Tip #347: 5 Tips For Creating A Strong Leadership Image

5 Tips For Creating A Strong Leadership Image Greetings! Being a strong leader is a combination of a number of things. For some, it is a natural gift -- a magnetism that makes them an effective leader. For others, leadership is a quality built up over time, constructed and refined and practiced until it gains effective gravity. Great Leaders Present Themselves As One. The first thing someone notices about us is our appearance and behavior. They see how we dress, hear how we speak, notice how we hold ourselves and add all these all up to make an initial assessment; therefore, your image is of particular importance. However, in addition to your appearance, it is important to consider other elements -- elements that define your leadership. That being said, we crafted five tips to help you (or someone you know) develop a stronger leadership image. 5 Tips For Creating A Stronger Leadership Image: Tip #1. Be In Balance: The boss who runs their company with an iron fist is one that leads by fear. Smart leaders know how to strike a balance between being both strong and supportive. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done, as you have to straddle a fine line between being a leader who can take a joke and one that commands respect and authority. But whatever you do, never toggle between the two types in extremes, or you will lose your employees' respect. Tip #2. Avoid Self-Absorption: Whether your company consists of three employees or three hundred employees, the moment your business becomes more than just you, it becomes a team -- a unified group moving towards a mutual goal. Remember, isolating yourself from your employees is never a smart business move. Strong leaders are inclusive, not exclusive. Tip #3. Show Interest And Energy: When you were a student, you probably had a teacher that was not only boring but also lethargic. Conversely, you probably had a teacher who possessed a lot of energy, which made their classes fly by and the course seem more interesting. The same can be said of business leaders. Strong leaders possess a genuine passion for what they do that turns the daily grind into a welcome challenge. Tip #4. Yes, Practice Your Speaking Skills: Take a moment to Google public speaking and vocal training. If you can, watch a video that teaches vocal training techniques. Remember, the ability to speak articulately is a powerful tool that lends itself well to commanding authority, and as such something leaders should not take lightly. Tip #5. Communicate With Clarity: Piggybacking off Tip #4 above, part of strong communication is communicating with clarity -- and not just verbally, but in written form as well. For an example of how speech influences people's perceptions, consider President George W. Bush, who was openly mocked because of his poor speaking skills. End result: President Bush was not taken seriously as a leader. Executive Summary: As we have discussed throughout the five tips above, your leadership image is a comprised of many elements. Your appearance, your behavior and mannerisms, the way you speak and the way you communicate all contribute to the concept of you as a leader in your business. Business leaders should treat each of the items above with equal regard, and give serious consideration to every component mentioned if they strive to present themselves as a strong, competent, dynamic leader in the business world. Your Next Step: If you want to find out more about how Dale Carnegie® Training can make your business more effective, or need more information on this subject, please send us an e-mail at the address below. e-Tip Archive

Make it a great day! Bob Dickson, President Dale Carnegie® Training of Western CT (203) 723-9888 bob_dickson@dalecarnegie.com www.WesternCT.DaleCarnegie.com

Tip #346: How Your Customer File Can Increase Your Sales

3 Tips For Increasing Sales By Tapping Into Your Database Of Customers Greetings! All too often, most business owners get wrapped up in the sales game -- trying every trick and tactic to close new business. And while this is perfectly natural and normal, it can sometimes cause a business to overlook a huge asset to growing their business: Existing customers. Your Database Of Customers Is An Excellent Source For New Business And Referrals. Your database of customers is an excellent way to increase your sales -- both from cross--selling other products and services to them and by getting them to recommend your business to someone they know. To help strengthen your sales, we have listed below three quick tips your business can benefit by: Tip #1. Communicate Consistently Via Drip Marketing: In essence, consistent communication is the very definition of drip marketing -- something done through a series of educational e-mail tips, monthly letters, postcards and newsletters. It builds trust, credibility and brand recognition. Far too many businesses confuse marketing as "sell, sell, sell," but you cannot sell all the time or your audience will not read your marketing campaigns. Ultimately, you want your business to be your client's companion, providing supportive and useful information on a regular basis. Tip #2. Customer Service Is More Important Than You Think:Great customer service means going the distance for your customers. By putting them first, you will find that they will be far more likely to recommend you to someone they know. Tip #3. Know What Your Customers Want And Need: You can profoundly deepen your business' customer loyalty by putting time and energy into learning their wants, wishes, values and priorities. This research can go a long way to helping make your customer's experience with your business feel truly unique -- something they won't forget. Executive Summary: When it comes to sales and marketing, it is easy to focus solely on your database of prospects. And while the value of a new customer coming on board is immeasurable, your existing customer base should never be overlooked. By heeding the tips listed above, you will not only create stronger customer loyalty, but also a new stream of revenue to your business. Your Next Step: If you want to find out more about how Dale Carnegie® Training can make your business more effective, or need more information on this subject, please send us an e-mail at the address below. e-Tip Archive

