The Sykes Group's OnPoint

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The Luck of the Irish Is Not Just For the Irish

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The term,"Luck of Irish," is not only for the Irish. Your luck can be created by the following:

Preparation + Opportunity = Luck

Here are five tips to creating ongoing luck each and every day:

1. Positive Attitude - Work to maintain your positive attitude everyday. Look at challenges as opportunities to develop your skills and prepare you for a future opportunities.

2. Knowledge - Take the time to learn, read, and ask questions. Embrace new methods and technologies.

3. Network - Develop your people skills so that you are comfortable in any social situation. Take a sincere interest in what other people are doing. Also, provide solutions to others so that you are regarded as the person in the know.

4. Tell Your Story - Let others know about accomplishments and skills. Be humble, yet be honest in what you achieved, the skills used to achieve them, and the outcome of the situation. If you don't talk about your achievements, who else will?

5. Embrace New Situations - Constantly look for new situations that are challenging and educational. While others will hesitate, be the person who is progressive and willing to tackle difficult situations. By tackling new projects, you will achieve a new confidence level.

Apply these simple techniques and you too will experience the "Luck of the Irish."

To learn how to create your own luck, go to Luck for more resources.

Has This Ever Happened During Your Conversations?

"It is impossible to overemphasize the immense need humans have to be really listened to, to be taken seriously, to be understood. Listen to all conversations in our world between nations as well as those between couples. They are for the most part dialogues of the deaf." - Paul Tournier-Swiss Psychiatrist

That happened yesterday. I did this at the gym yesterday. I was exercising at the gym when I ran into the gym director. I wanted to have a conversation with her for the longest time. The conversation went like this:

Ed: "Hey Taryn!"

Taryn: "Hello Ed!"

Ed: "How are you doing today?"

Ed: "I need to talk with you for a couple of minutes."

Taryn: "Sure Ed, I just need to check on my ride."

If you noticed, I didn't wait for Tayrn's answer to, "How are you doing today?," before going into my conversation and "my wants." How many times have you had this happen to you? How did it make you feel? Or maybe, you did this to someone else?

Great communication skills involve two-way communication that is respectful. My sure you are checking yourself during the conversation so that both parties have a mutually beneficial conversation. Two great resources to enhance your communication skills are the following:

Enhance Your Conversation

Bite Your Tongue! 10 Ways to Be an Effective Listener

Has this ever happened to you at work, home, or with friends? Share your story with us.

P.S.-I apologized to Taryn when I met with her and we had a very production conversation.

Leadership Starts with Tough Decisions: Five Leadership Skills for Outstanding Team Building

Leadership starts with tough decisions. Let me share with you my recent leadership challenge and the leadership secrets you can use in any team building situation for great leadership results.

I have the honor and pleasure of volunteering for many groups and causes. In many situations, I am called upon to lead as chairperson or co-chairperson. Recently, I had the honor of co-chairing an event that involved leading and motivating a team of volunteers to work together for a successful result. Overall, the team volunteers are leaders in health care, education, business, media, the arts, and faith-based organizations, etc. In other words, this team of volunteers consisted of very motivated and accomplished people who wanted to make a difference.

One committee member became increasingly negative in her communication and actions at the expense of the other committee members. She behaved in a manner that was not in line with our overall mission. After a coaching session agreeing on what was expected from her in relationship to our mission, her behavior became increasingly worse. The final straw was a very negative e-mail that stated she was the only committee member who was doing anything and personally attacked the other committee members.

After consulting with the event organizers to gain agreement on a plan of action, I called this person to let her know that this was not acceptable behavior and invited her to meet with me to discuss how we could bring her behavior more in line with the mission of our project. She rejected my invite, and I let her know that by not excepting my invite, she was no longer a participant in our event. I followed up with an e-mail and letter reiterating my verbal statement. She made the choice to "fire herself."

As leader of the event, I made telephone calls to committee members to explain the committee change, let each committee member know the wonderful job they were doing, and shared with them where we were in relationship to our mission and goals. While making these calls, I soon found out that some committee members were not as involved in the project because of the one negative committee member.  Some members had stopped attending meetings, stopped communicating, and weren't giving 100% for the event. After assuring them that they were valuable team members of the project and that this "negative member" would not be involved in the project's going forward, we experienced a new level of motivation and participation that took our event to a new level of success and broke a record for attendance.

You may be in a similar leadership position whereby the success of the organization, project, or team depends on how well and how fast you make decisions when faced with challenging situations. The following five leadership skills will keep you on the leadership track during challenging situations, no matter whether your organization is for profit or non-profit, so that you can achieve your goals:

1. Live the Mission When Making Leadership Decisions
   Live the mission by constantly communicating the mission so that everyone of the team understands the mission and acts to live the mission. Ask team members the following question, "What did you do today to live the mission and achieve the goals of the mission?" Develop clear and concise team member descriptions so that everyone understands how they make a difference. Motivate and reward team members based on how well they lived the mission.

To read the rest of the article, go to Leadership.

Leadership Starts With Giving!

What a beautiful day! I just finished speaking and Joy finished volunteering at the American Cancer Society's (ACS) Making Strides Against Beast Cancer Event in Norfolk, VA. With over six thousand participants (including cancer survivors), the American Cancer Society was able to raise $350,000 to fight beast cancer and provide services to those in need.

The participants were excited and my job was to keep them excited and motivate them to get involved in other events throughout the year. You see, cancer won't wait to our next event! As I spoke to a sea of faces, I could feel the positive energy in the crowd knowing that they had made a difference. And you can too!

Please take the time to go to http://www.cancer.org and read about the wonderful work ACS is doing everyday to help your families (possible your mother, sister, aunt, grandmother, etc), your friends, and your community members beat this terrible disease. I challenge each person reading this post to give your time and/or money so that possibly someone you know and love can beat this disease.

Go to http://www.cancer.org today and make a difference!

Michael Phelps, Goal Setting, and You Equal Success!

You don't need to be fourteen time Olympic gold medal winner Michael Phelps to achieve your goals. However, you can learn the goal setting secrets Michael Phelps used to achieve his success by reading the following article:

Recently, Joy and I had the pleasure of speaking at a conference of Educational Office Professionals in Baltimore, MD. The other speakers included Ms. Deborah Phelps, mother of six-time gold medalist (Now fourteen-time goal medalist) in the 2004 Summer Olympics swimmer Michael Phelps, and Agatha von Trapp, the 91-year-old daughter of Captain and Maria von Trapp, the family on which the movie "Sound of Music" was based. To say the least, there were a variety of subjects discussed that day.

As I listened to Ms. Phelps describe Michael's achievements, I realized that his story had many of the secrets of success mentioned in my September article, Five Secrets to Creating a 'Goal' Medal Life.

Let's go over these goal setting five secrets again and see how you can apply them:

1. Create Passion with Goal Setting
   Ms. Phelps mentioned that Michael, after competing in the 2000 Summer Olympics, was excited about the experience. Michael told her he wanted to compete again in the 2004 Summer Olympics. He had that burning desire to compete and win. So they sat down, developed goals, and mapped out a detailed plan for his success.
   

   What do you have passion about in your career, your life? Have you put pen to paper and developed goals to achieve what you want in life?

To read the rest of the article, go to "Goal Medal Success."

JumpStart Your Employee Motivation: Ten Motivation Secrets to Empower Your Team

One of the important keys to employee motivation is to empower your employees to be successful. An empowered employee leads to the following benefits:

• Increased creativity

• Increased productivity

• Increased teamwork and motivation

• Increased initiative

• Increased ownership of work

• Reduced employee turnover

• Reduced human resources situations

• Better work environment

• Increased results for your organization

• Increased career opportunities

The following are ten motivation techniques to jumpstarting your employee motivation and empowering your team to outstanding results:

1. Motivate Your Employees to Find Solutions
   Encourage your employees to be solution creators instead of problem creators. When employees communicate a problem to you, look at it as an opportunity to empower the employees. Ask the employees how they would solve the problem, express your confidence that they are the person to solve the problems, give them the tools to solve the problem, and follow up with them. You have just empowered those employees to find ways in the future to create solutions and made your team more productive at the same time.

2. Motivate Your Employees by Soliciting Opinions
   Many times during our busy work day, we find it difficult to ask for opinions from our employees. But just the act of asking for their opinions tells your employees that you value their input and motivates them to accomplish more. Just imagine, it may be the first time that an employer has ever asked them for their opinion, and they appreciate it.

3. Motivate Your Employees by Managing to Their Level
   Learn your employees' skill, experience, and motivation levels for performing workplace tasks. Then assign the task and follow-up based on your findings. For example, you may need to follow up more frequently with an employee who is fairly new to the project or organization as opposed to the "veteran" employee who doesn't need much follow-up. Remember, the most skilled employee may not be the most motivated for performing the task you request.

To read the rest of the article, go to Employee Motivation.

Happy 4th of July!

Wishing everyone a happy and safe 4th of July!

This is a time to reflect on our blessings and ask ourselves the following questions:

What does independence really mean?

Does it mean freedom of thought? Does it mean freedom of action? Does it mean the freedom to express yourself?

Take time to appreciate the independence we experience and fight to maintain this independence! It takes true leadership to hold yourself and others accountable for this high standard.

Enjoy the 4th of July!

Public Speaking Skills Prepare You for Future Opportunities!

Recently, during my presentation skills workshops or public speaking coaching session, I was asked the following question:

Mr. Sykes, who do you think is the better public speaker, Barack Obama or John McCain?

First, I always start by saying "Taking the politics out of it (I am asking the same of those who are reading this post), it's Barack Obama."

It's because Senator Obama exhibits the following traits of a great speaker:

• He is comfortable speaking in front on two or several thousand people.

• He is in control of the stage all the time.

• He is a master of vocal variety, inflection, tonality, and also a lost art ... the pause.

• He makes the audience feel he is personally talking to each member of the crowd.

• He is able to communicate a vision that others want to buy into.

• He, from a leadership standpoint, moves people to action with his speaking style.

John McCain is the master of the town hall presentation. He feels comfortable with small, intimate gatherings where he is quite engaging. However, when he is giving a speech, it is summed up by a recent Newsday.com (by way of Politico.com's Jonathan Martin) article:

"Why McCain should be so bad at giving speeches is fairly mystifying since he is actually a very good conversationalist, clearly at ease with reporters and the countless voters he's appeared before at town-hall meetings."

I mention the above quote because I hear many times from students, "Speaking one-on-one I'm fine, but when I am in front of an audience, I just freeze or fall apart." Senator McCain is not the only person who finds public speaking a challenge. It is a very common challenge that many people have when it comes to public speaking.

Well, it's important to understand that developing outstanding public speaking skills prepares you for opportunities on a future "big stage." You may never know what these opportunities are today, but they are coming in the future. Why not prepare for them?

If you want to start your journey to overcoming public speaking fear and start your journey to giving outstanding presentations, read this interesting article at Overcome Fear.

Maybe some day you will be able to become President ... of your company, association, business, or even the country.

Success Lessons I Learned on the Way to NCAA Championship Game!

If you are a basketball fan like I am, then you have given up all your worldly goods other then your television set, and have been watching the NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments, otherwise known as "March Madness." The best college basketball teams in the United States compete to play in the men's and women's NCCA Championship Game. The winner of that men's NCAA Championship Game played tonight and the women's NCCA Championship Games are declared the 2008 NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Champions, respectively, and receives all the glory with this very special win.

As I watch NCAA basketball tournaments, I realized that the teams exhibited many success techniques that can easily be applied to your business, your career, and your life. The following are many of the success techniques you can use by watching the NCAA Championship Games tonight and tomorrow:

• Develop a Powerful Mission Statement for Success

To learn how to apply these success keys to your business, your career, and your life, go to Success.

You know where I will be tonight and tomorrow. I will be watching the NCAA Championship Games at 9 p.m. EST. May the best teams win!

Leader Brett Favre's Retires

All-Pro, record breaking quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, Brett Favre, has decided to retire from the National Football League.

He achieved many of his accomplishments by being a great leader. Well, what are the characteristics of a great leader? The following are just some of the leadership traits important to leading people that Brett Favre exhibited:

• Leaders communicate clear goals

• Leaders provide ongoing communicate

• Leaders take adversity and create opportunity

• Leaders are not afraid to make mistakes

• Leaders bounce back up after taking a hit

• Leaders constantly motivate others

• Leaders develop teams

• Leaders inspire people to accomplish more than they realize

We know Brett will enjoy just as much success in his retirement.

Pay A Compliment Day - Take Time to Appreciate Someone

What's the greatest investment you can make at work or in life? What is the one investment that doesn't cost you anything, yet you receive enormous benefits from it? What can you do to motivate a person to achieve a new level of success?

A Sincere Compliment

Take the time today, "Pay a Compliment Day," and everyday to "find something good" that an employee, a family member, a friend doing and compliment them on it. It may be the first time the person you are complimenting may ever have been complimented. On account of that special moment, you can make a real difference in their life.

For information on how to give a sincere compliment and praise someone, go to Appreciation.

Martin Luther King Jr. Motivating Millions with the "I Have a Dream" Speech

January 21st is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the United States. His "I Have a Dream" speech motivated millions to dream and take action to make the United States a better place.

Many of my presentation coaching students think that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave that speech for the first time on the Washington Mall. My students are surprised to learn that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had been practicing by giving different variations of that speech for over a year. He consistently made changes until the speech became the masterpiece that changed the world.

Great presentations start with great preparation! Enjoy!

Extraordinary Work Team Recognition Day: Take Time to Appreciate to Motivate Your Employees!

Today is Extraordinary Work Team Recognition Day! First, let me say, you should as a motivator always "invest" in the time to appreciate and motivate your team. I use the word "invest" because it is an investment in the overall performance and success of your team. By taking the time to show appreciation for a job well done, you motivate your team to go to the next level of success. Sam Walton said the following:

"Outstanding leaders go out of the way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish."

I challenge you to always find the time to appreciate to motivate your employees in a timely and meaningful manner. The following link will provide you with vast motivation resources to help you start today:

Employee Motivation and Appreciation Resources

So Much Reading, So Little Time, What is One to Do? RapidReader Increases Reading Speed in Minutes!

"Help! I need to increase my reading speed now!"

If you're like me, you have information coming at you 24/7 from a variety of sources: e-mails, books, special reports, magazines, training manuals, vendor information, etc. and it keeps growing. We are under pressure to quickly assimilate this information so that we can make business, career, and life decisions better and faster than ever before.

I have tried various speed reading programs with very little success. I have learned the systems, scanned the pages, used the "index finger" to keep myself on track and not increased my reading speed at all. The problem with these programs is that they force us to learn a reading system that is not natural to us, thereby causing us to fail.

Then it happened that I was exposed to the solution. A vendor, who wanted me to quickly read his product information, explained in his follow-up e-mail that he understands that I am busy and offered a win-win solution---the RapidReader program. The very first time I used RapidReader I fell in love. I found that I was able to instantly increase my reading speed and read the vendor's manual in a matter of minutes.

RapidReader is based on a ten-year research project by John Hopkins University which studied barriers to faster reading. The results revealed that for over 5,000 years we humans set ourselves up for failure by requiring our eyes to move to where written words are instead of letting the words that we read come to us. Not only do we work too hard to read when we must move our eyes to read a page, but we also increase our risk of being distracted during the reading process, both resulting in slower reading speed. RapidReader eliminates the two main barriers to reading speed: eye movement and sounding out words.

RapidReader's "Speed Reading on Demand" is software that easily integrates into applications you use the most, including Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Outlook, and Web Browsers. RapidReader can be installed on your personal computer, laptop, Palm, or mobile phone. Once installed, you simply select a document to read, select the desired reading speed from 100 to 950 wpm, sit back, and your document is converted into a moving panorama of flashing words, much like looking at a movie. The John Hopkins study found that subjects who read text flashed like a movie in one location on a screen read at incredible speeds of up to 1200 wpm. A similar study at the University of Southern California revealed that 86% of subjects significantly increased their reading comprehension over reading on paper when using RapidReader at 300 wpm.

RapidReader takes reading into the 21st century to help us meet today's demands to process information at a breakneck pace. I highly recommend RapidReader for business owners, executives, managers, students, teachers, and anyone else who must process huge amounts of information to succeed. See for yourself by trying a free trial copy of RapidReader at Free RapidReader Trial.

Employee Motivation, Don Imus, and: Team Building: Five Secrets to Creating Successful, Motivated Teams

Don Imus, a shock jock (someone who shocks their listening audience by saying outrageous statements), was fired from his jobs on WCBS radio and MSNBC television for crossing the line of decency and making racist and sexist remarks regarding the Rutgers University women's basketball team. From a team building and employee motivational point of view, there are tidbits of motivational wisdom to be learned from this situation.

First, let me ask you, how many "Don Imuses" do you have in your organization, your team, or your department? You know what I mean, the employees, whether they are women or male employees, who continuously cross the line when it comes to behavior; perhaps being overbearing or the bully at work. They make insensitive comments without respect for other people's feelings, and then say the following when you discuss their conduct:

Yet, they proceed to exhibit this inappropriate behavior. Because of this "Don Imus" behavior, productivity decreases, employees are less motivated, transfers and personnel issues increase, and soon you stop accomplishing your goals. Bottom line is that these kinds of people can tear apart your organization and team with their words or behavior.

The following are five secrets to handling the "Don Imuses" on your team so that you keep employee motivation high, build a strong, self-directed team, and achieve a higher level of organizational success:

1. Live Your Mission - When you continuously communicate and act upon the organization's mission, values, and goals, your employees will be motivated to live the mission and maintain a high standard of behavior and productivity. This communication must start at the top and be communicated and acted upon at every level at every opportunity.
   
   One of your organization's top values should be--respect. When you allow an employee to disrespect other team members through words or actions, you are not living your organization's mission, which will lead to organizational and team turmoil, productivity issues, and possible harassment issues.
   
   We know when working with top organizations, the more organizational values are communicated and reinforced, the more success the organization will achieve. This creates a motivated work environment and rewards employees based on the mission.

2. Be Consistent - Whenever you observe this bad behavior, you must address it each and every time. Many times I will hear managers say, "Well, they just said it once" or "It will go away eventually." Well, it doesn't go away. By not addressing this inappropriate conduct each and every time, you enable or empower the individual expressing this behavior. Your "Don Imus" person is thinking, "Well, no one said anything, so it must be acceptable," or "If I can get away with this, then let me overstep the boundaries even further." All the while the other employees, who are conducting themselves in a positive manner, are less motivated to produce. They will retreat to a safe environment where they won't need to communicate with this person and communication fundamental to a successful work environment ceases.
   
   Be consistent each and every time! Have the courage to conduct a private coaching session with the "Don Imus" personality and explain what is acceptable communication and behavior each and every time. Explain in detail what the reward for good employee behavior is and the penalty for continued bad employee behavior.

3. Remember That Words Hurt - "Sticks and Stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me" is the phrase many of us heard growing up. Well, words do hurt. The best advertising copywriters, political experts, speech writers, and screen writers are paid millions of dollars to create emotions with words so that we are persuaded to act in certain and various ways.
   
   Realize that once we say something that is hurtful or can alienate our fellow employees, we can never take it back. Or, as the old expression goes, "It's hard to get the horses back in the barn once the door is opened."
   
   

   We should all be careful with the words we use. You might ask yourself the following:

   Is my language positive or motivating toward my fellow employees?
   Am I showing respect toward my team members with the words I use?
   Do the jokes I use uplift or motivate or tear down and de-motivate my team members?
   
   
   Note: Always use honest communication that respects the recipient of your message. When you are "frank" (Let me be frank with you...), this means you are giving an opinion at the expense of the person receiving your "frankness." Let's leave "frank" out of our conversation and be more honest and respectful.

4. Motivate Towards Good Behavior - Always encourage positive, motivating behavior and recognize good behavior whenever you can. Recognize the person(s) exhibiting positive behavior in team meetings, a memo, or letter from the vice president, etc.
   
   Most of all, your employees will emulate the behavior you show. Always be on your best motivating, respectful, and positive behavior. When it comes to behavior as a manager, you receive what you send out.

5. Be Prepared to Take Corrective Action - If you have a meeting and/or coaching with the employees that are exhibiting the "Don Imus" behavior and they choose to continue with their inappropriate behavior, it's time to take action. Make sure that you, as the supervisor or manager, document, document, and document all discussions relating to this unacceptable behavior. Confer with human resources to receive expert advice on the next steps in the corrective action procedure. Remember, you are never alone when dealing with this kind of employee. Then start implementing the corrective action and follow-up to ensure there is a positive change in behavior. Be timely in your follow-ups so that there is no lapse in time between the next situation of unacceptable behavior and the next level of corrective action. Also, immediately motivate and reinforce positive behavior changes.
   
