Good - Development Resource Guide

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VERSION 13.0, AUGUST 2006
These materials have been created solely for the internal use of the Nova Scotia Public Service and
cannot be reproduced in whole or in part by any means without the express written consent of Hay Group
Limited.
Hay Group Limited, 2004
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................................ I
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................................1
ACHIEVEMENT ORIENTATION...........................................................................................................................6
ADAPTABILITY AND FLEXIBILITY..................................................................................................................18
ANALYTICAL THINKING.....................................................................................................................................26
CHANGE LEADERSHIP.........................................................................................................................................36
CLIENT ORIENTATION ........................................................................................................................................45
CONCEPTUAL THINKING ...................................................................................................................................54
DECISIVENESS........................................................................................................................................................63
DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLE ..............................................................................................................................75
EFFECTIVE INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION............................................................................................85
IMPACT AND INFLUENCE...................................................................................................................................95
INTERPERSONAL UNDERSTANDING.............................................................................................................108
RELATIONSHIP BUILDING ...............................................................................................................................118
SELF CONFIDENCE/COURAGE OF CONVICTIONS ....................................................................................130
SELF-CONTROL....................................................................................................................................................137
STRATEGIC ORIENTATION..............................................................................................................................149
TEAM LEADERSHIP ............................................................................................................................................158
TEAM ORIENTATION .........................................................................................................................................170
Development Resource Guide

Nova Scotia Public Service
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Introduction
INTRODUCTION
What is
Competency
Development?
This guide has been designed to help you plan your personal
development. It is a comprehensive guide that includes all the
competencies in your Competency Dictionary.
The competency development activities cover the full scope of
competency levels and can be applied to a wide range of jobs across
different branches/organizations. The activities are organized according
to the levels in each competency scale, starting with the more junior level
activities, followed by mid-range levels, and finally higher levels for a
given competency.
This guide will help you generate ideas and provide direction as you
create and implement a personal learning plan for developing the
competencies you have chosen as your focus. It is not intended to be an
exhaustive list of possibilities but rather a starting point for your own
individual learning plan. Use this document as a resource to help your
self-development rather than a list of activities that must all be
accomplished.
This guide may also be used by your manager or by you as a manager of
others, to help employees build their development plans. Managers may
simply look at the guide as a source of ideas for informal development, or
may use the guide as a way to start the formal conversation when
employees are building their plan for the coming year. It is helpful for
both the manager and the employee to have at least one source in
common when beginning the planning process, and then to bring in other
development ideas from additional places.
Competency Gaps
Before you can plan to take effective action for personal improvement, it
is helpful to understand why competency gaps may have emerged in your
assessment and feedback. Here are four general reasons why you may
not have demonstrated the required behaviour:
Lack of opportunity
Your current job may not provide adequate opportunities to exhibit a
particular competency. Therefore, your feedback providers may not have
had the opportunity to see you demonstrate a particular competency.
Once you recognize this, choose development activities that would
increase your opportunity to demonstrate that competency in your current
job, by showcasing your abilities to your manager and peers.
Lack of Knowledge
You may currently lack the necessary knowledge to demonstrate the
behaviours. The appropriate response is to create a personal
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Introduction
development plan, which will allow you to acquire and practice the
required new behaviours.
Barrier
You may feel discouraged or prevented from performing the desired
behaviours by some sort of barrier. The barrier could be a lack of
necessary information or organizational roadblocks. The appropriate
response is to develop a plan to problem-solve with the right people or
group to remove or work around the barrier.
Lack of Motivation
You may have the ability to perform the behaviours, but for some reason
you are unwilling to do so. The appropriate action is to understand why
you choose not to demonstrate this behaviour. The competencies in your
job model provide you with a variety of ways to be successfulwhen
building your development plan, remember to leverage your strengths as
well as working to bridge the gaps. This may provide you with an
opportunity to engage in behaviours which you are otherwise unlikely to
demonstrate.
Where
Development
Takes Place
As depicted in the accompanying chart, previous research and

experience with large organizations indicates that competency
development takes place through a combination of:
On the job experience and challenging job assignments;

Relationships and feedback from others you work with;
Training and executive education; and,
Off the job learning
15% Relationships and Feedback from on the job

