Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Charisma...Are We Influenced?

When I saw that my Monday morning LA Times included a feature article on charisma called The "It" Factor, I braced myself for a fluffy story about skinny Hollywood "it girls" or Brad and Angelina's new baby. Refreshingly, it wasn't. In fact, it was a well-researched, substantial article in the Times Health section that has a lot of relevance to being a manager in the corporate world (or "non-entertainment world" as we call it in Los Angeles).

Not surprisingly, the experts say that charisma is an inherent trait, like creativity. Some of us are born with more of it than others. Yet the article by Janet Cromley also makes the case that people can learn to be more charismatic. Imagine the potential impact on the training profession. Some consulting company is going to make a bundle marketing a training course that teaches managers, salespeople and executives to be more charismatic. "Charisma 101." A kind of charm school for Jack Welch, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Tom Cruise wanna-be's.

I joke, but in fact it makes sense. To some extent, charisma can be taught. Break "charisma" down into its components and what do you see? Good listening. Passion. Eye contact. Enthusiasm. Mirroring the person with whom you're speaking. Confidence. Some of these are behaviors that can be learned with practice (for example, making strong eye contact or modeling confident body language). And a good therapist (or coach) can help improve self-esteem, boost confidence and develop a more positive attitude.

Still, I believe that it's like any other trait. Don't count on any charisma-boot camp working miracles on someone who's lacking impact. If you hire an uptight, type-A manager...all of the training and coaching in the world is unlikely to change her disposition. If you choose to marry a slob hoping to change them into a neatnick, you'll likely end up divorcing a slob someday.

Work your talents. If you've got charisma, go for it and use it for good. If you don't have it, find other ways to compensate. Capitalize on your smarts, your analytical ability, your tell-it-like-it-is communication style or your ablity to nurture and develop talent. And if a good charisma course comes your way, give it a shot. You probably won't emerge a Ronald Reagan or a Martin Luther King, but you can pick up a few tips to improve your impact.

What do you think? Who's the most charismatic person you've ever met...and what made them that way?

©2006 The Loyalty Group. All Rights Reserved. www.TheLoyaltyGroup.com

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Amazing Coach Story on RealSports

The Loyalty Group's June newsletter, thinktwice today, focuses on coaching. Basically, we all know that coaching is good for us (like taking vitamins or seeing the doctor for checkups)...but its something that's easily pushed aside for "higher priorities" in the workplace.

A few nights ago I saw an amazing story about a coach, Bev Kearney, of the University of Texas. Here is the story link and the blurb posted on the RealSports website.

Making Strides (Revisited)

There is no better example of hard work and dedication translating into success than Bev Kearney of the University of Texas. When REAL SPORTS first profiled the women's track coach in February 2004, Kearney was rehabilitating from injuries sustained in a car accident while continuing to coach from her hospital bed. Since then, she has led the Longhorns to both indoor and outdoor NCAA championships, as well as being named the 2005 National Women's Outdoor Coach of the Year for the fourth time. Accolades are nothing new for Kearney, who was a standout athlete in her own right, qualifying for the 1980 U.S. Olympic trials in the 200-meter dash. But for all her personal success, it has been her ability to lead others in the face of adversity that makes Kearney the embodiment of the word "coach." Correspondent Mary Carillo reunites with the remarkable mentor who continues to make strides.

Correspondent:
Mary Carillo
Producer: Michael Sullivan

What struck me most about this sports story was how it paralleled the case for good coaching in today's business world. Many of us take coaching for granted. We often find excuses not to coach ("Not enough time." "Other real work to do.") or not to be coached ("I don't have time." "I already know what I'm supposed to do."). Kearney's story showed how powerful one coach can be - even from a wheelchair. Kearney coached her track team to victory without even attending her team's practices, because she was bedridden. She watched video tapes of their practices and meets, and later gave them coaching and feedback. Think of how many managers use the excuse for not coaching, "I don't have time to get in the field to see my people in action." Where there's a will, there's a way.

The story also showed how critical it is for individuals to WANT coaching. Everyone on Kearney's team looked up to her, believed in themselves and her, and wanted to be coached to win. There were no egos. There were no walls. Just openness and an common goal shared between coach and team.

There is a lesson for us all in the business world in this story. When coaching is done right - and both parties want to coach and be coached - almost anything can be accomplished. Imagine how much more innovative, productive and competitive our companies would be if we possessed this powerful coaching culture. What results could we achieve that we're not getting now?

©2006 The Loyalty Group. All Rights Reserved. www.TheLoyaltyGroup.com

Reflections on ASTD International Conference in Dallas

Welcome to my new blog. It’s been two weeks already since Mitzi (our Customer Loyalty Manager) and I were in Dallas for the ASTD conference. We decided not to get a booth at the Expo this year, opting instead to observe, network and learn. I had a wedding in St. Louis last week and I'm in the process of hiring a new Executive Assistant, so this is the first time I've been able to reflect and debrief the conference.

It’s always energizing to be surrounded by thousands of colleagues together at an ASTD conference. We were amazed at the international presence. The number of translation headsets was phenomenal during the major presentations. Learning is truly global, something we all have in common.

On a personal note, I’m six months pregnant. Sitting during the ASTD workshops was a bit of a challenge. It was a challenge not to laugh out loud every time Arlo (our baby boy) kicked. He seemed to approve (two kicks way up) of “strengths guru” Marcus Buckingham (First Break All the Rules and Now, Discover Your Strengths), who replaced Jack Welch as the kickoff speaker. Welch’s last-minute cancellation due to emergency surgery was a big letdown for us, and Buckingham had big shoes to fill. But he delivered. Buckingham gave a feel-good, inspirational speech about the power of tapping into strengths, which included only a minor book pitch and brought much of the crowd to its feet.

Arlo approved less (no kicks) of some of the workshop breakout sessions, which were occasionally superficial, basic or downright boring. What do you expect when a consultant is boiling down a three-day seminar into a bite-sized hour? The best sessions I attended were:

- A session titled, “Podcasting: The Next Big Thing in E-Learning and Mobile Training by Anders Gronstedt of the Gronstedt Group. I accidentally attended this one by walking into the wrong room…but I’m SO glad that I stayed. Great stuff, good idea exchange and very credible facilitator with colorful examples.

- A panel discussion (View from the CLO) on the role of the learning executive Tuesday afternoon. The most interesting thing I learned was that even in companies sophisticated enough to have a CLO position, there are still struggles in integrating HR and Learning systems.

- A sales training case study presentation by Eric Baron and Prudential. This session really stressed the importance of involving sales organizations in designing their own learning programs. We (TLG) specialize in working with sales organizations, and one thing we’ve learned is that every sales organization believes that it is unique. We’ve always tailored our sales training programs; out of the box content doesn’t seem to resonate in most sales organizations.

I’m currently working on a book proposal and had some success at the ASTD Expo with publishers. I had a meeting with a senior editor from Wiley on Thursday morning and got some interest. Also made contacts with McGraw Hill and a Pearson (Price Pritchett). My goal is to have a signed deal by the end of 2006…so I’ll keep you posted.

©2006 The Loyalty Group. All Rights Reserved. www.TheLoyaltyGroup.com