by Tara Powers

This article is about clarity of purpose for you, your team, and your business. It includes simple yet powerful steps that when discussed, analyzed, agreed upon, and written down, will provide a clear expectations and a compelling direction for 2010.

The steps outlined in this article are not confusing or difficult. However, many business owners, teams and individuals don’t do it. Why? Here are the excuses that get in the way:

• not a high priority item
• don’t have enough time
• my team won’t want to participate
• I am not comfortable leading this discussion
• executives should be doing this stuff, not us
• my business is doing fine the way it is
• my team is doing fine the way it is
• I am doing fine the way I am

I can relate to many of these excuses because I have used them myself and have heard them being used in companies I’ve worked for. These excuses are “vision crushers” and must be seen as obstacles to be removed.  I promise that once you begin using these steps, it becomes a method for accomplishing anything as long as you have the right attitude and determination to implement what you have defined.

Step 1: Identify Values
What are the values that you, your business and/or team live by? What is important to each team member? What is important to the team? What are the standards by which the team makes decisions? How are actions and words a model for values? Are we rewarding behavior that exemplifies our values?

When a team has clarity of values and each team member personally aligns with those values, that is when team commitment, loyalty and pride is high.

Step 2: Develop a Compelling Vision
Where do you want to be a year from now? What will it look like? How will your team be working together? How does this vision of the future appeal to team members values defined in Step 1?

Developing a story about your vision for the future is the only way to engage others and help them see the possibilities and opportunities ahead.

Step 3: Determine Business Model(s) OR How To Support Them
A business model describes the rationale of how a business creates, captures and delivers value. What model of doing business will help you achieve your vision? It may include direct business models, distribution models, low cost carrier business models, loyalty business models, subscription business models, etc. You may use more than 1 model to grow your business and create new revenue streams.  If your team is not involved in determining the business model then the conversation should be about understanding the model and figuring out the best way to support it.

Step 4: Outline Goals
What are the goals within your business model that are necessary to accomplish your vision. This is where you would identify improvement goals, product goals, revenue goals, customer goals, etc. Each goal should have a time frame associated with it. Also, if it’s a big goal then you should break it down into smaller more easily achievable sub goals.

Step 5: Define Methods and Measures
What are the ways that you will accomplish the goals you have outlined? How will you know when you have achieved your goal? Defining methods and measurement is the only way to clarify expectations about what you should be prioritizing and focusing on day to day.

Step 6: Identify Resources
What resources (skills, experience, people, technology, tools, etc.) do you currently have available to help you accomplish your goals? What resources do you need? How will you get these resources and by when?

Using these 6 steps when discussing goals is the best way I know to chart a clear path to success. It is simple, straightforward and effective and represents a strategic plan for growth.

© 2011 Powers Resource Center

International trainer, consultant, and founder of The Toxic Workplace, Tara Powers partners with organizations interested in improving their company culture to boost their bottom line. If you’re ready to make changes in your business that will make employees happy AND make you money, get your FREE tips now at PowersResourceCenter.com.

by Zoe Training staff

When Tara Powers isn’t busy running her own training and development organization, she is also managing her other venture, Mama Means Business, a resource that coaches and supports “mompreneur” businesses, providing already proven resources that help women launch successful businesses FAST. In this interview, Tara gives us some insight into her passions for her career and everyday life.

Why did you become a speaker/trainer?
I organically got into training 15 years ago when I was asked to train a bunch of managers on how to understand their budget. The jolt of energy and excitement I got when I was teaching someone was enough to make me go back to school and get my master’s degree in Organizational Management. This led me into the HR field for many years where I was able to grow and build a training department. My experience has helped me to understand that I have a real opportunity to change people’s lives for the better if I can help them identify how to make small behavioral shifts that can give them fast results and big impacts on their team and company. I believe that it’s up to each of us to ask what we want to be known for, get clear on our values and vision, and make decisions that are in alignment with who we are. This is what I try to get across when I am speaking or training.