(bosses, peers, subordinates, mentors, 360
degree multi-rater assessments)
55% On the Job Experience/Challenging Job
Assignments
15% Off the Job Learning (community

involvement, industry associations, etc.)
15% Training & Executive Education
Consider including in your learning plan elements of each area; keeping

in mind that on-the-job development activities provide very powerful
learning experiences and that readings provide useful background
information. Choose activities that you feel will help you. People have
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Introduction
different ways of learning. Some learn by observing, some by doing, and
some by reading or a combination of these. Determine what works best
for you. Feel free to tailor or build on the activities suggested, to better fit
your needs.
How to Use This

Guide to Help
You Develop
Competencies
This guide provides suggestions for on and off the job and self-directed
activities for developing competencies. You will develop new behaviours
through:
Planned on-the-job and off-the-job experiences
Readings, videos, audios
Training
Feedback Session
Within the Guide
Review and identify 1-2

competencies for
development. Discuss and
share with your Manager
Read the section

Getting Started
Personal Action
Read the section

on the identified
competency
Choose
development
actions
Develop
personal action
plans
Share with your

manager
Implement
action plans
Feedback
Session
Prioritize your competency gaps, identifying those competencies that will

be most beneficial to your personal growth and development.

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Introduction
Within the Guide
Start with one or two competencies only. Refer to your job model for the
behavioural descriptions of each of the competencies.
Review the developmental activities for the selected competency and
select one or two that you feel will help you. Several options are provided
for developing each competency: on-the-job development activities
provide powerful learning experiences; readings provide useful
background information. These are just suggestions. Different people
have different ways of learning. Some learn by observing, some by
doing, some by reading or a combination of these. There is no one way
which is better than another. The important factor is to determine what
works best for you. Feel free to tailor them or build on the activities
suggested, to better fit with your job.
Although you are concentrating on one specific competency, these
activities will support the development of a number of the
competencies, which are linked.
If you are having trouble identifying a development action for a
specific competency, talk to other managers or executives who are
also involved in this process to get ideas that are working for them.
Stick with it! Behaviour change requires practice and perseverance.
Personal Action
Keep a log of your progress with brief written notes indicating where you
are in your development. Having this concrete reminder of your efforts
will help to motivate you if you reach a development plateau and will
prove very helpful in your next performance appraisal session.
Keep Track
The guide is not intended to be an exhaustive list of possibilities but

rather a starting point for your own individual development plan. Use this
document as a resource to help your self-development; dont think of it as
a list of activities, which must all be accomplished.
Developing a
Competency
Developing a competency is a partnership between you and your

manager. The primary responsibility for development, however, rests
with you. Your manager is a support and resource for you to rely on as
you work through the suggestions and activities provided in this
document.
Getting Started
As you develop a competency you should move through the following

steps:
Step 1: Prioritize your competency gaps
Identify those competencies that will be most beneficial to your
personal growth and development
Start with one or two competencies only

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Introduction
Refer to your competency profile for the behavioural descriptions of
each of the competencies
Step 2: Recognize and understand the competency
Look for the competency in other people, in books, in films
Study the competency definition and target level in your competency
profile
Review the examples of what it is and it isnt in this guide as well
as the developmental suggestions
Step 3: Identify how the competency fits within the context of your
job
Think of examples when you have demonstrated the competency in
the past, think about what you have done and what you could have
done differently
Ask your manager or colleagues how you could apply the
competency
Get feedback on your own performance
Step 4: Plan and experiment
Plan ahead: think of opportunities where you can practice the
competency, if necessary look outside your usual role/responsibilities
for opportunities
Consider if there is any knowledge or skill you need to gain or modify
to deliver successfully on your current responsibilities
Step 5: Skill practice
Competencies are acquired through practice and perseverance, so be
patient with yourself and practice
Step 6: Consolidate your learning
Discuss your key learnings with others (i.e., activities you undertake,
books you read, etc.)
Step 7: Track your improvement
You may find it useful to keep records of the actions you take to
measure your progress toward the goals you set for yourself

