Brenda Eckstein International

Strategy, Leadership, Integral Coaching and Communication consulting

How do I deal with imperfection?

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Fear of being imperfect sometimes holds us back from taking action. Many of us need to learn that we don’t always have to be perfect …. achieving excellence is okay!

In these volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) times we often don’t have time to collect all the information before making a decision. And that applies regardless of the magnitude of the decision. Expressing the sentiments of Robert E Quinn, as leaders, we need to build the bridge as we walk on it. And this impacts on our leadership of self and others. Right now, we need a different kind of leadership as we cope with the ongoing effects socially, economically, medically and mentally of the stress we are enduring as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic.

We now more regularly have to intuitively make snap decisions and act on them. This takes courage. Thus, we feel as though are taking risks while we traverse unknown territory. There is more chance that things will go wrong and the chances of making mistakes are higher. But we need to take these risks and learn to deal with the consequences.

Outcomes could be different from what we expected. However, perhaps we should then put the pieces together innovatively to create a new whole?

To catch a glimpse of my thinking on this topic, please have a look at the BEI website. Or you may wish to go directly to ‘How do I deal with imperfection’ on YouTube and view the latest there.

For more information on executive coaching, leadership development or training, you are welcome to visit our website – www.strategy-leadership.com or contact brenda@strategy-leadership.com

Reflection Leading to Action

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The world is VUCA – volatile, uncertain, chaotic and ambiguous and this requires a different style of leadership. In these modern times, leaders have to make quick decisions. But there is often no time to collect all the information they need. So they need to be more intuitive and then just take action.   Thus new skills are required and ‘a new way of being’ practised and achieved.

I’m delighted that two of my articles relating to these new skills have been included in Rob Salisbury and Monika Newman’s 2016 e-book: ‘Motivating Your Mind…. Inspiring Your Spirit’. Rob and Monika are to be commended on again collecting 102 inspiring stories from 85 writers. And these span many countries.

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We are offering you a complimentary copy of the book and this may be accessed as follows:

  • Click here.
  • Scroll down on the table of contents and click on Brenda Eckstein.
  • Click on the download button in the top right hand corner of your screen or right click on the download button to either do a direct download or to save to your dropbox.

Once downloaded, my articles can easily be found. In the table of contents, click on Brenda Eckstein and this will lead you to:

  • Why Zumba? - page 36
  • Attitude of Behaviour? – page 37

My invitation is to read each article and then reflect. You might find our template (below) useful in leading from reflection to action. I believe that developing your reflective capacity and incorporating action steps will help leaders cope in these VUCA times.Blog191a

Attitude or behaviour?

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During a recent stay at the Oyster Box Hotel I met a fellow trainer and coach from the UK.  I was delighted to be invited to observe one of his excellent training sessions during which he asked participants the question:  ‘What is more important, attitude or behaviour?’  This generated healthy discussion.   Pondering their responses, I thought of the work of Dr John Adair who in one of his books entitled, ‘Action Centred Leadership’ draws attention to the fact that a person can have all the characteristics of a good leader, but if that person doesn’t put them into action (behaviour) they remain dormant characteristics. 

The question of the importance of attitude and/or behaviour linked to my experiences as a presenter of interactive workshops.  During the sessions, wherever possible, I get participants to practise using their own examples from their work, home and community lives.  And as the day progresses, they become more and more proficient.  However, no matter how enthusiastic participants might appear during the session and how much they show the right attitude, I receive little feedback, especially after short courses.  I want to know how they have applied the new techniques and other learnings during the days, weeks and months following the workshop.  

