is affected, with a direct bearing on profitability, so all relationships should be managed carefully, keeping in mind the importance of the Six Rs approach. 

 

Resilience 

Developing resilience enables companies to continue achieving goals, to survive difficult circumstances and to take advantage of opportunities. It enables swift and appropriate responses to any developments and the flexibility to adapt to change. Resilience involves being proactive, prepared and having the right mindset to deal with any events, threats or opportunities.

WEEK 25

THE BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP MODEL

How to manage your product portfolio 

 

Identifying which products and investments should be continued (and at what level of investment) is a complicated task. Cutting through this confusion, the Boston Consulting Group model (developed by Bruce Henderson) provides a straightforward means of managing your port-folio of products.

 

How it works 

The model uses a matrix, each box representing a type of product: Star, Cash cow, Question mark and Dog. Products are located in a quadrant according to market growth and market share. The category a product falls into enables you to see whether it is worth pursuing. By Looking at the matrix, it is easy to see why each category has certain characteristics and prospects.

 

Star 

Given the high market growth, this product is obviously a rising star and should be pursued. Coupled with high market share, the risks are minimal and the return will be high. A note of caution, though, is that a growing market will inevitably cost a lot to keep up with so it is advisable to consider your ability to fund this – especially if there are large set-up costs or if you expect a delay in the product generating revenue. 

Cash cow 

Clearly, given the large market share, there is still a lot of potential for generating revenue. However, given the low market growth, there may be some limiting factors (such as time or changing technology) that suggest you should milk these products as much as you can before the opportunity for high returns dwindles in a declining market. It would be wise to monitor market conditions closely to prevent losses should the market decline rapidly. 

 

Question mark 

If a product falls into this category, there are issues that need to be addressed before a decision can be made. Although there is high market growth, you have to ask yourself whether the low market share will generate enough revenue to justify the investment – especially given the likely high costs of keeping pace with a growing market. A key factor in making a decision is having deep-enough pockets either to wait for higher returns as the market grows or to turn it into a Star by securing a stronger market share. 

 

Dog 

With low market share and low market growth, this product is going nowhere fast. Clearly, it is not worth pursuing. Sometimes, you may wish to continue with this type of product if it provides other benefits – such as maintaining customer loyalty for your overall brand. 

 

WEEK 26

THE PARETO PRINCIPLE

Finding the right locus and answer using the 80:20 rule 

 

Pareto analysis arose from Vilfredo Pareto’s observation that many activities break down into an 80:20 ratio, where 80 per cent of output is due to 20 per cent of the contributory factors. This observation is now used to focus business strategy, problem-solving and operations on the key inputs that are responsible for 80 per cent of the outcome. 

 

How it works 

The 80:20 ratio applies both to positive and negative situations, providing a useful means of dealing quickly with problems or opportunities. In other words, by identifying the small number of key factors that are contributing most to a situation, we can better focus efforts to achieve the desired result. 

 

Pareto analysis is only as good as the data that is used, so we need to ensure that all contributory factors are identified and that appropriate and revealing parameters and measures are established and interpreted correctly. Although not everything falls neatly into an 80:20 rule, Pareto analysis is still useful for identifying the main causal factors. 

 

This simple example shows how the process works. 

1.    Research and discuss the issue, identifying all contributory factors. 

2.    Decide an appropriate time period and method of measurement. 

3.    Measure how frequently each factor occurs (or another measure, such as cost). 

4.    Rank the factors in descending order, with the largest one first. 

5.    Calculate the frequency of each factor as a percentage of the total occurrences (or cost). 

6.    Calculate the cumulative percentage (current percentage plus all previous percentages). 

7.    Depict this information on a graph – with ‘frequency as a percentage of total’ as a bar chart and ‘cumulative percentage’ as a line, adding a third line showing the 80 per cent cut-off point. 

 

All factors that appear to the left of the intersection of the two lines are the ones contributing to 80 per cent of the result – these are the factors to focus on. 

 

Example of how the Pareto Principle can be displayed 

 

 

 

WEEK 27

BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY

Creating unique market opportunities 

 

A Blue Ocean Strategy is one where the key to success Lies not in competing directly with rivals within a market, but in creating an entirely new market where there are currently no competitors and where the potential for high returns is vast. 

 

Developed by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, Blue Ocean Strategy involves a change in strategic thinking towards a mindset that challenges existing market boundaries, rewrites the rules of competition, and creates a new, as yet uncontested, market space. The theory outlines two attitudes to competition: Red Oceans and Blue Oceans.

 

The current marketplace for all products and services is made up of Red Oceans (bloody battlegrounds), where boundaries are clearly defined and companies operate within the boundaries of their accepted Red Ocean markets. Here, the entrenched battleground is one where companies compete to gain extra market share within the current market boundary. 

 

A very different attitude pervades the Blue Oceans. These are areas of deep, uncharted, almost limitless potential where the aim is not to compete on traditional grounds but to develop products and services that create entirely new markets. In essence, it is creating customers that do not yet exist.

 

At its core, Blue Ocean Strategy believes that it is better to create tomorrow’s customers through developing a new market rather than scrabbling around trying to capture existing customers in the current marketplace. There may be many justifications for this approach but, quite simply, the reason seems straightforward: to create a monopoly situation and reap the high rewards before competitors enter the new market. 

 

Value creation 

Value is achieved by integrating the utility of the product with its cost and price. It is not a case of choosing between competing through managing costs or product differentiation: it is about pursuing both. It is this that creates the value that appeals across customer groups, drawing them into a new market. Think of this as maximizing the gap between the utility of the product and its price (facilitated by lower costs) – the larger this gap, the higher the value and the more it attracts customers. 

 

Blue Ocean Strategy relies on four main principles: 

1.    Challenging existing market boundaries. Reconstruct the marketplace, identifying and creating new markets and customers. The Blue Ocean is a vast place where demand is unrealized – it doesn’t yet exist. The aim is to bring this demand into existence. 

2.    Keeping focused on the overall picture. Be clear about your goals: what matters and needs to be achieved. 

3.    Minimizing risk. Assess current industry standards and decide what can be: 

a.     eliminated – things that are not necessary 

b.    reduced – things that do not need to be done to a high standard 

c.     raised – things that should be done better 

d.    created – things that have never been offered before. 

4.    Planning careful implementation. You will need to overcome barriers and secure the resources and the support of your people (especially key influencers). 

 

WEEK 28

BENCHMARKING

Measuring performance 

 

Benchmarking establishes standards against which performance can be measured. It is used to assess performance and to set targets across a range of business activities. 

 

Overview 

The purpose of benchmarking is to improve efficiency and quality, to determine and promote best practice, to maintain competitiveness and to focus people on the need for change and improvement. Carol McNair and Kathleen Leibfried divide benchmarking into four categories as shown in this table:

 

Category	Aim
Internal	Using internal measures to match or surpass current performance, ensure consistent standards throughout the company, eliminate waste and improve operations
Competitive	Using competitors’ standards to set targets that match or improve upon their performance
Industry	Setting benchmarks that are industry standards
Best-in-class	To match or surpass the standards of the best companies in any industry or country

 

Setting benchmarks 

The data should be free from bias or vested interests. Using an external company to gather evidence and measure standards will help to maintain impartiality. 