   Remember, if you show you are quick to take action for unacceptable behavior, this sends a message to your team members that you respect them as employees, individuals, and team members; and they will be far more motivated because of your actions.

Apply the above five employee motivational secrets and eliminate the "Don Imus" personalities from your team, and you will create a motivated workplace that achieves team and organizational goals.

Happy Smile Rejuvenation Day!

I just finished facilitating an exciting employee motivation program with a group of supervisors and managers. During one of the exercises, the group agreed that as supervisors and managers, they needed to set the tone for a motivated workplace. They discussed one way to set the tone is to have a pleasing smile when interacting with their employees.

How many of you have felt motivated to work first thing in the morning and you see your supervisor or manager walk into the office looking like the picture to the left. Are you still motivated? Are you distracted from producing your best work? Are you wondering, "What's going to happen next?"

Wouldn't you rather walk in an environment that looks like the picture to the right? Remember, as supervisors, managers, and leaders, we set the tone for the work environment. If you want a motivated work environment, it starts at the top.

So rejuvenate your smile and set the tone for the day!

Appreciate to Motivate Your Employees!

Today is Employee Appreciation Day!

Take time today to show your employees how much you appreciate their efforts. It could be as simple as saying "thank you." The following resource will give you the techniques to appreciating your employees so that they become more motivated and become more productive:

Appreciate to Motivate

Presentation Skills: Seven Presentation Secrets Learned from the Academy Awards

Academy Awards come and go, but one thing is a constant: bad acceptance speeches. You may never win an Academy Award, but you may be asked to give an acceptance speech for an accomplishment in your business, your career, your community, or your organization. Sometimes your acceptance speech will be for what you accomplished, or for what your team has accomplished.

The following are seven presentation secrets to giving an outstanding acceptance speech in any situation:

1. Prepare For the Moment- You may have heard the Oscar winners say, "I really didn't think I would win," or "I really didn't think I would be standing here tonight," and then give an acceptance speech like they didn't think they would win. Well, my question is, "Why did you think you were invited to this gala event?"
   
   Most likely, you will know ahead of time that you will be possibly winning an award, so take the time to prepare your presentation. Practice your speech using a tape recorder or, better yet, a video camcorder. Also, if you can, give a dress rehearsal of your speech in front of friends, family, or colleagues.

2. Agree Who Will Give the Speech- Time and time during the Academy Awards Ceremony, the first person to the microphone will speak for the full thirty second time limit and not allow the other winners in the group (many seen clutching their own acceptance speech notes) the opportunity to give their acceptance speeches. Where this moment should be one of the happiest moments in their lives, you can see the disappointment on the faces of the winners who didn't have the opportunity to speak.
   
   When you are working as a team on a project and are receiving an award, agree in advance who the acceptance speaker will be. This might be the team leader, the manager, vice president, etc., but work this out before giving the speech.
   
   If you decide on one person to give the speech, then you need to decide on who will be recognized during the time this person gives the presentation. Also, when speaking for the group, make sure the "I's" are changed to "We's." For example, when speaking for the group say, "We would like to acknowledge the following people..." instead of saying, "I would like to acknowledge the following people..." Remember, the designated speaker is representing the group.
   
   If decision is to have several team members speak, achieve consensus on how much time each person will have to speak so that each person has an equal opportunity to express appreciation.

3. Use Notes to Enhance Your Presentation- At the Academy Awards Ceremony, one person read his entire speech from his notes, not once looking at the audience. What he had to say was very heartfelt and sincere; however, his sincerity didn't translate to the audience because his notes were in the way.

   When giving an acceptance speech, use notes as a tool to enhance your presentation and not as a crutch. Only use notes for remembering the opening sentence, important names to thanks, or whatever facts you need to mention. Don't have the entire speech on notes.

   The following are some quick tips for working with notes:

   • Practice with your notes so that your speech is natural.
   • Type your notes. In the heat of the moment and sometimes bad lighting, our eyesight can become a little challenged. Type your notes in 16-18 point fonts.
   • Double space your sentences so that you can easily read your notes.
   • Type only on the top half of a full page so that you are less likely to lose your place after looking up at the audience.
   • Look up at the audience after every two or three sentences to maintain rapport with the audience.
   • Number your notes in case they fall and become scrambled so that you can quickly recover.
   • Practice a smooth transition for pulling your notes out of your pocket or portfolio.
   • Don't flip your notes because the flipping noise will cause a distraction for your audience. Practice sliding your notes.

4. Share the Wealth- How many times have we seen at the Academy Awards ceremony where some persons went on about how they personally achieved the reward or, worst yet, forgot to acknowledge the most important person for whom they would not have achieved the award (Remember Hillary Swank not remembering to thank her husband?).

   Take the time to give appreciation to the organization giving you the award and to those who helped you achieve the award. No person is an island. You achieved the goal through the help of someone(s), so acknowledge and appreciate them. To save time, if it is a few people, acknowledge them by name. If it is a large group of people, department, or organization, mention the group by name. For example, you might say, "I would like to acknowledge the people in marketing for their hard work on the Peterson project for making this moment happen. If it were not for their time and effort, we would not have won the XYZ account. Thank you."

   Also, only thank the necessary people during your acceptance speech. Don't thank Guttenberg for inviting the printing press if he has nothing to do with why you accomplished your achievement. Stay focused on only those people who had a direct effect on your achievement.

5. Let Sincerity Flow Through Your Speech- Let your appreciations come from the heart. Briefly convey your own feelings regarding your appreciation of the award and all that it represents. Be honest and don't over exaggerate your feelings while accepting the award.

   Be clear and concise in your showing of appreciation because you will most likely be under time constraints.

6. Value the Award- Many times during the Academy Awards Ceremony, you will hear the winner of an award say, "I really don't deserve this award," or "I really shouldn't be standing here." When you make statements like that, you devalue the award and recognition given to you. Also you question the judgment of the people who chose you to accept the award. Simply acknowledge their judgment and recognition and continue your speech.

7. Stay Within the Time- At the Academy Awards, the Oscar winners have thirty seconds before the band starts playing the "wrap it up" music. In many cases, the winner attempts to speak over the music. Between the band and the Oscar recipient, who do you think wins? Of course, it is the band. As soon as the band starts playing the music, the audience stops listening to the recipient.

   Many times when you are given an award during a meeting, conference, etc., you are also under time restrictions. In most cases, you will have longer than thirty seconds. Take the time to ask the person in charge of the meeting how much time you have for your speech. Also, make it a habit to look at the agenda ahead of time to see how much time you have been allotted. It may be only three minutes, 10 minutes, or 30 minutes, but find out ahead of time. By finding out ahead of time and staying within the time given to you, you show respect to your audience, the people in charge of the meeting, and most of all yourself. Once you go over the time allotted, you can see the audience members start looking at their watches and stop listening to your important speech.

   Note: If you can't find out ahead of time how much time you have to make your speech, assume you have very limited time and keep you comments brief.

Take the time to apply these seven acceptance speech secrets and you will give an outstanding presentation each and every time you receive an award.

Extraordinary Work Team Recognition Day!

Today is "Extraordinary Work Team Recognition Day!" I had a client appointment at 7:30 a.m. this morning and her number one concern was how to implement an employee recognition program to motivate her employees.

Whether it is first thing in the morning or late at night, great organizations realize that employee motivation and recognition is at the top of the list when it comes to organization success. The benefits of motivated employees are the following:

• Increased motivation

• Increased employee satisfaction

• Increased profit margin

• Increased customer satisfaction

Those are just some of the benefits of recognizing your employees for extraordinary work. Take the time today to recognize to motivate your team. For ideas to recognize to motivate your team, go to the following link:

Recognize Your Employee

Increase Workplace Productivity: November 7-13 is World Kindness Week

November 7-13 is "World Kindness Week." We can all use a little more kindness in workplaces all across the world.

Acts of workplace kindness can increase workplace productivity and morale, decrease organizational conflict, and create a vibrant, growing work environment. The following are twelve acts of workplace kindness that you can apply today:

• East lunch with a new co-worker

• Say "hello" in the morning

• Bring someone coffee

• Write a note of appreciation

• Celebrate birthdays and other special events

• Give a compliment

• Help someone when they least expect it

• Cheer up a co-worker having a tough day

• Smile

• Forgive mistakes

• Respect others

• Offer to share a ride

So act today! As you can see most of the acts doesn't require money. It will produce big dividends for you and others.

Tell us about your acts of workplace kindness.

Ed Sykes and Joy Fisher-Sykes are Featured Leadership Speakers at Toastmaster International Convention

Ed Sykes and Joy Fisher-Sykes will be featured speakers at the 2006 Toastmasters International Convention held at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC, on August 26th. The title of their presentation is "The Business of Toastmasters: How to Create a Vibrant, Motivated and Profitable Club."

Ed Sykes and Joy Fisher-Sykes will share secrets for treating your club, association, or group as a growing business. Ed and Joy, while volunteering for Toastmasters as Club Extension Specialist and District Public Relations Officer, respectively, have created and mentored five new clubs in 2006: Norfolk Naval Shipyard HRSC, GEICO, Booz, Allen and Hamilton, Verizon, and Johnson Controls, with vibrant starting memberships of over thirty plus and growing. They are currently working with State Farm Insurance to start a new club. These organizations realize that outstanding communication skills improve employee morale, customer relations, and, ultimately, better performance and bottom line.

"Many non-profit groups act like they are non-profits," says Ed Sykes. "However, they have an obligation as leaders to market, provide the product or service guaranteed in their "contract" (the membership application), and take care of their "customers" (the members). "Just like a corporation," says Joy Fisher-Sykes, "you are responsible for working with your "shareholders" (your area, division, and district officers) to provide the best product or service for your customers to grow your "business" (the organization).

Happy National Get Out of the Dog House Day!

July 17th is National Get Out of the Doghouse Day! Are you in someone's doghouse? Is someone in your doghouse?

Being in the doghouse or keeping someone in the doghouse leads to the following:

• Added stress and anxiety to your life which leads to illness and disease

• Lost concentration and focus

• Lost of career and life opportunities

Make the effort to get out of the doghouse. Take the first steps to:

1. Talk it out

2. Apologize, if needed

3. End with a promise for improvement

If you put someone in the doghouse, ask these questions:

• Is it worth all the physical and mental energy to keep this person(s) in the doghouse?

• What am I getting by keeping this person in the doghouse?

• Is my pride getting in the way of reconciling our relationship?

• What's the big picture compared to why this person is in the doghouse?

Remember, as a good friend recently told me, life is way too short to let disagreements get in the way of good relationships.