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Achievement Orientation
ACHIEVEMENT ORIENTATION
Works to achieve results and improve individual and organizational
contribution. Achievement Orientation is a concern for working well or for
surpassing a standard of excellence. The standard may be ones own past
performance (striving for improvement); an objective measure (results
orientation); outperforming others (competitiveness); challenging goals one
has set; or trying something new that will improve organizational results
(innovation). Achievement Orientation also involves effectively managing
internal and external resources to achieve the Governments goals.
This Means...
This Doesnt Mean...
looking for new and better

ways of doing things that will
improve performance
working with current

methods and accepting the
old way of doing things as
the best way
setting your own high

standards of quality work
and working to improve your
skills
relying on others to set the

standards for you to work
against and to push you to
improve
improving the performance

efficiency of your
department/organization
being satisfied with the

current performance
efficiency of your
department/organization
striving to continuously stay

one step ahead of your
competition, if applicable
working to catch up
whenever you see your
competition doing
something new
setting and reaching difficult

but possible goals and
leading your team to exceed
business targets
getting so enthusiastic or
focused on the need for
improvement that you set
goals that are too ambitious
to be practical
striving to beat project

deadlines
being satisfied if the project

is only a little bit late
working to improve your

skills
being content with what you

already know
foreseeing and acting on

potential obstacles that
might get in the way of
achieving your goal
looking at each obstacle as

a separate or
insurmountable problem

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Developmental
Activities
Level 1-2 Activities

Determine if you are using your time effectively.
Create an estimate of what you should spend your time on each week,
then keep a log of what you actually spend your time doing.
Compare reality and your estimation.
Determine ways of reallocating time from areas where time is saved to
those where more time is required after gaps have been identified.
Focus on results and be persistent.
Work smarter, not harder. Regularly review all your planned activities in
light of the results you want to achieve. Ask yourself if theres a better
way to achieve the results you want.
Be persistent. Do what it takes to reach your goals. If one approach
doesnt work, try another.
Take time to evaluate your criteria for success.
Consider the following criteria for success:
branchs quality of services,

employee development such as participation in particular projects,
adherence to branch/division operations policies and procedures,
development of programs to specifications in a timely and accurate
manner.
Write down any areas that are in need of improvement.
Create and implement an action plan to improve these areas.
Monitor the success of your actions against the above success criteria.
Find out if your personal goals are challenging yet attainable.

Meet with your manager/team leader and get feedback on whether your
goals have enough stretch in them.
Ask if some of your goals are too ambitious considering the time frame
for accomplishing them as well as the level of risk involved.
Share your personal standards with others and ask for their feedback.
Identify people who work with you (partners, peers), and ask them for
feedback on your performance.
Compare their feedback with your own evaluation.
accurate your self-assessment is.
Determine how
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Use this information to modify, if necessary, your personal standards of
success in order to more easily meet governmental requirements.
Keep a diary of what you spend your time doing for a one-week period.
Review the diary at the end of the week and see if actual time allocated
to tasks matches their importance and priority.
Develop and implement an action plan to allocate more time to important
activities.
Plan to minimize or eliminate low priority activities.
For those routine activities that are necessary to perform, look at the way
in which the task is done in order to determine ways to do it faster,
cheaper, more effectively and less often. Your goals in this analysis are
to improve the efficiency of routine activities to free time up for more
challenging/higher pay-off activities.
Involve a work group that you supervise in the above activity by asking
them to participate in the analysis and improvement of processes.
Ensure that your work group understands the purpose of the exercise.
Clearly outline new or more interesting opportunities which may become
available if time is saved on the routine tasks.
Look for ways to improve the quality of your work.
Identify the three to five most important quality measures for your own
work.
Use these measures to identify the area, which is in greatest need of
improvement.
Develop an action plan to improve this area of quality over the next three
months.
Make sure your goal is SMART - specific, measurable, actionable,
relevant, and timed.
Use the quality measures to assess the effectiveness of your plan over
those three months.
Track your projects.
Create a calendar on which you note your planned task completion dates
in one colour and the actual completion dates in another colour.
Review the calendar daily to see how you are doing.
Have a sense of urgency toward your work, and strive to meet or exceed
timing goals while meeting expectations with respect to quality.

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Make it a habit to consider the impact that your task completion will have
on the rest of your business units activities.
Take pride in timeliness, and keep in mind the detrimental effect that
missed deadlines may have on outside customer satisfaction.
Level 3 Activities
Develop an action plan for each of your key initiatives.
Prioritize your initiatives based on the following criteria:
Important to the governments strategic objectives
Realistic or achievable in the expected time frame
Challenging, innovative and of moderate risk
Identify the performance measures that you will use for each initiative.
Write down the specific goals that you want to accomplish for each
initiative and the date by which you want them accomplished.
Develop an action plan to support each of your goals.
Identify resources required, time frames and plans for overcoming
anticipated obstacles. Share these action plans with your employees
and make sure they understand their role in implementing these action
plans.
Regularly monitor progress against goals for yourself, the department
and individual employees.
Recognize appropriate progress made toward goals and do what is
necessary to ensure that goals are met.
Take time to debrief each project.
At the end of each project (or at key project milestones), review your
actions to determine how you could have streamlined steps or made
other changes to enhance efficiency.
Map out the work/design process to identify any steps which are
unnecessarily performed twice or any lags that have no logical rationale.
Discuss your observations with your colleagues and try to identify
inefficiencies that seem to occur most frequently.
Review the performance measures currently used in your department.
Review the criteria for how the measures were established and how long
ago they were set. Consider the strategic measures and process
changes that have taken place in your business unit and at the corporate
level.