What are your favorite groups of people to work with?
Emerging leaders and emerging teams. They are eager to learn how to do it right with less struggle, they come with open minds and always are great contributors to the learning process!

Three words that describe your presentation style:
Collaborative, Fun and Interactive

Do you have any pets? Kids? Unusual hobbies?
I have a Plott Hound named Guinness who will never rest until he catches a rabbit. I have two tireless little girls, Kyla, four years, and Fallon, two years. They get me up way too early, love my “mama” hugs way too little, and make my life more full of joyful moments than I could have ever imagined.

Do you have a favorite quote? What/why?
“YOU are the only one who creates your reality. For no one else can think for you. No one else can do it. It is only you. Every bit of it you.” – Ester Hicks

Standard Starbucks order:
Grande Soy Latte one pump sugar free vanilla. Can’t go wrong with this one.

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by Tiffany Dahlberg

One of my favorite tools that I use when I teach college students or train Project Management, Business Analysis, or Leadership for organizations is the Team Contract.

The team contract is a document outlining agreements about how the team will work together. Team contracts contain topics such as “Commitments,” “Participation,” “Communication,” “Problem Solving,” “Decision-Making,” “Conflict Management,” “Use of Technology,” and “Meeting Guidelines.”

Looking at the group dynamics of Forming, Norming, Storming, Performing, and Adjourning, the team contract speeds up the Norming phase and helps prevent/mitigate the Storming phase, so the team can get to the Performing phase faster–making your team more efficient.

The team meets and decides what agreements, ground rules, and behaviors they want to abide by with each other. Going through this process formally and quickly outlines the “norms” of acceptable behaviors.

When the norms are documented, it serves as a reminder and communication mechanism for how that team operates together. The bonus is that since the team creates the contract together, the team enforces it together.

Creating a team contract also serves as a team-building exercise and helps new members get up to speed more quickly. But remember that the contract belongs to the team. Each member needs to participate in its creation and sign off that they agreed to it or it will not be effective.

This simple yet highly effective tool will promote understanding among its members, and consequently can help your team performance improve dramatically.

Tiffany Dahlberg, MA, PMP, president of Achievement Consulting and Training, Inc. (a solutions provider for project management, process improvement, and employee training) has 20 years of experience in helping organizations improve their processes, better manage projects, and implement positive change.

by Zoe Training staff

Starting with a strong foundation in accounting, Dan Chenoweth has a broad background in American and international business. His focus on general management issues inherent in today’s changing business environment involves organization leadership; business process analysis and improvement; project management; strategic supplier relationships; team development; and change management. In every situation, Dan helps clients take their strategy to the bottom line.

What’s your favorite topic(s) to present on? Why?

Business ethics.  It is a multi-faceted, complex topic and there is no lack of “fresh/new” material!  Ethics do count!  They are relevant and we need to have more discussion about them in these tumultuous times.

Three words that describe your presentation style:

Relevant, interactive, different.

Why did you become a speaker/trainer?

I always wanted to be an educator. I got a BS in accounting and immediately went for an MBA specializing in accounting thinking I would be a college professor.  Then realized I needed a PhD to teach at the college level.  I then decided to go into public accounting instead but always regretted not doing more in education.  Years later, after my corporate career, I was fortunate to get back into training and education.  I now provide seminars for CPAs throughout the country.  I love working with mature audiences who push back on points and add their own insights from their own experience.

Tell us about a presentation experience that went wrong:

I had done an ethics session for a farm co-op group in Denver and it went quite well.  I was then asked to do a similar presentation in Springfield, IL for a large farm co-op conference.  My session was a “pre-conference” session.  Therefore, it was not very well attended (about 50 people) but the room was set up for 500 people for the next day’s events!  It is excruciating to try and have a dialogue with participants in a cavernous facility like that where the 50 folks were scattered throughout the room.  I felt like a rock in a tin can!  I was not able to make a connection and it didn’t go well.

What are you most grateful for in life?