Take the steps to get out of the doghouse or let someone out of the doghouse!

Click here to read additional information on how to empower yourself or others.

Ed Sykes and Joy Fisher-Sykes Receive Award from School for Youth Leadership and Mentoring Program

Ed Sykes and Joy Fisher-Sykes, Co-founders of The Sykes Group, received an award from Seatack Elementary School in Virginia Beach, VA, for volunteering and leading the Toastmasters International Youth Leadership and Mentoring Program. They led a group of third through fifth graders on an eight-week program to improve their leadership, presentation, and motivation skills.

At the Seatack graduation ceremony, Ed and Joy were presented with an award from Principal Katherine Everett for outstanding contributions to the enhancement of public education. Ed Sykes and Joy Fisher-Sykes, in the Toastmasters International Youth Leadership Program, coached and mentored the participants in officer elections, Robert's Rules of Order, how to run a meeting, presentation skills, thinking on your feet skills, and how to give positive evaluations. By the second session, the participants are running the sessions with coaching from Ed and Joy.

"We find that our participants will always raise to the high bar we set for them in leadership, presentation skills, and evaluation skills so that they are more confident as students and leaders, and are ready to become global citizens," says Ed Sykes. "They are like little sponges and they instantly absorb new skills, many times much better than many adults." Joy Fisher-Sykes says, "We know our efforts are worth it when we see immediate results or when the participants ask us to come back next year. One young program participant said that it was difficult growing up as a child. Our program allowed her to voice her concerns about growing up as a kid and feel comfortable doing it."

Life Before Downsizing: Six Secrets to Managing Change and Creating Opportunities for the Future

What would you do if you learned your organization was bought by another organization, was downsizing, or closing its doors tomorrow? In 30 days? Six months? In one year? Are you prepared for the change? What will you do in the future?

In this ever changing world we live in, there is one constant...change. Changes are happening faster and faster. Even what is changing has a different look. Just think of the items in your life that were not available 20, 10, 5 years, or even one year ago. Just think of the iPod, cloning, DNA, etc. Why would we think our career situation will be the same in twenty years?

The same types of changes are happening in the workplace. This is no longer the world of working twenty years for the same company. Organizations are adapting to the local, national, and global marketplaces.

How do you prepare yourself for these changes? The following techniques will enable you to master career change and create opportunities for you:

1. Create Goals
   Many times when you work for an organization for a long time, you may become complacent. Constantly develop your goals. Work on goals in the areas of career, family, education, fitness, health, and spirituality. This will create balance in your life and enable you master change when it comes.

2. Cast Your NETS Now!
   N-E-T-S means Network with Everyone for Total Success! Go out and join various industry and non-industry groups. This is a great way to spread your NETS. Volunteer and be active with these groups so that your skills can be seen and your ideas heard. This is an opportunity to develop your leadership abilities and let others know about you as a person and the skills you have to offer. As I always say:
   
   "It's not what you know. It's not who you know. It's who knows what you know."
   
   Depending on the skills, you will be looked at as an expert. Cast your NETS and let others know what you know.

3. Account for Your CPA
   C-P-A means Creating a Positive Attitude. Create a positive attitude toward your career and life so that you will not miss opportunities when they arrive. Look at challenging situations as opportunities that will prepare you for greater opportunities in the future. Realize that the projects you work on today will create new opportunities for you tomorrow.

4. Seek Knowledge
   Continuously seek knowledge to stay ahead of the change curve. Many times when we work with employees in organizations, we let employees know about educational opportunities that enhance their careers and lives. Sometimes, we receive the following response:
   
   "If the company isn't going to pay for the class, then I am not going to take it."
   
   Folks, we gladly spend (spend as in purchasing something with decreasing value) money on cable TV, DVD's, etc. However, when it comes to investing in our education, we often say no.
   
   Keep in mind that once you receive your knowledge, its your knowledge, and you take it wherever you go. Additional knowledge gives you the confidence to meet challenges and embrace opportunities.
   
   Take the time to find out what benefits and educational opportunities your organization is offering and take advantage of them. Do it today.
   
   Seek knowledge and grow!

5. Relax and Downsize Your Life
   Take the time to downsize your lifestyle. Often when we receive a raise, we buy a bigger car or house, buy additional items on credit, etc. That has become the norm in the "super size me" society. As the comedian George Carlin says, "We have become a slave to our stuff." Think of ways you could downsize your lifestyle if you were faced with a career or life challenge tomorrow. Then act on it before it acts on you.
   
   By downsizing, you will experience the following benefits:
   
   
   • Take back control of your life
   • Reduce stress
   • Allow more time for family, hobbies, and community work
   
   Also, it will allow you to take advantage of a new career or business opportunity, one that maybe you have a real passion for, without being as concerned about "will this job pay my bills."

7. Connect with Your Change Barometer
   Look inward or ask a good friend or family member how you handled change in the past. Ask the following questions:
   
   

   How did you feel?
   What did you look like?
   How did you react (or not react)?

   
   Ask for honest feedback and take the information to learn how to handle career change and challenges in the future. It's okay to feel a certain way during the challenge of change. It's not okay to stay there. Also, understand that everyone handles change differently. So respect your co- workers' feelings.

Take these six secrets to managing change, and you will master the present and create future opportunities

Leadership Techniques for Anyone: How Kermit Shared Five Leadership Secrets with the World

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending the funeral of my friend Kermit. A pleasure, you ask? Yes, a pleasure and a honor, because it was a great celebration of Kermit's life and the passion and spirit he brought to living it.

Usually, when I go to funerals, the spiritual leader (pastor, minister, rabbi, cleric, etc.) goes on and on about the deceased, a person he barely knows; and maybe one or two friends or associates might say something about the deceased. Well, Kermit's funeral was special. The pastor spoke briefly, a singer sang a hymn, and then the pastor asked for comments from the audience. That's when the funeral became really special. After one and a half hours later, over forty people had gotten up and shared their positive experiences and what Kermit meant to them. People from their 20's to well over 60-year-old people from different spiritual, ethnic, social, and economic backgrounds stood up to make comments. People who served with him in the Navy (Kermit retired as a Commander) stood up and spoke about how Kermit changed their lives.

There was story after story about how Kermit made the speakers overcome obstacles and made them believe they could do better, and did this with passion. Some of them were as follows:

1. Past ballplayers talked about Kermit's cowbell as a rallying cry at their ballgames.

2. A woman told of having a flat tire on a busy roadway and Kermit, whom she didn't know at the time, stopped and helped her fix the tire; and then they became friends.

3. A businessperson talked about how Kermit volunteered his time to help him launch a business that is still going strong after ten years.

4. A previous player described how he was motivated by Kermit to make something of himself. He went to college and is a very successful basketball coach teaching the same principles that Kermit taught him.

5. A man explained that he was going through a divorce and bankruptcy and was thinking of committing suicide. Kermit heard about his troubles, called him, and helped him through these dark times. Now this person helps others through their challenging moments in life.

Wow! It moved me. Here are five leadership and success secrets Kermit shared with us. How can you apply them to become more successful and outstanding leaders?

1. What is Your Cowbell? Create Passion!
   Kermit truly enjoyed working with people to make them better. It was not just the cowbell, but the emotion and excitement he experienced when seeing other people succeed. The cowbell was just the tool that Kermit used to show his passion so that others became passionate. Let your passion show. Let people know that you are excited about their accomplishments, and the passion will multiple.

2. Expect the Best. Excellence Will Take Care of the Rest.
   It was said about Kermit that when meeting people, he never met a stranger. In his mind they were already someone he knew. Kermit always expected the best when interacting with people, and they eventually rose to his expectations.
   
   Expect the best out of people, and they will rise to your standards.

3. Understand So That You Are Understood
   Kermit's conversations were always centered on understanding the other person. For all the years I knew him, I never knew he was a commander in the Navy. He didn't make his title the focus of the conversation. You see, it wasn't about him; it was always about the other person's interests, needs, etc. Because of this, people naturally wanted to become involved in Kermit's projects and help Kermit make other people successful.
   
   So my question is: How well do you understand your employees?
   
   Take the time to understand their goals, wants, needs, hobbies, etc. The more you take time to understand them, the more your employees will want to help you succeed.

4. Give of Yourself
   Kermit always gave his time, energy, and passion without "keeping score." In return, the people he helped not only helped him, but went on to make a difference in other people's lives.
   
   Take the time to go the extra mile to see how you can help your employees, your team, and/or your organization without "keeping score." Your employees will feel that you care, and then they will go to a new level of caring.

5. Share the Knowledge
   Kermit took the time to share his knowledge with others so that they become more successful. Whether it was coaching a sports team, helping a friend start a business, or sharing his experiences to get a person through a difficult time, Kermit took the time to share his knowledge with others. Because Kermit shared his knowledge, other people became more successful and they shared their knowledge with others so that they could be more successful.
   
   What special knowledge do you have that can help others succeed? Don't hoard your knowledge, share it. By sharing your knowledge, you multiply yourself and become known as a developer of people. Your knowledge, once you share it, will live on after you are gone.

Apply these five leadership techniques and create success in your business, with your team, in your community, and your life. Just like Kermit, you will also see instant results.

Thanks for sharing, Kermit, and making the world a better place.

Explain Yourself! The Reason Why Excuses Sabotage Your Success

Have you ever been in a situation where you were unable to make good on a promise or commitment? Perhaps you were late with a report to your manager, unable to take a child to the playground, or late for dinner with your partner. The question is, after the realization sets in that you can not deliver, how do you explain why you were unable to meet your obligation? Do you stand in the truth, own your actions and give an honest reason, or do you make excuses concerned only with freeing yourself from blame?

Is there a difference?
For many of us, we have probably thought of the two as being one in the same. You may be asking yourself, "Is there really a difference?" At times, the distinction between the two can be difficult to see. After all, excuses have the ability to be disguised as reasons fooling you into thinking, "That sounds like a valid reason." In fact, when you tune in and really listen, the facade of an excuse will quickly give way to expose the truth of falsehood.

Explanations come in two forms - excuses and reasons. Remember: you make excuses and you give reasons.

Explanations
An excuse is an attempt to free oneself from blame by deflecting attention and responsibility onto someone or something else. Excuses diminish your power and say "I am not willing to take responsibility. Instead, I will settle for whatever path others choose for me as a result of my actions." Making excuses will erode others confidence in you, and destroy your self-respect. The refusal to be personally accountable is rooted in the fear of failure - to be known as someone who did not deliver. This defense mechanism results in a plea to convince others to overlook your part and to minimize the damage caused by your role in a given situation.