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Determine performance measures that need to be revised, eliminated,
and created in order to better align with these changes.
Communicate any potential changes to the groups responsible and
discuss the issue(s) as a team.
Develop an action plan to make the necessary changes to existing
performance measures.
Compare your success rate with your peers or other organizations.
Consider each type of product/service your branch offers.
Who is having the most success?
What approach do they use?
Incorporate their successful methods into your own in order to fill any
performance gaps your area demonstrates.
Monitor the success of these new methods in your area.
Develop a clear picture of your own personal standards of excellence
in your job.
Follow these guidelines to help you develop high standards of
performance in your job:
Describe three or four major areas of responsibility for your job, e.g.,
focusing on customers, developing yourself, and developing the
team.
Think of someone who is truly outstanding. What does he or she
actually do?
Describe three or four characteristics of performance which are not
acceptable for each area of responsibility.
Use these extremes and your existing target set by your
manager/team to establish personal standards of excellence for each
area of responsibility. Ensure the standards you choose are
challenging but realistic and attainable.
Compare your performance to the standards you have set in each area
on a regular basis, e.g., weekly or monthly.
Reward yourself when you reach a goal or meet a standard.
Take the time to enjoy the feeling of personal accomplishment.
Measure each accomplishment versus your goals.
Each month, review what you have achieved relative to your goals.
Take into account changing priorities. It will not always be simple to
assess what you have accomplished versus your goals when the goals
change. However, do not use this as an excuse to avoid selfassessment.
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Consider what you intended to accomplish over the months and ask
yourself how satisfied you are with what you actually achieved.
List any obstacles that are getting in the way of achieving your
objectives.
Identify strategies for overcoming the obstacles.
Based on this review, take action.
Challenge yourself by taking part in a strategic project that goes
beyond your usual areas of responsibility/expertise.
Volunteer for a project that will give you a chance to achieve something
significant outside of your usual role/area of expertise.
Reflect on how these new experiences may benefit your performance
and consider ways of incorporating these experiences into your regular
activities.
Commit to testing new techniques learned from the project experience
into your regular business unit activities.

Analyze the effectiveness of your department/organization to
determine if the structure and processes facilitate or hinder getting
work done.
With your team members, review and analyze the operations and
processes performed by each functional area. Identify the major
operations and goals of each function.
Examine each operations current structure and identify the major roles
and accountabilities for each area. Ask the following questions:
How did the current structure develop the way it is?
Are there any roles and/or functions that no longer serve any
purpose?
What is currently working well and why?
Where are the bottlenecks, duplication of effort, and potential service
problems?
Brainstorm methods of overcoming the problems listed above.
Evaluate each method and prioritize them.
Take measures to implement the best methods to increase business
effectiveness.

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Create a task force to come up with new ways of increasing
productivity, quality, etc.
Select a cross-functional group of people who have demonstrated the
ability to think outside of the box.
Challenge them to develop new alternatives to existing work methods
that will improve current performance.
When one or more alternatives has been developed, compare them to
the existing methods and strategic objectives of your business unit.
Determine the alternative or components thereof that can be
incorporated into existing work methods to improve performance.
Develop an action plan for implementation.
Take a calculated approach to evaluating possible initiatives and
anticipating potential obstacles.
Select a new initiative, project or activity that you are considering for the
coming year.
List the costs and benefits, quantifying the benefits as much as possible.
Dont forget the more intangible costs and benefits, though, such as the
degree to which others will resist the initiative or the opportunity for
exposure to new people and experiences.
Consider the potential obstacles that may arise and how you can
address them.
Use this information to create a business case for the initiative that will
have the highest payoff.
Schedule a planning session with your management team to develop
challenging goals in key success areas and develop a plan to realize
the goals.
Analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats affecting
your area from both internal and external perspectives.
Some external factors to consider include: competition, market share,
key customers, legislation, international/global issues, technological
developments, social trends.
Some internal factors to consider include: customer satisfaction,
quality, productivity and cost efficiency.
Determine the critical success factors that will define improvement
related to the issues identified in your analysis and set goals.
Develop specific strategies and a formal plan to realize the goals.
Include responsibilities, time frames and progress reviews in the plan.