So I was delighted when Bradley Bissessar, Senior Security Supervisor at the Oyster Box Hotel, a few weeks after attending ‘How to get your point across’ proudly showed me how he carries the formulae cards with him in his wallet as a reminder to apply the principles (Please see the photo).  He spontaneously and enthusiastically told me exactly how he is applying the simple formulae he mastered during the workshop.  He gave me an example of how in his work situation he has used the PREP formula for safety briefings to groups of guests.   This enables him to easily structure his information into a coherent talk which is logical and easy to follow.  Bradley says:  ‘the course gave me a lot of confidence in myself.  It helps me to get my point across effectively’.  He also added ‘knowledge is power. And this is a priceless gift that cannot be taken away even with the essence of time. Use it wisely.’

Bradley Bissessar.

Bradley Bissessar.

He is also constantly applying the formulae in his private life. An example is where he used the PREP and assertiveness formulae to structure a personal letter and this helped him to crystallise his feelings and resolve an issue amicably.  Well done, Bradley!  So he has applied the learnings and made them part of his way of functioning.  It becomes so easy when you know how! 

Yes, it is important to have the right attitude.   In the case of training sessions, people might be eager (attitude) to improve the way they do things (behaviour).  And they might participate effectively on the day (attitude and behaviour).  However, the way the person actively and consistently applies and practises afterwards will determine ongoing success.  New neural pathways need to be built. 

Let’s move away from the training perspective and look at the question of ‘attitude or behaviour’ from an integral coaching approach. Attitude shows a ‘way of being’ and in coaching terms this links to ‘heart’. Behaviour links to ‘action’.  So a missing component is ‘head’.  The next question is how do we bring ‘head’ into the equation?  By helping our clients to ‘self-observe’ they become aware of what they are or aren’t doing, feeling and experiencing. They might notice their ‘blind spots’. By practising the right behaviours over and over we build new neural pathways.  Through an Integral or Executive Coaching approach clients can thus more easily ‘self-correct’ and ‘self-generate’ and thus shift their ‘way of being’.  

Going back to the original question regarding ‘attitude or behaviour’ being more important, while I believe that a combination of attitude and behaviour is important, there are many other aspects in achieving sustainable success. What is your opinion? 

For more information on training in communication skills, leadership development or executive coaching, please contact brenda@146.66.90.172 or phone +27 82 4993311.

Save Hyper – How do we continuously improve our service?

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I’m always fascinated at how similarly – and yet how differently - the teams from various firms approach the question, ‘What do we need to do to continuously improve our customer service?’

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At present we are running a six-week customer service programme with Save Hyper.  The management team developed their lists of their answers and these have been consolidated as follows: 

