HAUPPAUGE, NY (December, 2012) – Dale Carnegie Training®, the international leader in performance-based workforce training and solutions, announces the release of their extremely successful smartphone application “Secrets to Success” (http://www.dalecarnegie.com/app/) for all Android smartphones. Originally released in 2010 in the iTunes App Store, Secrets to Success reached the number one spot within the Business Paid App category in the first week of its release. Now, it will now be available for £0.63 on Google Play’s Android App Store. The launch on the Android platform will give even more users access to Dale Carnegie Training’s invaluable tips and information.
The application outlines basic human relations principles and shares easy-to-follow tips, techniques and daily “confidence boosters” exclusive to Dale Carnegie Training’s world-renowned workshops and courses. Features of the application include the ability to share the app content with social media networks including Facebook and Twitter. In addition, users can now register for a free Dale Carnegie course in any country where the course is offered, and find their local DCT office easily with the touch of a button.
"Releasing the Secrets of Success application for Android devices brings the helpful and effective tips of Dale Carnegie Training to an even broader crowd," remarks Peter Handal, Chairman and CEO of Dale Carnegie Training. “With the job market more competitive than ever, it is advantageous for everyday smartphone users to access Dale Carnegie’s guiding principles while on-the-go.”
Functions available for the downloadable application include:
• The ability to register for a "free" Dale Carnegie Course Session
• Sharing app content via social media networks
• The ability to search easily for a local DCT office
• Valuable tips on team member engagement, leadership development, sales effectiveness, customer service, presentation effectiveness, process improvement and more
• Daily doses of confidence from some of history’s best thought leaders
• Video demos of the secrets to success in action
About Dale Carnegie Training®
Dale Carnegie Training® partners with middle market and large corporations as well as organizations to produce measurable business results by improving the performance of employees with emphasis on leadership, sales, team building and interpersonal relations, customer service, public speaking and presentations and other essential management skills. The courses are available in 30 languages throughout the world; they cover the entire United States and reach over 85 countries. Dale Carnegie Training® includes as its clients 400 of the Fortune 500 companies. Approximately eight million people have experienced Dale Carnegie Training®.
Dale Carnegie’s corporate specialists work with individuals, groups and organizations to design solutions that unleash your employees’ potential, enabling your organization to reach the next level of performance. Dale Carnegie Training® offers public courses, seminars and workshops, as well as in-house customized training, corporate assessments, online learning and one-on-one coaching.
Showing posts with label Dale Carnegie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dale Carnegie. Show all posts
Tuesday, 12 February 2013
Wednesday, 7 November 2012
Attitude Control in Tough Service Situations
Companies are facing unprecedented pressure from the financial crisis. As a result, many of their employees may get nervous and start complaining emotionally to their vendors - you! Here are 8 tips you can use to help you and your customer service team control stress and worry in tough situations:
Live in a compartment of the present.
The professional with a commitment to service seals off each interaction with a customer so that negative experiences don't poison future interactions. Don't allow past successes or failures or future anticipated success or difficulties influence your current performance. When it comes to customer service, live in the moment.
Don't fuss about trifles.
A "trifle" is something that is insignificant in comparison to other things in your life. When you focus on trifles, you lose perspective. Keep the bigger picture in mind. Doing so will help you objectively sort out the small stuff from the important issues.
Cooperate with the inevitable.
Realise when your situation is inevitable. If you can learn to recognise situations where you have no control, you can gain some control over the emotional aspects of the situation. By cooperating with the outcome, you are making a conscious choice about how to respond to an inevitable situation. Decide just how much anxiety a situation is worth and refuse to give it any more of your energy.
Once you make this decision, it is easier to find ways you can improve on the situation or let it go and move on.
Create happiness for others.
This principle appeals to your nobler motives. It is difficult to sustain a negative attitude when you are doing something good or helpful for someone else. Simply put: Doing good for others makes you feel better.
Expect ingratitude.
In your job, you provide many diverse services. When you do so, you probably expect in return some signal of gratitude for your assistance. This expectation is rarely met. If you do receive heartfelt thanks from someone, you should count yourself lucky you are dealing with a grateful person. Most people are simply not accustomed to being grateful, even when you provide them with excellent service. You shouldn't let ingratitude deter you from providing top-quality service.
Put enthusiasm into your work.
Enthusiasm is the positive energy and sustained effort that keeps you driving toward your goals. Making a decision to have a positive outlook can be critical in enjoying your job and working with your internal and external customers.
Do the very best you can.
It can be difficult to deal with criticism, especially if you feel it is undeserved or if it hurts your self-esteem. One way to put criticism in perspective is to ask yourself if you are doing the very best you can with what you know and are able to do. If you are, then you can avoid taking the criticism personally. If there is room for improvement in your performance, you can look at the criticism objectively and take responsibility for improving your performance.
Live in a compartment of the present.
The professional with a commitment to service seals off each interaction with a customer so that negative experiences don't poison future interactions. Don't allow past successes or failures or future anticipated success or difficulties influence your current performance. When it comes to customer service, live in the moment.
Don't fuss about trifles.
A "trifle" is something that is insignificant in comparison to other things in your life. When you focus on trifles, you lose perspective. Keep the bigger picture in mind. Doing so will help you objectively sort out the small stuff from the important issues.
Cooperate with the inevitable.
Realise when your situation is inevitable. If you can learn to recognise situations where you have no control, you can gain some control over the emotional aspects of the situation. By cooperating with the outcome, you are making a conscious choice about how to respond to an inevitable situation. Decide just how much anxiety a situation is worth and refuse to give it any more of your energy.
Once you make this decision, it is easier to find ways you can improve on the situation or let it go and move on.
Create happiness for others.
This principle appeals to your nobler motives. It is difficult to sustain a negative attitude when you are doing something good or helpful for someone else. Simply put: Doing good for others makes you feel better.
Expect ingratitude.
In your job, you provide many diverse services. When you do so, you probably expect in return some signal of gratitude for your assistance. This expectation is rarely met. If you do receive heartfelt thanks from someone, you should count yourself lucky you are dealing with a grateful person. Most people are simply not accustomed to being grateful, even when you provide them with excellent service. You shouldn't let ingratitude deter you from providing top-quality service.
Put enthusiasm into your work.
Enthusiasm is the positive energy and sustained effort that keeps you driving toward your goals. Making a decision to have a positive outlook can be critical in enjoying your job and working with your internal and external customers.
Do the very best you can.
It can be difficult to deal with criticism, especially if you feel it is undeserved or if it hurts your self-esteem. One way to put criticism in perspective is to ask yourself if you are doing the very best you can with what you know and are able to do. If you are, then you can avoid taking the criticism personally. If there is room for improvement in your performance, you can look at the criticism objectively and take responsibility for improving your performance.