To say one has a "good excuse" is an oxymoron which implies there is a difference between good and bad excuses. All excuses are bad and unacceptable. Here are some examples:

• "I was late to the meeting because the clock in the lunchroom has been broken for a month."

• "My report is late because my manager didn't remind me it was due today."

• "I am not ready to give my report to the Board of Directors tomorrow because I was on vacation the last two weeks and I didn't prepare."

A reason is defined as a legitimate, truthful account of a situation which includes explanation of your part. Rooted in good judgment, there exists a willingness to own your actions and deal with the consequences. Reasons seek to clarify what happened, who was responsible, and how to deal with the situation and seek immediate solutions so that one can do better now and in the future. A reason is not motivated by fear, but driven by respect and integrity. Here are some examples:

• "The reason I am late is because I had a flat tire."

• "Although I was assigned this report last Friday, the reason my report is late is because the mainframe crashed Friday afternoon and has been down ever since. I have attempted to retrieve the information from our satellite location, but to no avail."

• "The reason I will not give a Power Point presentation is because the projector just died. Since it will be at least an hour before we locate a replacement, I will proceed without it and ask that you follow along via my handout."

Action Steps
When you are in the moment of truth, remember the choice is yours - you can make excuses or you can give valid reasons. Here are a few questions to ask yourself before you speak out to determine if you are about to make excuses or provide a reason:

1. What is your intent - is it to release yourself from total blame or to provide a straightforward, honest account of the situation and your actions?

2. Are you willing to accept the consequences of your actions and take steps to improve the situation?

3. Are you willing to honestly acknowledge the degree of your responsibility, and is there anything you could have done differently?

The next time you are faced with the prospect of explaining your actions, ask yourself "Is this an excuse or a valid reason?" Always find the courage to behave with integrity and honor your self-respect. When faced with a choice, the question is what will you do?

March 3rd is Employee Appreciation Day

It's Friday, it's March 3rd, what better time to appreciate your employees. Invest the time to show your employees how much you appreciate them. The follow are forty-five no cost/low cost ways to appreciate to motivate your employees:

1. Call an employee into your office just to say thank you; don't discuss any other issue. Keep it "pure."

2. Create a "Pat on the Back" Award for employees who do an outstanding job. Send a notice of the award to the employee's file.

3. Post a thank-you note on the employee's office door.

4. Create business card size "Thanks," "Good job," "Bravo," and "Keep it up." Write specifically what they did in two or three words. Put the person's name on the card.

5. Volunteer to do another person's least desirable work task for a day.

Eight Leadership Techniques for Outstanding Teams

Apply the following eight leadership techniques to create highly motivated, self-directed, and extremely productive employees and teams:

1. Provide Clear Expectations
   Winning organizations know where they are going and what is required to get there. Employees constantly need to know what they need to accomplish. Communicating expectations in a clear, concise manner is important. It's also important to communicate your expectations on an individual, department, and organizational level. Continue communicating your expectations on an ongoing basis. Whether one-on-one, through memos, or in a team meeting, keep communicating your expectations. Read more...

THE 12 RULES OF TIME

I appreciate Jim Estill, Chief Executive Officer of SYNNEX Canada Limited and author of the Time Leadership blog, for allowing me to publish his great time management article. The following are valuable tips that will help anyone accomplish their goals in half the time:

By Jim Estill

My business experience has taught me one true thing: That maximizing your productivity, happiness, peace, or impact can best be accomplished if you clearly understand the 12 Rules of Time.

1. Have goals
   Being more efficient with your time is irrelevant if you don't know how you want to spend it. In managing time, the compass is more important than the clock. Know where you want to go and spend your time on the things that get you there.
   
   Many people spend energy trying to be more efficient without first doing what's important: setting goals. It's like being lost on your way to a new city. Driving faster doesn't help if you are going in the wrong direction. Figure out what direction to go in and head that way.
   
   Once you've prepared it, your list of goals will reveal what is important to you.

2. Analyze how you spend your time
   It is always good to know how you're spending your time right now. You can track this by setting a timer to go off every 15 minutes; whenever it sounds, write down exactly what you are doing. Alternatively, divide your day into 15-minute blocks and record each activity you do.
   
   Once you have your time logs, examine them. How do they compare to your goals? Are you spending time where your priorities are?

3. Keep a to-do list
   This sounds too simple, but it really is the basis of all time-management systems. Your to-do list can be electronic, on fancy paper, bound in a notebook or loose-leaf. The key is to have everything you want to accomplish on one list. My to-do list might have a one-line item on it, such as "write annual report," which refers me to a much larger file or even a file box on that item.

4. Prioritize your list
   Once you have the list, determine which are the important items. Mark these with a highlighter, a red pen, or in any other way that makes them stand out.
   
   I sometimes find my to-do list is too big. Every item on the list calls out "pay attention to me!," even though most of them weren't highlighted as important. In these cases, I take a blank sheet of paper and cover my to-do list and write down only the three or four most important items. Those are the ones to focus on.

5. Control procrastination
   I use a number of tricks to break any lingering tendencies to procrastinate. For instance, I happen to like having a hard copy of my digital to-do list. I reprint it every few days as new items are added and completed ones dropped. It is at these times that I look for the items that I've marked as high priority, but which are just not getting done.
   
   People often say I have great self-control. In truth, though, much of it is environment control. I control my environment to eliminate things that I might use to procrastinate. Take games off your computer, for example, sell your TV, and get rid of the busywork jobs that you use to avoid the important tasks.
   
   I have developed one effective habit that has helped break me of procrastination: "Do the worst thing first." At the beginning of every day, I do the one task that is causing me the most stress, and that I haven't been getting done. Sometimes I just give it a quarter of an hour - based on the theory that I can stand just about anything for 15 minutes. Frequently it is this short thrust that breaks me through.
   
   If I still find myself procrastinating, I review my reasons for setting a goal. To create extra motivation to complete a task, I strengthen the reasons why it should be done. Similarly, many people reward themselves for completing a job.

6. Organize
   Organization and time management are linked. I find that I get important things done when I have all the tools I need to perform the job.
   
   The opposite of organization - chaos, clutter, disorganization - generally leads to busy work. If your desk is piled high, every piece of paper says "look at me." You can end up doing a lot of work without ever getting to the important stuff.

7. Delegate
   One way to expand your time is to get others to help you with it. The key to delegation is to hand off any tasks that someone else can do significantly faster or more easily than you can.
   
   If you're protesting that you don't have anyone working directly for you to whom you can delegate tasks, no problem. Consider delegating to a peer, a superior, a supplier, or even a customer. Treat delegation like networking: who in your network would be best for the job?
   
   In some cases you will need to invest up-front to train someone so he or she can take over a task from you. The long-term savings are usually worth the up-front time and costs.
   
   After delegation, remember to thank appropriately. You might think people would resent being delegated to, but exactly the opposite is true. People like to be asked, especially if it is to do something that they're good at.

8. Master efficiency tricks
   The best trick I have found is "The Power of While." What can you do while you drive? While you walk? While you clean? While you watch TV? I am a huge audio tape advocate and frequently listen to tapes while I am doing something else.
   
   Being a techno person, I love all the organization software out there that allows me to keep my contacts, to-do lists and appointments. I also use gadgets such as cellphones, wireless e-mail, and personal digital assistants. Good use of technology can save you valuable time.

9. It's OK to say no
   Saying "No" can be the most powerful time tool you can master. When someone asks you to do something, ask yourself how important this is. Does it help you achieve your goals? Is this a task you would be better at than most people? Don't always look for reasons to get out of things, but be strategic about what you take on.
   
   This doesn't mean that I always say no when asked to help out. But if I do say no, I am always polite and tactful, and try to suggest someone else who would do the job well.

10. Focus
    Committing 100% focus and concentration on one task at a time can be very powerful. Eliminate distractions. Focus on the task. When you're properly organized and prepared, when your energy and power are high, you can often complete a task in 20% of the time it would take when you're distracted or open to interruption.

11. Build your efficiency bank
    High efficiency is not possible if you don't look after yourself. Eat right, exercise, sleep well and drink moderately. Mom knew best: all the things she said were good for you just happen to be best for your efficiency, too.
    
    I also believe meditation can be a great way of building your efficiency. It could be transcendental meditation, Zen, or just finding a way to get into a relaxed state that lets you focus on the task you have to do. No matter how you do it, recharging your batteries gives you the power to do more during the times you need to be at your best.

12. Take care of yourself
    It isn't possible to be "on" all the time. Take the time you need to look after yourself - body and soul - so that you can reach peak efficiency when you need to. Have a list of things you like to do. Find out what activities energize you, and spend more time doing them. This will give you the power and energy to be more productive when you return to work.

Finally, a word of advice. If after reading this far you're feeling a bit overwhelmed, I suggest you go back to Rule 1 and add peace (contentment) to your list of goals. Time management is not about adding stress; it is about giving you the time to be the person you really want to be.

Today is Pay a Compliment Day!

Ed Sykes and Joy Fisher-Sykes Featured on NBC News as Mentors of Young Leaders

Ed Sykes and Joy Fisher-Sykes were featured on the WAVY-TV 10 (NBC affiliate) program, Wednesday's Child, for their volunteer work mentoring the community's young to become leaders. The program, hosted by WAVY-TV 10 news personality, Don Roberts, ran a series called "Where in the World is Wednesday's Child" seeking to find out what happened to children in challenging situations mentored by Ed Sykes and Joy Fisher-Sykes during 1996. Don Roberts featured Ciara the young child mentored by Joy. Ciara now nineteen years old, is an art teacher in a local school and is preparing to go to college for law.

It has been very rewarding receiving telephone calls from indivduals wanting to know how they can volunteer or start their own programs. Even with our busy travel schedule, we continue to volunteer our time to teach children leadership, team building, and communication skills through the Toastmasters Young Leadership program.

Adversity: Your Seed of Greatness (Three Secrets to Using Adversity to Become Great)

From our first day on earth until our last, we face different levels of adversity. Adversity may be sickness, a property loss, or the loss of a family member. It may be a lost career promotion or a business setback. How we handle these adversities defines how we achieve greatness in our lives.

Let me share the story of James Blake, who overcame multiple adversities, more than most of us would ever experience in a lifetime and yet achieved greatness. James Blake is a world class professional tennis player enjoying fame and making a six-figure income. However, in his childhood, he developed a rare disease that required him to wear a body brace for years. Other kids teased him, calling him "Iron Man" from the Marvel Comic Books, and he felt left out. During this time, he concentrated on his academics, read a wide variety of books, and developed himself as a well-rounded person. He also developed a heightened awareness for others who are going through difficult times. Read more...