  1. Revisit the company vision and goals on a regular basis.  And explore what they really mean to the organisation and to the staff.  How do the staff see them?  How could they interpret and align their behaviour better?
  2. Create a culture of ‘continuous improvement’.  Practice ‘positive discontent’.  Regularly examine and question each element of your service.  And for each ask:  ‘is this the best it can be’?  If the answer is ‘yes’, we review that same element at the assigned review time and ask the same question again.  If the answer is ‘no’, then look at constructive and creative ways in which to remedy or improve that aspect of service.  And implement. 
  3. Go the extra mile.  I love the expression:  ‘there are no traffic jams on the extra mile’.  So few companies go there so this becomes a competitive advantage. 
  4. Make customer service memorable – it is an integral part of everyone’s work, regardless of job description. 
  5. Listen to what customers are really saying (rather than ‘listen to your customers’).  There I would add, ‘and take steps to find out what they are not saying’!
  6. Listen to your customers in a way that makes them feel valued. The quality of your listening is important.
  7. Consider everyone in the organisation as a brand ambassador.
  8. Observe how the staff present themselves.  And this is deeper than just how they appear, although that is very important.  Individual hygiene comes into this, too.  How professional and loyal do they appear in everything they do?  
  9. Take note of how staff members interact with customers and is their attitude positive?  Are they warm and friendly and building relationships?  Or are they just answering questions as part of their job?
  10. Engage with customers – both the external customers and the internal customers.  Build relationships.  Advise them on their needs and hi-light opportunities.
  11. Adapt to the customers’ changing wants and needs.  And here we need to becognisant of past and potential customers, too.  What do they want and need from your organisation or business?
  12. Find ways to creatively tap in to what people really think about your service and products.  Have effective, regular surveys with people who shop at your shop – and also with those who don’t.
  13. Have effective measurement tools to track customer service. Get regular relevant and useable feedback from customers.  Use it to improve business.
  14. Identify ‘stumbling blocks’.  What is making it more difficult for customers to shop with us?  How could we make it easier for our staff to do a good job?
  15. The managers and staff need to be visible and available.  This applies particularly when a query needs to be resolved.  It is pointless their being there, engrossed in ‘team-talk’ and not being available to customers.
  16. Address complaints promptly within the framework of your sound ‘bounce back strategy’.
  17. As managers, coach and mentor others.  Transfer your skills. Mentor team members and communicate regularly and effectively with them.
  18. Empower staff through regular training and other initiatives.
  19. Good customer service should be acknowledged and rewarded.  And this is an interesting point.  The sooner a member of the management team or team-leader says ‘well done’, the more effective it is.  And consider what reward would be appreciated?  Sometimes, the acknowledgement is enough and they don’t need any other reward.
  20. Monitor the cost effectiveness of improved service to all aspects of the business, including admin and warehouse.
  21. Display products in the most appealing and effective manner.  And merchandise productively.
  22. Everyone who answers a phone needs to be trained in telephone etiquette and use it effectively.
  23. Visit other retailers.  Know as much about your competitors as possible.  Use that information to build better service. Also explore diverse businesses to see if there are ideas you could adapt and incorporate.
  24. Everyone needs to practise self-leadership.  Be flexible and open to change and improving the way you do things.
  25. Make customer service a functional requirement of everyone’s job.
  26. Have fun!  Enjoy your work.

The conversations in groups provide a platform for quality conversation.  By sharing ideas and perceptions, not only is information transferred, but relationships are built.  Relationships both within the business and externally as well provide the framework within which customer service can flourish.

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For more information on Sustainable Customer Service strategy or any of the other services we offer, please contact brenda@146.66.90.172 or phone +27 82 4993311.

129: Creative writing

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Creativity can flourish within a structure that has become a person’s default.  Individuals don’t have to waste energy wondering how to go about organising a sea of possibilities.  Neural pathways are developed through doing the same thing over and over. It takes practice! But the results are worth the effort. 

Let me share an example: 

I’m excited because the Treverton Post-matric group, today participated in Session 9 in their Communication Skills course and excelled.  I could see how far they have progressed since Session 1.  And they could feel it, too. 

Practising the PREP formula (structure) over and over has been an integral part of the course.  They have applied it to a wide range of written and verbal situations, so it is becoming their default when faced with organising a sea of information.  The possibilities are endless. 

L-R: Brenda Eckstein, Jonty, Mpumi, Oliver, Dylan, Jacoba, Stephanie, Athol Davies (Director, Treverton Post-matric), and Tyron.

L-R: Brenda Eckstein, Jonty, Mpumi, Oliver, Dylan, Jacoba, Stephanie, Athol Davies (Director, Treverton Post-matric), and Tyron.

Today we were practising how to organise information in a hurry.  We tried a few examples where each person was giving a random word and had to immediately present a structured impromptu speech.  It wasn’t easy.  An hour later, I gave them all a new word, the same word, ‘set’.  They were given only two minutes to prepare a structured speech.  I was astounded at the excellence and variety of their approaches.  Creativity was there in abundance!  So I then asked them to write out the outline of the speech.  And these are provided below. 

Please note – each was given the same word, ‘set’ and each was giving only two minutes (from scratch) to come up with their approach and fit it into the structure. It is amazing how differently each person approached the assignment. 

These are organised in first name alpha order.

Dylan van Wyk 

On your marks, get set, go!  Don’t wait and let time pass you by. 