Friday, 21 September 2012
Jack Petchey CBE Honored With The Dale Carnegie Leadership Award
On September 20th 2012, Mr Peter V. Handal, Chairman and CEO of Dale Carnegie Training flew in from the United States of America to present Jack Petchey CBE with the prestigious Dale Carnegie Leadership Award.
The Leadership Award recognises organisations or individuals who have truly demonstrated that the development of their organisation has been achieved through a commitment to the development of people.
In his first years of business Jack Petchey, now aged 87, picked up a copy of the infamous book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. It was a moment that changed his life! He promptly signed up for a Dale Carnegie Course and that decision was one that undoubtedly contributed to him becoming one of London’s most successful entrepreneurs.
Jack’s entrepreneurial ventures have spanned travel, property and investments. He founded companies, such as Petchey Holdings Plc and Petchey Leisure, turning them into multi-million pound empires. But he is perhaps best known by many for his commitment to supporting youth projects, predominantly across his home turf of London and Essex. In the last 12 years he has sought to inspire a generation through The Jack Petchey Foundation, a charitable trust that has invested well over £75 million into raising young people’s aspirations, rewarding their achievements and encouraging them to achieve more in life.
From humble beginnings, Jack was born in 1925 to poor working class parents in Plaistow, East London. Despite leaving school at the age of 14 with no qualifications, he had already begun to demonstrate the entrepreneurial skills that would aid his later success. Following his discharge from the Fleet Air Arm in 1947 he invested his whole life savings (nearly £60) in a car to found a car hire business.
His exposure to Dale Carnegie Training gave him the self-belief and skills to build his business and to go on to found many more!
All his life he has carried a commitment to the basic principles of management learnt through Dale Carnegie. His belief in reward as a powerful motivator for change has been implemented in his staff reward schemes and now been developed even further through the Jack Petchey Award Scheme, operating in over 2000 youth clubs and schools across London and Essex. Another saying from Dale Carnegie was “Don’t criticise, condemn or complain” and to this day Jack carries a small cardboard disc in his pocket as a permanent reminder! His aim has always been to encourage staff to give their best.
Now, with a focus on the work of the Foundation, his heart’s desire is to enable young people to access the ‘power’ of positive thinking, to believe in themselves, to learn how to capture their dreams and turn them into reality by setting goals, learning new skills and sheer dogged determination! With this in mind he is currently exploring some new training programmes to be delivered to young people through schools.
It is only the second time that this Award has been approved and awarded by the Board of Directors of Dale Carnegie Training to a businessman in London, “and there is none more deserving than Jack!” says Clive Thompson, of Dale Carnegie, London.
The Dale Carnegie Leadership Award, established in 1985, was given to The Ford Motor Company that same year and in subsequent years to such well known organisations as Coca-Cola, Adidas, Boeing, Four Seasons Hotel, Daimler-Chrysler and SAS Scandinavian Airlines.
Jack Petchey joins a long chain of the world’s greatest businessmen and through his Foundation it is hoped his legacy will be to continue to inspire a generation. Jack said: “I feel really proud to accept this award, Dale Carnegie was such an inspiration for me; I just hope that future generations of young people will be able to see that they can achieve – if they really believe they can, they can!”
The Leadership Award recognises organisations or individuals who have truly demonstrated that the development of their organisation has been achieved through a commitment to the development of people.
In his first years of business Jack Petchey, now aged 87, picked up a copy of the infamous book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. It was a moment that changed his life! He promptly signed up for a Dale Carnegie Course and that decision was one that undoubtedly contributed to him becoming one of London’s most successful entrepreneurs.
Jack’s entrepreneurial ventures have spanned travel, property and investments. He founded companies, such as Petchey Holdings Plc and Petchey Leisure, turning them into multi-million pound empires. But he is perhaps best known by many for his commitment to supporting youth projects, predominantly across his home turf of London and Essex. In the last 12 years he has sought to inspire a generation through The Jack Petchey Foundation, a charitable trust that has invested well over £75 million into raising young people’s aspirations, rewarding their achievements and encouraging them to achieve more in life.
From humble beginnings, Jack was born in 1925 to poor working class parents in Plaistow, East London. Despite leaving school at the age of 14 with no qualifications, he had already begun to demonstrate the entrepreneurial skills that would aid his later success. Following his discharge from the Fleet Air Arm in 1947 he invested his whole life savings (nearly £60) in a car to found a car hire business.
His exposure to Dale Carnegie Training gave him the self-belief and skills to build his business and to go on to found many more!
All his life he has carried a commitment to the basic principles of management learnt through Dale Carnegie. His belief in reward as a powerful motivator for change has been implemented in his staff reward schemes and now been developed even further through the Jack Petchey Award Scheme, operating in over 2000 youth clubs and schools across London and Essex. Another saying from Dale Carnegie was “Don’t criticise, condemn or complain” and to this day Jack carries a small cardboard disc in his pocket as a permanent reminder! His aim has always been to encourage staff to give their best.
Now, with a focus on the work of the Foundation, his heart’s desire is to enable young people to access the ‘power’ of positive thinking, to believe in themselves, to learn how to capture their dreams and turn them into reality by setting goals, learning new skills and sheer dogged determination! With this in mind he is currently exploring some new training programmes to be delivered to young people through schools.
It is only the second time that this Award has been approved and awarded by the Board of Directors of Dale Carnegie Training to a businessman in London, “and there is none more deserving than Jack!” says Clive Thompson, of Dale Carnegie, London.
The Dale Carnegie Leadership Award, established in 1985, was given to The Ford Motor Company that same year and in subsequent years to such well known organisations as Coca-Cola, Adidas, Boeing, Four Seasons Hotel, Daimler-Chrysler and SAS Scandinavian Airlines.
Jack Petchey joins a long chain of the world’s greatest businessmen and through his Foundation it is hoped his legacy will be to continue to inspire a generation. Jack said: “I feel really proud to accept this award, Dale Carnegie was such an inspiration for me; I just hope that future generations of young people will be able to see that they can achieve – if they really believe they can, they can!”
Friday, 17 August 2012
London 2012 What an Inspiration
Wow what an eventful 2 weeks! Who would have thought that Team GB would have finished 3rd in the tables? Can you remember where you were on ‘Super Saturday’? I remember shouting at the television with the family as Jessica Ennis, sprinted to the finishing line as she won gold in the Heptathlon, then a few minutes later cheering as the lovely Greg Rutherford took home gold in the long jump, and then moments later, jumping for joy as Mo Farah won the countries first gold in the 10,000 meters in over 100 years.
1 week on and I still get goose bumps thinking about some of these events.
You could write & reminisce for hours over the wonderful achievements that Team GB have achieved, not just in winning medals, but the way the whole country united together and what an inspiration every athlete has been. There are not many people who would get a fractured jaw as a result of getting wacked with a hockey stick, and will be back on the pitch 3 days later like Kate Walsh, then successfully achieve bronze in the tournament.