 

Successful benchmarking needs everyone to be ‘on the same page’ and to understand the process. People need to be clear about what is being measured and what, and it is important to give people the time and resources they need. 

 

While targets need to be realistic and achievable, they also need to ensure that standards are maintained and consistent throughout a company and they should seek to continually improve upon performance. To do this, it is necessary to look at both internal and external evidence. 

 

Benchmarking is a continual process that needs to adapt quickly to changes – it is no use measuring activities that are no longer relevant or failing to measure activities that are now more significant. To do this effectively, as well as assessing internal operations, you need a keen awareness of your customers, competitors and companies in other sectors. This ensures that benchmarking is focused on the issues that matter now rather than reflecting the past, and is not blinkered by a narrow, internal focus that risks delivering more of the same. 

 

By enabling you to know what competitors are doing and what the most innovative, high-performing companies in other industries are achieving, benchmarking will help to maintain your company’s competitiveness. 

 

WEEK 29

THE PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

Managing your product portfolio 

 

From development and launch, through its peak to eventual decline, a product’s life cycle determines the strategy needed to optimize its return at each stage and to develop further products to ensure ongoing profit-ability and competitiveness. 

 

Although not an exact science, the duration of each stage varies according to the product and the markets involved. Some life cycles are obviously shorter than others – such as technology products. With very short life cycles, it is essential to maximize returns as quickly as possible and to be continually developing the next products. A long-lasting branded product, despite undergoing many life cycles, enjoys continuity from its brand name. Companies, however, still have to manage the life cycles of such branded products – planning the next improvement and managing the replacement of the current version. 

 

There are five stages in the product life cycle: 

1.    Development – this includes entirely new products and changes or improvements to existing products 

2.    Introduction – at this stage, costs can be high relative to revenue 

3.    Growth – revenue rises and offsets costs 

4.    Maturity – growth slows and competition rises 

5.    Decline – sales decline due to increased competition or changing customer preferences 

 

The following describes tactics appropriate to each stage: 

 

Development 

Development can be very costly, with unexpected delays, so cash-flow issues are paramount. Researching what customers are looking for and testing prototypes with potential customers will help you develop the right products with fewer glitches – as well as promoting a ready-made pool of customers. Importantly, product development is an ongoing process, ensuring that new products or improvements to existing products are ready to replace current products.

 

Introduction

Getting the launch right is essential. Raising product awareness quickly requires promotional and advertising investment – depending on the nature of the product, targeting early adopters can be useful at this stage. An aggressive pricing strategy can achieve fast market penetration – although this will depend on the brand’s attributes. You could also consider minimizing distribution costs by limiting the availability of the product. 

 

Growth

In the face of more competition, but still with considerable potential revenue and falling unit costs, strategy needs to focus on outcompeting rivals, delivering extra value to customers and increasing market share. Further promotional offers, marketing and advertising campaigns, attractive prices and promoting the product’s brand will strengthen your position. 

 

Maturity 

Given the influx of competitors, a company is faced with several strategic options to strengthen its market share, including: product differentiation, entering new markets, attracting rivals’ customers, a price war, and reducing costs to maintain competitive pricing and profitability. It is important at this stage to monitor the financial situation and the viability of the different options. 

 

Decline 

With falling sales and reduced margins, any plans and further investment should be considered carefully. Reducing the available options for the product and reducing the number of markets the product is offered in will re-duce costs. Catering to your core customers to cement their loyalty can also boost profits at this stage. Other tactics to extend the life of a product include product extensions and entering previously untapped markets. 

 

WEEK 30

SYSTEMS THINKING

Building better companies 

 

A company is a collection of systems, and systems within systems. These all need to operate individually and collectively, to drive the business forward. A company’s systems need to work with strategy, and they need to be open, adaptive and understood. 

 

Traditional approaches to strategy have emphasized the mechanics of how things work. This can result in too much complexity and ‘over-engineering’, with processes and systems being overly focused on the present, unable to adapt and failing to win people over. The fundamental flaw is setting a predetermined solution at the start of any redesign, which then influences subsequent thinking, narrowing views and ambitions, and misses better options. Often, the result of re-engineering is an expensive disappointment. 

 

In The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge revolutionized business re-engineering by arguing that solutions should be considered only after fully understanding the relationships within and between systems (including the behaviours involved) and examining all related problems and issues. Essentially: go back to basics, look deeper and search further, before you start thinking about solutions. Such open systems thinking builds teams, promotes creativity and develops new approaches. It works with the company’s long-term strategy, enabling adaptability and continual improvement. It is not the easiest approach: it is time-consuming and mentally demanding and generates an overwhelming number of questions. It works best when the right culture and mindset exist. 

 

There are seven steps to successful systems thinking: 

 

1.    Explore the situation 

Gather the information you need without making judgments or looking for causes and effects. At this stage, do two things: 

• Cast your net wide, collating as much information as possible. 
• Be objective and detached (see things as they are, without an agenda). 

 

2.    Describe the system

To understand what you are dealing with, list and describe the things that have happened – including the culture, people and atmosphere. Identify, date and examine trends and patterns. Position each factor on a diagram to show the relationships that exist between them. This highlights how aspects work together and reveals negative and positive feedback loops to enable you to analyze the systems in more depth later. 

 

3.    Build models 

Mathematical and IT tools are useful but they will take you only so far because systems need to be considered as they really function if they are to be understood and improved. 

 

4.            Compare your model to what is actually happening 

Check your model against reality to see whether it fits and whether you have understood it correctly or have missed something. 

 

5.            Identify potential improvements 

Once you have confirmed that your model is an accurate representation of what is happening, explore ways in which the system can be improved. 

 

6.            Implement your improvements 

Monitor changes and identify any further improvements that could be made. It is essential to win people over – successful change depends on people’s willingness to work positively with the new systems. 

 

7.            Repeat the process 

Systems thinking is a continuous activity; companies need to adapt to change and to take advantage of new opportunities. 

 

WEEK 31

MARKET BARRIERS

Protecting your profits 

 

Market exit and entry barriers have both positive and negative effects on profit, depending on your company’s position and on the impact the barriers have on your competitors. A key aspect of awareness of market barriers is that they increase our focus on external issues. In short, it forces us to look up and see the business horizon in much greater detail.

 

Overview 

The word ‘barrier’ is slightly misleading. While barriers will certainly make you do your sums, consider the ramifications and prepare contingency plans, they also deter your competitors. And that is the point: use barriers to your advantage. Your strategy must include careful calculations about the costs involved and you must balance these against the revenue and market dominance potential, but it should also look for how to exploit barriers to your advantage.

 

The matrix below summarizes the impact of barriers to entry and exit on profitability. 