I have a loving wife and family.  While there have certainly been ups and downs with all three of my children, I wouldn’t trade them for anything.  I am now blessed with three grand children and one great grand child.

Do you have a favorite quote?

“The pessimist complains about the wind.  The optimist expects it to change. The realist adjusts the sails!”

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by Eleanor Hubbard

Ten years ago I was a professor of Gender in the Sociology Department at the University of Colorado at Boulder.  Almost every semester, I taught a course in Sex, Gender, and Society and several times during that course I invited a M2F post-operative transgendered person, “Terri,” to discuss transgender issues with my students.  I had several conversations with Terri outside of class, and she told me about feeling like a woman trapped in the body of a man, who went through counseling, cross-dressing, hormone replacement therapy, and costly operations to become the woman she perceived herself to be.  I used to joke with Terri that she was more female than I, which meant that she wore stilettos, clothes that showed her curves, and talked in a high voice, none of which I did.  From Terri, I learned about being transgendered from a person, not a textbook.  She told me about family, work, and personal relationship issues that she faced in her transition and about her daily decisions whether or not to tell people she encountered about her “secret.”  Terri also told me about the danger and fear she lived with daily as a woman who passed, but whose secret might be revealed to someone who perceived her as a threat. As a woman and an intellectual, I was well-informed, I thought, about being transgendered.

Then Cameron came into my life.  He called me that summer and asked me to supervise him in an independent study so that he could read extensively in the area of transgender issues.  When Cameron walked into my office, I was expecting a F2M transgendered person (he had already told me that much on the phone) who looked, sounded, and acted “manly.”  Cameron, however, was short, skinny, and smooth-faced.  He was pre-operative who had never taken any hormones.  He could have passed as a young boy or a young girl; in truth, he was more androgynous than stereotypically gendered.  I quickly realized that I had a lot more to learn about being transgendered.

Since that day, Cameron and I have read and discussed gender and all its permutations.  I supervised him in his research in which he interviewed young gender variants about their understandings of gender, and worked with him in writing a series of papers (still yet unpublished) about his research.  I watched him take leadership roles around campus by counseling transgendered students who were dealing often unsuccessfully with significant others, family, and friends during their transitions. He also worked with campus administration to create a safer environment on campus for transgendered students; he was instrumental in uni-sex bathrooms being available around campus, for instance.  I taught Cameron everything I knew about gender intellectually, and he taught me everything he knew personally about living in a gendered world as one who didn’t fit neatly into a gender category.  In the past ten years, I have remained a woman and an intellectual, but through Cameron became an ally of transgendered persons.

Being an ally of any marginalized group is a rewarding and frustrating experience.  Marginalized people, whether because of race, class, sexual orientation, age, or gender often have a deeper understanding of their society than those of us who live in the mainstream.  As a sociologist and academic, I am fascinated by the stories of those who live on or outside of our gender boundaries. They help me understand better the processes and structure of our society.  This is the rewarding part, for me, of being an ally of transgendered people.  But transgender stories are not just interesting, they require a decision about whose side I am on in this society. This is the frustrating part for me, because the boundaries of gender and other social categories create an us and  them.  The “us” are those who fit, no matter how well or poorly inside, the gender paradigm, and the “them” are those for whatever reason who do not.  Society rewards those who can successfully stay inside gender boundaries with privileges.  As a gender normative, albeit not stereotypically, female, I can continue to revel in the privileges I receive for not stepping outside the gender boundaries. Or as an ally of a marginalized group, I can use those same privileges to speak up for and insist upon equal treatment for those who are marginalized.  That is what it means to me to be an ally of Cameron, specifically, and other transgendered people more generally.  As best I can I intend to share Cameron’s story with those who live inside gender boundaries and have never met a transgendered person.  I intend to work within whatever social structures I am a part of to ensure more equitable treatment for people like Cameron.  I intend to speak out  about media injustices about the portrayal of  people like Cameron.  But most importantly, for me as an ally, I intend to continue to learn about the gender variant community from Cameron and his cohorts, about its ever changing variety, and continue to be open by them to the many ways gender is expressed.

by Zoe Training staff

Matt Baca is not only an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Colorado, he also likes to call himself a “Corporate Trainer with a Humorist Twist,” providing high-energy, highly participatory training sessions for international business students and professionals in universities and businesses spanning the globe, including Latin America, Europe, and Central and Far East Asia. Matt answers some of our interview questions about his life as a worldwide trainer.