Working and living in London, I have experienced the other side of the Olympics as well, and the atmosphere around the city has been electric. Just walking around, every street was filled with red, blue & white in all different forms, from flags, to buildings and clothing. Every bar and pub would have an event showing, and you would hear silence as the athletes were about to start their journey to the finish line. That silence would last for spilt of a second, as it was shortly followed by cheering and shouting.
The Olympics has changed the country and lifted our spirits in these difficult times. Children and adults of all ages have been inspired & motivated to take up a sport, or to hold their own family version of the Olympics, and it does make you proud to be British, and is an experience that we will relive forever.
Well done Team GB on everything that you have achieved!
1 week on and I still get goose bumps thinking about some of these events.
You could write & reminisce for hours over the wonderful achievements that Team GB have achieved, not just in winning medals, but the way the whole country united together and what an inspiration every athlete has been. There are not many people who would get a fractured jaw as a result of getting wacked with a hockey stick, and will be back on the pitch 3 days later like Kate Walsh, then successfully achieve bronze in the tournament.
Working and living in London, I have experienced the other side of the Olympics as well, and the atmosphere around the city has been electric. Just walking around, every street was filled with red, blue & white in all different forms, from flags, to buildings and clothing. Every bar and pub would have an event showing, and you would hear silence as the athletes were about to start their journey to the finish line. That silence would last for spilt of a second, as it was shortly followed by cheering and shouting.
The Olympics has changed the country and lifted our spirits in these difficult times. Children and adults of all ages have been inspired & motivated to take up a sport, or to hold their own family version of the Olympics, and it does make you proud to be British, and is an experience that we will relive forever.
Well done Team GB on everything that you have achieved!
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
High turnover?
Is your organizational performance not of a high standard?
Talented staff, but not sure how to inspire them?
The charted institute for personnel & development recently stated in their publication ‘Becoming an employee of choice’ that ‘70% of people leave their employer and not their job.’ When employees feel inspired and engaged by their manager they will contribute more, take fewer sick days and focus more on satisfying customers.
Engaged employees make a difference to your organizations performance both today and in the future. With our free seminar you can learn to deliver creative and powerful messages to those individuals who can help your organization the most. Develop inspiring ideas to engage your talent staff and engage those individuals in your business who can make a difference.
The Engaging Talent Seminar on Thursday 2nd August, 8:45am - 10:45am plans to be thee FREE seminar event of the year.
Join today, to guarantee your seat for the most engaging event you have been too. For more information please don’t hesitate to contact us on 02073794323
Employment means winning the hearts as well as the minds of employees.
Is your organizational performance not of a high standard?
Talented staff, but not sure how to inspire them?
The charted institute for personnel & development recently stated in their publication ‘Becoming an employee of choice’ that ‘70% of people leave their employer and not their job.’ When employees feel inspired and engaged by their manager they will contribute more, take fewer sick days and focus more on satisfying customers.
Engaged employees make a difference to your organizations performance both today and in the future. With our free seminar you can learn to deliver creative and powerful messages to those individuals who can help your organization the most. Develop inspiring ideas to engage your talent staff and engage those individuals in your business who can make a difference.
The Engaging Talent Seminar on Thursday 2nd August, 8:45am - 10:45am plans to be thee FREE seminar event of the year.
Join today, to guarantee your seat for the most engaging event you have been too. For more information please don’t hesitate to contact us on 02073794323
Employment means winning the hearts as well as the minds of employees.
Friday, 18 May 2012
Top Tips For Communicating In The Digital Age
Mark Fitzmaurice of Dale Carnegie, shares his top tips for communicating on social media platforms, in the Bdaily Business Network.
There’s no doubt that technology and social media has transformed the way we communicate, both in a work and home environment. For all the advantages however, there are various pitfalls that have the potential to damage your reputation and do you and your business more harm than good.
To mark its 100-year anniversary, learning and development organisation Dale Carnegie has updated and re-released its classic ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’, originally written in the 1930’s, to identify with the scenarios facing businesspeople in an age of increasing technology.
Many of the key principles Dale Carnegie set out all those years ago still apply today and have been adapted to suit the modern age. They include:
1. Take your criticism offline. Little good comes from public humiliation, whether it’s by Tweet or blog post. The rise of anonymous message boards and online comments seems to incubate negativity, but engaging in that kind of back-and-forth does little good.
2. Commit to self-improvement instead. Instead of telling other people what they could do better, save the harshest criticism for yourself.
3. Focus on other people’s interests, not your own. This might be a hard one to follow but social media users must resist the temptation to talk about themselves. Instead, ask about others, comment and inquire about their own updates, and focus on what interests them, not you.
4. Engage with others. Social media, after all, is all about interaction, and people use those platforms with the hope of hearing directly from their favourite author, celebrity, or company. Companies like Zappos take advantage of this fact and use social media to build their brands.
5. Smile. Recent research that analysed Facebook profiles found that people who frown in photos tend to be on the outskirts of social networks instead of in the centre of them. In other words, smiling gets you more friends (and influence).
6. Spread positivity. On that same note, if you can make other people smile, you’ll also grow your own popularity. Tweeting positive thoughts is far more effective than tweeting negative ones. In fact, skip negative Tweets and posts altogether.
7. Don’t argue. Has anyone ever won a back-and-forth over Twitter? Or by leaving snarky comments on an online article? Even if the answer is “yes”, the potential damage to your reputation by such an exchange makes public arguments bad ideas.
8. Engage and be responsive. One of the best way to build your network either personally or in business is to engage with others and be responsive to other people’s needs.
9. Be a good listener. Even on line, listen to what people are saying, look for the message behind the message, sometimes people will say things on line that they won’t say out loud, we just need to listen in a different way
10. Make other people feel valued and important. In any that you can, on line or off line if you make people feel valued and important they will be loyal to you and give you much more in return
For more information on how Dale Carnegie can help you in the digital age, contact us, or purcahse the How To Win Friends and Influence People In The Digital Age which is available in all good retailers.
Stephanie Fletcher
To continue reading this article visit
http://bdaily.co.uk/news/technology/10-05-2012/1336492916-top-tips-for-communicating-in-the-digital-age/
There’s no doubt that technology and social media has transformed the way we communicate, both in a work and home environment. For all the advantages however, there are various pitfalls that have the potential to damage your reputation and do you and your business more harm than good.
To mark its 100-year anniversary, learning and development organisation Dale Carnegie has updated and re-released its classic ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’, originally written in the 1930’s, to identify with the scenarios facing businesspeople in an age of increasing technology.
Many of the key principles Dale Carnegie set out all those years ago still apply today and have been adapted to suit the modern age. They include:
1. Take your criticism offline. Little good comes from public humiliation, whether it’s by Tweet or blog post. The rise of anonymous message boards and online comments seems to incubate negativity, but engaging in that kind of back-and-forth does little good.