 

Low entry barriers	Returns: stable Profit: low	Returns: at risk Profit: low
High entry barriers	Returns: stable Profit: high	Returns: at risk Profit: high
	Low exit barriers	High exit barriers

 

Entry barriers 

There are many barriers to entry, including: 

• the high cost of capital 
• other companies owning patents and proprietary technology 
• high research and development costs of developing necessary products 
• expensive technology 
• existing companies enjoying economies of scale that you can’t afford to match 
• a restricted number of government licences 
• the expense of (or lack of access to) effective distribution channels 
• Your product not being different enough from market leaders. 

 

Exit barriers 

There are many exit barriers, including: 

• high fixed costs 
• few buyers for your expensive, specialized equipment 
• contractual salary, redundancy and pension commitments 
• legal regulations 
• outstanding contractual obligations 
• being tied to other companies 
• risk to brand image. 

 

Not only do you need to understand all the costs, legalities and brand issues, you need to understand how barriers work: how they affect you and, importantly, how they will affect your current and potential competitors. Do this and you will determine the business strategy that is right for your company. 

 

For example, the ideal scenario for an established company is to have high entry barriers and low exit barriers. The reasons are self-evident: high entry barriers deter others from entering the market you are already operating in; low exit barriers will not cause you a problem should you decide to change course. 

 

A much less favourable scenario is having low entry barriers but high exit barriers. Obviously, with low entry barriers, competitors can flood into the market. Unfortunately, the high exit barriers will make it difficult and ex-pensive to leave the market, restricting your strategic options in the future.

 

WEEK 32

THE SIX PS OF STRATEGIC THINKING

Following the right path 

 

Strategy is an overused word, but it simply means moving from where you are now to where you want to be. The Six Ps framework helps to guide thinking when developing, implementing, monitoring and reviewing strategy, 

 

Overview 

Business strategy is a total activity, with every part of the organization connected and working together successfully. Because of this, some of the best-laid plans can go awry or fail to achieve their potential because of simple oversights or by a failure to properly explore an issue. The Six Ps highlight how all aspects of a business must work together, and how shortcomings in one part will affect other aspects of your strategy. 

 

Using the Six Ps framework will help to keep the strategy focused on the most important issues as well as enabling you to understand exactly what is happening, to look at issues creatively, to develop solutions, to monitor progress and to think strategically. 

 

The Six Ps of strategic thinking are Plan, Ploy, Pattern, Position, Perspective and Process, explained in the following flow chart. 

 

PLAN – Know where you are headed, and design the plan that will get you there.

PLOY – Determine the tactics that will deal effectively with competitors or others in your own company.

PATTERN – Assess the patterns of behaviour that are apparent in order, for example, to improve processes or to identify potential customers and markets.

POSITION – Know where your company fits in the market relative to the competition.

PERSPECTIVE – Assess the current character of the company and consider how this could be improved to better match strategic aims.

PROCESS (programme of activities) -, Develop, monitor and improve a programme of activities to achieve your strategy.

 

WEEK 33

PORTER’S GENERIC COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES

Choosing the road ahead 

 

Porter’s Generic Competitive Strategies describe how a company develops competitive advantage across its chosen market. There are three generic strategies: cost leadership, differentiation and focus. 

 

Overview

A company chooses to pursue one of two types of competitive advantage: either with lower costs than its competitors, or by differentiating itself along dimensions valued by customers so it can command a higher price. A company also chooses one of two types of scope: either focus (offering its products to selected segments of the market) or industry-wide, offering its product across many market segments. The generic strategy reflects choices made about both the type of competitive advantage and the scope. The concept was first described by Michael Porter in 1980. 

 

Cost leadership 

The strategic aim is to offer competitive prices by reducing costs and to also use lower costs to raise profit margins, fund discount campaigns, or launch an aggressive price war to gain market share and eliminate the competition. Reducing costs can also open up new markets that were less able to sustain higher prices. Another advantage of lowering costs is providing flexibility should suppliers raise prices unexpectedly and suddenly, without you also having to raise prices. 

 

The risks, however, are that other companies can copy your methods, eroding any advantage you have, and the lack of investment in research and development will leave your products looking dated and inefficient compared to those of competitors with better equipment and methods. 

 

Differentiation 

Developing distinctive products for different segments separates you from the competition. It creates product desirability, strengthens your brand, promotes customer loyalty, provides competitive advantage, enables higher prices and delivers higher returns. Your products can be differentiated from those of your competitors but you can also differentiate your own products from one another to target different customer groups and markets.

 

The risks are higher costs and waste and the potential for more complex operations. 

 

Focus 

While focus incorporates aspects of cost leadership and differentiation, it is concerned with targeting products and services at one market segment, gaining increased share in that segment. The risk is that this will produce a narrow view that is overly focused on the short term, on too few factors, and on a less lucrative or unstable market and thus fails to see potential elsewhere. 

 

WEEK 34

PESTLIED ANALYSIS

Looking outwards for opportunities 

 

Using PESTLIED analysis improves awareness of the impact of external factors. Given the huge number of influences – both opportunities and threats – it is essential to constantly scan the environment for changes and adjust strategy and operations accordingly. 

 

Overview 

When running a business it is always advisable to keep a wide range of external matters in view. PESTLIED provides a format to check that strategy and plans have adequately accounted for external factors and to conduct an overall review of how the company is performing and how it could be improved. Significantly, by valuing and using this format, it encourages people to always look beyond the company to notice opportunities and threats. It therefore works well with the technique of SWOT analysis. 

 

The broad areas to consider that form part of PESTLIED analysis are outlined below. 

 

Political

Consider the governmental actions that could affect your company – from local councils and national governments to larger, supranational bodies. 

 

Economic 

Understand all current and potential financial aspects (in different countries) that are either detrimental or offer opportunities – such as taxation, financial regulations, interest rates and currency markets. 

 

Social 

Knowing about developing trends, the general mood of a country, and people’s beliefs, changes in tastes and fashions and their expectations has always been important, but never more so than today, with the rise and power of social media. 

 

Technical 

We are living in an age where knowledge and use of the latest technologies are everything. These can reduce costs and enable us to offer better products and services. It is an inescapable fact: the company that doesn’t move with new technology rapidly becomes outdated and out-competed. 

 

Legal

Not conducting due diligence and not knowing exactly what legalities and regulations are involved is irresponsible and risky. While this should be normal in terms of your current places of operation, you should also look to possible future developments and to what is happening (and likely to happen) in other countries. Are there better places to base your operations and will future changes make somewhere else advantageous? When entering new markets, it is important to know all legal aspects so that you set the right strategy and ensure that all legal obligations are met. 

 

International 

This is a broad area covering everything from what is happening in international politics and economics to exchange rates and stock markets. The point is: cast your net wide and be aware of changes on the international stage. 

 

Environmental 

Your brand is affected by everything your company does, including its environmental policy. You also need to consider current and likely environmental regulations when setting and implementing strategy. 