Make it a great day! Bob Dickson, President Dale Carnegie® Training of Western CT (203) 723-9888 bob_dickson@dalecarnegie.com www.WesternCT.DaleCarnegie.com

Tip #345: 7 Tips For Developing A Business Partnership

7 Tips For Developing A Business Partnership Greetings! One of the most versatile and dynamic moves available to businesses is the formation of business partnerships with a similar business or businesses that complement their own products or services. Regardless of what form a business partnership takes -- short term, long term, deeply integrated or something more casual, all have the potential to drive in new business, strengthen existing business and generally improve the lives of all the businesses involved. So, with the importance and value of business partnerships in mind, we came up with seven tips to help you establish and maintain strong business partnerships, which you can find below. 7 Tips For Developing A Business Partnerships: Tip #1. Develop A Unified Vision: The start of any business partnership should begin with a firm understanding of what the purpose of your partnership is. What motivates each of your companies? What drew you to one another? The factors that align your businesses will serve as the basis for your partnership's plan. That partnership plan should include all the various details concerning how your businesses will interact with one another. Tip #2. Address Individual Needs: While a partnership may be a unified initiative, it is still driven by independent businesses, each with their own needs and wants. Part of maintaining a strong business partnership is to avoid being self-serving and instead being sensitive to each other's wants and needs, providing support when available. The more you help each other out with your individual goals, the stronger your partnership becomes and the more likely you are to achieve your unified goals. Tip #3. Identify Strengths & Weaknesses: Every business has their strengths and weaknesses. One of the benefits to establishing a business partnership is finding ways to complement your individual businesses where one excels and the other falls short (and vice-versa). Beyond creating a more powerful entity by maximizing your strengths and minimizing your weaknesses, your businesses should theoretically learn and grow from one another, strengthening as not only a team, but improving individually, as well. Tip #4. Establish Partnership Roles: Business partnerships do come with their risks, however, and one of them is stepping on each other's toes or overstepping boundaries. You presumably established your business partnership because of very clear, defined advantages a cooperative venture would yield for you each respectively. As part of the plan development touched upon in Tip #1, you should put into writing what each partner's roles are, what their limitations are and even include accountability as a precaution. Tip #5. Show Respect Throughout Partnership: A business partnership is a relationship. That means you need to be responsive and communicate regularly to keep one another abreast of mutual interests and project statuses. You need to be honest about situations that affect one business or the other to avoid damaging your relationship, and carefully manage any disagreements that may turn up by mistake or misfortune. Like any relationship, communication is key. So be honest and keep in touch regularly so you both are always on the same page. Tip #6. Maximize Partnerships With Webpages: One of the best ways to get the most out of your business partnership is to mutually agree to develop a partner page on your respective websites. Now, most businesses stop with something simple, like a list of their business partners accompanied by the business' logo. But partner pages can be extremely lucrative, driving traffic to your partner's website from yours and to yours from theirs. Ultimately, you should design partner pages so that they add value to both your companies and your websites. So when designing a partner page, make them as dynamic and compelling for visitors as you can. Tip #7. End Partnerships Peacefully: As we have already established, partnerships are relationships, and just as with interpersonal relationships, there are ups and downs. When these downs start to negatively affect both businesses in a partnership, the most prudent business decision may be to go your separate ways. The trick, of course, is to navigate these separations so the partnership concludes amicably. Any bad blood, so to speak, will only ever be bad for both your businesses. So when forced to end your business partnership, work hard to part ways peacefully. Executive Summary: Business partnerships can be a powerful for venture two or more businesses. But fundamentally, both companies need to be extra sensitive and cautious about each business' individual needs -- especially if your companies are relatively new to one another. Business partnerships come and go. So should you find yourself in this situation part ways peacefully and amicably. Doing so will preserve each other's image. Your Next Step: If you want to find out more about how Dale Carnegie® Training can make your business more effective, or need more information on this subject, please send us an e-mail at the address below. e-Tip Archive