2. Commit to self-improvement instead. Instead of telling other people what they could do better, save the harshest criticism for yourself.
3. Focus on other people’s interests, not your own. This might be a hard one to follow but social media users must resist the temptation to talk about themselves. Instead, ask about others, comment and inquire about their own updates, and focus on what interests them, not you.
4. Engage with others. Social media, after all, is all about interaction, and people use those platforms with the hope of hearing directly from their favourite author, celebrity, or company. Companies like Zappos take advantage of this fact and use social media to build their brands.
5. Smile. Recent research that analysed Facebook profiles found that people who frown in photos tend to be on the outskirts of social networks instead of in the centre of them. In other words, smiling gets you more friends (and influence).
6. Spread positivity. On that same note, if you can make other people smile, you’ll also grow your own popularity. Tweeting positive thoughts is far more effective than tweeting negative ones. In fact, skip negative Tweets and posts altogether.
7. Don’t argue. Has anyone ever won a back-and-forth over Twitter? Or by leaving snarky comments on an online article? Even if the answer is “yes”, the potential damage to your reputation by such an exchange makes public arguments bad ideas.
8. Engage and be responsive. One of the best way to build your network either personally or in business is to engage with others and be responsive to other people’s needs.
9. Be a good listener. Even on line, listen to what people are saying, look for the message behind the message, sometimes people will say things on line that they won’t say out loud, we just need to listen in a different way
10. Make other people feel valued and important. In any that you can, on line or off line if you make people feel valued and important they will be loyal to you and give you much more in return
For more information on how Dale Carnegie can help you in the digital age, contact us, or purcahse the How To Win Friends and Influence People In The Digital Age which is available in all good retailers.
Stephanie Fletcher
To continue reading this article visit
http://bdaily.co.uk/news/technology/10-05-2012/1336492916-top-tips-for-communicating-in-the-digital-age/
Thursday, 3 May 2012
One in four managers 'don't know how bad they are'
It has been reported in todays Telegraph, that millions of managers fail to realise “how bad they are at managing”, which is undermining company efforts to boost productivity and growth.
One in four of the UK’s line managers – almost 2m people – have an inflated opinion of their ability to lead teams, the study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has claimed.
Ben Willmott, head of public policy at the CIPD, said: “Management capability continues to be an Achilles heel for UK plc, despite mounting evidence that these are ‘skills for growth’.
“Too many employees are promoted into people management roles because they have good technical skills, then receive inadequate training and have little idea of how their behaviour impacts on others.”
If you are 1 in 4 managers who spends more time dealing with stressed staff, absence or conflict, rather than providing high-quality feedback to their teams, or if you have been promoted to management, and do not want to become a "bad manager", then come to our free Inspirational Leadership seminar, or contact us for further information on our Leadership Training for Managers, where we can ensure that you become more than a "good leader", but a "great" inspiration.
Stephanie Fletcher
To read more on this article visit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/9241249/One-in-four-managers-dont-know-how-bad-they-are.html
One in four of the UK’s line managers – almost 2m people – have an inflated opinion of their ability to lead teams, the study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has claimed.
Ben Willmott, head of public policy at the CIPD, said: “Management capability continues to be an Achilles heel for UK plc, despite mounting evidence that these are ‘skills for growth’.
“Too many employees are promoted into people management roles because they have good technical skills, then receive inadequate training and have little idea of how their behaviour impacts on others.”
If you are 1 in 4 managers who spends more time dealing with stressed staff, absence or conflict, rather than providing high-quality feedback to their teams, or if you have been promoted to management, and do not want to become a "bad manager", then come to our free Inspirational Leadership seminar, or contact us for further information on our Leadership Training for Managers, where we can ensure that you become more than a "good leader", but a "great" inspiration.
Stephanie Fletcher
To read more on this article visit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/9241249/One-in-four-managers-dont-know-how-bad-they-are.html
Monday, 30 April 2012
What's your motivation?
But sometimes we may falter along the way and find that we don’t want to refuse that big piece of chocolate cake at the restaurant, or simply that we have lost our motivation.
So here are some tips to keep on going if you are finding it tough:
Once you’ve set yourself a deadline make a conscious effort to review your progress a third of the way through or sooner if possible. Look at how it’s going and if there is anything you are struggling with.
Look at what isn’t working and why?
Are there any patterns to why it isn’t working?
Make a small change to what you are doing to get yourself back on track. For instance if you aren’t saving up for that holiday as quickly as you would like is there anything else you can cut back on to save money? If your customers are not paying as quickly as they promised, can you get the sales team involved in talking to the client?
Don’t give up! If you want to get into THAT dress, go look at it, imagine yourself in it. If you want to go on holiday, imagine yourself lying on that sunlounger or taking in the city’s delights. And if you have a project at work that isn’t going as smoothly as you would like, talk to your boss and explain your situation. Ask for help and assistance to get back on track. Discuss the deadline and see if it’s realistic.
Once you made some changes, set yourself another review date, preferably half way through, to see if the changes you have made are working. And when you have reached that goal, don’t forget to reward yourself, even if it’s a cup of tea with a slice of cake.
Helen Mills
Friday, 27 April 2012
How to Win Clients and Influence Referrals
(MoneyWatch) What's the difference between a customer and a client? A customer might be there for a transaction, but a client is there for a special relationship. The term dates back to ancient Rome when citizens would attach themselves to an aristocratic patron for protection and clout. Patrons took care of their clients and they were rewarded for it.
This column is for all of you out there who make your living selling to clients and want to attract more of them. To attract new clients, the best approach is to prove your expertise by giving away valuable information through writing and speaking. Actually, that isn't technically true. You should sell the information if you want to win clients and influence referrals. Here's how.
1. Follow Dale's lead. Unfortunately, many sales and marketing people who learn this truth find the idea of writing and speaking too daunting and even mysterious. Most feel this is only for a select few, but that is a miscalculated view. First comes the problem, then comes research, and finally presentation. Dale Carnegie is the role model to emulate. He wrote the original self-improvement book and was the first superstar of the self-help genre.
2. Do your homework. Carnegie wrote that he had searched for years to discover a practical, working handbook on human relations. He started by reading every scholarly book and magazine article he could find to ascertain how the great men and women of all ages had dealt with people. Then he interviewed scores of successful people to discover the techniques they used in human relations.
3. Speak up. From all that material, he prepared a short talk. He called it "How to Win Friends and Influence People" and it soon became a 90-minute lecture. Then the teacher learned from the students. Carnegie asked attendees to share their stories of how the principles helped them. First, he put the rules down on a postcard, which grew into a leaflet, then a series of booklets, each one expanding in size and scope. After 15 years of experiment and research came the book by the same title in 1937 as that original short talk. Of course, it has been a best seller ever since (if you haven't read it, you really should). The first edition had a print run of a mere 5,000, but the last time I checked it had sold more than 15 million copies.