What are your most popular presentation topics?

How to Use Humor in the Workplace, Effective Presentation Skills, Effective Writing in the Workforce, Organizational Development Strategies for SMBs, How to Create a Learning Organization, and Learning with Cases.

Three words that describe your presentation style:

Dynamic, interactive, humorous.

What’s the most unusual location (or circumstances) you’ve presented in?

I did some customer service training in Almaty, Kazakhstan. We were at the Ankara Hotel. This was in 2004, and it was interesting because Kazakh companies were still adjusting to the free market and exploring strategies on how to better meet the needs of their customers.

What are some things that surprise you or inspire you about your interactions with clients/participants?

I’m always blown away by the synergy that comes when participants bring their knowledge and perspective to the discussion at hand.

Why did you become a speaker/trainer?

Three main reasons: 1) I love to see people learn; 2) I love to connect with people; and 3) I love to entertain people.

Do you have a favorite quote? What/why?

It’s a Zen quote by Shunryu Sukuzi: “When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.” I like it because it relates to teaching and facilitating: the teacher helps the participants to connect and to come up with the answers that they already know. The teacher gets out of the way and makes the students/learners the center.

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by Tara Powers

How many times have you spent time and money on a training program that under-delivered? Maybe you’ve heard yourself say “everyone loved the facilitator but we haven’t seen any measurable results.” The problem usually isn’t the facilitator, the learners, the topic, or the material. The problem is usually due to the learning environment prior to, during, and following the training event.

Over the past 10 years I’ve had the pleasure of training over thousands of people in various organizations across the country. I know what makes training stick and I know what doesn’t. I can recognize when there is a high probability for change and impact and when a training initiative will fail. What it boils down to is a very simple equation:

Training + Environment = Results

You can offer tons of training but if the environment doesn’t support assimilation and application, you won’t see results. Listed here are 5 integral steps that I’ve narrowed down that ensure you design a training environment that has an impact and gets results.

Step 1: ASSESS
How is the training topic going to address an opportunity or problem? What should be happening differently as a result of the training? How will you know the learning has made a difference ~ what will change? Are there examples of a best practice in this area? These questions should be always be asked before any training is designed. I like to involve leaders, managers, and learners in answering these questions. Not only does it help to develop the training content and objectives but it is VERY IMPORTANT in getting buy in and support for the training.

Step 2: INVOLVE
Managers are a HUGE component of making training stick. I can confidently say that if they are not involved in setting expectations about the training, participating during the event, and following up after the training, you may not see the results you are hoping for. Involve them early, ask them to talk about the upcoming training in their staff meetings. Encourage them to talk about the skills/behaviors learned following the event. Provide managers with a way to recognize employees who are making positive changes as a result of their learning.

Step 3: PREPARE
Provide learners with an outline and learning objectives a day or two before the training. Interest them in the learning by sending out a few questions to consider and ask them to bring this information to discuss in the workshop. Set expectations about what they are going to learn and how they might apply the learning content. This engages learners early and gets them interested in their learning event.

Step 4: ENGAGE
Find the right facilitator that will engage your group. Consider your demographics and who they might connect with. Use a variety of learning methods to engage learners. Perhaps there is online pre-work that has to be completed. Use a coaching call as a follow up tool after the training. Pair up learners with accountability partners that meet during and following the training event. Engagement stimulates the mind and makes it easier to learn.

Step 5: REGROUP
This is a very important component of making learning effective. Either the manager or facilitator follows up with the learners once or twice following the learning event. This can be done one on one, in a staff meeting, over the phone, or in a lunch and learn format. This provides an opportunity to provide feedback and/or recognition on what has been working and how to remove any obstacles that are getting in the way of applying what they have learned.