Make it a great day! Bob Dickson, President Dale Carnegie® Training of Western CT (203) 723-9888 bob_dickson@dalecarnegie.com www.WesternCT.DaleCarnegie.com

Tip #344: 4 Tips For Dealing With Mistakes

4 Tips For Dealing With Mistakes Greetings! There are certain inevitabilities that everyone in business, not-for-profit and politics will face: Mistakes. Unfortunately, they tend to affect your clients, past clients, prospects, referral sources, constituents, donors, etc. The Simple Truth Is Mistakes Will Happen. Knowing that mistakes are inevitable allows you to prepare yourself and your employees on how to deal with a problem when one arises. Because when they do, it is all about how everyone responds after the fact. With that said, below you will find four tips for dealing with mistakes. 4 Tips For Dealing With Mistakes: Tip #1. Accept What Happened And Apologize Immediately: You would be amazed at how quickly you can diffuse a situation or at least make it more manageable simply by owning up to your mistake. Ultimately, it is the right thing to do. But more than anything, it shows that you are willing to take responsibility at any expense. Once you have apologized, admit your mistake to whomever you may need to. Honestly, the hardest part of making a mistake is dealing with why it happened in the first place. Tip #2. Maintain A Positive Attitude: Anger, frustration, exasperation -- negative emotions like these just complicate matters further. They make it harder for everyone to focus clear-headedly and logically. So if or when something goes wrong, pause, take a deep breath, center yourself and calm down before making a bigger deal out of whatever the problem is. Tip #3. Consult Others Before Dealing With Certain Issues: One common mistake people make, both in and out of the workplace, is trying to make it appear as though a mistake never happened in the first place. This is, without a doubt, a horrible idea. As previously mentioned in Tip#1, you should own up to your mistake right off the bat. From there, the most effective way to clear up a mistake completely is to consult your peers. Get feedback from your boss or people higher up in the food chain. Their advice and assistance may prove extremely useful when developing (and later executing) your plan of action. Tip #4. Develop A Plan Of Action To Avoid Future Mistakes: The first instinct most people have when they make a mistake is to find a solution fast -- like cleaning up a spill at home. Although a necessary course of action, your next move should be to find out why it happened and then develop a plan to avoid the mistake from happening again. Doing so could reveal faster, smarter ways to solve future mistakes. Executive Summary: As mentioned countless times, mistakes are unavoidable. Your business, not-for-profit or political office consists of people, and people slip up and make mistakes from time to time. When this happens, there are two ways to go about fixing things: Allow everyone to go into a chaotic, frenzied mess internally or to play it smart and develop a plan to work through the issues. Your Next Step: If you want to find out more about how Dale Carnegie® Training can make your business more effective, or need more information on this subject, please send us an e-mail at the address below. e-Tip Archive

Make it a great day! Bob Dickson, President Dale Carnegie® Training of Western CT (203) 723-9888 bob_dickson@dalecarnegie.com www.WesternCT.DaleCarnegie.com

Tip #343: 6 Tips To Combat Job Burnout

The burned out employee is the workforce equivalent of the marathon runner who has gassed out - which is just what happens with burned out employees. Naturally, this could lead to huge productively problems within your business.

Employee Burnout WILL Affect Your Company's Performance.

For your burned out employees, symptoms tend to manifest as anxiousness, noticeable tiredness (as if under-slept), an inability to focus and a short temper. Obviously, none of these are conducive to a positive, strong work environment. So, to make sure your employees avoid becoming burned out, scope out the six tips we have outlined below.

6 Tips To Combat Job Burnout:

Tip #1. Take Regular Breaks: Mental health is becoming increasingly important in the work place, and more and more employers are recognizing the need for their employees to take frequent breaks to keep their minds sharp. By allowing your employees a fifteen-minute break in the morning, a 30- to 60-minute lunch break (that we recommend they take outside of the office) and an additional fifteen-minute break before the end of the day, you will find your employees' batteries are constantly at a full charge.

Tip #2. Create A Unique Break Room: Conventional break rooms tend to be pretty plain -- coffee machine, water cooler, the usual rigmarole. Some companies have started to stray from this, however, and transformed breaks and break rooms into brief escapes from work, going so far as to set up televisions, game tables and video game systems in their break rooms (one hospital in Rochester, NY has a Nintendo Wii in their break room). Creating an environment for employees to briefly escape to for a reasonable amount of time will go a long way to preventing job burnout.

Check out Dr. John M. Grohol's "Five Tips to Bust Job Burnout" on PsychCentral.com.