Game, the first stepping stone to accomplish your goal.  You may win or lose but the fact that you got started is the important part.  Build yourself up, learn from your opponents, gain strength and skills to move you further. 

Set yourself up.  Do what work you want to do.  There is no point in being unhappy with your current situation.  It’s your opportunity to find what you are good at and use it as your advantage. 

Match.  Use your skills to win and bring back the gold.  Hit the ball where you know your competitors won’t be able to return it.  Become the champion that everyone looks up to.  You have worked so hard to achieve what you wanted. 

On your marks, get set, GO.

Live life today so you don’t miss tomorrow. 

Jacoba Veenstra 

Set yourself free from others. Life is too short to fit in and to be the same as everyone else. 

The place where you were born defines who you are. This is where the seed is planted as to identify your personality. 

As you live and grow in this community you find your true value and talents. This energy will help you to make the right choices in life. Be the person you aim to be and try not to lose yourself by trying to fit in with the crowd. Be an O among the X's.   

Once you have become the person you want to be, stand out. Be a tree among the bushes and bloom. Do things beyond what is required and bridge the gap. 

Set yourself free from the world and be yourself. 

Jonty Schwartz 

Set yourself apart from the competition. 

If you can achieve this you will stand out from the crowd and your good work will be noticed quicker than if you conform to the practices of everyone else. 

Separate yourself from the competition by defining a strength that you possess that not many people have. 

Annihilate your competition by being the best at your particular strength. Make sure no-one can match you or even come close to you at that one particular thing. 

Train at your strength so that it continues to grow and improve so that no one will ever know your limit to how much you can achieve at your particular strength. 

If your unique in a better way over all your competition, you will be picked every time. 

Find your strength and work like hell at it. 

Mpumi Dlomo 

Set: referring to a completed collection; the location where a cinematic sequence is shot; or the fixedness of objects or other intangibles, or abstract objects. This is how sets apply in life. 

1st: Sets of vinyl are truly amazing: not just for their antiquated nature, but for the fact that they have a crisp sound to them, unmatched by the quality of any technology that we have at present. Giving us the obvious ability to see for ourselves that sometimes the old ways are the best, because they ensure that they do things the correct way, and in the greatest quality. 

2nd: cinematic or theatrical sets, the locations created from fictional ideals, usually modeled on impossibilities or created through an expansion of existing concepts. This is the crystallization of dreams and fantasy, which each and every person has, or experiences. Do this in life as directors, actors, script writers and set builders do in their professions, build the set of your life and expand on the existing, no matter how much of an impossibility it may seem. 

The concept of forever is pretty set: fixed, unchanging... Sad to say that in life the only time you have is a whole lot less than forever, every second compounds, and all that compounding leads to minutes, all those minutes compounding lead to hours and all those hours lost lead to days, months and years of waste, time that you will come to wish you had spent better, time you could have truly used, to make a difference in your life of someone else's. Youth wasted being idle, wisdom unused due to the lethargy of age and the inevitability to ever exert control over the passage of time; all you can do is prepare for it. 

What is left of your life? Are there pieces left? Or is there a legacy? A completed set? Were you solid? Did you complete your challenges? Like Arthur and that sword set in stone. Did you do well to prepare for the passage of time? Life is Set, you are here, make the best of it, set your mark in stone. Embrace it. 

Oliver Momberg 

SET nightclub is a very average club.  I went there recently and I did not have the best time. 

Small:  The dancefloor is by far way too small to hold the actual amount of people that come in.  For a club in such a great position (Rosebank), there should be at least 4 bars where it only has 2. 

Expensive.  The drinks at SET are through the roof!!! For one Castle light it is R30.  I can imagine a double vodka and mix being at least R60. 

The set up is bad.  The main bar is on the dancefloor which is already too small.  They have a tiny VIP area which is not even worth paying for as normal ticket holders get in their quite easily.  The DJ booth is nowhere to be seen. 