These 5 steps are BEST PRACTICES when it comes to designing an engaging and powerful learning environment. They work AND they take some work. But when you talk about ROI, this is how you make it happen and your company and your learners are definitely worth it.

© 2011 Powers Resource Center

International trainer, consultant, and founder of The Toxic Workplace, Tara Powers partners with organizations interested in improving their company culture to boost their bottom line. If you’re ready to make changes in your business that will make employees happy AND make you money, get your FREE tips now at PowersResourceCenter.com.

by Zoe Training staff

Retired from her position as Senior Instructor Emerita from the Department of Sociology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Eleanor Hubbard, PhD, is passionate about teaching adults the varied subtopics of diversity, including gender, race/ethnicity, social class, age, and sexual orientation, with a special emphasis on workplace diversity.

What’s your favorite topic(s) to present on and why did you become a speaker/trainer?

My favorite topic to present is diversity and that is why I became a trainer.  I am passionate about diversity, and I love discussions with other adults about race/ethnicity, gender/transgender, social class, age, and sexual orientation. When marginalization occurs, spaces opens up for lively, interesting, practical and sometimes even life-changing discussions.  There is no room for guilt, only opportunities to change.  That’s why I do it.

Tell us a recent book you’ve read and would recommend:

If you love the sounds words make, if you are interested in the Middle Ages, or you want to know more about opera, then read Richard Harvell’s 2010 book The Bells.  I did not know I was interested in any of those things before I read this book, but The Bells reached out and grabbed me from the first page.  I literally could not lay it down, and the author’s beautiful words are still ringing in my ears.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Are you involved in any community projects/issues?

I have served on many not-for-profits through the years, and each time, I become committed to its cause: battered women and domestic violence in the ’90s at the Boulder County Safehouse; higher education for women who don’t have traditional opportunities with the Colorado BPW Educational Foundation in the ’00s, and now with the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development and the Gifted Development Center.  It astounds me that we are not doing more as a society to encourage, enable, and promote our best and brightest kids.  Here is a small group of dedicated, knowledgeable professionals working for that goal.  We need your people power and your dollars – check us out at www.gifteddevelopment.com.

What are you most grateful for in life?

Recently I created a symbol that I had tattooed just above my heart.  It has the colors of the rainbow reaching for the stars.  When I look in the mirror at my tattoo each morning, I am reminded of what I am grateful for: my family who represent all the colors of the rainbow, the joy of living each day even during difficult times, and simple pleasures.  Holding my grandchildren’s hands as we cross the street; my dog’s head laying on my thigh as we watch our favorite TV shows; hearing Bette Midler sing; enjoying fresh in-season blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries; telling my best friend about the challenges I faced that day; and praying for a world where my grandchildren and all children can thrive: these are a few of my favorite things.

Standard Starbucks order:

I would go to Starbucks more often if they served Bhati Chai (A Boulder-based company whose chai is the best, and I have tried many different kinds.)  The invigorating spice selection invites you to enjoy the time with your drink, not just “down it.”  Try it, I think you will like it too.

by Julie Miller

A survey was recently conducted in which over 1,000 professional people were asked what they were most bothered about when it came to writing. The overwhelming answer: Getting started and getting organized. Here are some tips to getting started and getting organized with any document you have to write:

1.     Consider your audience first and foremost. You can be a brilliant writer but if your words do not connect with the reader, you’re (or, I should say, they are…) lost. Think who is my reader and what do they need to know (rather than, what do I want to tell them)? Keep an image of your reader in your mind’s eye. How does your reader feel or think about your topic?

2.     Next, consider your purpose. Fill in this statement: My purpose is (what) __________ so that my reader will do __________ (what)? Are you persuading, explaining, selling, or entertaining? All communication with your customer should be focused around audience and purpose.

