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.
Showing posts with label dale carnegie london. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dale carnegie london. Show all posts
Wednesday, 7 November 2012
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!”
Monday, 7 May 2012
Power of Presentations
Last week Wednesday I had the enjoyable experience of being part of a judging panel for the Jack Petchy Foundation, Speak Out competition.
This competition provides a platform for young children between the ages of 14 - 16 from previously disadvantaged areas to talk for 3 minutes about a topic which they are passionate about.
I was involved in the Hackney regional final, where the winner of this event stood the chance of presenting in front of 900 guests at the main gala event on the 2nd July.
At the event there were 15 youths who took to the stage with enthusiasm and passion, whereby each took the opportunity to persuade us with their personal ideas. I was extremely impressed with the level of the presenters, conscious that many of these youths mostly likely never had a platform to present to such a large audience.
We had to mark the presenters in three areas namely, content, deliver and structure.
The overall winner was a young lady who talked about gang wars and how youths are killing each other over the simplicity of a entering their territory which is defined by the post code they live in. When she arrived at the stage she went straight into the incident of when she was personally involved in a turf war scuffle, using excellent body language and vocal verity she allowed the audience to get a glimpse of what it's like to be right in the middle of a extremely hostile and dangerous time a place. At the end of the 3 minutes she left us with a defining question of is it really worth dying over a postcode?
But the evenings success was not just one talented young lady but each and every one of the presenters, because it showed me how important it is to empower our youth. The evening also taught me how getting on stage really develops a person's self confidence. I'm sure everyone of those participants are looking to the future with more confidence that they will be able to secure employment and go on to become leaders of the future.
Therefore I encourage you after reading this blog to see where you can get involved to empower the youths of the future.
Mark de Stadler
This competition provides a platform for young children between the ages of 14 - 16 from previously disadvantaged areas to talk for 3 minutes about a topic which they are passionate about.
I was involved in the Hackney regional final, where the winner of this event stood the chance of presenting in front of 900 guests at the main gala event on the 2nd July.
At the event there were 15 youths who took to the stage with enthusiasm and passion, whereby each took the opportunity to persuade us with their personal ideas. I was extremely impressed with the level of the presenters, conscious that many of these youths mostly likely never had a platform to present to such a large audience.
We had to mark the presenters in three areas namely, content, deliver and structure.
The overall winner was a young lady who talked about gang wars and how youths are killing each other over the simplicity of a entering their territory which is defined by the post code they live in. When she arrived at the stage she went straight into the incident of when she was personally involved in a turf war scuffle, using excellent body language and vocal verity she allowed the audience to get a glimpse of what it's like to be right in the middle of a extremely hostile and dangerous time a place. At the end of the 3 minutes she left us with a defining question of is it really worth dying over a postcode?
But the evenings success was not just one talented young lady but each and every one of the presenters, because it showed me how important it is to empower our youth. The evening also taught me how getting on stage really develops a person's self confidence. I'm sure everyone of those participants are looking to the future with more confidence that they will be able to secure employment and go on to become leaders of the future.
Therefore I encourage you after reading this blog to see where you can get involved to empower the youths of the future.
Mark de Stadler
Thursday, 12 April 2012
Techniques for Effective Cold Calling
Pre-Approach
The pre-approach gives you the knowledge and power to have informed discussions with prospects. Analyzing prospect data will help you tailor your approach. But don’t let the pre-approach slow you down and become a barrier to making the sale. Sometimes picking up the phone or dropping in on prospect is the best course of action.
Six "must knows" before picking up the phone
1. Key information about the industry, company, and people
2. Specific key issues and needs they are facing
3. Evidence of your past results with similar customers
4. Common ground or contacts
5. Specific call objectives
6. An appropriate call opening
Whether you’re making an appearance or using the telephone, the sales process doesn’t change. But using the phone presents a different set of challenges that you need to be aware of and prepare for. Some of these challenges are:
• It’s easy for customers to avoid you.