4. Be the expert. During those 15 years of research, Dale Carnegie became the go-to guy for human relations. Thousands attended his training each year and he prospered. This also resulted in many consulting contracts. He is long gone, but his training company has continued to this day.
5. Make them pay. Those who sell high end services can fill a pipeline with qualified prospects in as little as 30 days by offering advice to prospects on how to overcome their most pressing problems. But don't do it for free. Charge for your seminars and the information will be valued more by your potential clients. The burden is also on you to research great information.
This strategy also helps those people who know, like and trust you enough to refer business to you. You can make these people a special deal: if they know someone who would value what you have to say, then your referral source can offer comp admission to your events on a space-available basis. Look what this does. You make the referral source feel special because they can hook people up. The prospects who attend still value the information more because there is a charge for it, and they feel even better because they didn't have to pay.
Happy Selling
Stephanie Fletcher
This article was written by Tom Searcy, and you can read more at http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505183_162-57415800-10391735/how-to-win-clients-and-influence-referrals/
Monday, 23 April 2012
Public speaking nightmare
You’re preparing to give a presentation to a group of your peers. As the time draws closer you notice your heart is beating twice as fast and your palms are getting sweaty. Your mind is plagued by thoughts of how this is going to go wrong. You tell yourself that your colleagues don’t even care what you're about to say, they’ll be bored of you after the first 30 seconds and all be playing with their phones by the time you reach your conclusion.
A polite round of applause welcomes you to the front of the room. You feel a small bead of sweat trickle down from your brow and you stutter in your first sentence. A polite cough echoes around the eerily silent room. The computer has frozen and isn’t moving onto the next slide. Make a joke about it? Pretend like you don’t need the power point you worked so hard on? People shuffle in their seats, growing impatient as the temperamental soul that is technology brings your whole presentation to a halt.
Panic overwhelms you. You’ve lost sight of where you were and frantically look through your notes that now seem like a language unknown. You start to rush your words, desperate for the ordeal to be over. You care no longer whether your presentation makes sense or conveys the point you intended. You conclude your message half heartedly and the same polite applause accompanies you back to your chair. You sink back, wishing you would fall straight through the chair, the floor and into a place where presentations were not a part of your job.
Any of that sound familiar?
Dale Carnegie work with thousands of individuals who have felt the same worries, anxieties and doubt over their public speaking as you do and seek to develop those skills to ensure they no longer need panic when in front of a crowd. We can work with you to make sure you engage your audience, use positive tone and body language and provide you with confidence that once you’ve finished your presentation, you can sit down knowing the message you wanted to put across, has been received.
We will be running a complimentary preview to one of our Presentations development programmes (High Impact Presentations) on Thursday 10th May. For more information give us a call on 0207 379 4323.
Brett Mills
A polite round of applause welcomes you to the front of the room. You feel a small bead of sweat trickle down from your brow and you stutter in your first sentence. A polite cough echoes around the eerily silent room. The computer has frozen and isn’t moving onto the next slide. Make a joke about it? Pretend like you don’t need the power point you worked so hard on? People shuffle in their seats, growing impatient as the temperamental soul that is technology brings your whole presentation to a halt.
Panic overwhelms you. You’ve lost sight of where you were and frantically look through your notes that now seem like a language unknown. You start to rush your words, desperate for the ordeal to be over. You care no longer whether your presentation makes sense or conveys the point you intended. You conclude your message half heartedly and the same polite applause accompanies you back to your chair. You sink back, wishing you would fall straight through the chair, the floor and into a place where presentations were not a part of your job.
Any of that sound familiar?
Dale Carnegie work with thousands of individuals who have felt the same worries, anxieties and doubt over their public speaking as you do and seek to develop those skills to ensure they no longer need panic when in front of a crowd. We can work with you to make sure you engage your audience, use positive tone and body language and provide you with confidence that once you’ve finished your presentation, you can sit down knowing the message you wanted to put across, has been received.
We will be running a complimentary preview to one of our Presentations development programmes (High Impact Presentations) on Thursday 10th May. For more information give us a call on 0207 379 4323.
Brett Mills
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
Taking It in Your Stride
Have you ever wondered why many people take the easy route through life? Let's see if a short story will provide some answers.
Many of you will know that Helvellyn is the second highest mountain in England. Many of you will also have been to its summit. Alfred Wainwright describes many differen
t paths up to the summit from east, west, south and north. The one he reserves as the best is also the most difficult and dangerous.
Julia Bradbury, in the TV series Wainwright Walks, was visibly moved by the exhilaration she felt when having completed the walk by the famous Striding Edge route. The series set about climbing a selection of Wainwrights favourite peaks and to give us, the audience, the best experience possible she chose this, the most difficult and dangerous.
Why, when the objective was the same as if having climbed from Dunmail Raise in the west? The trek up from Thirlemere is quite spectacular for mountain scenery, at least to the novice, but easy. Why, choose that most challenging route? Especially when it was the only one in the series that needed an experienced guide.
There is something about the journey, rather that just the end goal that must appeal. What thrill will we get when we try something difficult and exceptional? Feeling the emotions of fear, trepidation, excitement; the physical exertions, stretching and growing in confidence and capability. How lucky then, knowing that we have a guide on hand to get us through the difficult stuff and developing our skill in negotiating and overcoming challenges.
This then might have stirred your emotions. Perhaps you will be one of the tens of thousands that this year alone will climb Helvellyn or maybe you will be one of the relative few that go via Striding Edge.
Perhaps you will take the more difficult route through your career, take on tough challenges and gain so much more than just getting to the summit.
Whatever you decide you will need a coach and guide to support, encourage, teach and praise very step you take into the unknown and be the first to congratulate your achievement.
I will be on Helvellyn in August, amongst the few crowds, on Striding Edge.
Will you be accompanied by a Dale Carnegie coach on your career path? If so give me a call!
David Pickering
Monday, 9 April 2012
In the last two weeks the London office has had a lovely visit from Stephen Holgate who is a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer and currently residing in New York.Steve, or Stevo to his friends, is such an inspiring person that I thought I would write about him for this blog post.
Originally from Brisbane, Australia, Steve headed to London when he was a mere 24 years old after graduating University with a Bachelor of Business, majoring in marketing. Having read the book How to Win Friends and Influence People he approached our office for a job. His easy going attitude and unbound enthusiasm along with an available opening, immediately secured him a sales consultant role with us.
From there he headed on to be not only a great sales person forming fantastic relationships with his clients, but also started his path to become a Dale Carnegie Trainer. Once he started training our flagship programme, The Dale Carnegie Course, his sales took off even more.