3.     Next, think about the major points you want to get across in your correspondence. Be clear and concise. Do not dance around the topic. Get to the point quickly. Frame your document around your key points. For example: Are there two new billing procedures that need explaining? Five reasons your customer should contract with you rather than your competition? Three money-saving ideas available with the new customer service plan?

4.     Go beyond the formal outline. Who remembers the correct format, who cares and what does it have to do with getting started on your writing project? Not much. Now, I’m not saying that you don’t need some organizing tool to capture your ideas, but the formal outline hinders rather than helps in the writing process. Think about the time (and creative energy) you waste trying to mesh your ideas with the outline format. Instead, use a graphic organizer–Mind Mapping, Idea Mapping–they are called different things, but the approach will change your life.

5.     Use your Idea Map to get started with whatever section is easiest. You could start with the body of the document and then come back to the beginning and ending. Writing is not a sequential process. Use your Idea Map (graphic organizer) to get you started.

6.     Draft is a draft is a draft. Tell yourself that no one will read the first draft and that though this is a necessary and sometimes daunting chore, you’ll get through it.

I leave you with this: Think about your business. What are the hidden costs in time lost while you circled the computer? Would it surprise you to learn how much time your employees waste by not getting started on a writing project? The amount of waste–of time, money, energy, plus missed opportunities–from not getting started and getting writing is inestimable.

Dr. Julie Miller, founder of Business Writing That Counts!, is a national consultant and trainer who helps professionals reduce their writing time and produce powerful documents. She and her team of certified trainers work with executives who want to hone their writing skills and professionals who want to advance their careers.

by Zoe Training staff

Would you believe part of the Zoe cadre is a team of horses? According to Christina Haxton, who occasionally integrates them into her training sessions, horses are ideal teachers: they are responsive beings with acute awareness of and sensitivity to their surroundings. Like people, horses have individual personalities as well as physical abilities and limitations. And horses very accurately sense a person’s level of trust, confidence, awareness, and interpersonal skills.

In one of her team-building courses called “Lessons from the Herd,” participants have an opportunity to get in an arena with two to three horses – without having to ride them – to learn team-building skills directly from the animals. With more than 20 years of experience owning, training, and showing her own horses, Christina incorporates her management experience and expertise as a marriage and family therapist with knowledge of equine behavior to offer a unique perspective to businesses and organizations.

Following are Christina’s responses to our interview questions.

What are your most popular presentation topics?

“How to Avoid ‘Lizard Brain’ and Turn Conflict into Opportunity” and “Lessons from the Horse: The Art & Science of Building Trust with Your Herd.”

Three words that describe your presentation style:

Creative, Engaging, Content-rich.

What are your favorite groups of people to work with?

Painfully left-brained engineers, scientists, and physicians who are recently promoted and motivated to learn “how to” quickly build trust with their new team.

What’s the most unusual location (or circumstances) you’ve presented in?

In a dirt-filled arena at a gorgeous guest ranch in the mountains of Colorado with six horses as co-facilitators for a senior level leadership retreat for 40 doctors.

What are some things that surprise you or inspire you about your interactions with clients/participants?

Clients, individually or in teams, discover THE most perfect, brilliant solutions when they arrive at the perfect intersection of fun, a little urgency, and connection.

Do you have a favorite quote? What/why?

“… we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly!” – Jonathan Livingston Seagull. A seagull who was outcast because of his “strange” ideas about having the courage to follow his heart discovers the power of doing so, and the power of forgiveness. My Mom gave me this book when I was nine and was going through a very scary time in my life. Reading Jonathan Livingston Seagull helped me feel she was with me, even though she wasn’t, and also gave me the courage to believe in myself.

Tell us a recent book you’ve read and would recommend:

Drive by Daniel Pink.

What’s one thing on your “bucket list” you hope to do in the next year?

Win the Western Slope Reining Horse Association High Point Rookie Champion Saddle & Buckle.

Standard Starbucks order:

Boring, but consistent: Grande Brewed Coffee with sugar-free vanilla, one splenda and cream.

Inquire about Christina Haxton