Make a Difference!

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. You can't help but be moved emotionally from the updated news reports coming out of LA, MS, and AL. A hurricane doesn't care if you are rich or poor. Hurricanes will cause destruction just the same.

Make a difference! Below are organizations you can donate time, food, clothes, money, and your expertise, etc.:

• Red Cross: 1-800-HELP-NOW or https://www.redcross.org/

• Habitat for Humanity: http://www.habitat.org/

• Second Harvard: http://www.secondharvest.org/

• United Way: 1-800-272-4620http:/www.national.unitedway.org/

• Network for Good http://www.networkforgood.org

• Episcopal Relief & Development: 1-800-334-7626 or http://www.er-d.org/

• Mercy Corps http://www.mercycorps.org

• United Methodist Committee on Relief: 1-800-554-8583 or http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/emergency/hurricanes/2005/

• Salvation Army: 1-800-SAL-ARMY or http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/

• Catholic Charities: 1-800-919-9338 or http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/

• National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster: http://www.nvoad.org/

• Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: http://www.la-spca.org/

Seven Secrets to Being the Leader Everyone Wants to Work For

In this changing, challenging, and competitive workplace we can't overestimate the importance of good management. Good managers will consistently motivate you to perform at higher levels of productivity. Bad managers will drive you crazy and eventually out of the organization. Managers with poor skills will frequently produce the following results:

1. Decreased productivity

2. Increased turnover

3. Increased absences

4. Increased human resources mediation situations

5. Increased customer service complaints

The following are seven secrets to being the "perfect" leader everyone want to work for: Read more...

Positive Affirmations for a Negative World

"There is very little difference in people. But that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative."

A recent survey states that 75% of daily conversations are negative. That's a whole lot of negative energy you are subjected to on a daily basis. That's not counting what you experience by watching television, reading various print media, and listening to radio.

It's time you took back your mind! The more you allow your mind to fill with negative thoughts, the less room you have for positive, productive, and happy thoughts.

One way to take back your mind and fill it with positive thoughts and ideas is through positive affirmations. Affirmations are positive statements you make to yourself on a daily basis that encourage your success. These statements will have the greatest impact when you say them when you wake up in the morning and just before you go to bed at night (you can always say them anytime).

Here are some examples of affirmations that can work for you:

To improve my attitude at work:

"Today, I embrace change as an opportunity to learn and grow."
"Today, I will look at every challenge as an opportunity that creates additional opportunities for me in the future."
"I am a winner, I work for a winning organization, and because of my contribution and creativity we will keep on winning."
"I'm proud to be a (your occupation). Everyday I make a difference in my department, my organization, my family, and my community."

To build confidence:

"Today and everyday is my day to own because I believe it to be so."
"I have clearly defined goals and I will pursue them today with enthusiasm, determination, and discipline."

To reduce stress and create success:

"I will make stress work for me."
"When I feel stress, I will take a deep breath, relax, and release my stress before I take on additional tasks."
"Stress is a part of my success process. I will embrace stress and make it work for me."

These are just some of affirmations you can apply today. You can use these, change them, or add more to fit your situation. Click the following link to read additional techniques for creating a positive attitude. Start using these techniques today to make a positive difference in your life.

Survey States that Most Employees Feel Unappreciated

Our February 2005 survey asked the question, "How often do you receive praise for a job well done?" The results came back as follows:

• 25.4% receives appreciation daily

• 12.7% receives appreciation weekly

• 13.1% receives appreciation monthly

• 11.2% receives appreciation a few times a year

• 37.6% stated they never received appreciation

For whatever reason, 37.6% of employees still feel unappreciated. Take the steps to communicate your appreciation of the efforts your employees are making everyday. Take the time to read the following articles to jumpstart your motivation efforts so that you can have a more productive workforce:

Also take the time share your opionion in the March poll, "What would motivate you at work?"

Five Secrets to "Thinking on Your Feet"

Many times we are put into situations where we are asked a question and need to give an answer on the spot, or "think on your feet." It could be a sales or customer service situation, your manager asking you for a progress report, a request for your ideas on a new community project, or a job interview.

During these times we can feel the pressure. Our heart begins to race, we start to sweat, we feel our knees knocking, or we want to hide under a rock. This is because sometimes the answer we give could mean that big sale, the customer being satisfied, a promotion or raise, or that dream job.

The following are five secrets to help you master your "thinking on your feet" skills:

1. Listen
   Many times when we are in a high pressure situation where we are so nervous we really don't hear the actual question. Been there, done that. To make sure we understand the question and give the right answer do the following:
   
   
   • Breathe slower (Benefit: Relaxes body and mind).
   • Look directly at the questioner. (Benefit: Increases comprehension.)
   • Ask questions (Benefit: increases clarity and shows you are listening).

2. Pause to Organize
   It is okay to pause. Pause to gather your thoughts. When you pause you look and sound poised and in control. Remember, there is power in silence.

3. Repeat the Question
   This has several benefits:
   
   • Buys you time to think.
   • Communicates a complete piece of information.
   • Allows you to take control of the question by rephrasing the question to a more positive light if needed.
   • Enables everyone, if in a public setting, to hear the question.

4. Focus on One Main Point and Support It
   The number one reason why we sometimes freeze up when asked to think on our feet is because we have so many ideas running around in our minds. We don't know which idea to mention.
   
   Here's the solution: Go with the first idea that comes to mind and say it. By sticking with that one point you can focus on two or three supporting points. You sound more direct and confident when giving your answer.

5. Summarize and Stop (SAS)
   End your answer with some SAS (Summarize and Stop). Give your answer, summarize, and stop. Don't apologize and don't ramble on beyond the finish. Try this trick: repeat the essence of the question. For example, you may be asked, "Why did you stop the project?" In your summary you might say, "And that's why we decided to start another project." Then stop.
   
   Give your answer, let them know the end is near by saying:
   
   "In summary..."
   "In conclusion..."
   
   Then simply stop. Remember SAS.

Apply these techniques so that you can become a master at "thinking on your feet" and give great answers. You can practice these skills by joining Toastmasters. In their meetings they have an exercise called "table topics," in which you can practice this skill in a supportive environment

Want to learn how to give outstanding presentations? Our How to Give Powerful Presentions or Assertive Communication workshops can help you give outstanding presentations. Also read our articles on presentation skills, etc. Call us at 757-427-7032 or e-mail us at info@thesykesgrp.com.

Appreciate to Motivate (The Key to Successful Team Building)

Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, since said, "There are two things people want more than sex and money...recognition and praise." Time and time again that one motivating factor that is at the top of most employee lists is appreciation for a job well done. It is more requested than the green stuff, money.

Why don't more manager, owners, and employees give appreciation? Some people state they don't know how to give it. Others don't know what to give appreciate for in the work environment. Yet others say they are too busy to give appreciation.

I think is this is the biggest sin of managers, being too busy to give appreciation for a good job well done. Remember what the old transmission commercials used to say, "You can pay me now or you can pay me later." Well, that is what giving appreciation is about. You can invest in your employees now and "pay" them with sincere appreciation and achieve even better performance. Or you will "pay" later by seeing your team's performance sink, corrective actions and coachings increase, and overall morale decrease.

The following are five tips to giving sincere appreciate that will motivate your team to soar to higher level and achieve more:

1. Be Specific
   In order to get the same behavior or action again you need to let the employee know exactly what action(s) you are appreciating. For example, the typical attempt at appreciate sounds like this:
   
   Manager: "Mike, you did a great job earlier today. Keep up the good work!"
   
   Mike: "Thanks" (Mike is thinking what is he complimenting me on?)
   
   The correct way:
   
   Manager: "Mike you did a great job on the report earlier today. I can see you invested a lot of time on the report by the detail you put in it. I really appreciate you effort. Thank you."
   
   Mike: "I appreciate you noticed the time a put into the report. Thanks" (Mike is thinking that the manager really did read it and appreciates his effort. I will be glad to do it again.) As you can see the employee has a clear understanding of what action the manager is showing appreciated for and he is motivated to take on the project again.

2. Be Timely
   Make sure you show appreciation as soon as possible to the action you appreciate. The further the distant in time between the appreciation and the action the less impact it will have to motivate the employee.
   
   Manager: "Mike, the report you submitted six month ago was great. Keep up the good work. Thanks!"
   
   Mike: "Thanks, I think. What report are you taking about?"
   
   Always find time to show appreciate in a timely manner. Even if you need to drop something else take time to appreciate your employees.

3. Be Fair
   One of the key concerns of students in my workshops is that when appreciation is shown, it doesn't seem fair. The biggest villain of this is the dreaded "Employee of the Month" board. Many times when you ask the "Employee of the Month" what did you do to earn it they say, "I don't know." I have one action you must take when giving appreciation...be consistent!
   
   • First, clearly state the rules for appreciation so that everyone understands how appreciate is earned.
   • Second, be consistent when showing appreciation. If one employee does a favorable action and you show appreciation and another employee does the same or similar action and you don't show appreciation you have just sewn the seeds of bad morale and feelings of favoritism.
   • Third, always be on the lookout for "finding something good" your employees do well. Once you achieve this mindset you will always find the good and increase morale and productivity within your team and organization.
   • Fourth, be pure in your appreciation. If you to show appreciation, don't muddle it with other communication. In other words, don't show appreciation for one action and then start discussing a potential corrective action for another action. This sends mixed signals that say to the receiver of this communication, "I don't want any appreciation because there is always something bad attached to it." Keep it pure!

4. Be Public, if Possible
   Appreciation is not something you hide. It works best when done publicly. Show you appreciation in a public way in meetings, in front of team members, and management. The funny thing is that once you get in the habit of doing this many of your team members will increase the activity they need to take to also earn this public appreciation.

5. Be Relational
   When I ask the question, "Why do you come to work everyday?," in my workshops I usually get "to get paid" as the first answer the students give. Then as we discuss it further it always comes down to "I feel like I make a difference" as the main answer. You see, in most cases the reason why employees decide to climb out of bed in the morning, their toes touch the floor, and they decide to drive to work is that they feel that they make a difference where they work.
   