He was with our London office for 4 years and became a trainer for many of our programmes when he decided to return to Australia to be with his girlfriend and to work within the Sydney office of Dale Carnegie. Again he was successful in building up a business which at that time wasn’t well established in the area and travelled to Asia and other parts of the world delivering many of the Dale Carnegie programmes. At this point (2007) he became a Master Trainer, which may I say is no mean feat, especially for someone so young. You have to be the best and have excellent trainer results to even be considered for this role, and then undertake rigorous training.
Eventually the lure of travel was too much and Steve fulfilled another one of his ambitions which was to work and live in New York. And this is where he currently lives, two years on, enjoying his life there, taking improv classes and generally living his dream. He is the chap in our Smartphone apps as well as being a personal coach for CEO’s.
So when Stevo came back to the UK last week for business and tagged on some additional time to see his friends and pop back to the office where it all began, I decided to ask him what the key was to his success. Because Steve is one of the most likeable, motivated, friendly and passionate people I know. He has goals which he achieves, dreams he aspires to achieve and does all this living the life he desires.
Steve:
I actually feel the need to define "success" as what success means to me. For me, success is about being able to be happy with your life, and have a positive impact on the world ("the world" might include people, the environment, and/or ethical organisations). I know I've got the happiness thing, and would like to hope that I have had some form of positive impact on others.
So then the question is how have I done that?
* Work out what you want to be doing (how you can be happy)
* Set long term, medium term, and short term goals to achieve that
* Persist; understand that it won't happen instantly, and that you'll have many set backs and that they are all part of the process, not the end
* Take time out for reflection; replicate what you're doing well, change what you're not
* Create happiness for others; then others will help create it for you
Thanks Steve for those tips.....and may I say how lovely it was to see you again.
Helen
Friday, 6 April 2012
Run Clown Run!
3 months ago I signed up to take on what seemed like the challenge of a life time, to run 6 miles in aid of Sports Relief. My main aim for doing so was to improve on my health in time for the summer, whilst raising money for a good cause.
The past 3 months have been fall of temptations and procrastinations to do anything but the gym and there have been times when, let’s say, I have let the odd one get the better of me. However with the motivation of helping others, as well as the thought of letting all my sponsors down, I would head down to the gym.
On a gorgeous Sunday 25th March, dressed as a clown and
deprived of an hours sleep thanks to the clocks going forward, I joined the first leg of runners at 10:15 to take the challenge on. It was a great atmosphere, with people of all ages running/walking/hopping/skipping for 1, 3 or 6 miles around The Mall – Buckingham Palace. Now in my leg, there were not many people dressed up and being the only clown it was very easy to spot me, so much so I gained a lot of attention from the supporters including the children, one of which asked for my photo as I run past him. I managed to run most of the way and probably could have completed the run a lot quicker if I wasn’t too busy looking at the celebs; I didn’t even stop to talk to my family or fellow runners. The run its self was the best run I have had, and without all the practice I would not have managed to complete the run within my target of 1 hour, or to be a head of my personal target ready for the summer holidays.
I have learnt a lot the past few months, with the biggest being if you want to achieve a goal which looks unachievable set yourself smaller goals which will help you to go beyond your target.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my supporters for their support and motivation over the past 3 months.
Stephanie Fletcher
The past 3 months have been fall of temptations and procrastinations to do anything but the gym and there have been times when, let’s say, I have let the odd one get the better of me. However with the motivation of helping others, as well as the thought of letting all my sponsors down, I would head down to the gym.
On a gorgeous Sunday 25th March, dressed as a clown and
deprived of an hours sleep thanks to the clocks going forward, I joined the first leg of runners at 10:15 to take the challenge on. It was a great atmosphere, with people of all ages running/walking/hopping/skipping for 1, 3 or 6 miles around The Mall – Buckingham Palace. Now in my leg, there were not many people dressed up and being the only clown it was very easy to spot me, so much so I gained a lot of attention from the supporters including the children, one of which asked for my photo as I run past him. I managed to run most of the way and probably could have completed the run a lot quicker if I wasn’t too busy looking at the celebs; I didn’t even stop to talk to my family or fellow runners. The run its self was the best run I have had, and without all the practice I would not have managed to complete the run within my target of 1 hour, or to be a head of my personal target ready for the summer holidays.I have learnt a lot the past few months, with the biggest being if you want to achieve a goal which looks unachievable set yourself smaller goals which will help you to go beyond your target.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my supporters for their support and motivation over the past 3 months.
Stephanie Fletcher
Friday, 30 March 2012
What about worry?
I’m a worrier.
I can’t help it. It seems that my natural reaction to having a bit of free time is to start worrying. I worry about my life, my future, other people and I even worry about the fact that I worry so much! I certainly don’t think I’m alone in this preoccupation of all things negative and what’s more I can prove it. Ask yourself the following question.
When you turn the light off at night and you’re lying in your bed, what do you think about?
Is it money? Is it the bills to pay at the end of the month? How do others perceive me? How’s the job going? What’s the update on that family member whose been struggling?
It’s funny how we hide our worry behind a smile. In the environments that often are the cause of our anxiety we let on that nothing is wrong and act as though we haven’t a care in the world. It’s only when there is nothing else to preoccupy our minds and no one else is around that worry truly takes over.
Worry negatively affects our state of mind, our health, our relationships and our performance. Overcoming it does not come around simply by the way we think; it takes discipline and structure. Here is what Dale Carnegie said on this issue.
"If you want to avoid worry… Live in "day-tight compartments." Don't stew about the future. Just live each day until bedtime."
If worry is something that you struggle with then I strongly urge you to do something about it. Don’t accept it as an inevitable burden you must carry for your life. Don’t let it plague your present, ruin your happiness and cloud your future. As an organisation, Dale Carnegie support individuals in overcoming worry and managing stress. It would be great to discuss with you how we can support you to.
Visit our website or call us on 0207 379 4323.
Brett Mills
I can’t help it. It seems that my natural reaction to having a bit of free time is to start worrying. I worry about my life, my future, other people and I even worry about the fact that I worry so much! I certainly don’t think I’m alone in this preoccupation of all things negative and what’s more I can prove it. Ask yourself the following question.
When you turn the light off at night and you’re lying in your bed, what do you think about?
Is it money? Is it the bills to pay at the end of the month? How do others perceive me? How’s the job going? What’s the update on that family member whose been struggling?
It’s funny how we hide our worry behind a smile. In the environments that often are the cause of our anxiety we let on that nothing is wrong and act as though we haven’t a care in the world. It’s only when there is nothing else to preoccupy our minds and no one else is around that worry truly takes over.
Worry negatively affects our state of mind, our health, our relationships and our performance. Overcoming it does not come around simply by the way we think; it takes discipline and structure. Here is what Dale Carnegie said on this issue.
"If you want to avoid worry… Live in "day-tight compartments." Don't stew about the future. Just live each day until bedtime."
If worry is something that you struggle with then I strongly urge you to do something about it. Don’t accept it as an inevitable burden you must carry for your life. Don’t let it plague your present, ruin your happiness and cloud your future. As an organisation, Dale Carnegie support individuals in overcoming worry and managing stress. It would be great to discuss with you how we can support you to.