Tip #3. Set Aside "Me Time" Outside Of Work: While being a dedicated employee is admirable, being an indentured servant to your business will wear you down over time. When work is your life, your life is work, and burnout becomes inevitable. Know when to walk away from work. Schedule regular time away from work each week, preferably dedicated to a personal passion or hobby that clears your mind of any fog. Fishing, gym workouts, pick-up basketball games, reading, painting and car maintenance are just a few of the ways people center themselves outside of work.

Tip #4. Be Wary Of Overworking: Many people find it difficult to say "no" in the workplace. This typically leads to the accumulation of more and more workload each time they agree to lend a hand here or there, or take on a side project or something similar. Being a team player is important in the business world, and helping your colleagues from time to time is a surefire way to further your career. But if you aren't careful other employees will take advantage of your generous, helping nature and all you'll get in return is stress from being overworked.

Tip #5. Balance Life And Work: As previously mentioned, work cannot be the all-encompassing focus of your life -- especially if you hope to maintain a happy home life. Whether you live independently, with a significant other, or a whole family -- kids and all -- you need to manage your time between work and home effectively. When it's time to punch out, punch out. Go to the local pub. Go home to your family. Go to the movies with your partner or friends. Give your personal life just as much time and attention as you do your work life. Otherwise, you will start to see problems and frustrations develop at home, affect your work life and cause you to feel burned out.

Tip #6. Maintain A Healthy Lifestyle: The importance of a healthy lifestyle is among the top issues in our nation -- and for good reason. This is because the benefits of diet, exercise, proper sleep and choosing water over carbonated cans full of nothing but chemicals drastically affect our behavior -- even at work. All it takes is setting aside thirty or forty minutes just three days a week to exercise and making a greater effort to manage your diet. Doing so will benefit you directly in ways innumerable, and a positive lifestyle will lead to a more positive work experience.

Executive Summary: In today's fast-paced, demanding, work-intensive business world, job burnout is easy to turn up. "Virtually everyone will face the prospect of a job burnout at one point," says John M. Grohol, Psy. D. and founder of Psychcentral.com, "whether you're an office worker or a carpenter, a salesperson or a doctor." But just because job burnout is common does not mean it's anything to scoff at, or "just deal with." Preventative measures like the ones outlined above should be initiated to help minimize the threat of job burnout. Trust us, following these tips will do wonders for your business.

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Tip #342: 6 Tips To Maximize Internal Meetings

6 Tips To Help Maximize

Internal Meetings

Internal meetings are a staple of the business world. No matter what type of business you run, or what kind of setting you hold your meetings in -- be it formal or informal -- meetings are an essential activity to keeping your business on target.

Effective Meetings Come From Proper Organization.

Getting the most out of your meetings requires walking a fine line -- if they are too rigid or feel like a chore, employees' will daydream or focus on matters unrelated to your business. If too casual, or too unstructured, internal meetings accomplish little more than eating up valuable work time and ultimately produce nothing of substance at all.

So, to make sure you get the most out of your daily meetings, check out the six tips below.

6 Tips For Getting The Most Out Of Your Meetings:

Tip # 1 Decide Whether You Need A Meeting: In most cases, meetings are the cornerstone of your business' organization and company-wide unity. But in some cases, when a project or assignment's parameters have already been established and discussed at length, having a meeting might only cut into time better spent working on the project at hand. So depending on what kind of week your business is having or what the workload is like, your first decision may be whether to even hold a meeting in the first place.

Tip #2. Spend 15 Minutes Preparing For The Meeting: Preparation is vital to streamlining and maximizing your meeting time. If you hold meetings at roughly the same time each day for roughly the same length of time, employee preparation would immensely improve the meeting's productivity. At least 15 minutes before the meeting, employees should write out a list of their goals, objectives, needs and wants so that when it comes time to meet they're ready to hit the ground running.

Tip #3. Encourage Participation From Everyone: Part of being an effective leader in the business world is recognizing your employees' strengths and weaknesses. But just because an employee isn't particularly strong in one area does not mean they aren't still a useful asset. For example, employees with less experience in sales or marketing may be able to provide a new or unique perspective that might not occur to seasoned pros. Similarly, casual readers might be confused by convoluted text on a website that made sense in the writer's mind.

Tip #4. Designate A Leader To Manage The Meeting: To get the most out of your daily production meetings you need to maintain order, structure and direction. Someone needs to step up to the challenge of facilitating the progress of production meetings -- the reading of goals and agendas and discussions about employee responsibilities. They also need to ensure participants remain positive and constructive. We recommend agreeing to a leadership rotation to avoid rigid, hierarchal structuring and to keep each production meeting fresh.

