In This Issue For Facilitators: Recognizing Communication Styles For Leaders: The Perils of Positive Thinking For Consultants and IT Professionals: The Funneling Technique For Strategic Planners: Strategy Execution Client Success Story: Communication is Key to Success The PDI Difference Spotlight: National Facilitator Database Would you like to get published? This Issue's Special: 5% Discount on Your Next Meeting Facilitation With Us! What if we could show you a way to transform the way everyone in your organization runs meetings? Planning an important meeting? A professional facilitator from Leadership Strategies can help you get the results you need. Now through August 31, 2006, receive a 5% discount on your next meeting facilitation with us. Call 800-824-2850 for more details. You must mention the July/August Newsletter in order to receive this discount. Upcoming Classes Masterful Meetings Sep 18-19 Atlanta The Effective Facilitator 4-Day Aug 14-17 Washington DC Aug 28-31 Atlanta Streamlined 3-Day Jul 10-12 Dallas Jul 31-Aug 2 Atlanta Aug 22-24 Denver Sep 11-13 Chicago Sydney Australia Sep 11-13 Sep 18-29 Los Angeles Facilitating IT Sessions* Nov 3 Dallas Facilitation For Trainers Sep 25-27 Atlanta Advanced Facilitation* Dec 14-15 Atlanta Facilitator Certification* Aug 3-4 Atlanta The Effective Consultant Aug 7-9 Atlanta Strategic Planning Aug 14-15 Atlanta From Management to Leadership Oct 16-18 Atlanta Secrets to Facilitating Strategy for Governments & Non Profits Nov 7-9 Atlanta See the entire Public Class Schedule * Prerequisite Required Click here to register online now for a public class or call us at 1.800.824.2850 about a private on-site class! Learn about our online training courses: Springboard Online! DISC Self Study

Greetings! The summer weather is sizzling and so are the articles in this editions’ newsletter! Having challenges talking with people? As a professional facilitator you will want to read “Recognizing Communication Styles” and capitalize on using tools that detect, prevent and resolve dysfunctional behavior. In “The Perils of Positive Thinking” guest writer Estienne de Beer presents vivid word pictures of what happens when well-intentioned positive thinking isn’t combined with common sense! This issue also includes a jewel of an article exploring how consultants and IT Professionals glean valuable insights into their clients underlying set of values by utilizing a technique we call funneling. And if you’ve ever witnessed well-intentioned strategic plans get placed in binders and gather dust on bookshelves, you’ll want to read “Strategy Execution: Moving the Plan from Paper to Execution.” Do you work with a myriad of personalities on any given day? “One of the most valuable skills for any manager is understanding the importance of facilitating meetings with employees rather than simply leading discussions.” Read more about the mystery surrounding the word ‘strategy’ in this issue’s client success story. For sales professionals interested in increasing their closing ratio, be on the lookout for the future rollout of the newest addition to our product line: Buying Styles—Selling the Way Your Customer Buys. We’re hosting an executive briefing “sneak preview” at our new corporate offices this Fall. My second book in the Secrets series, The Secrets to Masterful Meetings, is available through our Leadership Strategies website and at Amazon.com. Hopefully it will also be coming soon to a bookstore near you! And, if you haven't already taken your free 30-day trial of the GoToMeeting.com web- meeting software, you can do so by clicking on the GoToMeeting link to your left. I use it regularly with remote clients and it is amazingly affordable at $49/month. May your third quarter be pleasant and prosperous, Michael Wilkinson Managing Director Click for details! Best Practice Tip for this Issue: Building An Agenda From Scratch The easiest way to build an agenda is from a model of commonly used processes for solving standard problem types. To build an agenda from scratch without a model, follow these steps: Determine the critical question – What is the key question that must be answered when the facilitated session is completed? Determine the preparation questions – What are the questions that should be answered first in order to prepare the participants to answer the critical question? Determine the logical order of the preparation questions. Transform the preparation questions and the critical question into agenda items. Prepare your facilitation plan including the order of the items, processes you will use, starting questions, recording methods, supplies, and timing. To learn more about building agendas from scratch, register for The Effective Facilitator course! For more details, call (800) 824-2850. For Facilitators: Recognizing Communication Styles We at Leadership Professional facilitators often find it helpful to have a model for recognizing different communication styles. People communicate differently and have different needs in a meeting. By having a mental model of the different communication styles, as well as their needs and typical dysfunctions, you will be better able to prevent, detect and resolve dysfunctional behavior. There are a number of models for... Click here to continue For Leaders: The Perils of Positive Thinking Something bothered me about the teeth of the consultant who was sitting in front of me, on the other side of the helpdesk. I couldn’t identify what it was immediately. I was at my bank’s foreign exchange division, hoping to get some advice on an upcoming business trip. As the positive and friendly consultant was talking, I suddenly realized what seemed out of place for me. Embedded in his front tooth... Click here to continue For Consultants and IT Professionals: The Funneling Technique Have you heard a client say something like the following? “It did not work very well” “It was the best job ever done” “I liked it” “He’s not too smart” Our term for declarations such as these are “evaluation statements.” With evaluation statements, your client is providing you a... Click here to continue For Strategic Planners: Strategy Execution-Moving the Plan from Paper to Implementation Strategic plans often fail due to a lack of focus on implementation. For all too often, great plans are placed in binders and gather dust on bookshelves, only to be looked at a year later once the time for strategic planning comes around again. With your strategic planning effort, would it be helpful if... Click here to continue Client Success Story: Communication is Key to Success “I try to invest in two or three professional development sessions a year to sharpen my skills as a consultant. Leadership Strategies courses and instructors make that investment worthwhile. One of the most valuable skills for any manager is understanding the importance of facilitating meetings with employees rather than simply leading discussions. “You can’t expect employees to simply accept... Click here to continue The PDI Difference PDI stands for Practical/Dynamic/Interactive. It's what sets Leadership Strategies above the rest. The PDI Difference can be seen in every aspect of what we do. Practical Methods that Produce Results: We use proven methods and techniques in both our training classes and our facilitated sessions. Each and every session is carefully planned and executed with precision to ensure consistent results that apply to real-life situations - and produce measurable results. Dynamic Energy that Keeps You Engaged: Our facilitators operate on "Level 3" energy so participants are engaged from beginning to end. No doodling in our sessions! We also use a wide variety of techniques to keep the interest high and be sure everyone contributes their best ideas. Interactive - Proven Methods for Successful Integration and Application: In our facilitated sessions, our trained facilitators set people up in teams to enhance collaboration and ideas that work from every angle. In our training sessions, it's "practice, practice, practice" so participants learn by doing it themselves, by critiquing others in the class, and receiving immediate feedback from the instructor. Learn more about The PDI Difference Spotlight: National Facilitator Database Are you looking for a facilitator for an upcoming session, and don't have a clue where to start? Or, maybe you're a facilitator with great skills and experience looking for clients. In either case, we can help. The National Facilitator Database does both. For details, click here. NFDB.com is managed by Leadership Strategies. If you have any questions or would like to speak with one of our Client Relationship Managers, you can call 800-824-2850. Or, click here to email your questions. Would you like to get published? Do you have proven strategies on Facilitation, Leadership, IT/Consulting or Strategic Planning that you would like to share in an upcoming newsletter issue? We'd love to hear from you. Each article should be 750-1,000 words. Include your contact information and a 30- to 60-word byline. Click here to email your articles to us.

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