SET is a very average night club.  If you want to spend all your money on an average night, go to SET. 

Stephanie Cockcroft 

Set is a word that if looked at in different circumstances, is timeless.  It is used to define the sun sinking over the horizon at the end of every day.  It is used to start a race as in ‘ready, set, go’ or ‘are you all set?’  And it is used to define a scene created for a movie or photo shoot and in this case it is timeless. 

A sunset defines the end of another day and can bring out emotions such as passion, love, sorry, regret, worry or fear for what is to come.  We see a sunset in a different light every evening because of what follows and what new beginning lies ahead.  We see it as an end for what has happened during the day and now it is over. 

‘Are you all set?’ is an expression that marks the beginning of so many things.  You could be preparing to leave, you could be on the starting block of a race track, you could be waiting at the start line of the motor race track.  In all cases it is a way of marking a beginning, a new beginning often of something great. 

A theatre set is a set that changes and yet is timeless.  A theatre set does not change itself, but it changes because of the people around it.  The performance itself changes the set but the set itself can we kept forever. 

Any set in the world is not the beginning nor end of any point in your life.   And endings mean new beginnings and beginnings mean new ends.  

Do not be afraid of the new ‘set’s to come in your life. 

Tyron Arnell 

The principles we can learn from the seemingly childish game of Lego can prove vital to ensuring good teamwork between colleagues. 

Start small – in Lego we all started off with small structures and as we built more, so we graduated to larger and more complex structures.  When you assemble a new team, don’t give them the toughest job straight away – let them handle a few smaller ones and build a strong relationship. 

Every block plays its part – take a piece out of the bottom and your structure collapses.  Keep everyone involved, even if they play minor roles in the assignment.  Leaving them out could result in these minor duties developing into major cracks. 

Learn from mistakes – we’ve all had a structure collapse now and then.  We know how not to place blocks after that.  Apply this lesson in the work place, too.  If something collapses, don’t do the same thing over. 

The lessons we can learn from Lego can help us greatly when teaching in the workplace.  I urge you to consider this message when in the office environment. 

Well done, Treverton Post-matrics.  You have excelled and I’m proud to share your contribution with our readers.  As you travel forth, take these learning with you and use to enrich all domains of your lives.  I look forward to hearing of your progress. 

For more information on our Communication Skills course (12 4-hour sessions) or other training courses, please contact Brenda Eckstein on +27 82 4993311 or brenda@146.66.90.172

128: Questioning professional communication

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I have found that ineffective communication is a significant challenge facing most organisations, firms and businesses.  This applies to both external and internal communication.  Management teams consider the combination of ‘Effective Delegation’, ‘Giving Instructions’ and ‘How to be Assertive’ particularly helpful.   We often combine these topics into a one-day workshop.  Where this training is held  ‘in house’ for a specific group, I always provide a ‘report back’ meeting afterwards to explore the benefits and make sure the primary clients are happy with the outcomes .  We also look at what is being done internally to keep the learning alive. 

Today I met with the senior partner of an accounting firm where I had recently run this workshop.  Participants were the directors and senior management team. The training had been a great success and we discussed ways of constantly re-enforcing the new competencies of participants so as to sustain the learning and help it to become part of the culture of the firm.  

In this case we decided to remind participants in their newsletter.  Another way would be to take one question a week, get everyone in the firm emphasising that point and have a report back at the end of each week.  This would create consciousness of various aspects of communication and provide a simple, sustainable programme.  The questions we developed (as reminders) would be relevant to any management team.  We also kept theses random questions broader than just the topics covered in the workshop. 