 

Demographic

Demographic changes have a huge impact on companies and yet they are often poorly understood. This is a serious oversight. Demographics should inform business decisions: not only will it affect the availability of workers and pension obligations, but it will also determine current and future market opportunities. 

WEEK 35

THE DYNAMICS OF PARADIGM CHANGE

Creating better futures 

 

Introducing changes in an organization is difficult. Changing your entire business model is even harder – not least because the need for such a fundamental shift often doesn’t occur to us or is full of the fear of uncertainty. Even so, competition doesn’t stand still and companies need to adapt; sometimes the answer may require a shift in the basic paradigm. 

 

Overview 

When things need to change, people often prefer manageable adjustments because they are cautious and dislike uncertainty. While some issues can be solved with smaller improvements, sometimes a larger shift in thinking is needed. Having the courage and creativity to change a company’s fundamental business model radically isn’t easy but may be the only real answer to a problem or even point the way to a better future. After all, your current situation is ultimately resting on the paradigm that has got you to this point. So, tweaking this and that further up the line may help to a degree but may not be tackling the root cause of the problem: a flawed or outdated business model. You are not likely to make significant changes to your situation without questioning the basic paradigm of your company and considering whether it is time to overhaul the entire business model. 

 

One of the main hurdles in dealing with a failing or underperforming company is overcoming people’s mental blocks that seriously limit the scope of strategic thinking. Such strategic inertia is a recipe for long-term decline because, when a company doesn’t keep pace with external developments, its strategy drifts. It is essential to break out of the business-as-usual mindset and to open your thinking to possibilities. Competition doesn’t stand still and neither should your business model. 

 

The process of paradigm change

The following diagram outlines three stages of improving business performance. The first step involves tightening controls. The second step involves developing new strategies that are still aligned with the current paradigm. The third step involves changing the paradigm itself. 

 

Crucially, this model is designed to improve business performance. It therefore starts with an existing model or paradigm, translated into a strategy which is then implemented. The opportunity and impetus to improve the business model becomes compelling only after the strategy has been implemented and the effects on performance are assessed. At that point the process of reinvention can gain pace starting with step 1 – the need for tighter controls – before moving to steps 2 and 3. 

 

WEEK 36

ANSOFF’S PRODUCT MATRIX

Getting from A to B

 

Ansoff’s Product Matrix provides a useful means of clarifying your thinking through generating a snapshot of where you are and where you would like to be and enabling you to identify strategic priorities. 

 

By helping you to see the gap between the current situation and your goals, the Product Matrix serves to illuminate your situation, your goals, your thinking and the route you need to take. Knowing your goal isn’t enough: you need to know what needs to be done to get there. Strategy consists of two elements: portfolio strategy and competitive strategy. Portfolio strategy sets the goals for each product and market, while competitive strategy determines how to achieve those goals. 

 

The grid 

The grid has four areas that point to different options, depending on your current situation and goals. 

	Current product	New product
Current market	Market penetration  Increase market share	Product development  Develop new products for existing markets
New market	Market development  Take existing products into new markets	Diversification  Develop entirely new products for new markets

The portfolio strategy explores each product and market combination as geographical growth vectors. These vectors have three aspects – market needs, market location and product needs (such as required technology). The three-dimensional nature of Ansoff’s grid highlights the many points of intersection of current and potential products, market locations and market needs. By seeing how these aspects intersect, it will clarify the strategic options that are open to your company. 

 

Ansoff’s Product Matrix provides a clear snapshot to help you set and achieve strategic goals. There are four aspects to using the matrix that are all connected – the priorities you set in one will inevitably affect the others. The four aspects are:

1.    The geographical growth vector. Know where you are and where you want to be. Assess your current product and market combinations and decide what and where you would like those combinations to be in the future. 

2.    Competitive advantage. Determine your core strengths and what gives you a competitive edge. Then identify the resources and capabilities needed to achieve goals – know what your company does well and not so well and the skills, resources and technology it will need to acquire. 

3.    Synergies. Identify synergies between activities, cut costs and bolster competitiveness.

4.    Flexibility. Ensure that your company is prepared for the unexpected and is able to respond quickly and effectively to change. Make sure that one part of the company can incorporate change without harming other parts. 

 

WEEK 37

RESOURCES AND THE CRITICAL PATH

The drivers of business performance 

 

‘Resources’ is an overused term in business but any factor providing value or benefit, from whatever origin, is a resource that can be used to benefit the business. Increasing and strengthening resources over time can be seen as the critical path to business success. 

 

Managing resources 

Assessing which resources are important involves taking a view across the whole of the business and identifying those factors, direct or indirect, tangible or intangible, that can be expanded and used for competitive advantage. Understanding which resources are most important and how they should be managed requires a clear understanding of the nature of each resource, in terms of the following: 

• The interaction between resources. Resources can combine in a cycle to accelerate their growth. For example, rising sales volumes may lead to more cash and more internal capacity, both of which can be used to generate increasing sales, perhaps by entering new markets, in a self-sustaining cycle. Similarly, product quality (an intangible resource) may lead to increased sales, and this in turn can generate sufficient cash to continue improving product quality (and continue increasing sales). In the same way that resources can interact to reinforce one another, they can also interact by limiting one another. 
• The fragility of the resource. Cash, quality, customers, staff, reputation and most other resources can all disappear with remarkable speed and ease. It is, therefore, important to control the main factors likely to damage or undermine resources. For example: cash needs to be monitored and controlled; quality can be eroded by suppliers; service can be undermined by the attitudes of personnel; and brand reputation may be damaged by the actions of distributors. 
• The quality of resources. It is worth considering how the quality of re-sources can be developed. For example, a customer base is a valuable re-source, but its quality might be improved by increasing customer loyalty to your brand – for instance, by using customer loyalty schemes. 

 

How resources affect performance 

Resources have a special characteristic: they fill and drain over time. Since a firm’s performance at any time directly reflects the resources available, it is essential that we understand how those resources develop over time and how we can control that process. To build strong business performance, we need to know: 

• how many resources are available 
• how fast these numbers are changing 
• how strongly these factors are being influenced by things under our control and by other forces
• how resources interrelate with one another. 

 

In a system where resources are integrated and working together, what matters is not the uniqueness of individual resources but how they combine and work together to deliver value for customers. To manage resources and ensure that they drive performance in the desired direction, start by understanding how resources work together.

 

WEEK 38

DEVELOPING INTANGIBLE RESOURCES

Intangibles: what they are, why they matter, and what they can do for you 

 

Soft ‘intangible’ factors can play a crucial role in developing a business’s competitive performance. For example, a charity with strong commitment from its donors will achieve its goals more easily, and a business with a culture that encourages coaching, risk-taking, new ideas and avoids blame is more likely to make improvements and achieve progress. 

 

Unfortunately, intangibles can be tough to manage. You may easily borrow cash, buy production capacity or hire staff, but it is slow and difficult to build staff morale, a strong reputation, support from a charity’s donors or to generate new ideas. 

 

Overview 

Resources can typically be classified into two of four categories: either direct or indirect and tangible or intangible. 