Tip #5. Rely On Employees' Pre-Meeting Preparation: As previously mentioned, preparation prior to a production meeting helps streamline the entire process. These written goals, agendas and requirements should form the framework of the production meeting's discussions and help give the meeting the structure and direction it needs to benefit your company. So hammer home the importance of employee preparation in order to keep your production meetings focused on what matters most.

Tip #6. Develop A Post-Meeting Follow-up Plan: The only way to truly get the most out of a meeting is to send a post-meeting e-mail check on the status of the project(s). Whatever method you choose, a meeting follow-up plan will help everyone stay focused on their responsibilities.

Executive Summary: Any business looking to stay organized and at the top of their game needs to hold regular meetings -- the key is to execute them in the most effective manner. For more creative companies, such as graphic design firms or ad agencies, more creative and free-spirited meetings tend to benefit them the most. For a more conventional business, such as architectural, engineering or consulting firms, a more defined, structured meeting may be in order. Whatever types of meetings are best for your business, the tips listed above are sure to help you get the most out of them.

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Tip #341: 5 HR Tips To Strengthen Your Business

5 HR Tips To
Strengthen Your Business

At its core, a business' Human Resources department has two primary focuses: (1) Helping promote an ideal work environment that keeps your company's talent within the company and (2) helping scout out or draw in additional top talent when hiring. These responsibilities are why having the right HR professionals in your employ can do wonders for your business.

Unfortunately, HR carries a largely negative stigma. Television and films typically portray HR departments as a place of punishment, where employees go when being reprimanded. But in reality, a strong HR department should be a tremendous asset to your business, the undercurrent that supports the rest of your business by generating a positive work environment and fostering team unity.

So to help you strengthen your HR department (and in turn, your business), here are five tips to pass along to your HR pros.

5 HR Tips To Strengthen Your Business:

Tip #1. Improve Your Interviewing: Building a strong team starts with the hiring process. Far too many employers make the mistake of shooting from the hip during an interview -- no preparation, no plan. However, the more effort you put into the hiring process, the more likely you are to get the top talent you want. To improve your interviewing, task your HR pros to develop a dynamic interviewing plan by reading books and studies on interviewing techniques. You may even want them to take a course on interviewing.

Tip #2. Don't Be Afraid To Get Creative: Flexible, fun work cultures are extremely appealing to existing employees and potential candidates. Most businesses are afraid to stray from well-known business structures and models, but companies like Google and Best Buy have made news with their unorthodox business cultures and the freedom they allow employees (such as eliminating set work hours and permitting employees to come and go as they please -- so long as they get their day's work done). Creating a unique work culture could just prove to be a huge draw for top talent and help keep employee morale high.

Tip #3. Shine A Spotlight On Employees: As the rise of social media has proven, people -- your prospects and clients included -- have a genuine interest in the personal side of businesses. Employee profile pages (employee picture, biographical information) tend to be the most visited pages on a business' website. These staff profiles are also a great way to boost morale within your company by making your employees feel valued and integral to your businesses' success, as opposed to a faceless, nameless cog in the machine that no one ever sees.

Tip #4. Strengthen Employer-Employee Relations: One of the leading causes for employee departure is their relationship with their boss. Healthy employer-employee relationships are at the heart of your business' success. To help improve workplace relationships, HR pros need to ensure positive employer-employee relations by studying up on leadership training. They might do this by reading up on leadership training, tapping employees for open and honest feedback on their employers or by taking a Dale Carnegie class on leadership.

Tip #5. Maintain Corporate Clarity: Another task that falls under the HR umbrella is organizational clarity. By this, we mean your business' goals, philosophies, policies, procedures and all the other components that make up your company's culture. These elements form the foundation of any business and establish a unified work environment. But when these ideas are not presented clearly, employees make assumptions, and their first instinct is to do things their way. It falls on the HR department's shoulders to maintain cohesion in the work place.

Executive Summary: Despite what many think of HR departments, HR professionals in the real world are expected to wear a lot of hats. They are there when an employee is brought into the fold, there when an employee departs and everything in between. And it is a business' HR department that is responsible for developing and maintaining a positive work culture that promotes team unity and engages your workforce. So do yourself and your business a favor and make sure your HR professionals are at the top of their game, starting by reviewing these tips.

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