Diamonds to You

“No problem can be solved
from the same consciousness that created it.”
Albert Einstein

Hi,

I loved seeing the Mercury article entitled:  When it’s hard to stay focused, try going ‘topless’ to meetings.  It confirms what I’ve been saying for years now at meetings and workshops.  Having all that technology in the meeting with you allows you to “multi-task” (balderdash) or it allows you to pay attention to your e-mail and text messages ignoring the speaker.  I never allow phones, laptops, or anything but brains, pens and paper in the room if I am in charge.  (Control-freak that I am!)

Another Brag

Dave LaRoche, the President of the South Bay Writer’s Group wrote me on March 20th stating:

“I wanted you to know that I find your diamonds to be the brightest in my collection of gems.  If I were still active in business (mid-level org. manager) I would have a daily use for the reflections they throw off. As it is, they do me great service in my personal life as in both B&P [Business and Personal]  involvement, we remain people.”

New Workshops for You and Your Company

John P. Kotter introduces his book Power and Influence by stating:

“Important changes that are shaping the nature of work in today’s complex organizations demand that we become more sophisticated with respect to issues of leadership, power, and influence.  With that increased sophistication, we can make our corporations more competitive.  We can make rigid bureaucracies more flexible, innovative and adaptive.  We can even make the world of work more exciting and personally satisfying for people.”

I’m Springing Ahead and developing some new courses and workshops to offer my clients.  Here are some ideas for you to consider for your firm – or your own professional development: 

Remember too, if you are far away and want individual consulting/mentoring or coaching, the phone and e-mail work for pre-arranged sessions.

• The Business of Your Profession – A Highly interactive workshop for small business owners and those running Professional Practices.  This is not one of those get rich quick schemes, but a practical and positive approach to giving your best and getting the best from those you serve as well as those who serve you.

• Coming to America as an Executive – This is for those from other countries in Asia and Europe who want to learn how to lead and manage here in America.  As many of you know, I’ve been consulting to C-level executives, including CEOs for many years.  I’ve also worked with individuals and management groups helping them socialize to our American way of doing business and have taught diversity and working in a global economy to both business groups and university students.

• Manager in the Middle – We talk about leadership all the time, but the people responsible for seeing to it that the job gets done are the managers in the middle.  They have to take deliverables from the executives above them, , answer to these executives, and make sure staff delivers the deliverables.  How do they do this and still foster individual growth and creativity?

• Public-Professional Image – In addition to my on-going work with individuals, I am available to offer workshops on how to enhance your professional image – and your believability.  I am also working with a few people running for public office – helping them with image and presentation.

• Persuasion/Negotiation – The whip doesn’t work. We manage people with their permission.  Therefore, we need to have their trust, loyalty and commitment.  This is accomplished by positive persuasion and negotiation.

• Internal and External Customer Service/Satisfaction.  This workshop is designed to change the focus and attitude of those who think the task is more important than the outcome.

• Compliance issues Training:  This includes interviewing, hiring, record keeping, firing, exit interviewing, workplace safety, drug free workplace, harassment, discrimination, diversity, and understanding the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) and how to work with physical, emotional and psychological disabilities.  (I am on the ADA Compliance Guide’s Advisory Board.) 

Also:  Please sign up for “The Business of Your Profession” being presented on either Thursday May 29th or Saturday May 31st.  If you haven’t received our flyer about this workshop, please let me know.

I really thrive on your referrals to me.  Keep them coming!

I invite you to forward copies of my newsletters
to your friends and colleagues.  Thanks.

Rewarding Intangible Success

The Wall Street Journal’s Marketing Section featured an article by Jared Sandberg called “A Modern Conundrum:  When Work’s Invisible, So Are Its Satisfactions.”    He quotes someone named Homa Bahrami as saying “Not only is work harder to measure but it’s also harder to define success.  The work is intangible or invisible, and a lot of work gets done in teams so it’s difficult to pinpoint individual productivity.”

That’s a sad commentary on what was intended to pav a way to create greater morale, motivation and productivity.  As we all know, people want a quid pro quo – they want to be recognized and rewarded for what they accomplish.

In unity there may be strength – but I want to be appreciated for what I offer whether it’s my ideas, my products or my physical labor.  Don’t you?

Could it be that this loss of awareness and acknowledgement is partially responsible for the decrease in productivity, creativity and innovation we are currently facing across the nation? 

I know, for me personally, that I have a slight dis-connect  between the work I do (which is largely invisible) to help others grow, and the rewards I get for having successfully improved not only the individual’s professional growth – but the recognition I get from their employer giving me additional business and referring me to others.  So far I’ve been mostly lucky because enough people have recognized and appreciated the value I bring – albeit very intangible most of the time.  BUT, it’s not the same as the rewards and recognitions a salesperson gets every time s/he exceeds the assigned numbers for the month.