• Direct resources are those factors such as staff expertise, cash or intellectual property that can be developed and nurtured by the business. Customers are, perhaps, the biggest single direct resource. (Viewing customers as a resource focuses thinking on how to accumulate and retain them.) 
• Indirect resources are those factors that have a bearing on the quality, strength and value of resources. For example, effective training and development policies are an indirect resource, as they build the effectiveness of staff expertise. 
• Tangible resources are those that can be physically seen, such as cash, inventory, sales volumes and customers; typically, these have the highest profile within the organization, as they are the most apparent. 
• Intangible resources such as service quality, brand reputation or staff expertise are also vitally important to success. 

 

Of these, intangible resources can be the hardest to manage (and the easiest to ignore). Several techniques will help ensure that intangible resources are working well with the rest of the business:

• Identify the most important intangibles. Since your performance relies on concrete resources, assess whether an intangible factor is likely to influence your ability to win or lose the resources. It is not advisable to waste time examining too many factors, as it is more likely that only one or two factors will have a significant impact. 
• Be clear which of these factors genuinely ‘accumulate’ through time and which are simply current features of the business. ‘Quality’ and ‘service’ reflect the balance between what has to be done and what is available to do it, in which case they do not accumulate. Reputation, motivation, commitment and relationships, on the other hand, are built up and drain away over time in response to events. 
• Assess intangibles carefully, identif9 the best measure and also the events causing each intangible to rise or fall. Look for ways to strengthen intangibles. 
• Build intangible measures into your performance tracking system. Reporting systems now commonly incorporate soft measures (as distinct from hard data, such as financial measures) from various parts of the organization, recognizing that soft measures such as engagement or reputation are crucial to a well-performing system.
• If you don’t know, don’t ignore the issue. Soft factors are influencing your organization, continually and powerfully. Remember, if you choose to ignore them, you are not, in fact, really leaving them out. Instead, you are assuming that they are satisfactory and unchanging. This is unlikely to remain correct, so make your best estimate and start tracking and understanding them. 

 

WEEK 39

MARKET POSITIONING AND VALUE CURVES

Choosing the best position in the market for your business or product 

 

A value curve is a way of highlighting customers’ needs and preferences. This can be used to understand a firm’s competitive position, as well as potential trade-offs, opportunities and areas for further development. 

 

Competing firms emphasize and trade off different things that customers value. For example: 

• The UK retailer The Body Shop traded the slick packaging, clinical approach and glamorous image traditionally favored by the cosmetics industry in return for a lower price and a more sustainable identity (see diagram). 
• In the USA South-West Airlines pioneered low-cost aviation by trading the features of traditional air travel in return for the benefits of cheap, point-to-point travel. 
• Multiplex cinemas traded the conventional convenience and centrality of town centre locations in return for the benefits of space and a different experience for customers. 
• Home Depot expanded into out-of-town locations on freeways and employed ex-contractors as a way of providing a new level of service and value for customers who did not typically visit home building stores. 

 

 

The concept of value curves highlights several points about market positioning: 

• Competing firms emphasize and trade off different values (e.g. luxury may be traded for a lower price). 
• Customers value specific features (e.g. price, packaging) differently at different times. 
• Different values enable firms to target new, different – and possibly un-fulfilled – market segments, potentially increasing the size of the market. 
• Initially, strategic innovators (e.g. South-West Airlines) create new ‘market space’, gradually redefining the market. 
• It can be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for incumbents to successfully copy new arrivals. This is because internal cultural and resource issues keep firms anchored in their conventional way of working. 
• When reviewing a value curve, consider the trend: how are things changing? 

 

WEEK 40

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS: PORTER’S FIVE FORCES

How competitive is your company? 

 

Porter’s Five Forces model provides a deeper understanding of a firm’s current competitiveness and highlights options to improve competitiveness. 

 

Michael Porter outlines five forces for competitive analysis: 

1.    New entrants 

2.    Substitute products 

3.    Buyers 

4.    Suppliers 

5.    Existing competitors. 

 

1.    New entrants 

Ask yourself how easy it is for new companies to enter the market. There are many factors to consider, including barriers to entry (such as patents and high set-up costs), attractiveness of profit margins and the strength of your brand. 

 

2.            Substitutes 

Assess how easy it is for your products to be substituted by other products. This includes all alternatives – not just similar products. For example, airlines compete with train and coach companies, not just other airlines. 

 

3.            Buyers 

Review how strong your buyers are. Is it a buyers’ market? Can buyers switch to competitors easily? Are some of your customers in such a strong position that this leaves you vulnerable? If your business-to-business buyers are operating at low profit margins, what impact will this have on your company? 

 

4.            Suppliers 

Assess the strength of your suppliers. Are you dependent on a particular supplier – and how can this be mitigated? Does the supplier rely on your custom or could it easily take its operating capacity to other companies or sell directly to your customers? Could you use alternative products or methods to reduce your vulnerability? 

 

5.            Existing competitors 

Understand your competitors and how you compare to them.

• What threat do they pose? 
• What are their strengths and weaknesses? 
• Could there be a price war or other aggressive strategies – and would you be able to survive such tactics? 
• Are they innovative? 
• Are customers able to move to other companies easily? 
• Now many competitors are there? 
• Which companies are the strongest? 
• Are there any newcomers ready to take the market by storm or render your products redundant? 

 

Assessing competitiveness through all five forces will help you to determine how the company is performing, its strengths and weaknesses and the direction it is heading in. Because a weakness of Porter’s approach is the focus on external issues, it is often used alongside complementary models that are better at revealing the internal issues that impact on a company’s competitiveness. 

 

WEEK 41

INNOVATION HOTSPOTS

How to build a culture of innovation 

 

Developed by Professor Lynda Gratton, Innovation Hotspots occur where conditions are right and there is encouragement – they cannot be formally imposed. Encouragement is needed in four areas, which are: 

1.    a co-operative mindset 

2.    boundary spanning 

3.    developing a sense of purpose 

4.    productive capacity. 

 

1.    A co-operative mindset 

A co-operative mindset results from a company’s practices, processes, behaviours and norms – the behaviour of top management is significant. People have to want to share both explicit and tacit knowledge. Several elements are vital: 

• Consider relationships when selecting staff. 
• Emphasize relationships in inductions. 
• Provide mentoring. 
• Emphasize collective rewards over individual ones. 
• Establish structures that facilitate peer-to-peer working. 
• Develop social responsibility. 

 

2.            Boundary spanning

This involves thinking beyond your immediate boundaries – seeing the larger picture. This involves: 

• being undeterred by physical distance 
• welcoming a diverse range of ideas, insights, experience and people 
• being willing and able to explore issues together 
• networking and building bridges for others to cross 
• using different levels of co-operation (e.g. use strong ties where developing trust quickly is important; use weak ties to generate a lot of ideas) 
• listening and reflecting in conversations rather than just pushing a point of view.

