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Kathy Dempsey “Sam Walton was a great storyteller,” said Lee Scott, Wal-Mart CEO, said to his executives. “All you do at meetings is give statistics and show PowerPoint slides. You need to learn how to tell stories."
Scott knows from his predecessor the power of storytelling. Long before Wal-Mart began selling actual “power tools”, cavemen told stories by carving pictures on stone walls. They soon realized stories were a powerful tool. They could change emotions; they could make people happy, sad, angry or frightened. How can we also use stories to influence others and bring about profound change? Liz Wheeler and Rob Pike Taking the Pain out of Training
Last month, we listed what were the Top 10 Pains of training in April’s e-Zine. Becky Pluth, a training consultant for The Bob Pike Group, lists a Creative Training tip for each problem. Also listed are sessions at the 15th Annual Training and Performance Solutions Conference listed where you can get more tips and tricks. The Bob Pike Group Top 10 list of pains we've compiled over the last several years from industry professionals in the trenches.
Send us pains you think should have made the list and we will supply a tip, technique, or strategy for top requested pains submitted! Kathy Dempsey Editor’s note: Kathy Dempsey was the first health care worker to have a positive HIV test after having worked with a patient with AIDS. Receiving that news in 1987 started her on a path which gave her a radically different perspective on learning and living. The following is excerpted from her book Shed or You’re Dead: 31 unConventional Strategies for Growth and Change.
What I have discovered over the years is that I learn more from the mistakes I make than the successes and I learn something from everyone I meet. Many of the thoughts and ideas in this book smack right in the face of conventional wisdom…stay with me and be open to what you can learn…even from the crazy strategies! Gordon L. Johnson If you’ve been in training long, you know that referrals are without question the best leads you can get. Usually, when one of your clients refers you to a colleague, they are doing it in response to an expressed need. In other words, their colleague already needs the services your company provides. Plus, their colleague’s company is often similar to their own – the same size, same culture, and requiring the same types of training products. Talk about targeted marketing!
Additionally, your client is endorsing your services. Think about it. When you are planning a large purchase -- a car for example -- you may read car magazines and company brochures and talk to salespeople, but what really... Liz Wheeler In a nicely worded memo, you’re told the company is cutting back and, as head of the training department, you need to layoff half of your staff. You close your inbox, put your head between your hands and ponder the aftereffects of such a chore.
Yes, you may have one or two people you wouldn’t mind letting go. But you think of the alternatives—-in order to get the same amount of training done, you now have to “train” in subject matter experts to train others and hope their presentations can encourage some kind of retention.
Worse yet, you now have to inform the SMEs of their additional duties—people who chose their jobs because it didn’t require public speaking! Here are some secrets to buoy these training cubs and ensure training transfer. Laurie Bassi, Ph.D. Bad news about the U.S. economy continues to arrive on a daily basis. Although it is not yet known if the United States is officially in a recession, it is clear that tough economic times have arrived. This presents both an opportunity for, and a test of, organizations that have long declared people to be their most important asset.
Research suggests that organizations using layoffs as a first response to tough times will be, within a few years, worse off than those using other methods to manage through difficult economic circumstances.
We predict that the long-run, harmful organizational effects of layoffs will be... Liz Wheeler Skillfair, a virtual meeting place in the United Kingdom, conducted a survey of consultants in the UK regarding their fees. With 250 responding, following are some of the results.
“Our questions focussed on establishing typical daily rates and also highlighting the highest and lowest rates people have charged,” said Gill Hunt, founder of Skillfair. “We asked people to identify their most common type of client based on size of the client organisation. The majority work mainly for large corporates and medium sized companies, but a substantial minority work almost entirely with sole traders and micro-businesses.” Liz Wheeler Betsy Allen, The Bob Pike Group senior vice president, and Becky Pluth, BPG Consultant, closed the 14th Annual Training and Performance Solutions Conference with an ACT—Action planning, Celebrating and a sense of Tying things together. Liz Wheeler Ken Blanchard, best-selling co-author of The One Minute Manager and The One Minute Apology, will be kicking off the 15th Annual Training and Performance Solutions Conference to be held in Minneapolis in 2008. His participation was announced during the closing ceremonies of this year’s conference.
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