• Many people see incoming phone calls as an interruption.
• Attention spans on the phone are dramatically shorter than in face-to-face meetings.
• You can’t see customer reactions.
• Body language, a major communication tool in face-to-face meetings, is eliminated.
• It’s easy for a customer to do something else while talking to you.
• Technology can make getting to the right person challenging.
Develop your cold calling skills and grow your customer base with Dale Carnegie Training's Live Online Training Program.
The pre-approach gives you the knowledge and power to have informed discussions with prospects. Analyzing prospect data will help you tailor your approach. But don’t let the pre-approach slow you down and become a barrier to making the sale. Sometimes picking up the phone or dropping in on prospect is the best course of action.
Six "must knows" before picking up the phone
1. Key information about the industry, company, and people
2. Specific key issues and needs they are facing
3. Evidence of your past results with similar customers
4. Common ground or contacts
5. Specific call objectives
6. An appropriate call opening
Whether you’re making an appearance or using the telephone, the sales process doesn’t change. But using the phone presents a different set of challenges that you need to be aware of and prepare for. Some of these challenges are:
• It’s easy for customers to avoid you.
• Many people see incoming phone calls as an interruption.
• Attention spans on the phone are dramatically shorter than in face-to-face meetings.
• You can’t see customer reactions.
• Body language, a major communication tool in face-to-face meetings, is eliminated.
• It’s easy for a customer to do something else while talking to you.
• Technology can make getting to the right person challenging.
Develop your cold calling skills and grow your customer base with Dale Carnegie Training's Live Online Training Program.
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
Monday, 2 April 2012
All Change Please
When it comes to dealing with change we are aware certain critical factors need serious consideration as early in the change process as possible, time permitting of course. Two of these critical factors are the communication and people aspects of change.
Change is an ongoing and often a costly affair. Our desire to become ‘best in class’ and achieve or maintain a competitive edge means investing in new technologies, innovating, and striving to deliver world class service through cutting edge products or people.
Where there is call for such investment, having answers to some fundamental questions can help establish how ‘ready’ our organisation is to handle change and even manage it more successfully more of the time. As we know change is a constant.
You may want to consider the following questions to get the ball rolling:
What are the most critical changes we are/will face now and in the near future?
Of these critical changes which are most likely to impact our people?
On what basis have we prioritised the changes?
Which are likely to have a positive impact on our people in the short/medium/long term?
Which are likely to have a negative impact on our people, in the short/medium/long term?
How are we involving our people in change?
How could we involve our people more in change?
Who are my true key players in implementing change?
Who are my key influencers in implementing change?
Of these people who do I need to commit more time to?
Who do I need to give more responsibility to?
What/Who are my key potential "bottle necks" and why?
Who has a clear understanding of what each change is designed to achieve?
To what depth have any current changes been communicated?
What steps are in place to ensure ensuing changes are communicated?
How has is change communication typically cascaded?
How will we know we have succeeded in effectively implementing change?
When it comes to change it is easy to see how the more we understand the more questions will surface. The questions above are by no means a proven structured approach to managing change but are meant to serve as a glimpse at the scale of readiness of a company and its people.
Angelina Foden
Change is an ongoing and often a costly affair. Our desire to become ‘best in class’ and achieve or maintain a competitive edge means investing in new technologies, innovating, and striving to deliver world class service through cutting edge products or people.
Where there is call for such investment, having answers to some fundamental questions can help establish how ‘ready’ our organisation is to handle change and even manage it more successfully more of the time. As we know change is a constant.
You may want to consider the following questions to get the ball rolling:
What are the most critical changes we are/will face now and in the near future?
Of these critical changes which are most likely to impact our people?
On what basis have we prioritised the changes?
Which are likely to have a positive impact on our people in the short/medium/long term?
Which are likely to have a negative impact on our people, in the short/medium/long term?
How are we involving our people in change?
How could we involve our people more in change?
Who are my true key players in implementing change?
Who are my key influencers in implementing change?
Of these people who do I need to commit more time to?
Who do I need to give more responsibility to?
What/Who are my key potential "bottle necks" and why?
Who has a clear understanding of what each change is designed to achieve?
To what depth have any current changes been communicated?
What steps are in place to ensure ensuing changes are communicated?
How has is change communication typically cascaded?
How will we know we have succeeded in effectively implementing change?
When it comes to change it is easy to see how the more we understand the more questions will surface. The questions above are by no means a proven structured approach to managing change but are meant to serve as a glimpse at the scale of readiness of a company and its people.
Angelina Foden
Monday, 19 March 2012
Get Over It
Just having got over a cold that has lasted for 4 weeks had me thinking about other things in life we have to 'get over'.
The failed romance - we are told - "you'll get over it"
Losing a golf competition - we are told - "you'll get over it"
Getting into debt and seeing no way out - "you'll get over it"
Losing a client - "you'll get over it"
Why is it such a popular expression? What is it we have to get over?
Getting over something suggests an obstacle, barrier, or some other frustration which prevents us for carrying on as normal. And it is this carrying on as normal that is the problem.
The world is changing rapidly around us. You've heard the adage 'better, faster, with less'. If we carry on as normal we are surely getting left behind. So what we have to get over is a state of being that does not see the need to change. This applies to our role as leaders almost more than any other situation.
This was amply demonstrated in a module of one of our training programmes when the group finally decided that what they had to 'get over' was thinking about themselves and devote their time and attention to others. Once they let go of their ego's and concentrated entirely upon the needs of others they showed up more powerfully, more assertive, more in control, more caring, more generous.
Leaders need followers - you've heard that before - so what would you follow. The lead that somebody provides that is entirely in your interests or someone whose ego is needing to be fed?
Talk to us about servant leadership!
David Pickering
The failed romance - we are told - "you'll get over it"
Losing a golf competition - we are told - "you'll get over it"
Getting into debt and seeing no way out - "you'll get over it"
Losing a client - "you'll get over it"
Why is it such a popular expression? What is it we have to get over?
Getting over something suggests an obstacle, barrier, or some other frustration which prevents us for carrying on as normal. And it is this carrying on as normal that is the problem.
The world is changing rapidly around us. You've heard the adage 'better, faster, with less'. If we carry on as normal we are surely getting left behind. So what we have to get over is a state of being that does not see the need to change. This applies to our role as leaders almost more than any other situation.
This was amply demonstrated in a module of one of our training programmes when the group finally decided that what they had to 'get over' was thinking about themselves and devote their time and attention to others. Once they let go of their ego's and concentrated entirely upon the needs of others they showed up more powerfully, more assertive, more in control, more caring, more generous.
Leaders need followers - you've heard that before - so what would you follow. The lead that somebody provides that is entirely in your interests or someone whose ego is needing to be fed?
Talk to us about servant leadership!
David Pickering
Wednesday, 14 March 2012
Leadership Development Increases Performance.....FACT!
It has been reported that the Government should make leadership development a key part of its "skills for growth" strategy in order to improve the UK's competitiveness and boost economic growth, a report has recommended.
According to the "Business benefits of management and leadership development" report, produced by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and HR consultancy Penna, 34% of individuals across all levels of management consider their line managers to be ineffective.
The report, which surveyed 4,500 managers, found that companies that invested in the development of leaders saw increases of up to 32% in people performance and 23% in organisational performance.
In addition, organisations that performed well spent, on average, 36% more on leadership development per manager per year than those with low performance levels.
The report's findings suggest that simply spending more on managers' development is not necessarily the answer - employers are, in general, investing in a range of leadership development activities, but the types of training being used are not always the most effective.
Short courses on management and leadership were used by 43% of organisations but were rated as one of the most effective tools to train leaders by only 34% of respondents.
To continue to read this report please visit http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2012/02/28/58366/leadership-development-must-be-part-of-skills-for-growth-strategy-says-report.html
Find out how Dale Carnegie can improve your leadership development and help increase your people and organisational performance visit our web site, or contact us for more information on 0207 379 4323
Stephanie Fletcher
Friday, 9 March 2012
You can't beat this blog - The art of competition.
If I was to compare my current workplace to my old one, a key similarity would be the element of competition. I use to be an extremely competitive person, to the point that winning was so important that it did not matter what the competition was. I remember how much of a sulk I sank into just because my top score of 186 at bowling was beaten by my friend who scored 201. I didn’t speak to him for the whole journey home, which made it quite difficult for him to drop me off when he didn’t know where I lived.
I have since become far more disciplined in the art of competition. I don’t let losing bother me as much as it did and I’m even at a place where I can genuinely congratulate someone who’s bested me without feeling bitter. Such discipline was tested to the limit in my previous job in telesales. As I mentioned earlier, it was an extremely competitive environment and unfortunately, not everybody handled that environment well. There was a lot of backbiting, underhanded sales and even stealing leads from colleagues. Competition was integral to the role, but it was not utilised effectively.
If I compare that to my current job at Dale Carnegie, there is still that sense of competition but the atmosphere it creates is entirely healthy and motivational. Since I’ve been here, I have challenged people to table tennis games, been absolutely annihilated at Scrabble and been verbally abused in a game of Pictionary. As before, the office is full of competitive people, but everyone combines that mentality with one of team work. There is a genuine desire to see those around you succeed. Sure, we each have our individual goals and use the idea of competition to motivate us, but never at the expense of another in the team.
I would encourage you to look at how you deal with the idea of competition. Is it a healthy motivator? Or does it create conflict and negativity with those around you?
Visit our website http://www.london.dalecarnegie.co.uk/ to find various solutions for avoiding such conflict in your workplace.
Brett Mills
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
The Beneficial Overspill of Mastering Stress
The beneficial overspill of mastering stress.
Those of you who are blessed enough to have a dream commute each day ought to be hailed genius. Your intuitive decision making on location and mode of transport is to be celebrated.
I still haven’t managed to master my commute. Tube journeys are squashed and uncomfortable, and then I’m to dash from platform to platform if the next driver has decided to take a jolly jaunt on route. My contingency, an hour long bus ride, whilst providing a seat faces multiple diversions and delays. This often means the journey takes 90 minutes and without warning the driver will terminate the journey in order to get back to the depot on time leaving passengers to fend for themselves off the beaten track. Not a great start to the day.
Knowing the likelihood of the ‘rug being pulled from under’ my smooth journey at any point has often meant me being fraught with underlying stress, and when things do go wrong I have reacted in a less than favourable manner, to say the least. This stressed and disgruntled state of mind has stayed with me through to midday on occasion, so I can only guess the words and phrases used by my colleagues to describe my. Not a great impression to create.
I recently completed the Dale Carnegie Skills for Success programme, and on the final session I spoke of the benefits I have gained and they were numerous. However yesterdays commute really demonstrated just how far reaching the benefits of managing my stress and worry are.
At just beyond the half-way point of my journey to work the driver politely announced he would be terminating the journey. “You can just follow this road until you get close to Marble Arch and then ask somebody from there if you don’t know your way around” was his solution for the tourist groups who had deliberately set out early to explore this wonderful city of ours. For the rest of us? “You know this can happen.” Helpful!
Usually at this announcement my knee-jerk reaction would be to openly express my disappointment, frustration and anger vigorously however on this occasion I simply listened, accepted and began my long walk toward the office. Each attempt to catch another bus failed however I kept moving in the direction of Covent Garden and kept my thoughts positive and productive. Not only was I calm when I arrived at work I had also come up with a couple of new ideas I couldn’t wait to test out so I was in fact fairly fired up and raring to go. What a difference! My next goal is to apply this more often when faced with challenges that are beyond my control but can often be costly in terms of my wellbeing.
I look forward to letting you know how it goes. Enjoy your day.
Angelina Foden
Those of you who are blessed enough to have a dream commute each day ought to be hailed genius. Your intuitive decision making on location and mode of transport is to be celebrated.
I still haven’t managed to master my commute. Tube journeys are squashed and uncomfortable, and then I’m to dash from platform to platform if the next driver has decided to take a jolly jaunt on route. My contingency, an hour long bus ride, whilst providing a seat faces multiple diversions and delays. This often means the journey takes 90 minutes and without warning the driver will terminate the journey in order to get back to the depot on time leaving passengers to fend for themselves off the beaten track. Not a great start to the day.
Knowing the likelihood of the ‘rug being pulled from under’ my smooth journey at any point has often meant me being fraught with underlying stress, and when things do go wrong I have reacted in a less than favourable manner, to say the least. This stressed and disgruntled state of mind has stayed with me through to midday on occasion, so I can only guess the words and phrases used by my colleagues to describe my. Not a great impression to create.
I recently completed the Dale Carnegie Skills for Success programme, and on the final session I spoke of the benefits I have gained and they were numerous. However yesterdays commute really demonstrated just how far reaching the benefits of managing my stress and worry are.
At just beyond the half-way point of my journey to work the driver politely announced he would be terminating the journey. “You can just follow this road until you get close to Marble Arch and then ask somebody from there if you don’t know your way around” was his solution for the tourist groups who had deliberately set out early to explore this wonderful city of ours. For the rest of us? “You know this can happen.” Helpful!
Usually at this announcement my knee-jerk reaction would be to openly express my disappointment, frustration and anger vigorously however on this occasion I simply listened, accepted and began my long walk toward the office. Each attempt to catch another bus failed however I kept moving in the direction of Covent Garden and kept my thoughts positive and productive. Not only was I calm when I arrived at work I had also come up with a couple of new ideas I couldn’t wait to test out so I was in fact fairly fired up and raring to go. What a difference! My next goal is to apply this more often when faced with challenges that are beyond my control but can often be costly in terms of my wellbeing.
I look forward to letting you know how it goes. Enjoy your day.
Angelina Foden
Monday, 6 February 2012
Can't see the wood from the trees
Popular saying....
A few weeks ago I found myself in a situation where I was so busy with the detail that I lost track of the priorities. Emails, proposals, admin, meetings...so much things to do, so little time.
Sometimes we get stuck in the 'doing' and forget that in order to progress it's important to think of the future and plan. If you find yourself in a similar place, make time to articulate your vision/ objectives, set up a strategy and implement it without delay.
And remember: "People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing" - Dale Carnegie
Corina Balaneanu
Friday, 3 February 2012
Love is .....????
Friday was a bit of a milestone for a group of new candidates to become Dale Carnegie Trainers. It was the first event where they were directly exposed to the demands placed upon those that we grant the right to support people who wish to change their lives in our programmes and seminars.
There are 10 core competences in which they must excel and, when running through these, the PowerPoint slide is designed in such a way that the 10th, and more important, competency is at the centre of a circle; at the heart of all the others. This 10th competency is human relations.
For those of you that have read How to Win Friends and Influence People it will apparent that the degree of shift in behaviour needed to be consistent in the application of the thirty principles, is significant for most of us. The overriding message of all these principles is to treat other people as you would wish to be treated yourself. Any debate or discussion following this topic to its natural end is; that to become such a person requires total selflessness. We have to be totally committed to the growth and development of another.
If another's' behaviour is going to shift permanently then their soul must shift too. Without this shift of the soul, being or spirit, the behaviour shift becomes contrived by each human interaction; by thinking and acting on 'Ah, which principle will I use on him or her'.
With all the reading I do on this subject and especially when reflecting on what Dale Carnegie himself says about who we should be for others, then love is appropriately defined as 'being committed to the spiritual development of another'.
Thus to be a superb Dale Carnegie Trainer one must love, not in a romantic sense of course as that is ultimately self serving, through being totally selfless and focussed on others.
Now isn't that how you would like to be treated?
David Pickering
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