How can we change our business structure to become much more aware of the contributions of individuals – as we support their work either independently or in teams?  Have we become so enamored with the notion of team play that we forget that the team consists of a group of individuals each of whom is making a unique and sometimes uneven contribution to the project?

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, I strongly dislike the phrase “There is no I in team.”  We need to put it back in.  There is a ME.

My Blog

www.DiamondAssociates.net/blog - Visit ME!

Speeches Past and Recent Future

• Be Powerfully Persuasive  for the Civic Society Institute (CSI) at Santa Clara Univeristy on April 9th.

• Coaching:  Keys to Improved Results  for the German American Business Association (GABA) on March 6th.

• How to handle a Whistleblower…Understanding HR’s role in an Internal Investigation for the Bureau of National Affairs (BNA), February 6th.

Prior Newsletters

Other articles in prior newsletters can be found here:
 http://diamondassociates.net/articles/Newsletters.shtml

Recent Publications

Several more of my articles have been published in dozens of e-magazines and newsletters.  These articles are being published so frequently that I can’t list all of the references.  Instead, I suggest you Google:  ArLyne Diamond.

Here are some though:

• Exit Interviews –  in BNA, (The Bureau of National Affairs), by Cathleen O’Connor Schoultz – I’m quoted here as well.  Not sure of the date this is coming out but it will be soon.
• Most hated:  HR People – Representatives strive for respect in a tech-driven valley.  In Outsourcing, February-March, 2008.
• Setting Your Performance Management Agenda, in CareerSmart Advisor, January 2008, by Marji McClure – I’m quoted extensively.

• Workforce Strategies:  Sarbanes-Oxley and Whistleblowers:  Tips for Staying Compliant And Avoiding Retaliation Claims, in BNA, (The Bureau of National Affairs), December, 2007, by Cathleen O’Connor Schoultz – I’m quoted here as well.

• Workplace Discord:  What’s creating conflict and ways to resolve it.  In Outsourcing, December 2007-January 2008.  I’m the author, although they forgot to put my name on it.

• Cultural Differences in Group Decisions, in Outsourcing, October-November, 2007

• Change Management Strategies, in Outsourcing, August-September, 2007.

• Board Service is an Honor, Echo Journal, August 2007

• Real World Solutions: Hiding Disability Facts Leads To Misunderstandings, in Thompson’s ADA Compliance Guide, August 2007, Col. 18, #8.
• Team Buidling Strategies, in Outsourcing, WORDlabs MEDIA, Kuala Lumpur., June-July 2007.
  
  
• Building Trust in Distant Teams, in Management Issues Feb. 20, 2007.

• Workplace Conflict Resolution:  What’s Creating Workplace Conflict and 9 Easy Ways to Resolve it appeared in Impact Articles:  The Business and Coaching Network on January 26, 2007   With my permission, this article will also appear in a series of newsletters created and marketed by Haley Marketing Group to their staffing industry clients.

My two published books are available at www.ProductivePublications.com.

• Training Your Board of Directors:
  A Manual for the CEOs, Board Members, Administrators and Executives of Corporations, Associations, Non-Profit and Religious Organizations
• The “Please” and “Thank You” of Fundraising for Non-Profits:
  Fifteen Essential Ingredients for Success

So, how can I help you?

Beginning in early 2001, we engaged the services of Dr. ArLyne Diamond to help the San Mateo County Transit District effect a cultural change through leadership training and coaching.  Simply stated, her performance was exceptional.  Her coaching produced demonstrable differences in the leadership qualities exhibited by our managers and key staff members and resulted in significantly improved relationships throughout the organization. 

I strongly recommend ArLyne’s services to any organization particularly one that wants to confront its performance objectives head-on.  Her approach is direct and unequivocal.  Most of our staff members found her style refreshing and provocative, but individuals must be willing to face sometimes difficult realities in order to implement her suggestions.  An example is the “360 degree management evaluations” in which performance assessments are generated both up and down the chain of command.  In the process, our supervisors and managers were exposed to some candid appraisals by subordinates.  While initial reactions were sometimes unsettling, there was general agreement that the outcome led to a stronger, more competent team.

ArLyne is an extremely well trained, highly motivated individual who draws upon years of experience and a superb educational background.  Despite her direct approach, she presents her programs in a casual and warm manner and is able to relate well to people of all persuasions.

Michael Scanlon
CEO Samtrans.

 

Let me be your Aufin—your advisor to Kings.

 

ArLyne Diamond, Ph.D
ArLyne@DiamondAssociates.net