   I remember an opportunity to emcee a large sales meeting for a Fortune 500 company. I introduced a Senior Vice President and he went to the lectern to address over 500 employees. He announced that the company achieved sales of $14 billion. Then he quickly announced that their goal for the next year was $17 billion. As he was talking I was looking at the audience. They were unusually quiet and attentive. However, as I looked at them they had a glassy eye look. I realized the problem was that the speaker was just talking numbers. He didn't relate how those 500+ employees made a positive difference for the company. All he needed to say was how their sacrifice everyone translated in the success of the company. Along with this, they will meet the coming years challenges only with the talents of our employees. So simple, but so rarely done.
   
   Relate the action done with how if affects the team, department and organization. Let's go back to our earlier examples to complete the appreciate process:
   
   Manager: "Mike you did a great job on the report for the new computer system earlier today. I can see you invested a lot of time to do the research so that we have the necessary information to request the computer system. Mike, we appreciate your efforts because the new computer system will make our team more productive so that the department will achieve its goals and the company will be profitable this year. Bottom line, bigger bonuses for everyone. I look forward to seeing your high level of work in the future. Thank you."
   
   Mike: "Thanks. I appreciate making a difference. Please let me know whatever I can do to help the team."
   
   As you can see, Mike has a clear sense of achievement and where he fits in the company. Also, the manager encouraged Mike to do the same behavior soon by saying "I look forward to seeing your high level of work in the future." And the manager ended with a sincere "thank you."

These are five simple tips that will motivate your employees to achieve more with a minimum amount of efforts. Starting today, apply these techniques and you will see a world of difference in your team, department, and organization. Remember, "pay" yourself with the rewards now or "pay" yourself with a low performing team later.

Take Time to Be Successful!

The great dividing line between success and failure can be expressed in five words: "I did not have time."

As a reminder, here are five quick tips for effective time management:

1. List and prioritize weekly objectives.

2. Make a daily "to do" list and prioritize it by A-B-C.

3. Devote primary attention to your A's.

4. Handle each piece of paper only once.

5. Continually ask, "What is the best use of my time right now?" and DO IT!

Leadership Skills for Challenging Times

We consistently face new and ever growing challenges in the workplace such as reorganizing, downsizing, and "left out sizing." We are faced with the question, "How do we lead in this storm of change?" It may seem difficult at times and the decisions we make define our short-term and long-term outcomes. I will share with you five leadership techniques guaranteed to keep you on track during these difficult times.

• Integrity. I put this first because the lack of integrity will make or break you as a professional, as a leader, as a person in the long run. The lack of this will turn yesterday's heroes in today's villains. For example, "MCI was the apple of the business community's eye. High revenues, high profits, and high growth; MCI was beating the competition hands down. Then it was discovered that there were gross accounting irregularities that accounted for the astounding profits. You see, management made a decision, "Do I continue to sustain good growth and be able to look at myself in the mirror or do I cook the accounting books and spend the rest of my time covering up this integrity deficiency? The real shame of the MCI situation was that AT&T, Sprint, and others in the industry had to cut costs and lay off thousands of employees to compete with MCI's false numbers. The lack of integrity at MCI not only affected the company but also the livelihood of thousands and the industry as a whole.
  
  I was recently speaking with a recently retired City Council member who is well respected in the community. I asked her what the secret was to her success while on the council? She mentioned that one of her political adversaries said to her, "While you were on the council, I didn't like the way you voted, but I respected the way you voted because you were consistent with your votes and had the city's best interest in mind."
  
  Ask yourself what decisions that you make are right for the long term? Be consistent in your actions, whether it is with management, your team, or your family.

• Knowledge. With change happening faster and faster every moment, it is extremely important that you gain the knowledge to master these changes. You owe it not only to yourself, but to your team and management. As I always say, "It's not having the right answer, it's that you have the right answer faster than before." Many times during my teambuilding programs a student will say, "I didn't know where to find the answer." Then I will say, "That is an unacceptable answer." Because part of being a leader is acquiring the skills to find the right answers. With the Internet, classroom and online training, mentors, etc., the knowledge is at your fingertips. Challenge your team members to use the same resources to acquire the knowledge to master their challenges. By acquiring this knowledge, you will be able to navigate your team through the ocean of change and achieve your goals.

• Decisiveness. You have seen them. They wait for information, then more information before making a decision. Then they need more information to support the information they already have. Then they need a committee to analyze the information. Then they wait for the perfect time to make the decision. Well, you know what I mean. Anyone you know? Make the decision! Good things happen when you take action; you grow, you adapt, and your team grows. There is no perfect time to make a decision. Leaders make decisions based on past experience, putting into action the decision, and staying and adapting the decision if needed. But make the decision. The worst quality you can show your team is indecision. What do you think your team sees when you can't make a decision? Make the decision and go for it.

• Vision. This is the ability not only to see what is the present - anyone can do that - it's the ability to see the future. Outstanding leaders can not only see their team for what they can do now, but what they can become, and paint the picture for them. These leaders are consistently communicating and coaching their team members to that vision.
  
  One of the best ways, and least used methods, to convey your vision is the team meeting (Teambuilding and Coaching Skills for Outstanding Results). Every meeting should start out with the team vision, mission, and goals; and the rest of the meeting should tie into the vision. For example, the motivation portion of the meeting should tie into the vision, the information portion of the meeting should tie into the vision, the training portion of the meeting should tie into the vision, etc.
  
  Also, invest time to develop your team members' personal visions and show them how they can accomplish their personal goals by tying into the overall vision. By consistently communicating the vision, your team will move with purpose, feel they are personally making a difference, and achieve their goals sooner.

• Unselfishness. Stephen Covey, in his successful book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, wrote that a true leader must be a servant to the ones he or she leads. The leader must be able to "give of oneself for the good of the team." In other words, be unselfish in words and action. Be unselfish in praise of others, in public, especially in front of management.
  
  Be unselfish in the ability to take time to listen, really listen to your team's concerns. A recent management survey said that the average time management invests doing "pure listening" to employees during the year is a mere two hours-just two hours! What was meant by "pure listening" time was listening with eye contact, acknowledgement, and not answering the phone while listening, not speaking with another person while listening, etc.
  
  Be unselfish in the ability to help your team. Whether it's the ability to readily assist with a difficult telephone call, jump in and remove road blocks for team members, or "be there" for a team member during challenging moments. Believe me, your team will remember those moments and excel for you.

Now I challenge you to put into action just one of the leadership techniques I mentioned above to achieve your vision, your mission, and your goals in the future.

How Appetizing Is Your Feedback? (Five Secrets to Give Feedback so Others will Listen)

Recently, I was watching a rerun of the successful television show, The Cosby Show. The patriarch of this professional family (He is a doctor and his wife is a lawyer.) played by Bill Cosby, was just told by his college-bound daughter that the boyfriend she brought home to meet him was really her fiancé. He was disappointed with the news. Disappointed not in the young man or what he did (he was a "maintenance engineer"), but in the way he was told about this engagement.

Mr. Cosby said that the way he was told was like taking a sizzling, delicious, robust T-bone steak and serving it on a garbage can lid. It's not too appetizing. You know the steak is delicious, but would we really want to eat it? It's not too appetizing.

I ask you, when you give feedback, do you make it appetizing for the receiver of the feedback? Or do you make your "steak" indigestible? We can be giving great feedback everyday and, unless we make it appetizing so others will digest it, our feedback will not acted upon.

The following are ten techniques for making your feedback more appetizing:

1. Prep for a Great Meal
   Just as you would prep for a great meal, you should prepare to give feedback. Mentally go over the following:
   
   • Is the feedback important?
   • What do I want to accomplish with the feedback?
   • Who are the persons I will be giving the feedback to?
   • How will they take my feedback? How can I make my feedback more appetizing for them?
   • How have they taken feedback in the past?
   • Is there someone better I can enlist to "serve" the feedback?
   Just as you would expect to produce a great meal, mentally expect to have a great feedback session. Take time to visualize the positive interaction and results by giving the feedback. Know that you will improve the lives of those you give feedback to and how you will accomplish your goals.
   Note: Remember, all feedback, with the goal of improving another individual or situation, is positive. It's when we are not receiving or giving constant feedback that situations turn negative due to misunderstandings.

2. Timing Is All Important for a Great Meal
   Make sure you are giving the feedback when it is needed. Giving feedback too long after there is need will dilute the "hunger" for the feedback. Giving feedback too early when there is no "hunger" for the feedback will allow your meal, your feedback, to go to waste and not have the impact on behavior that you need.

3. Quality Ingredients Are the Start of a Great Meal
   Be consistent every time you give feedback so that the person receiving the feedback will know what to expect. Be fair in your feedback. Also focus your feedback on actions observed, not the person. Or, as I say, "point to point, not person to person." Use "I" statements.
   • Be direct in your feedback. Just like you wouldn't want to wait forever to get to the main course, you wouldn't want to wait forever for someone to tell you why they are giving you feedback.
   • Set positive expectations so they want to eat. Instead of saying the following:

   "Mike, come by my office today at 3 p.m. so that I can give you some "constructive criticism." Mike is thinking he had rather be having a root canal.
   Say the following:
   "Mike, come by office at 3 p.m. today. I have some ideas on how to make your job easier (or some other benefit) and would value your feedback."

   Remember, in order for the receiver of the feedback to be hungry for the information, apply the "What's In It For Me" (WIIFM) technique. Ask yourself, "What is the benefit to the receiver of my feedback?"
   • Master Our Utensils. Master our utensils, the words we use, when serving the meal. For example, if you noticed someone unfocused in their conversation, you might say the following:

   "Sue, slow down! You are rambling too much."

   Instead say the following:
   

   "Sue, you sure have a lot on your mind. Let's concentrate on top the three points you want to discuss."

   Use positive words to create a great meal.

4. Ask for Feedback on the Meal
   Encourage the other person to give you feedback on your feedback. This may clear up any misunderstandings. Also, it shows that you value the other person’s opinion.

5. End the Meal on a Positive Note
   Appreciate their time, their manners, and overall demeanor to the feedback. Let them know that you appreciate the efforts they are making. Also tell them that you expect that there will be a positive outcome from the feedback session. Also, let them know that you are there to help them succeed.

Apply these techniques at work, home or in the community to ensure that your feedback is more appetizing to others. Bon appétit!

Nine Ways Johnny Carson Can Help You Run Outstanding Meetings

Recently, America lost one of the giants of late night television, Johnny Carson. He was a master at his craft, because he would conduct his show, essentially like a ninety minute meeting. The program would be entertaining, insightful, informative, and leave you wanting more.

Many times we fear going to meetings because we feel, based on past experiences, that they are going to be boring, not relevant, lack information, and we can't wait until the meeting ends.

