Thanks to all those 100s of people who were at 'The Cutting Edge Workshops' around the country. Thanks also for your positive emails afterwards. Sandra probably sums them up best...

Judy, I would like to feedback to you that I found the workshops I attended very valuable, engaging and thought provoking.  I can't remember the last workshop I attended where I was sorry it was finished. Thanks again.

Sandra Martin Oz Child

     Team Leader Disability Services

Yes Sandra I'm sorry they've finished too. But the extra workshops notes and bonus gifts that everyone has received should keep you all going for awhile.

***

Now for all those of you who weren't with us at the workshops, the learning doesn't stop there!

During the past year, each and every month our GOLD CLUB MEMBERS have received packages crammed with great ideas and expert information. Each package included an audio presentation, a full report, a powerpoint slide presentation and a quick action guide.

We've had to close the doors several times as the packages sold out. But we are again ready to open the doors with a VERY SPECIAL OFFER for all new members, no matter where you are based around the world. You can read all about this special offer when you scroll to the bottom.

***

So for this newsletter we wanted to share with you a sample of quick ideas from just 3 of the packages on leadership, productivity and dealing with the behaviour of difficult people.

LEADERSHIP SKILLS - THE POWER OF ASKING VERSUS THE FORCE OF TELLING

Leadership takes place in a conversation. The leadership of adults is where we learn the power of asking versus the force of telling. There’s enormous power in asking. If I ask you questions the power in that, is that the power is actually yours to give me the answer. Whereas, if I was to tell you, I would be forcing the answer upon you.

By asking questions, as a leader you are teaching people to think about those questions for themselves. You are actually encouraging and training people to think for themselves and to come up with better ideas and ways of doing things than you could do on your own as a leader.

So tell less and ask more questions…

How would you do this?  What are your thoughts on solving this problem?  How do you deal with...?

The power of asking the right questions, rather than telling people what to do is one of the most effective leadership skill.

From Package No. 1: LEADERSHIP SKILLS: Taking your leadership skills to the next level using powerful strategies

PRODUCTIVITY POWER - THE EMPTY EMAIL INBOX

Email is one of the biggest productivity drainers for people. The main cause of people feeling quite overwhelmed with email is that they’re using email and their inbox, as a work habitat and a task management area. It is not. What you need is a process, a way of clearing out the inbox at the end of every day, to achieve an empty inbox.

You need to begin by really touching an email once, you read it, and you make a decision: What do I need to do with this email? Here’s some quick ideas…

A. If you need to retain the email for further reference, don’t retain it in your inbox, drag it out of your inbox and drop it into a folder that you’ve got set up for reference emails.

B. Another type of email that you receive is an email that you need to take some very quick action – a quick email or phone call – do it straight away and remove it from the inbox.

C. For emails that require more action, you need to get the email out of the inbox so it’s no longer grabbing your attention. In Outlook you can change the email into a task by dragging and dropping it into a task folder to remind you to work on it later.

From Package No. 2: PRODUCTIVITY POWER: Getting more done in less time by conquering the biggest time waster of email overload

DEALING WITH THE BEHAVIOUR OF DIFFICULT PEOPLE

When you are faced with dealing with the difficult behaviour of others it is always important to keep in mind: focus on the behaviour rather than the person; and your choices are between change, accept or reject.

Focus on the Behaviour Not the Person

It’s important that you do focus on the difficult behaviour that you are dealing with rather than the person. When you focus on the behaviour rather than the person you can become very clear about:

What is the exact behaviour that you are finding difficult to deal with?

What are the consequences or results of that behaviour that are affecting you and/or others?

What type of different behaviour would you like to see from that person in the future?

In this way you can concentrate on influencing that person’s behaviour, not attempting to change

their personality.

Your Choices - Change, Accept or Reject

Understand that in the end you have only three choices in dealing with the difficult behaviour of others. You can:

A. Attempt to change their responses and relationship with you by influencing their behaviour.

B. Accept that, after your best attempts, the situation is not going to change and that is the way it is going to be; or

C. Reject the situation, cut your losses and move on – either physically or in your own mind.

Always start with an expectation of influencing the other person’s behaviour and achieving ‘change’. But be prepared that this may not always happen as only that person can ultimately decide to change their own behaviour.

From Package No. 5: TROUBLE IN THE RANKS: How to handle the difficult behaviour of other people

In your newsletter next month we'll bring you some more quick ideas from 3 more packages on: 

• LEADERSHIP JOURNEYS: How one leader took their volunteer-based organization from nothing to one of the the most awarded non-profits.
• TEAMWORK TRUTHS: The keys to building innovative and terrific teams
• MAGNIFICENT MEETINGS: Turning your meetings from mundane to magnificient