 

3.            Developing a sense of purpose 

Pose challenging (or ‘igniting’) questions. These don’t have a ‘right’ answer; they invite exploration of options. They inspire and engage people and lead to a new vision that provides purpose and energy.

 

4.            Productive capacity 

Ensuring that a hotspot realizes its full potential relies on building productive capacity by: 

• understanding and appreciating the talents of others 
• obtaining practical, public and explicit commitment from participants 
• harnessing the creative energy which results from problem-solving and decision-making 
• synchronizing time, especially where different time zones have to be accommodated or where there are different attitudes to time 
• ensuring that pressure is neither too high, where people burn out, or too low, where they lose interest.

 

Innovation relies on teamwork, agility and the ability to lead change. Crucially, it is about mindset: you need to think like an innovator and you need to encourage this in others. Innovation isn’t only about products – it’s about understanding customers and building a brand, improving efficiency, reducing costs, improving the quality and quantity of people’s work and removing constraints. 

 

WEEK 42

DEEP DIVE PROTOTYPING

 

Developing creative, practical solutions 

 

Developed and popularized by the consultancy firm IDEO, Deep Dive Prototyping is a focused, team-based approach to generating solutions to a particular problem or challenge. It is a useful way of stimulating creative thinking and to capture and fine-tune ideas. 

 

The process 

A deep dive combines brainstorming and prototyping (building and exploring a potential solution) to devise actions that will help move a business forward. There is no time limit, and the main stages are:

·       Build a team that has a mix of strengths and approaches. 

·       Define the design challenge – to do this, understand your market, customers, technology and constraints and use this information to develop key themes. 

·       Visit experts, and gather information on markets, customers – and ideas generally. 

·       Share ideas. 

·       Brainstorm and vote – this involves intensive brainstorming and discussion to imagine new concepts and ideas based around the main themes. 

·       Develop a fast prototype. 

·       Test and refine the prototype, streamlining ideas to improve the proto-type and to overcome obstacles – at this stage, evaluate and prioritize ideas and decide how they can be implemented. 

·       Focus on the prototype and produce a final solution. 

·       Give credit to those involved – this promotes motivation and encourages continued innovative thinking. 

 

WEEK 43

DEVELOPING CREATIVE THINKING

Making creativity the norm 

 

Edward de Bono sees creativity as a learnable skill, one that is best harnessed through formal techniques. He proposes that parallel thinking is a more useful and effective means of putting creative talent to work. 

 

Formal creativity works because it works with the way everyone’s brains work: both consciously and subconsciously, we automatically filter, categorize, process and organize information. Building on this, de Bono argues that parallel thinking is more effective for generating the results that make a difference to companies. (Parallel thinking is when each individual puts forward their own thoughts in parallel with those of others. In this way, each individual is able to complement, enrich and build on one another’s thinking, rather than competing or attacking the thoughts of others.) 

 

The reason why this is more important than ever is because what companies previously relied on for competitive advantage – competence, information and technology – are now easy-to-obtain commodities. These are all buyable commodities, enabling your competitors to rapidly erode any advantage you may have had. Today, what matters is creating value from these commodities. 

 

Understanding creativity

Creativity solves problems, challenges existing methods, and provides a better and constantly improving way forward. Given the reward, companies need to know how best to harness creativity in a way that is useful. A major flaw in traditional brainstorming is that it assumes that, if you give people the freedom to express themselves, they will magically become creative. This is not the case. For organizations, useful creativity needs to be a formal activity that requires thinking that provokes and challenges a current situation and then searches for answers. 

 

Provoke, challenge and search for solutions 

Given the brain’s natural inclination to organize information and think laterally, we can tackle issues by simply taking a random starting point. Our brains will automatically process information, make connections and point us in new directions. Allowing such randomness in selecting a starting point is important. It suggests new possibilities and takes thinking along new paths. Significantly, it is likely that our brains have already processed information and are subconsciously suggesting such opening gambits because they could be highly relevant. This serves to break us out of the current doldrums and set us on a new course. 

 

Next, our new thinking needs to move forward: to challenge the information it is processing. Just because something has always been done a certain way does not mean it is carved in stone: methods can always be improved upon. Constantly questioning and challenging is a mindset that is a huge source of competitive advantage precisely because it is the way that companies create value from their resources. An important point to remember is that even when something seems to be working and is successful it doesn’t mean it is the best that it can be. Once thinking challenges the norm, we will automatically explore alternative and potentially better solutions. 

 

Creating a culture of creativity in a world where competence, knowledge and technology are no longer enough is now the true source of success. 

 

WEEK 44

THE DISCOVERY CYCLE (ORCA)

Evaluating innovations 

 

Discovery – making things known or visible – is a vital precursor for innovation. The Discovery Cycle is a way of choosing new ideas that are profitable and scalable. 

 

The Discovery Cycle has four stages, summarized in the acronym ORCA: 

1.    Observation. Understand how the world is changing – for example, by looking for anomalies, paradoxes, peripheral developments and direct experience. 

2.    Reflection. Techniques that work best at this stage include zooming in and out, using a muse, suspending judgement, slowing down, reflecting on what’s missing, restructuring data to simplify patterns, juxtaposing pieces of different information (bisociation) and taking time to rest. 

3.    Conversation. People set the pace and scope for innovation, so the best techniques to use at this stage include contrasting views, setting the agenda, framing the issues and generating hypotheses. 

4.    Analysis. The final stage of the Discovery Cycle involves gathering systematic evidence, classifying and categorizing data, naming, completing data analysis and hypothesizing. 

 

Lessons from great innovators 

What lessons do innovators have for us? Several come to mind: 

• Build on the ideas of others / collaborate. That should be easy for scientists who are, in the words of Isaac Newton, ‘standing on the shoulders of giants 
• Take an unorthodox, distinctive approach. 
• Embrace diversity. 
• Create a diverse, open and creative culture. 
• Develop empathy for the consumer or customer (understand people). 
• Execute and practically take action. 
• Be confident and bold. 
• Find your motivation; enjoy your work. 

 

This list also highlights three other vital points: 

1.    Innovation relies on teamwork, agility and the ability to lead change, the other elements of this programme. 

2.    Innovation is about mindset: you need to think like an innovator and you need to encourage that in others. 

3.    Innovation isn’t only about products: it is about improving efficiency, reducing costs, improving the quality and quantity of people’s work, removing constraints – and that’s just internally; it also means serving and understanding customers, building a brand – and more.

 

WEEK 45

THE FORTUNE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PYRAMID (BOP)

Developing the innovator’s mindset 

 

If a company goes to the bottom of the wealth pyramid and builds affordable products, creates awareness and provides access, then the market is phenomenal. 

 

The late Professor C.K. Prahalad argued that there is a ‘poverty penalty’ where the poorest people pay more for everything because they don’t have a choice: they are stuck with local monopolies and bad products and services. 

 

Research recently highlighted by the World Resources Institute shows that the world’s four billion poorest people represent a US$5 trillion market opportunity. There are several other issues at the bottom of the pyramid: e 

• Pricing is vital. At the BOP, you need to start with an affordable price, understanding that price minus profit equals the acceptable level of cost. This different way of thinking leads to a new range of exciting options. 