  1. When delegating, what have you done to match the requirements of the assignment with the needs, wants and aspirations of the person to whom you are delegating?  (We appreciate that there is not always the luxury of being able to invite the right person for the job!).
  2. What else have you done to increase the chances of success when delegating?  How else could you empower others?  We want people to be winners and not losers. Success builds success!
  3. Where relevant, how have you gone about making sure your delegation is perceived as an ‘invitation’ and not a command?
  4. In all communication, what are you doing right now to close the gap between the sender’s intention and the recipient’s perception of your message?
  5. When some-one agrees to do what you have asked them to do, what steps are you taking to make sure that they have accepted the assignment in the way in which you intended?
  6. How careful are you being in clarifying time-frames?  ‘Please bring me the information soon’ might be intended as ‘in the next two days’ whereas the other person may consider ‘soon’ to be ‘in the next month’. Another area of confusion may arise when we say we’ll do it ‘just now’. To South Africans it means that we’ll do it when we have completed what we are currently engaged in.  Americans would be annoyed that we are not following through on our ‘promise’.  To them ‘just now’ is interpreted as ‘immediately’.
  7. What are you doing to make sure you are sending messages in the way that recipients are most likely to be receptive?  For example, some people check their SMS’s on an ongoing basis.  Some will respond immediately to e-mails.  I had an excellent example today.  We were going through Linked-In considering additional people I should possibly ‘invite’ to connect with me. Considering a certain person, I made a comment, ‘Oh, he doesn’t ever respond to e-mails’, implying that it might be a waste of time inviting him to ‘link’.  But because he is an interesting ‘connection’ we sent an invitation.  Candice who does a great job assisting me drew my attention to the fact that he had accepted within minutes!  So, he is far more receptive to Linked-In than to e-mails!  Aha!  Now I know how to communicate effectively with him in the future.
  8. In which ways are you checking to ensure that you have mentioned resources that can possibly be used?  Does the person know what they can use your staff to assist them? Can they use the company vehicle?  Does the task need to be done during work hours?  If not, will they be compensated for ‘over-time’?  What else are you assuming that they understand?
  9. What tacit knowledge should you be sharing?  By building relationships and dealing with people over time, we build up knowledge that is not articulated, not written down.  So, if some-one else takes over a job from us, what information would help them?  For example, we may have built up a strong relationship with a client and know that when working on his premises, he prefers the team not to arrive before 9am. A new team would benefit from being told this.  What unwritten information should you be sharing?
  10. When walking up to a group, be careful that you are ‘inclusive’ in your conversation.  You can’t always include everyone.  But make sure that you are not excluding anyone.  I went to a Women’s Day breakfast function and was standing chatting to a friend.  A person whom I know but had not yet seen that day walked up and joined us.  However, she greeted and chatted to the person next to me, the person whom I’d been engaged in conversation with.  This conversation continued for a few minutes with her ignoring me the whole time. Besides my considering her behaviour to be extremely rude, an opportunity for building relationships was lost.   She could so easily have greeted me as well and even if talking to the other person, looked at me and made me feel included. 

These are some examples of areas where communication can be improved.  What other areas should your staff be working on to ensure that internal and external communication is of the highest possible standard? 

For more information on this or any other training programmes which we present, please contact Brenda Eckstein on +27 82 4993311 or brenda@146.66.90.172 

Communication: Close The Gap

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Poor communication is often stated as a major problem facing business and the professions.  This applies to both external and internal communication and is also evident in our private lives. 

In this article we are addressing ‘direct’ communication where our intention is to effectively provide others with information. We are referring to either written or verbal messages. In a later blog we’ll address ‘conversational’ communication which is important in building relationships. 

THE GAP
There is usually a gap between our intended message and the recipient’s understanding of it.  Their perception has been shaped by their environment and personal experience.  Comprehension of the message will also be affected by ‘barriers’ and these could include personal prejudice, inability to understand the person’s accent, noise etc.

If the receiver realises there is a gap, they’ll try to fill the gap with what they thought the sender meant.  So, the bigger the gap the more distorted the message may become.