Visit our website or call us on 0207 379 4323.
Brett Mills
Monday, 26 March 2012
Practice makes Permanent
Only three days to go and I am starting to get nervous. I am about to co-host a 2 hour workshop this Thursday and I am finding difficult to focus on anything else. Public speaking played a big part in a previous role and all I can remember is that I loved it. I managed a large sales team and was responsible for motivating them daily. I also had opportunities to speak at large national conferences and lived for it. I actually couldn’t remember what it was like the first time I stood up in front of my team or when I spoke to a large audience. Was I nervous? Was I any good?
Our flagship programme, the Dale Carnegie Course has five key drivers and these are developed over a period of time through, facilitation, practice and coaching. Another medium that is used to develop some of these skills is public speaking. I have spoken to many people over the last 18 months for whom confidence was a fundamental challenge that needed to be overcome. I have assured many people that it is natural to feel nerves when speaking in public. I have advised my clients that everyone gets butterflies, even the most polished presenters. It’s just a matter of turning that into excitement and using it in your favour. I believe there are only two instances where you would not feel nerves before presenting. One is if you don’t care about what you are presenting and the second is if you don’t care about the audience.
I have realized however that it is very easy to fall back into my comfort zone. It has been a while since I last presented and the nerves have kicked in big time. I guess it’s time for me to take my own advice and try to make it work for me. I know the only way for me to become a better presenter is to practice and practice.
If you would like to attend some of our free seminars and course previews and find out how we have supported individual’s, teams and companies to over come challenges and get better results then please follow the link below.
FREE SEMINARS AND PREVIEWS
Hopefully, I’ll be presenting at one of these events.
Have a great week,
Amar
Our flagship programme, the Dale Carnegie Course has five key drivers and these are developed over a period of time through, facilitation, practice and coaching. Another medium that is used to develop some of these skills is public speaking. I have spoken to many people over the last 18 months for whom confidence was a fundamental challenge that needed to be overcome. I have assured many people that it is natural to feel nerves when speaking in public. I have advised my clients that everyone gets butterflies, even the most polished presenters. It’s just a matter of turning that into excitement and using it in your favour. I believe there are only two instances where you would not feel nerves before presenting. One is if you don’t care about what you are presenting and the second is if you don’t care about the audience.
I have realized however that it is very easy to fall back into my comfort zone. It has been a while since I last presented and the nerves have kicked in big time. I guess it’s time for me to take my own advice and try to make it work for me. I know the only way for me to become a better presenter is to practice and practice.
If you would like to attend some of our free seminars and course previews and find out how we have supported individual’s, teams and companies to over come challenges and get better results then please follow the link below.
FREE SEMINARS AND PREVIEWS
Hopefully, I’ll be presenting at one of these events.
Have a great week,
Amar
Friday, 16 March 2012
Create change and see what happens
With The Apprentice returning to our screens next week it’s timely that I should discuss an entrepreneur in this blog post. One who had an idea for a product and who followed it through with grit, determination, initiative, passion and trying something different. Here’s some things I learned which I wanted to share.....Sara Blakely came up with an idea of creating underwear which makes you look thinner and solves the VPL which so many women try to avoid. Spanx was born. And now at the age of 41 she is a self made billionaire (1 billion USD, £638 million). I have no idea whether she was in it for the money or if she wanted to create something she was passionate about, but however you measure her success, she is in no doubt successful. So just how did she do it?
Her past jobs certainly helped her. She worked at Disney as a meeter-and-greeter which no doubt gave her a background in Customer Service (as Disney are renowned for excellent customer service). She then worked as a door-to-door salesperson and was used to hearing ‘No’s’ and having knockbacks.....no doubt with the odd door slammed in her face. She also was a stand up comic in her spare time which meant she had no problems presenting to crowds, some of whom I can imagine could be a tad difficult.
She was passionate about her product and invested her life savings to make it happen. And in order to get her product noticed she really had to fall back on to her previous sales role.
Sara also had initiative and in her 10 min slot with a potential buyer she took her to the ladies to show her a before and after demonstration of her product rather than spend the whole precious ten minutes explaining to the buyer why she should stock her product. There certainly wasn’t a confidence issue there. But her big break came six months after that meeting whereby she sent a sample to Oprah Winfrey who was so impressed with her product that she added it to her Favourite Things Show. What better free advertising/PR can you get than an endorsement from a world renowned celebrity on a show which is seen on a global scale? Needless to say Sara never looked back after that.
As a result of her success, she set up the Sara Blakely Foundation to help women through education and entrepreneurial training which also funds scholarships in South Africa, as well as donating $1 million to Oprah Winfrey’s Leadership Academy.....therefore giving back to the community.
Some of us will have an idea which we want to pursue and some of us won’t. Some of us will have most of the tools we need to pursue that goal and some of us won’t. If you would like to know how to present to groups, or build up your confidence, then by all means drop us a line. We are friendly, helpful and above all, really listen to what you require. And we would love to help you achieve your dreams.
I will leave you with a quote from Sara Blakely which I think sums up her success:
‘Now I give speeches and I always ask: If no one showed you how to do your job, how would you be doing it? Take a moment and ask that question. Often your way is better. Maybe it’s a fresh new approach. If you are doing something the way that everyone is doing it, you are not really creating change by doing it that way.’
Helen
Friday, 2 March 2012
The story so far……
Having come through the second full day of training in the last month to be a Dale Carnegie Coach I am currently experiencing an array of emotions. I am really fired up and enthusiastic but also nervous at the prospect of another session at the end of March and the crucial assessment event taking place over four consecutive days at the back end of April.
My journey started back in September 2010 and I am getting closer to crunch time. I have realized in the last 30 days that becoming a coach is challenging and becoming an excellent coach requires passion, drive, determination, tenacity and an unbelievable amount of effort.
To have the ability to help people improve in their key development areas, coaching in real-time to redirect from ineffectual habits and provide feedback relevant to the learning objectives and the individual’s goals requires practice, practice and more practice.
Needless to say I have a new found respect for my colleagues that consistently and effectively support others to reach their visions.
I have been in the business for 15 months and despite seeing the results of the coaching, I never realised until now the process and effort involved of getting people from where they are to where they need to be, faster and with less anxiety.
Our seminars and previews are designed to give people at least a couple of new ideas that they can implement in their business or private life to improve the results they are getting.
Please visit our website to see a list of our complimentary events you can attend in the coming weeks.
I look forward to supporting you in the near future to achieve your goals.
Have a great weekend.
Amar
My journey started back in September 2010 and I am getting closer to crunch time. I have realized in the last 30 days that becoming a coach is challenging and becoming an excellent coach requires passion, drive, determination, tenacity and an unbelievable amount of effort.