• Innovation is essential. This can be accelerated and improved by focusing on BOP markets because minor, incremental changes won’t be enough: the market requires a fundamental rethink. 
• Businesses need to substitute investment for collaboration. Management time is needed to increase collaboration – and it is cheaper than simply in-vesting cash. 

 

Companies that ignore growth markets will be left behind – and will have five years, at best, before businesses from growth markets start competing with them. 

 

Developing the innovator’s mindset 

Where can you improve your approach to innovation? Ask yourself the following questions and mark yourself out of 10 for each attribute: this will help highlight areas for improvement. 

 

When innovating, how effectively do you:  engage as many people as possible …? … and build an open, diverse and positive team?  define the specific challenge or issue?  challenge assumptions: yours and other people’s?  confront challenges and problems?  understand that good ideas can come from anywhere?  follow through – by being practical and realistic, and planning implementation?  focus on the benefits as well as the potential pitfalls?  question? Questioning is a great way both to provide support (e.g. what help do you need?) and challenge (how can we do this faster/cheaper?)  give praise and credit: build momentum (revolutions fail, flywheels succeed)?  be open, build relationships?  remove constraints, tirelessly?  remember the essentials of leading change? (See Number 35.)  balance intuition and analysis?  build collaboration and teamwork? (Think of the 5Ms: meaning, mindset, measurement, mobilizing, mechanisms for renewal.)  avoid the pitfalls of decision-making? ZSee the description of inhibitors below which ones are your greatest vulnerability?)  consciously develop your skills?  design matters? (This affects how people feel about something: whether it’s credible, engaging, worthwhile.)

 

The inhibitors of creative thinking are shown in this table. 

Personal blocks	Problem-solving blocks	Contextual blocks
Lack of self- confidence	Solution fixedness	Scientific reasoning provides a panacea
A tendency to conform	Premature judgement	Resistance to new ideas
A need for the Familiar	Use of poor approaches	Isolation
Emotional ‘numbness’	Lack of disciplined effort	Negativity towards creative thinking
Saturation	Experts	Excessive enthusiasm
Poor language skills	Autocratic decision- making	Lack of imaginative control
Rigidity	Overemphasis on competition or co-operation	Lack of smart goals, clear vision or timescale

 

WEEK 46

THE SIX THINKING HATS

If you want to get ahead, get a hat 

 

Created by Edward de Bono, the Six Thinking Hats technique details the different styles of thinking that we use when making decisions. 

 

Overview

People tend to have a preferred thinking style which, no matter how useful, can overlook solutions to problems that would only be revealed through other ways of thinking. The Six Thinking Hats method gives us the flexibility either to use the style that is appropriate to a situation or the ability to gain a fuller picture by applying more than one thinking style to a problem. 

 

Each thinking hat represents a different way of thinking. By seeing situations from these different perspectives, you are more likely to make and implement the right decision. For example, seeing a strategy only from a logical and rational perspective may result in a failure to see a better solution or potential obstacles to implementation that creative and sensitive thinking could reveal.

 

The Six Thinking Hats 

• White hat. This approach focuses on available data. It involves looking at the information you have to see what you can learn from it — identifying gaps in your knowledge and, by analysing past trends and data, trying either to fill them or take account of them. 
• Red Hat. This style looks at problems using intuition, gut reaction and emotion. Try to think how other people will react emotionally and try to understand the responses of people who don’t know, or may not share, your reasoning. 
• Black Hat. This looks at all the bad points of an issue, looking for why it won’t work. It highlights the weak points in a plan, enabling you to eliminate or change them or to prepare contingency plans — helping to make plans more resilient. A key strength of this approach is that problems can be anticipated and countered. 
• Yellow Hat. This style involves positive thinking and optimism, helping you to see the benefits of a decision. Another advantage is that it enables you to keep going during difficult situations. 
• Green Hat. This involves developing creative solutions. Thinking is free-wheeling, and there is little criticism of ideas. 
• Blue Hat. This emphasizes control of processes and is common among those chairing meetings. When ideas are running dry, it is useful to combine this approach with Green Hat thinking, as its creative approach will stimulate fresh ideas. 

WEEK 47

INNOVATION CULTURE

Peter Drucker’s seven steps for developing a creative culture 

 

Innovation is a company-wide activity. Creative, profitable ideas are needed to succeed, and history has shown us that great ideas come from many different people. Instead of relying on ad hoc suggestions or the skills of a few talented individuals, companies need to create an innovative culture. 

 

Where does innovation come from? 

While some people are known for their innovative thinking, successful and profitable ideas can come from anyone. To tap into this potential, what is needed is a culture that empowers people to question and think critically and creatively and then to share their ideas with others. 

 

Innovation is not a rarefied activity or the domain of specialists. Neither is it solely about making huge leaps in thinking – smaller, incremental improvements are also significant sources of advantage. Innovation is not necessarily about large RECD budgets – important new ideas come from anywhere, at any time. It is a company-wide activity, reaching every aspect of running a business – from products and services to operations, decision-making and training. They are all sources of competitive advantage, and having an innovative culture will lead to continual improvements. 

 

Creating an innovative organization 

What distinguishes an innovative company from the rest is its dedication to creativity. Having the right culture and processes will lead to creative thinking, a challenging mindset and innovation. Innovative companies develop a creative culture where people challenge, innovate and look for opportunities. They adapt structures and procedures to enable innovation to flourish. Also, they often link with external experts to add to internal, innovative resources, 

 

Peter Drucker outlines seven steps that promote innovation in a company: 

1.    Analyse the reasons for unexpected successes. 

2.    Examine why events were different from anticipated results. 

3.    Challenge the status quo by examining why underperformance has become an accepted state. 

4.    Determine how to take advantage of market changes. 

5.    Be aware of broader developments in society, to identify potential opportunities. 

6.    Consider the impact of changes in the economy and recognize the business opportunities they may offer. 

7.    Think about how new information, ideas and technology affect customers. 

 

Innovative organizations also have a general environment and culture that values and fosters innovation. Research by the Talent Foundation identified five catalysts for successful innovation: 

1.    Consciousness. Each person knows the goals of the organization and believes that they can play a part in achieving them. 

2.    Multiplicity. Teams and groups contain a wide and creative mix of skills, experiences, backgrounds and ideas. 

3.    Connectivity. Relationships are strong and trusting and are actively encouraged and supported within and across teams and functions. 

4.    Accessibility. Doors and minds are open; everyone in the organization has access to resources, time and decision-makers. 

5.    Consistency. Commitment to innovation runs throughout the organization and is built into processes and leadership style. 

 

If you are building an innovation culture in your business or team, it can help to ask yourself which of these catalysts you can improve. How will you do this? 

