appreciative, Author at Dennis E. Gilbert

18
Aug 15
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Most Important, Most Strategic

Tags : fix problems most important strategic

Many people and businesses believe they are doing what is most important. After all, they are doing what the customer asked for, what the department across the hall needed, or helping a co-worker to finish the project on time. They are convinced they’re doing the right things first, and the first things right. They know their priorities.

Suddenly, or not so much, revenues are off, more customers are frustrated, and they can’t keep up with demands. They’re busy, but falling short of expectations.

Management decisions begin to feel counterproductive. The business needs more employees not fewer, they need to spend more time with customers not less, and the employees could fix things if they only had a bigger budget.

In the workplace every time you are fighting a fire, oiling the squeakiest wheel, or fixing what is broken you risk missing what is most important. A strategy of fix may become a strategy of fate, or equivalent to no strategy at all.

Most important is usually not the easiest, the loudest, or the most popular, it is the most strategic.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, corporate trainer, and keynote speaker that specializes in helping businesses accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. Reach him through his website at http://DennisEGilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

11
Aug 15
-

Kidding Me

Tags : focus prophecy self-fulfilling surprise

You hear the news. You thought it could happen. You knew it.

The surprise of, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” isn’t really such a surprise.

You’re not a prophet, or if you are, you’ll know exactly when to buy that lottery ticket.

When you believe you know the outcome, the outcome becomes more believable. Then sometimes it becomes what you focus on and then what you focus on becomes what you get.

No kidding.

– DEG

04
Aug 15
-

Failure to Confidence

Tags : confidence failure

Everyone has heard that you have the opportunity to learn more from failures or mistakes as compared to successes. Still others would argue that there is an equal amount of learning opportunity from either, and some, may argue there is more to be learned from success.

Could it be that the learning or growth comes from your mindset and how you approach each situation?

You didn’t close the sale, you weren’t the successful job candidate, or someone else obtained the promotion you were hoping for. In any of these cases, failure only means you didn’t get it on that attempt. There are more examples, such as the basketball player who missed the basket, the batter who swung at the ball but missed, and the football player who dropped the touchdown pass even though it was in his hands.

Every attempt has the risk of failure; every attempt has the opportunity to learn. Your mindset will condition what you learn, or what you ignore. Failure should make you more confident when you learn what didn’t work or what may work better the next time. If that is the case, then failure is when you fail to see, or try, to make your next attempt better.

Your best opportunity exists when you turn failure into confidence.

– DEG

28
Jul 15
-

Questions to ask…

Tags : change costs pivot

It isn’t so much that we hate change. It is that change makes us feel uneasy, nervous, and afraid. Economic factors, competitive factors, and even government regulations may force our workplace to change, but those aren’t the only reasons to consider change.

Change is happening all around us, and for that reason, staying the same may put your survival at the biggest risk. Maybe instead, ask yourself, “Why should we stay the same?” Of course, you’ll give yourself lots of reasons, things like:

it works
we’re growing
we’re exceeding our goals.

If those are your answers maybe you should ask yourself, “How long will that continue?” If those aren’t your answers, you probably already recognize something needs to change. I’m certainly not talking about just carelessly throwing around change efforts, I’m talking about purposeful change for long-term success.

Anything can work for a period of time. Continued success is likely conditioned on how well you change. Staying the same is easy and probably the fastest path to the finish, but in this case, the “finish” is not a line you want to cross.

Perhaps the best question to ask is, “What costs more, change or comfort?”

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, corporate trainer, and keynote speaker that specializes in helping businesses accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. Reach him through his website at http://DennisEGilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

21
Jul 15
-

Good Race

Tags : customer service high road low road selling

It seems like we all sell something. You often have two choices, the high road or the low road. You assess your confidence and the risk. In one choice, you approach the problem from the side. You try to bring the opposition down. You say little unattractive things that may be cleverly disguised as attractive.