CLOSING THE GAP
So, our goal is to minimise the gap and this becomes even more important where we are dealing with a complex message.  How do we do this?  We need to check that we are sending a clear, concise message and there are a number of ways to do this:

1.  Journalistic approach
We should check our message against the following (open) questions to ensure that we have covered all necessary aspects for that specific message.  We won’t always need to cover all the questions below.  But check the appropriate ‘open’ questions.

a. Who?
b. How?
c. When?
d. Where?
e. Which?
f. Why?
g. What?

2.  Layers of complexity
Think about the message carefully. Obviously it is going to be worded differently depending on our target recipient.  But to understand our own content better a good exercise is to ask ourselves how we could best explain the same message to each of the following types of people:

a. A five-year old
b. A seventeen-year-old
c. An ‘average’ adult
d. A specialist in that field

I’m grateful to the inspiring Australian presenter, Glen Capelli for planting the seed which helped me to recognise the importance of being able to convey the same message to a range of different age-groups.

We could also change our groupings to cover different layers within our organisation.  Or we could ask ourselves how we’d explain it to various stakeholders – directors, management, staff, customers, suppliers, SARS.  How would we explain the same message to each of those? Do we understand our message clearly enough to provide it to all of these in an appropriate, coherent manner (even if it is intended for only one group at this time)?

3.  Contributory and contradictory thinking
Explore the message further to make sure we have a depth of understanding. Can we expand on the content? In applying ‘contributory’ thinking we could start by confirming, for example:  ‘I agree with the statement.’ Then you would add to the idea.  ‘And it would also apply in the other contexts (like the leather industry)’.

Then use ‘contradictory’ thinking to examine the exceptions.  ‘I agree with the concept, but for example, it would not apply in South Africa because our crime rate is too high.’

MORE GAPS
Do you remember the game that many of us played as children where messages had to be passed on to others?  It was known by various titles including ‘broken telephone’. The more the message was transferred to sequential recipients, the more distorted the original message became.  The game reflects reality.

After the first ‘gap’ the receiver does not have the content of the message exactly the same as the sender intended it and in passing it on, there will be additional gaps created between the new sender and each individual receiver.  So again, our ‘middle man’ needs to make sure that:
• Their perception of the message is as close as possible to the original sender’s intention.
• They check to make sure their message is clear before passing it on to the next person.

CUTTING OUT THE ‘MIDDLE MAN’
What Netcare in South Africa has done very successfully at St Augustine’s hospital in Durban to overcome the problem of messages not being passed on, or messages not being passed on correctly, is that they have cut out the middle layer.  So, messages go directly to 1800 staff members via SMS.  By cutting down the number of people the message goes through, there are less ‘gaps’.  In addition, people always have their phones with them and there is no delay. This concept is working very well for Netcare.

In this article we have spoken primarily about passing information to others directly.  In a later article we’ll look at communication that is less ‘direct’, the kind that we need to use in building relationships.  Quality conversation helps us to get to know people and also plays an important part in building trust.  We all prefer to deal with people we know and trust.  So, there we are introducing the element of how to become the ‘person of choice’.

The BEI four-hour workshop, ‘how to get your point across’ has been our ‘top seller’ for many years. We continuously improve the content. The results are phenomenal and those who attend public workshops often request that we then present ‘in house’ for companies.  Diverse audiences have included doctors and nurses in the UK who found themselves promoted through their medical skills and with very little experience in managing trusts, hospitals or wards.  Others have been IT technicians, University lecturers, salespeople.  

At the EYES (Enhance Your Executive Skills) programme at the Oyster Box Hotel on August 18 2010, the topic was ‘How to get your point across’.

Seen here during the workshop are participants (left to right): Cedric Wilmans (Cedric Wilmans Financial Planners ), Bruno Lionnet (AdaptIT) and David Rhodes (Dystar Boehme).

For more information on this training or other training we present you are welcome to contact brenda@146.66.90.172 or have a look at our website www.strategy-leadership.com

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