 

 

WEEK 48

DISNEY’S CREATIVITY STRATEGY

When you need more than just the bare necessities 

 

We all have a preferred thinking style – some of us are dreamers, while others are realists or critics. This can prevent us seeing an issue from other angles. Walt Disney’s method uses all three of these thinking styles to help view a situation from different perspectives and find the best way forward. 

 

Problem solving, decision-making and planning suffer when we have too narrow a focus, yet it can be difficult to change how we naturally approach issues. Using Disney’s three styles together will improve your decision-making.

• The Dreamer, who is a dreamer, is focused on potential and possibilities. 
• The Realist focuses on practical aspects and implementation. 
• The Critic questions and challenges plans and assumptions, and notices potential problems or flaws. 

 

Using the Disney method 

1.    Select an issue you want to address but put it to one side while you get into the right frame of mind. 

2.    Go to three different places to think about the issue from each perspective (you will associate each environment with that approach). These can be entirely different places or simply different parts of one room. 

3.    For each way of thinking (starting with dreamer, moving to realistic and then to critic), first remember a time when you were either creative, realistic or critical. This will help you access that style and apply it to the current situation. 

4.    In each frame of mind, address the issue at hand solely from that perspective. This will let you get the most out of each perspective, revealing more options and ideas. 

·         In the dreamer space, let your ideas flow freely. 

·         In the realist space, think about how the ideas you have created can be implemented. How can they be achieved? What needs to happen? 

·         In the critic space, question and challenge your ideas and plan. Identify strengths and weaknesses; look for flaws; look for gaps or potential problems. Determine what needs to be done better. 

5.    Once you have completed these four stages, go back to the beginning and re-evaluate your original dream and plan through each thinking stage in turn. You can repeat this process until you feel the plan works well from each perspective. 

 

Types of questions to ask at each stage 

Dreamer	Realist
·         Why am I doing this?	·         How can I make that happen?
·         Can it be done better?	·         Who else do I need to make it work?
·         What would I like to happen?	·         What needs to happen – and when?
·         Wouldn’t it be great if…..?	·         What resources do I need?
·         What reward or result would I like?	·         How much will it cost?
Critic
Does the idea really have potential?
Is the objective achievable?
Are there any barriers or resource issues?
Does the plan work? Consider issues such as timing, cost or market potential.
How can the plan be improved – are there gaps or are some things unnecessary?

 

 

WEEK 49

THE MATE MODEL FOR STRATEGIC SELLING

Achieving your sales objectives 

 

Segmenting and managing your contacts within a client organization in terms of their support for your sales objectives is a highly effective way of developing client relationships and selling. 

 

Four steps 

• Step 1: define your unique sales objective. 
• Be clear about what you are selling and when, and the value it brings. What makes it an attractive proposition? What is its value for the organization or client? This sounds simple but it can be muddled or overlooked, with disastrous consequences. 
• Step 2: identify all the players using the MATE model. 
• MATE highlights the need to focus on Money, Allies, Technical experts and End users. Identify each contact (including those you don’t know), recording their job title and name. 

 

Money They have the ultimate veto on sales	Allies They provide useful information, can guide you and influence others to support your objective
Technical experts/assessors They filter out information, can be gatekeepers, can influence ‘Money’	End users They use, manage or work with your products

 

·         Money. The budget holder has authority over the decision to spend. They tend to focus on the bottom line and have the power of veto. They will ask: ‘What impact will this have and what return will we get?’ 

·         Allies /Advocates. These can help guide you during the sales process. They provide valuable information, can lead you to the right people and may be influential. Allies are both inside and outside the organization. 

·         Technical experts. They are gatekeepers who evaluate technical aspects of the proposal. They do not have final approval but offer recommendations to the decision-maker. They can say ‘no’ on account of technical issues. They ask whether the product or service matches their specifications. 

·         End users. They judge the impact of your proposal on their job performance. They will implement or work with your solution, so their success is linked to your product and they will want to influence the decision to buy. They ask: Will it work for me or my department? 

• Step 3: consider each individual’s level of support. 
• Having placed each individual on the MATE model, assess their level of support for your sales objective as high, medium or low. 

• Step 4: consider each individual’s level of influence. 
• Assess each individual’s influence within their organization — high, medium or low. 

 

Check for warning signs 

Ensure that there are no threats to the sale by asking yourself the following: 

• Have I at least one person for each area? 
• Am I free from concerns about their influence? 
• Have I made personal contact with them? 
• Do I know their response modes and what they are looking for? 

 

Identify your tactics to further the sale and eliminate warning signs 

Throughout, be honest and prepared to challenge and develop your thinking. With the information you have gathered, contact the key people, establish rapport and understand their needs. 

 

WEEK 50

THE TEN CS OF SELLING ONLINE

Building a successful business online 

 

Centered round meeting customers’ needs, the Ten Cs are the key drivers of selling and succeeding with business online. Which factors are most significant for your company will vary over time, depending on the situation – such as its stage of development, competitive position, type of market or brand strength.

 

1.    Content 

Content sets the tone and should drive your brand. It should be clear, compelling, engaging, entertaining, informative, visually appealing and tailored to the target audience. Enable customers to access information quickly and easily and to control the flow of information. 

 

2.            Communication 

Communication is more than providing information. It is about listening, building trust and having a one-to-one relationship with customers. Understand what interests and motivates customers, give them the opportunity to interact, act on feedback and use clickstream data to monitor behaviour. 

 

3.            Customer care

Customers need to trust you – to have confidence in purchases and to know that personal data is secure and that after-sales support is available. Provide various payment methods, enable customers to track orders and respond quickly to questions. Positive experiences enable up-selling, cross-selling, repeat business and personal recommendations. 

 

4.             Community and culture 

People look to the Internet to network and socialize. Provide expert information, allow people to react, ensure that information is accessible, clear and entertaining, and enable customers to meet and interact. 

 

5.            Convenience 

Customers have high expectations, so assess each feature from your customers’ viewpoint. Online experiences need to be smooth, effective, quick, easy and convenient. Ensure that navigation is clear and intuitive. 

 

6.             Connectivity 

Make the site compelling and ‘sticky’ – so that customers stay longer, return often and recommend it. Ensure that customers value it by providing high-quality content and incentives to return. Enable customers to visit other sites that provide complementary information – such as skiing companies linking to weather channels. 

 

 

 

7.            Cost and profitability 

Your online strategy – objectives, priorities and benefits – needs to be clearly understood and planned. Focus on cost control and profit maximization to ensure that the site is profitable. 

 

8.            Customization

Plan customization from the outset rather than grafting it on later. Ensure that products meet customer’s requirements through dialogue. Make sure that customers know what they can and cannot choose. Develop and refine customization to maintain competitiveness.

 

9.            Capability 

To improve capabilities, encourage your people to see the Internet as a tool for meeting customer needs. Set, implement measure and monitor objectives. Ask customers what they want and what they think of your plans. 

 

10.         Competitiveness 

 

Continually review and refine your strategy relative to competitors. You need keen market awareness – you need to know what competitors have done, are doing and may do. Consider the worst-case scenario to make your online strategy durable and realistic.

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