Blogs & Articles

Most people would agree right now that this qualifies as a genuine ‘sixty four thousand Dollar question’ for the training industry. So what is the answer…?

Whether you are communicating with a stranger, a friend, a team member or a customer knowing how to build rapport is a great life skills to have and can make a real difference in the quality of relationship that we have with others. Rapport building is the foundation of effective communication. Without it there is little chance of you being able persuade or influence others.

I think most of us would like to think that we have what it takes to succeed; determination, grit, Mental Strength. But how do we know for sure? After all you can’t improve what you can’t measure. Until recently Mental Strength (toughness) was subjective. We would look at a business person, an athlete, or an artist achieve great success in the face of adversity and say, “WOW…they’re mentally strong!” We would determine a person’s Mental Strength by their success. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a way to measure this.

Something happens in our house on a nightly basis that I’m sure happens in most houses with kids of a school age. I ask my (soon to be) 5 year old son what he’s done in class that day and wait for the response. It’s usually like trying to get blood from a stone and the inevitable answer is usually what he’s had for lunch from the award-winning school cook or how he’s been chased around the playground with his friends at lunchtime by a boy they’ve christened ‘Broccoli’ due to his green coat.

No. Let’s be clear on that. Emphatically not – but it is being given disproportionate importance and academic coverage. So why even pose the question? Well, it’s just this bloggers way of highlighting that the analysis of individual and organisational learning requirements, the highest quality of design and piloting and the robust delivery of learning solutions are all just as important in getting the job done.

Let’s assume we’ve got the basics covered – you’ve set the appointment up correctly – the right amount of time has been allocated, a room has been booked, you’re there in plenty of time, you look professional in terms of your appearance and you’ve bought the right literature and materials with you.

Sometimes you get lucky – you convince others that an idea has merit and they back you to deliver it.

How many times have you heard a colleague refer to the accounts team as the bean counters? Or, maybe you have done it? Maybe that just reflects the fact that many of us (including me) don’t fully understand the work that they do or just how vital it is if a business is to function effectively…and profitably.

Companies often find themselves in a position where they believe they need a competency framework but are not entirely sure why or what the material benefit would be.

One common approach to developing the senior team or Board would be to seek to ensure that, firstly, the Board are working, not just as a team, but as an ‘effective’ team because after all, that is exactly what the Board should be.

Many people make the mistake of thinking that leadership is something that only very senior people have to consider. In fact, leadership is a skill that every professional manager needs to master. Recently I attended a Maguire Healthcare training courses on Leadership and Management, our facilitator set the group an exercise to identify the skills, attitude and behaviours they observed within their hospitals every day.

Most people’s sales conversation could be improved. Over the last 20 years I have seen many sales people do the following: