Solutions in Plain Sight Archives - WebTalkRadio.net

Are you a baby boomer who struggles to figure out how to lead the next generation or wonders why they don’t seem to have the same work ethic as you? Are you a Gen X or Gen Y, who’s struggling to figure how to work within an established system? There are a lot of myths and stereotypes being perpetuated in the media about Boomers, Gen x, Gen y, and Millenials, and today we’re going to get to the bottom of this with solutions in plain sight to help leaders at all levels leverage the differences instead of fighting them.

Cheryl Bonini Ellis is a trusted business advisor with over 30 years of rich and varied leadership experience. After spending several years helping to plan and implement a large-scale Diversity Initiative in a major U.S. company, Cheryl realized that understanding and valuing generational differences was often the fastest route to the best solution. If you need a couple of AHA! Moments to help you embrace the differences instead feeling frustrated by working with people who “aren’t like you”, you’ll hear them today. And, since the generational differences are not going away, it’s even more important to learn how to leverage them with solutions in plain sight that can create new opportunities for our businesses.

Solutions in Plain Sight Radio is all about the AHA! Moments that move the needle in your business. Getting the generations to thrive together is key, as President Obama found when he mastered the way to leave conventional-thinking boomers in the dust in two elections by engaging his own Gen X generation, Gen Y/Millenials, AND Boomers. Yet every day, his party struggles to bring people who think very differently to a common understanding of how to achieve some very big goals. Sound familiar? Give Cheryl’s common-sense advice a listen, and make sure to download The 5 Habits of Lousy Listeners from her website – I think it will serve you well. Find even more solutions and resources here: Simply. Accelerate your Results.

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Research suggests that less-successful companies often develop Strategic Plans containing 40-60 items, while highly successful companies limit themselves to 5-7 priorities. You won’t want to miss the provocative approach today’s guest shares that increases focus and accelerates your results.

Jim Alampi is the author of Great to Excellent; It’s the Execution!, the former CEO/Chairman of three public companies ranging in size from $325 million to $1.5 billion, and currently Managing Director and Founder of Alampi and Associates LLC. He is well-known to the C-level members of TEC/Vistage where he has been awarded Speaker of the Year honors.

We’ve both seen the difference when we’ve helped clients make the shift from a 40-item Strategic Plan to one that enhanced their ability to execute by focusing on “less is more”. However, the toughest challenge is to break bad habits and make that shift from “many” to “few”. Jim shares a great AHA! Moment that will have leaders at every level re-thinking their priorities, identifying what is actually holding them back rather than driving them forward, and replacing the overwhelm with focus.

Solutions in Plain Sight Radio is all about the AHA! Moments that move the needle in your business, and the ability to accelerate execution by focusing on less is essential to your success. Your next step? Listen, embed the “Stop Doing” list in your business practices, pick up a copy of Jim’s book, and find even more AHA’s with these free resources.

Simply. Accelerate your Results.

The post Solutions in Plain Sight – [GREAT BOOK and MORE] What Could You Accomplish if You Had a “Stop Doing” List? appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

Do you love being right? Do you think you have to have all the answers because you’re the boss? Do other people tend to think of you as a know-it-all – even if you’re well-intentioned and trying to be collaborative? Are you finding that your conversations don’t always go in direction you hoped they would, or worse still, leave a lot of hard feelings? And do you hate it when others think they’re always right? If that’s the case, then you’re in good company – a lot of us who are intelligent and assertive, not to mention a bit type-A, often believe in the strength of our arguments to the detriment of actually forging a better way forward, and today, our guest is going to share some solutions in plain sight to these challenges.

As a former litigation lawyer, Diane A. Ross was trained to “be right” – to construct air-tight arguments that would win the day. When she decided to leave the practice of law, she found that to her dismay she was not an expert communicator – in fact, all of those skills worked against her in the business world and in her personal life. Now as a certified coach and mediator, Diane has completely reworked her communication skills and is the author of The Elephant in the Office: Super-Simple Strategies for Difficult Conversations at Work.

Today, Diane shares a tremendous AHA! Moment that you can start using immediately – I even started using it in an email I was writing immediately after the show to give a colleague some requested-but-not-entirely-positive feedback, and saw the difference right away. This is a Solution in Plain Sight that you will be able to easily integrate into your everyday communications with others, and I’d be willing to bet that its going to transform your relationships for the better, both in and out of the office.

Solutions in Plain Sight Radio is all about the AHA! Moments that move the needle in your business. Helping people listen and respond positively to praise and constructive criticism is essential if you want to keep everyone moving towards achieving your greater goals. Just give today’s show a listen. Put Diane’s simple AHA! into action. And download her free ebook Top 10 Tips for Difficult Conversation Jitters to make small, highly effective shifts in your communication style even more quickly and easily.

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One of the greatest challenges in being an effective leader is learning how to get your diverse group of talented people to work together towards a common goal. Instead, we often find silos of competing interests, tensions within teams, well-intentioned people who may think they’re doing the right thing but may not fully understand the bigger picture and thus are actually just spinning their wheels, or worse yet, disengaged people.

Earl Cobb has insightful solutions in plain sight, all built around the acronym of L.E.A.D.E.R.S.H.I.P. and learned in the trenches of senior management roles with ELDEC corporation, Motorola, Reynolds and Reynolds, Wells Fargo and more. Having also served as an adjunct business management professor with DeVry University.

As with every Solution in Plain Sight, Earl shares common-sense practices that you’ll recognize immediately, but then adds a unique spin on each, illustrated by AHA! moment stories that help you get beyond the theory and start to embed great practices into your business immediately. Earl has graciously offered a free copy of his ebook, Focused Leadership, when you use coupon code MQ35J.

Solutions in Plain Sight Radio is all about the AHA! Moments that move the needle in your business. When everyone is moving enthusiastically towards a common goal as a result of great leadership, magic happens. You may reach Earl through his website, but whatever you do, download your copy of his Focused Leadership book today. It’s a great read.

The post Solutions in Plain Sight – [FREE eBook] The 10-Step L.E.A.D.E.R.S.H.I.P Approach To Helping Talented People Work Towards a Common Goal. appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

In today’s world of fast-paced communications, whether quick emails, short texts, or greetings in passing as we race to our next commitment, it’s easy to have communication go awry and be misinterpreted. Yet all of our relationships are based on effective communication, so it’s essential to bridge the gap.

In her 34-year military career Colonel Deb Lewis (Retired) held three Brigade/Battalion-level commands, including a $3 billion reconstruction program in Baghdad during combat in Iraq, and many other leadership roles and key staff positions. She has the distinction of graduating from West Point, in 1980 in the first class with women, a subsequently earned an MBA from Harvard and a Master of Science degree

From the hallways of West Point to the Pentagon, to Iraq, Deb has observed that how we greet each other is a key indicator (like the canary in a mine) that tells volumes about our relationships, either drawing us closer or pushing us apart. In today’s show, you’ll hear some AHA! Moments to help you as a leader at any level fulfill your primary role of bring out the best in everyone, especially yourself, and it all starts with communication.

Solutions in Plain Sight Radio is all about the AHA! Moments that move the needle in your business. When every ‘Hello’ builds better relationships, you have the key to success. Connect with Deb via email for more information, or watch a very special video she created that illustrates the importance of leadership and communication, all told through a children’s story.

Simply. Accelerate your Results.

The post Solutions in Plain Sight – Is Your ‘Hello’ Holding You Hostage? appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

A timeless Harvard Business Review article postulated that “Leaders are Made, not Born”, and many of us invest in courses, books, and programs to enhance our skills. This show uncovers an overlooked approach that I wish I’d discovered much earlier in my career.

Catherine Osler was a young entrepreneur who in a period of 15 years built her communications company into the largest in the country, guided it through a merger, and took part of it public. She didn’t know how to do any of those things, but credits a very supportive peer mentoring group as a key part of her success. Catherine eventually led peer mentoring groups in that same organization, and is now the President of TEC Canada, known as Vistage elsewhere around the world with over 16,000 members worldwide.

There are many, many peer mentoring organizations to choose from, which speaks to the need to take leadership development beyond an “event” approach such as an executive seminar, and into an ongoing “process” of having the tough conversations with fellow leaders whose only agenda is your success. If you have people issues, process issues, profit issues, or any of the issues that arise in everyday business, there’s a good chance that one of your peers can give you a perspective you haven’t considered, or insights from their own successes and failures. This does not replace coaching or executive programs, it simply enhances it, because in the former you have the input of one person; in the latter, you have the input of 10 or 15. More heads are simply better than one.

Solutions in Plain Sight Radio is all about the resources and AHA! Moments that move the needle in your business. Many managers aspiring to lead, and many lonely leaders already at the top, never even learn what a good peer mentoring group can bring to their business. Every leader owes it to themselves to do their homework, find a peer mentoring group that fits their needs, and commit to the process of leadership development.

Simply. Accelerate your Results.

The post Solutions in Plain Sight – Are You Overlooking This Powerful Way to Develop Yourself as a Leader? appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

We all know that customer loyalty and retention is critical to the success of our business, yet amongst the thousands of business owners I’ve polled, many struggle to keep their customers in tough competitive markets. Our guest today has really got that dialed in, and if you want to keep your customers for longer, you’ll enjoy this show.

John Tait characterizes himself as Owner, Slave, and Chief Firefighter at the Lettershop, a print-on-demand business which specializes in high quality, short run print jobs. It’s a highly competitive market and highly price sensitive – challenges that many business owners grapple with on an ongoing basis.

As John shares his approaches to customer loyalty, customer service, and customer retention, you’re going to find some “I knew that” wisdom that you’re probably not really taking advantage of in your business. And therein lie the AHA! Moments that can really make a difference when you apply them

Solutions in Plain Sight Radio is all about the AHA! Moments that move the needle in your business. One of my favorite sayings is that Only Customers create cash flow, and it starts with keeping your customers coming back for more. By the way, the book we talked about during the interview is Profit in Plain Sight, available at Amazon.

Simply. Accelerate your Results.

The post Solutions in Plain Sight – How One Small Business Keeps Customers for Life appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

What differentiates a great salesperson from a good one? Well, hard work and the ability to close the sale are often cited, but the third driver of sales success is how well you develop a rapport and relationship that makes the buyer want to buy. Men and women approach that differently, but both can learn from the other.

Judy Hoberman is an award-winning training director, successful speaker, author and head entrepreneur at Selling in A Skirt , known for helping sales representatives become more successful by demystifying the sales process. If you’re a salesperson of either gender, or a sales manager seeking to increase your team’s results, you’ll find value in today’s session.

Selling has changed since Judy and I both started our careers in sales about 30 years ago, and we’ve both seen techniques come and go during that time. Today’s sales environment requires the best of yin and yang – representatives who can be direct and transactional when that’s most appropriate, yet also warm and relational to build trust and respect. We’ve all seen the stereotypes of the brusque closer, the plaid-jacket used car salesman, and the chatty Cathy who just never knows how to get to the point, and all of those are flawed. Judy shares how finding the balance between male and female strengths can boost results for the entire team.

Solutions in Plain Sight Radio is all about the AHA! Moments that move the needle in your business. Leveraging all the skills and talents in your sales team in uncommon ways will definitely put more revenue on your top line, and more on your bottom line. Judy’s stories plus the many videos and resources on her website will deliver some AHA! moments to help you raise the bar. For even more Solutions to the peskiest business issues, check out these additional free resources.

Simply. Accelerate your Results.

The post Solutions in Plain Sight – Selling in a Skirt: How to Leverage Your Feminine Power Whether You’re Male or Female appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

How often do you find yourself in a meeting filled with tense co-workers, each with their own priorities or position on an issue or opportunity, unable to reach an agreement, or worse still, unable to have even a courteous and well-reasoned discussion? Conflict may be inevitable, but it can be constructive instead.

Carol Sutton is the President of CJS Communications with over 30 years of expertise at conflict resolution and mediation – critical skills for success considering that leaders lose, on average, 30% of their time managing conflict! Perhaps you’re amongst the majority of people who actively try to avoid conflict (which is not a trait that leaders at any level can sustain) and looking for a more comfortable option that you can adapt to your personality.

In today’s show, Carol shares some straightforward AHA! Moments that will help you reframe the conflict and simply break it down into a series of conversations. As she shares 3 straightforward steps that enhance transparency and break down the barriers caused by ego, posturing, or combativeness, leaders at all levels will develop the courage needed to approach conflict in new ways.

Solutions in Plain Sight Radio is all about the AHA! Moments that move the needle in your business. Dealing with conflict more effectively is going to put more time back in your day, and increase productivity for everyone on your team. Listen to Carol’s wisdom and access the additional resources to quickly see improvements and make a commitment to start putting any element of better conflict management into practice this week. For even more Solutions to the peskiest business issues, check out these additional free resources.

Simply. Accelerate your Results.

The post Solutions in Plain Sight – 3 Straightforward Steps to Dealing with Conflict at Work appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.

We’ve all seen the economic uncertainty play out over the past several years regarding job security. The best insurance policy you can have is a strong personal brand that makes you the “keeper” in times of downsizings, the “go to” person that head hunters in your industry will seek out, the expert who can shift to a new career if required, and tremendously more valuable to any organization in terms of compensation.

Dan Janal is an expert at helping executives, entrepreneurs, and leaders at all levels build their personal brand to achieve their career goals more quickly and easily. And having a personal brand doesn’t have to mean you’re a complete rock star – it simply means you are recognized for the extraordinary talent you bring to your area of expertise or you niche. After all, you’re great at what you do, right?

As Dan shares a simple 4-step strategy for you to build your brand, you’re bound to find some great AHA! Moments with simple tactics that you can take action on immediately. It may surprise you to learn that you can actually build a powerful personal brand in less time than you’re spending on email today. Which will do more for your career – email or building your brand? Well, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist or rock star to figure that out, but the good news is that you don’t need to choose.

Solutions in Plain Sight Radio is all about the AHA! Moments that move he needle in your business. Building a strong personal brand will help move that needle for you, for your current organization, and for wherever you may land in future. Go ahead and give Dan’s practical tips a listen, browse his books to get you off to a great start, and make a commitment to start putting any element of personal branding into practice this week. For even more AHA’s check out these additional free resources.

Simply. Accelerate your Results.

The post Solutions in Plain Sight – The One Thing You Need to Do to Get a Better Job or a Bigger Paycheck (great for executives, especially) appeared first on WebTalkRadio.net.