To have the ability to help people improve in their key development areas, coaching in real-time to redirect from ineffectual habits and provide feedback relevant to the learning objectives and the individual’s goals requires practice, practice and more practice.
Needless to say I have a new found respect for my colleagues that consistently and effectively support others to reach their visions.
I have been in the business for 15 months and despite seeing the results of the coaching, I never realised until now the process and effort involved of getting people from where they are to where they need to be, faster and with less anxiety.
Our seminars and previews are designed to give people at least a couple of new ideas that they can implement in their business or private life to improve the results they are getting.
Please visit our website to see a list of our complimentary events you can attend in the coming weeks.
I look forward to supporting you in the near future to achieve your goals.
Have a great weekend.
Amar
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Creating an Adaptive Workforce
Due to various internal and external pressures, companies today are forced to be more responsive to shifting market needs; more flexible in how they operate; more focused on their core competencies; and more resilient to external threats.
Developing a workforce that is adaptable to change has become essential. According to the Global Human Capital Study , however, only 14 percent of HR executives state their workforce is very capable of adapting to change.
The Study identified three critical success factors to developing an adaptable workforce:
The ability to predict future skills: Successfully anticipating future business scenarios enables organizations to know what key competencies to target in advance of critical market shifts. Only 13 percent of organizations interviewed believe they have a very clear understanding of the skills they will require in the next three to five years.
The ability to locate experts: While predicting future skills is important, so is the ability to apply existing knowledge and skills to new challenges. Expertise location is cited by respondents as critical in identifying and allocating resources to address new opportunities and threats. Only 13 percent believe they are very capable of identifying individuals with specific expertise within the organization. Companies are using a variety of techniques to improve their expertise location capability. More than 50 percent of companies that rate themselves as “very effective" in locating experts use some form of employee directory while only 39 percent of all respondents report using them.
The ability to foster collaboration: Once the experts are located and identified, collaboration is the next step to foster innovation and growth. According to the study, only 8 percent of companies believe they are very effective in fostering collaboration across the enterprise. Surprisingly, technology is not the deterrent to effective collaboration, with only 28 percent of companies indicating this is a significant factor. Instead, organizational silos (42 percent) are the leading barrier of collaboration in an organization, followed by time pressures (40 percent) and misaligned performance measures (39 percent).
Therefore its important that you and your organisation put procedures in place now rather than later to make sure you are able to make the most of the volatile markets we find ourselves doing business in .
Mark De Stadler
Dale Carnegie
Performance Consultant
Monday, 20 February 2012
Inspirational Lady
“The Greatest Love of All” is the song I always sing on karaoke.“I Will Always Love You” is the song that reminds me of the time my Nan moved to New York, 14 years ago.
“I Wanna Dance with Somebody” is the song that is guaranteed to get me up on the dance floor.
If someone asked me to name my favorite Whitney song, I do not think I could…could you? She really was an inspirational lady, as every celebrity and person who has paid their respects has mentioned. And the more I heard how Whitney had inspired actors, members of the public and singers such as Britney Spears and Mariah Carey, I started to think a) who has inspired me and b) have I ever inspired anyone.
There are 2 people who have inspired me in my life time. My mum has shown me that hard work and work life balance does pay off, and that you can achieve if you try. The other is Richard Branson, he has inspired me that no matter your background, if you believe in your dreams and are prepared to take the risks, you can achieve beyond your original dreams, and become one of the most successful people in the World.
It took me a lot longer to answer b, as I can think of many stories where I have influenced others but not inspired. Then I overheard a conversation between my mum and aunty, when I realized that I have in fact inspired my 2 baby sisters. They have seen what years of hard work and determination can achieve, and as they approach their last year of being a teen, and first year of the 20s, they are following their older sisters footsteps and are on track to achieving great success (if I do say so myself…Carla & Kirsty do not let me down). The feeling and smile that I have a result of knowing that I have inspired and helped my sisters to being successful and happy, is one that I cannot explain.
If you want to become an inspirational person like Whitney and myself, then come down to our free seminar on 7th March, where we can help turn you into an inspirational leader.
Stephanie Fletcher
Monday, 13 February 2012
Stop, collaborate and listen.
“I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me.” - Dudley Field Malone
For those of you who haven’t heard of him, Dudley Field Malone was an attorney, politician, liberal activist and actor. If you have heard of him, then I would like to congratulate you for utilizing the wonderful world of Wikipedia. Don’t pretend you didn’t.
While his name may not register, I would assume that like me, the quote itself may have struck a chord with you. As individuals we all have areas in which we are very opinionated, passionate and keen to put across our point of view. In fact for some, were keen to put across an opinion regardless of the topic of conversation. I too am guilty of this as only this morning I found myself in an unnecessarily passionate debate about the working conditions of a job occupancy I no longer hold in a company I no longer work for.
The point is that while it’s fine to voice an opinion, we have to make sure that in doing so we don’t prevent ourselves from listening to an alternative point of view. We’re often so focused on ensuring our message is absorbed by everybody else that we neglect the opportunity to view things from a different standpoint. The reason I love the quote above is because it implies that whenever we communicate our own thoughts we learn absolutely nothing. We can only speak what we already know. It’s by listening to the insights of others that we are guaranteed to learn something new and ensure we can broaden our own views by knowing more about the subject in question.
At Dale Carnegie, we encourage and develop the concept of Active Listening. We coach people on not only how to absorb information we hear but how to act appropriately on it. The benefits of such a concept are far reaching and if you would like to know more, please visit our website or give us a call.
Brett Mills
For those of you who haven’t heard of him, Dudley Field Malone was an attorney, politician, liberal activist and actor. If you have heard of him, then I would like to congratulate you for utilizing the wonderful world of Wikipedia. Don’t pretend you didn’t.
While his name may not register, I would assume that like me, the quote itself may have struck a chord with you. As individuals we all have areas in which we are very opinionated, passionate and keen to put across our point of view. In fact for some, were keen to put across an opinion regardless of the topic of conversation. I too am guilty of this as only this morning I found myself in an unnecessarily passionate debate about the working conditions of a job occupancy I no longer hold in a company I no longer work for.
The point is that while it’s fine to voice an opinion, we have to make sure that in doing so we don’t prevent ourselves from listening to an alternative point of view. We’re often so focused on ensuring our message is absorbed by everybody else that we neglect the opportunity to view things from a different standpoint. The reason I love the quote above is because it implies that whenever we communicate our own thoughts we learn absolutely nothing. We can only speak what we already know. It’s by listening to the insights of others that we are guaranteed to learn something new and ensure we can broaden our own views by knowing more about the subject in question.
At Dale Carnegie, we encourage and develop the concept of Active Listening. We coach people on not only how to absorb information we hear but how to act appropriately on it. The benefits of such a concept are far reaching and if you would like to know more, please visit our website or give us a call.
Brett Mills
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