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| Oh Look, A Pony |
"There is a voluminous amount of "expert" commentary about change, and the cumulative body of knowledge is rife with contradictions and careless logic. To meaningfully study this issue, business leaders must sift carefully and critically through mountainous mounds of manure to find the proverbial pony!", says John Kotter, professor of leadership at Harvard University in Chief Learning Officer Magazine.
Getting the message right the first time takes a lot of "preparation, validation, and practice." |
| Another Pony |
| A long time close friend, the late Loonis McGlohon, was a great composer and pianist. He wrote hundreds of songs and played on every inhabited continent. Loonis said, "the secret to being an expert musician is practice, practice, practice." He also said, "The way to wow them when you are on stage is to make the difficult look simple, and the simple seem difficult." There's got to be a pony in there somewhere. There are lessons here for the effective communicator. Use them. |
| About Us |
Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems changes lives by helping lifelong learners hone their natural communication tools.
As the premier provider of public speaking and presentation skills, we help individuals and organizations learn to communicate more effectively with their customers. | | |
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Hello. Last month we took a trip down the campaign trail and some readers weighed in. We'll share those comments with you and, we'll take a look at how smart businesses take advantage of lean times to improve their top performers.
Now, let's get going.
Ty Boyd
Be Sharp
When economic times appear to be tightening, short-sighted businesses cut costs in all the wrong ways. They do mass layoffs and hole up until the tide turns. We're starting to see it happen now. But smart businesses understand that opportunity lies amid the turmoil.
Pat Boyd pointed this out to me the other day. She said that these top performing companies do cut expenses, but they also take their most talented teammates and use the down time to make them more valuable. They hone talented professionals' skills to game-day sharpness, using proven leaders in the learning field.
Then, when the market upswing comes - and it always does - their most talented people are ready to attack the market. These veterans are equipped to hit the new upturn with renewed skill and understanding, eating the lunch of the shortsighted organizations. Pat is a smart lady.
Which of these organizations do you represent?
Do you believe, and I mean really believe, that your people are your most valuable asset? If so, this is the time to make them even more valuable. Make sure they know how to communicate effectively with their customers.
I used to have a boss who said in good times and challenging ones "there is business out there. Somebody is making a sale as we speak." Guess who is making the sale? It's those talented teammates you have honed. Their morale is better because they work for an organization which values them in good times and bad. The ones left behind at the short-sighted companies are moping around, mired in the misery created by out-of-touch management.
We have a lot of forward-thinking Fortune 1000 clients. Perhaps that is why our inbound inquiries have never been so active. Perhaps that is why we are seeing so many senior executives in our Institutes. Should we be getting together with your firm? Let us sharpen your finest to be their finest!
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Readers Write
We talked about political campaigning in last month's issue, and a few readers chimed in on the discussion.
Says Frank Granger, "While it is not a presentation style I would choose for my own, Barack Obama has qualities that make it hard to resist as a speaker. Huckabee has also gained from the experience of the pulpit, but Obama's style, message and delivery seem to have made a big impact on the youth."
Will Rogers says, "And Teddy and Taft were both Republicans! (I know, in 1912 Teddy ran as a Bull Moose.) You're right about dirty politics being just as bad in the past. In many ways it was worse because the person attacked wrongly had less chance to rebut. Today with internet and broadcast media the person can almost instantly give a rebuttal.
"Concerning "Content vs. presentation skills", we have the perfect contrast in Hillary vs. Obama. He avoids content, and she is not as good at inspiration. Right now, content is losing. Staying with the Democrats for a moment, they had several candidates who were much stronger on content than either of the two still standing.
"Regardless of the fact you and I would prefer to listen to an inspiring speaker, when it comes to running the country, what we need is content, content, content. A dull President can hire a great speech writer, and most of the time send the VP or cabinet officer out to do the inspirational talking. The country will move along just fine. Why don't you run? We need a President with BOTH."
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