Here are my eight techniques used by Johnny Carson to make your meetings outstanding for all involved:

Click here to read more

The Sykes Group Announced the "Dive in 2005 Success Series"

The Sykes Group announces it new series of workshops, "Dive in 2005 Success Series." This innovative series taught by experts will give you the skills to succeed in business, career, and life.

Click here to learn how these programs can work for you!

5 Secrets to Gaining Credibility with Your Team for Outstanding Results

Towers Perrin, the corporate benefits consulting firm, surveyed over 1000 American workers and found the following:

• Only 48 percent of all workers with more than five years of tenure believe their companies are honest in their employee communications

• Only 44 percent of all workers over age 50 trust their organizations to tell them the truth in employee communications

Organizations then wonder why worker productivity decreases, employee loyalty is at an all time low, and human resource situations increase. Your employees see everyday, at least in their eyes, the following:

• Record profits, yet massive layoffs

• Hearing how important they are, yet having their jobs outsourced

• Experiencing changes to their jobs, yet not being asked for their ideas

• Being told how they are doing a great job, yet being yelled at for mistakes in front of colleagues

No wonder there is tension in the workplace. When I work with organizations, the following three concerns are the ones usually express:

"My supervisor, manager, etc., doesn’t know how to communicate with me."
"I am the last to hear about bad news."
"He/she never asks me for my ideas."

Because of these concerns, there is a divide, professionally, emotionally, mentally, and physically between the employees and their supervisor/manager, etc., which leads to lost productivity.

The following are five secrets that will increase your credibility with employees and produce outstanding results for your organization:

1. Be Honest
   You owe it to your employees and to colleagues to be honest. Tell your employees exactly where they stand within the organization. Be positive, yet don’t sugar coat it. Once your employees know where they stand, use this as a stepping stone for improvements and solutions you can work on together.

2. Be Consistent
   Be consistent with your communication among employees. You will lose credibility with employees if they see you communicate differently with different employees concerning the same situations. For example, if you berate an employee (which I’m sure you would never do) for a mistake, yet say nothing to another employee for the same mistake, you will lose credibility.
   

   Also, be consistent with the way you communicate your moods. Remember, if you project a professional manner, no matter the situation, your employees will emulate your behavior.

3. Communicate Bad News ASAP
   There is nothing worse for employees than hearing bad news from human resources, shareholders, the news, friends, family, and even their religious leader, but not from you, their manager. The biggest reasons I hear for not telling employees are the following:

   "Management asked me to keep it secret."
   "I don’t have all the facts yet."
   "I don’t think the employees can handle the bad news."

   Well, guess what:
   
   • Employees always find out about bad news (sometimes before their supervisors/managers, etc.).
   • Employees always appreciate when you share whatever information you have with them as long as you are honest with them.
   • Employees can take more than you think if you are sensitive to their concerns and express these concerns with them.
   Will some of them be unhappy in the short run? Some employees may not be happy; however, they will respect you as a manager that respects them and keeps them informed of all news, good or bad.

4. Give and Receive Constant Feedback
   Employees want feedback on, "How am I doing?" By giving constant feedback, you are developing a bond of trust that improves the performance of your employees.
    

   Remember, your employees are always doing something well. Make sure you come from a positive position of improvement when giving feedback. Let your employees know that you appreciate their efforts and the difference they make each day.

    

   Also make it "safe" for employees to give you feedback. Let them know that no one is perfect (I know we think we are) and that you value their feedback to make the work environment a "win-win" situation for all involved. Teach your employees how to give feedback, both positive and constructive. Remember, as a leader, you are constantly developing your employees for the next level.

5. Ask for Employee Solutions
   People go to work to succeed, not fail. Employees also go to work because they want to make a difference at their job. One of the best ways for employees to feel they are making a difference is to involve them in the solution creation process.
    

   Make asking for solutions from your employees an ongoing process. Whether during staff meetings, one-on-one sessions, etc., make it safe for employees to develop their own solutions. If given the opportunity, your employees will come up with solutions that are innovative, proactive, and in some cases better than any solution we can ever develop.

    

   To motivate your employees to create solutions, you must do the following:

    
   • Give them credit for the solutions
   • Create reward systems for solutions
   • Make it easy for them to communicate solutions
   • Massage solutions for positive results
    

   Very importantly, if employees share a solution with you, please, please, please, give them feedback ASAP. You will lose employee credibility if they think you don’t care or are taking credit for their ideas.

Apply these techniques now and you will gain credibility and increase productivity with your employees while developing a high performance environment that achieves outstanding results.

Source: Towers Perrin, Enhancing Corporate Credibility-Is It Time to Take the "Spin" Out of Employee Communication? January, 2004

Want to learn how to build a powerful, self-directed, high producing team employees? Click here to find out how our workshops can help you lead others to the next level. Click here to read our other articles on motivation, team building, and goal setting, etc. Call us at 757-427-7032 or e-mail us at info@thesykesgrp.com.

Ed Sykes is a professional speaker published in the areas of leadership, change management, customer service, motivation, and teamwork. He works with business and government organizations who want to reach the next level of success and individuals who want to perform at their best. You can email him at esykes@thesykesgrp.com, call him at (757) 427-7032 or visit his Web site at www.thesykesgrp.com.

Ten Techniques for Motivating Others through Chaos

The work environment has changed. Change has become the norm. Also the truth level of employees has decreased. This can lead to increased dissatisfaction and decreased productivity.

Here are ten techniques for motivating your employees to succeed during chaos:

1. Take Care of the Little Things
   Doing the little things well will show that your respect your employees. Making sure you are on time for meetings, saying “good morning” and “thank-you,” and returning phone calls and e-mails in a timely manner goes a long way to showing your employees that you care during chaotic times.

2. Be an Active Listener
   Recent research stated that the average supervisor or manager only invests two hours per year applying “pure listening” skills. Pure listening is when you are listening to your employee you are not:

• Multitasking
• Ordering your lunch
• Watching people walk by your office.
• Answering telephone calls
• Setting up appointments

To be a pure listener you must be an active listener. Good managers do more than pay attention. They genuinely care about people and never talk down to them. They ask their employees about their goals and dreams, their past achievement, their concerns and challenges during this chaotic time. They listen with their hearts and minds. They respect the employee’s thoughts and opinions. They realize that the employees sometimes have the best answer for achieving more through chaos.

3. Walk Your Talk
   If you expect your employees to arrive early, then you arrive early. If you expect your employees to keep their promises, you keep your promises. If you want your employees to keep to high standards, you keep to high standards. Your employees are watching you even when you don’t think they are watching you. So set the tone. Once you walk through the doors of your organization make sure you are positive and upbeat if you expect your employees to be positive and upbeat.

4. Let People Know They Make a Difference
   At the top of many lists of what motivates employees, more than money, is knowing that they make a difference at work. One of the most powerful methods of letting your employees know they make is difference is…praise (Go to article Appreciate to Motivate to learn how). The praise should relate to how the employee helps achieve the overall mission of the organization.

5. Communicate Clearly
   Communicate so that others understand what you want to achieve. Adapt your communication to the audience you are speaking. Constantly communicate your vision and goals so that there are no misunderstandings. The clearer the vision, the clearer the communication, the clearer the opportunity for success.

6. Help Employees Succeed
   People go to work to succeed, not fail. It is your job to understand your employee’s strengths and weaknesses so that you can put them in the best position to succeed. If, for example, you find out that an employee is lacking in a certain skill set to succeed during a change then provide the coaching and training to make them and your organization successful. The best managers minimize or eliminate their employees weaknesses and while building on their strengths. Remove any and all barriers to success.

7. Focus Your Team on the Goal
   Focus your employees on the end result, the overall team goal. Once you successful communicate this your team will band together to defeat any obstacles that get in the way.

8. Create High Standards
   High-performance organizations set high standards for their people. Employees want to know what is expected of them, how their performance is measured, and what rewards they can expect when they exceed the standard. Make sure the standards are consistently applied to each employee. Make sure each employee understands how the standards are measured so that they know how to reach it. As each plateau is reached, set new goals.

9. Help Your Employees Compete and Win
   Develop goals that help all your employees excel. Make your goals inclusive not exclusive. This means that everybody is working together and wins together. Have your employees complete against the goal, not each other.

10. Reward Outstanding Achievement
    Find ways to recognize your achievers in a public way. The more you reward employees for excellent achievement, the more you receive more of the same behavior. Make sure you are consistent with the way you contribute rewards to your employees. Very important, make use you communicate exactly why the employee is being rewarded. And last, reward as soon as possible to the action.

Some of the ways you can show recognition are:

• Idea board
• Initiative Board
• Star Spotlight
• Certificates
• Gift cards
• Say thank-you
• Lunch

Apply these techniques and you will achieve your goals during the most challenging of times.

Want to learn how to motive others to achieve more? Our Team Building, Leadership, Change Management, or Assertive Communication workshops can help you achieve more. Also read our articles on motivation skills, etc. Call us at 757-427-7032 or e-mail us at info@thesykesgrp.com.

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Ed Sykes is a professional speaker published in the areas of leadership, change management, customer service and teamwork. He works with business and government organizations who want to reach the next level of success and individuals who want to perform at their best. You can email him at esykes@thesykesgrp.com, call him at (757) 427-7032 or visit his Web site at www.thesykesgrp.com.

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Customer Service Week News - Great Job Bank of America!

Recently I walked into my Bank of America branch and received my usual upbeat and personal greeting. The teller asked. "How can I serve you today Mr. Sykes?" I then told her about the transaction I wanted to perform and then she said, "It would be my pleasure to serve you today!" Then when she finished completing my transaction she then asked is there anything else, waited for my answer, then said "It was my pleasure to serve you today Mr. Sykes, have a great day!"

Wow! When was the last time you received service like that. I am usually pleased with the level of service that Bank of America gives me. That's why I bank there. The branch manager, Mr. Amos D. Brunson IV, has taken his staff to a higher level. He instituted a "happy praise" contest. As staff members are heard saying happy phrases such as "It would be my pleasure to serve you today," "I'll be happy to do that for you," "thank you for allowing me to help you today," etc., a gold star goes up on a bulletin board that can be seen by customers and employees. His employees receive instant recognition for raising the level of service.

As I stayed and watched, the employees were also having fun thinking of new "happy phrases" to use with their customers. Mr. Brunson also rewarded them in accordance to the number of gold stars they receive.

Great Job to all, and especially Mr. Brunson, for being proactive at taking customer service to another level.

Share your stories of Wow! customer service with us.

Celebrate Customer Service Week