Two Roads

It may sound like this:

“They’ve been providing good service. I’m not sure though, I understand they’ve been so busy as a result of their recent marketing campaign I don’t know if they’ll be timely. Our staff is big which costs us more and in this economy that is scary we don’t like to see anyone lose their job but it’s worth it to us to always have the immediate resources, we would love to have your business.”

Your conscious tells you that you haven’t really blasted the competition. In fact, you’ve said good things, but you’ve also painted the picture that they may not be able to deliver. Better yet, you’re tugging on their emotions with the “job loss” comment. Perhaps you’ve created doubt in the customers mind. In your mind, you’re proud.

Another choice is to approach it straight up, also known as, the high road. It may sound more like this:

“I’m really not sure about how our competitors are doing, but what we offer has all the features and benefits that align with your expressed need and we have a team ready to dig in and tackle this. I’m willing to work hard to get and keep your business, you have my promise. What is the next step? We would love to provide a formal proposal.”

Your proud, you’ve honestly approached the situation and tackled it straight up.

Two people can’t win the race. One will take the high road and another will take the low road. In the beginning either road seems like a reasonable choice.

The high road may feel like the harder climb, but the low road will always keep you at the bottom.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and consultant that specializes in helping businesses accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. Reach him through his website at http://DennisEGilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

14
Jul 15
-

Second Place

Tags : breakthrough part of the crowd risk

Doing something new or different may involve watching and learning from someone else. What a great feeling learning can be, and when you’re really excited you want to be just as good (or better) than what you’ve learned. Children (and some adults) often fantasize about becoming a superhero, or in earlier generations, perhaps G.I. Joe or Barbie, or maybe the next pop-star singer, American Idol, or Little League sports hero.

As an adult you observe top athletes, marketers, or upcoming CEO’s and perhaps you picture yourself becoming great, in some ways, just like them. They may become your target, your goal, or you strive to be just as good or better. You picture your business, a new advertising campaign, or your job role evolving to be just as good or better. You overcome your fears, take some risks, knock down obstacles, and strive for excellence.

All of that is great, but it is not good enough. Not unless you take the ultimate risk and that is to do something different, breakthrough traditions, and create or become the next big thing. In your business, your market, or your community, you have stand out, rise above others and become the next target for anyone trying to succeed.

Your advertising campaign needs to be different, risky, and captivating. In your job you may need to be different from the last manager, stronger, kinder, or more inspirational. In business your product or service needs to feel different, look different, or be awe inspiring.

Some of the most successful people in the world broke traditions, took chances, and were different, that is until others tried to be just like them. If your goal is to be just like the others, you’ll always be just part of the crowd. Part of the crowd can be rewarding and satisfying, but is that really you?

Until you’ve become the target the best you can hope for is second place.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and consultant that specializes in helping businesses accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. Reach him through his website at http://DennisEGilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

Photo Credit: Pixabay, Public Domain

07
Jul 15
4

Pay Attention

Tags : customer service little things

Little things mean a lot, because someone recognizes the spirit, heart, and thought that went into it. Big things are what people plan for, the wedding, the new or improved product, or a new strategy kickoff. All of that makes sense, but it is often not what people notice or remember the most.

The search for perfection can be relentless; it takes persistence, tenacity, and perseverance. Sometimes however, all the energy, effort, and heart that create the perfect end product are not what is most noticed. What is most noticed is what went wrong, what didn’t work, and what should of, could of, or did cause the biggest let down or the most embarrassment.

People more easily recall the customer service experience that didn’t go well but yet struggle to tell you about the time when they were astounded with exceptional service. People remember their joy and excitement on the day they bought the car, but after some time they seem to more vividly recall the repairs. They remember the quirks and frustrations of their last smartphone but forget about the joy of first learning about its incredible power. People dine at a restaurant dozens of times, tell a few friends but forget about it hours later; in contrast when they have a bad meal they talk about it for days or bring it up whenever someone mentions that venue.

These thoughts aren’t for everyone, but they are for anyone. Anyone who wants to make a lasting impact needs to pay attention to the small stuff and they especially need to consider their words, actions, or feelings left behind when things go wrong.

Pay attention because the big stuff is often expected, little stuff is more remembered, and when something goes wrong people may not remember exactly what happened, but they’ll always remember how you reacted or how you made them feel.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and consultant that specializes in helping businesses accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. Reach him through his website at http://DennisEGilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

30
Jun 15
-

Desperately Seeking

Tags : generational diversity retention

In the workplace what…

attracts people across the generations?
captures everyone’s attention?
makes earlier generations stay?
makes newer generations leave?

Every generation wants their own definition, they want to be respected and defined by who they are not how others are labeling them. In fact, what most may want is no generational label at all.

Your business and team may not be perfect, but most don’t seek true perfection, they seek respect, inspiration, and reward.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and consultant that specializes in helping businesses accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. Reach him through his website at http://DennisEGilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

23
Jun 15
-

Backwards

Tags : backwards critics everything clicked worked well

People tend to do what is easy. It takes a lot of energy to be a good listener, so you only listen partially. It takes a lot of energy to break a bad habit and replace it with a good one, so you stay stuck with the bad one. It takes a lot of energy to launch a major shift in your job or career, so you find reasons to stay put, stick with the same, or minimize the risk by doing little or nothing different.

Your critics tell you what went wrong, what should have been different, and are experts at squashing your beliefs. They create scenarios that in your mind are so powerful, you begin to believe what the doubters say and worse, they win again because you start to doubt your own beliefs.

Maybe it is all backwards. Maybe you should use your energy to force change because without it, you’re stuck. Maybe you should start by focusing on the moments when somebody complimented you, thanked you for how you helped, or expressed how much you made a difference. Maybe you should re-live those moments when everything clicked, worked well, and just felt good.

I think maybe, sometimes, people have it backwards.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and consultant that specializes in helping businesses accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. Reach him through his website at http://DennisEGilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

Photo Credit: Hummingbird – Wikipedia

16
Jun 15
2

7 Reasons to Inspire

Tags : inspiration leadership training

Leadership isn’t about motivating with fear; it is about motivating through inspiration. I’m fortunate to work with many organizations of many different sizes and in many different sectors. It may not be surprising that most of them express similar challenges. Often they are concerned about improving workplace communication, processing through change, and maintaining an engaged and motivated workforce.

Small Training Seminar

A great workforce typically doesn’t happen overnight. Attracting and retaining a quality workforce has a lot to do with the leadership culture. Of course, there are other factors such as pay, benefits, and career path opportunities, but likely much of the challenge points back to culture which is predominately created through communication.

Many supervisors, managers, and formal leaders are unaware of how their communication shapes outcomes. Here are a few examples:

“We have to do better next month. I’m worried what will happen if we don’t.”
“This change is coming down from above me, it wasn’t my idea but I don’t want to be the next group to get downsized.”
“If we don’t do what upper management says, we’ll all be looking for a new job.“

On the surface some people may feel that these statements are not terribly harmful and may suggest that they express truth concerning any given situation. In still other cases there may be an argument that these statements do spring people into action, they get teams moving to get things done, and maintain efficiency, production, and high output.

Perhaps, but the action is based mostly on fear, not on inspiration. Motivating through fear will give you the following long-term outcomes:

Lack of loyalty or commitment to the organization by employees.
People who stay are often lower achieving, leaving management wondering why performance is poor.
Higher employee turnover with continued expressions of wanting more money or benefits.
Employees with the feeling of, “You don’t care about me so I don’t care about you.”
Increased theft, unwise use of time, or negligence because of a feeling of, “The Company owes me.”
Decreased quality in outputs mostly because of an “I don’t care” attitude.
Unable to hire a quality workforce, due to a challenged community or regional reputation.

Great organizations inspire their workforce for high performance and they have teams that are engaged by a strong desire to produce quality outputs. Sure, nearly all employees care about wages, benefits, and career opportunities, but inspired employees also care about the success of the organization.

Inspire.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and consultant that specializes in helping businesses accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. Reach him through his website at http://DennisEGilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

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