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Set a long-term strategic goal and outline a business plan to achieve it.
Set an ambitious long-term strategic goal that you believe in strongly.
(For example, balancing the branchs resources to minimize costs and
maximize productivity and opportunities).
Outline what you need to achieve this goal. For example, ways to
measure employee productivity, commitment to the goal from your
management team.
Plan interim actions that will move you towards achieving this goal (for
example, start researching other organizations, productivity standards,
start tracking measures of individual/team results).
Clarify your priorities in terms of the costs and the payoffs.
Make a laundry list of potential tasks that have come to your attention
over the last month.
Spend some time deciding how hard it would be to accomplish each of
those tasks.
Spend some time reflecting on what the payoff would be for each task, if
it were accomplished.
Sort each task into the grid below, based on the two factors youve just
considered (ease of task and payoff).
DIFFICULTY OF TASK
Low
PAYOFF
High
Easy
Quadrant
1
Quadrant
2
Hard
Quadrant
3
Quadrant
4
Cross the tasks off in Quadrant 3 (hard tasks with a low payoff). They
require a lot of time and effort for little return.
Consider crossing off the tasks in Quadrant 1 (easy tasks, with a low
payoff). Your team can probably complete them quickly but they are of
minimal value.
Focus your attention on the tasks in Quadrant 2 (easy tasks with a high
payoff) and make sure they have top priority. They are easy to complete
and will result in immediate payoff.
Develop a plan to complete all the tasks in Quadrant 4 (hard tasks with a
high payoff). They will require significant effort to complete but will
provide significant payoff.

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Evaluate the relative risks of a number of approaches.
Summarize the issues and the situations in point form.
List the criteria you will use to evaluate each option down the left side of
the accompanying chart. It may be helpful to think of all of the possible
criteria and include only the most critical in this analysis.
Identify several possible options to the problem. Write these across the
top of the chart. (See the chart on the following page.)
Determine how well each option meets each criterion. Assign a weight
for each option against each criterion using the scale below:
1 = Option does not meet criterion.
2 = Option minimally meets criterion.
3 = Option somewhat meets criterion.
4 = Option fully meets criterion.
5 = Option exceeds criterion.
Total the weight scores for each option at the bottom of the chart. If you
are using only the most critical, you may rule out any option which you
have scored as 1 or 2. This decision is based on priorities and is more
philosophical than quantitative in nature.
Determine the pros and cons of each option on the chart.
Select the option which best meets your most important criteria and your
risk tolerance level.
Criteria
Option 1
Option 2
Option 3
Resource costs (e.g., time,

people, capital) must not
exceed $xx.
Profitability (e.g., 15%)
VULNERABILITY/EXPOSURE (I.E.,
LITIGATION, PUBLIC RELATIONS, ETC.)
MINIMIZED.
Balance between Client and BU

needs
TOTALS:
Pros/Cons

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Continually look for ways to change and improve processes to create
sustained system improvements.
Develop ways to actively encourage change.
Where appropriate, make public statements that encourage your
employees to feel empowered to innovate.
Work with your employees to understand the criteria for evaluating ideas:
help them through the process of defining benefits (greater efficiency
and quality) and costs (time as well as materials).
Encourage your employees to share ideas that they are not authorized to
implement on their own by developing a system for submitting
suggestions. Treat input seriously.
Look at your branch/organization from a different perspective and
examine your strategic objectives, processes, people capabilities and
technology in light of this new perspective.
Books and
Videos
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, by Mordecai Richler (New Edition:

McClelland & Stewart, 2006; Original: Penguin, 1981).
The remarkable Duddy Kravitz has his good points and his bad points
but one thing you know for sure is that here is a young man high in
Achievement Orientation. Look at his entrepreneurial risk-taking and
ongoing drive to do better. This book was made into a film which you
could also watch.
Create Your Own Future: How to Master the 12 Critical Factors of
Unlimited Success, by Brian Tracy (New Edition: John Wiley and Sons,
2005; Original: John Wiley and Sons, 2002).
With this guide you can achieve your goals faster than you ever dreamed
possible. Discover how to skyrocket your success with twelve solid steps
you can take to dramatically increase your results almost immediately.
The Effective Executive, by Peter F. Drucker (New Edition: Harper
Business, 2005; Original: HarperCollins, 1993).
Drucker identifies five practices essential to business effectiveness:
managing time; choosing what to contribute to the particular
organization; knowing where and how to mobilize strength for best effect;
setting up the right priorities; and putting them all together with effective
decision-making.
The Go-Getter: A Story that tells you How to be one, by Peter Kyne
(New Edition: Standard Publications, Inc., 2005; Original: 1921).
"The Go-Getter" by Peter B. Kyne is a moving parable of determination
and entrepreneurial spirit that has inspired many readers since it was
originally published in 1921. This short little book is the story of Bill Peck,
a veteran of WWI, who convinces Cappy Ricks, the founder of a logging
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and lumber company, to give him a job opportunity. "The Go-Getter" is
the story of perseverance in the face of adversity that is essentially at the
heart of success.
Swim With the Sharks, Without Being Eaten Alive, by Harvey Mackay
(New Edition: Harper Business, 2005; Original: Ivy Books, 1989).
This easy reading straight-from-the-hip handbook by self-made
millionaire Harvey MacKay provides the reader with real-life examples of
goal-orientation. Written in a style of quick parables and lessons of life,
Mackay shares his experiences in the business world. Recommended
for all levels in an organization.
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Steven R. Covey (New
Edition: Free Press, 2004; Original: Free Press, 1990).
This book provides thought provoking ideas on clarifying your personal
values and how to translate them into your daily and weekly activities.
An excellent read. This book has been made into an audio cassette.
Inspiration to Perspiration: The Four Essential Steps to Achieving Your
Goals, by David A. Jacobson (Goal Success, 2003).
You know what you want out of life. This book will empower you to get it.
By combining GAIN PlanningTM with insights from Team in Training,
you will learn to apply strategies that have already helped thousands of
people achieve their goals.
Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More
Done in Less Time, by Brian Tracy (Berrett-Koehler Publications, 2002)
also available on audio CD.
For people who are overwhelmed by tasks of all sizes, this book provides
the 21 most effective methods for conquering procrastination and
accomplishing more.
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, David Allen
(Which Books, 2002).
A practical book on time management and organization skills. Readers
learn that there is no single means for perfecting organizational efficiency
or productivity; rather, the author offers tools to focus energies
strategically and tactically without letting anything fall through the cracks.
Change the World: How Ordinary People Can Achieve Extraordinary
Results, by Robert E. Quinn (Jossey-Bass, 2000).
In this empowering book, the author gives readers the courage to use
personal transformation to positively impact their home life, work life and
communities to be what he refers to as inner-directed and outerfocused. The author outlines eight steps each of us can take to move
ourselves and others to the highest levels of excellence.
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Paradoxical Thinking, by Jerry Fletcher & Kelle Olwyler (Berrett-Koehler
Publishers, Inc., 1997).
The book takes the mystery and unpredictability out of performing at your
peak by providing an easy-to-learn method of understanding and
maximizing your personal success. Gives practical advice for sorting out
tough choices and taking action to resolve them.
Ten Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life Management, by Hyrum
Smith (Time Warner Books, 1995).
Written for anyone who suffers from "time famine", this essential
handbook provides simple, effective methods for successfully taking
control of one's hours--and one's life. Smith shows how, by managing
time better, anyone can lead a happier, more confident and fulfilled life.
The Achieving Society, by David C. McClelland (Van Nostrand: 1961).
This book describes the thinking patterns of the concept of Achievement
and shows its influence on cultures and economies.
The video, Do Right, by Washington Productions (International Tele-Film,
1-800-561-4300, www.itf.ca).
This film speaks to the need for goal-setting, combined with a deep
regard for the rights of others.
The video, Goals and Goal Setting (3rd Edition), by Reid Publishing
(Crisp Learning, 1-800-446-4797, www.crisplearning.ca).
This 20 minute training film is based on a book written by consultant
Lorrie Rouillard and takes you through the steps for setting attainable
goals.
The video, The Goal: The Dramatic Story, by American Media
(International Tele-Film, 1-800-561-4300, www.itf.ca).
Based on the best-selling business book by Eli Goldratt, stimulate
ongoing improvement and increased productivity through better and
faster methods of decision-making.
The video, Targeting for Performance, by Melrose (International TeleFilm, 1-800-561-4300, www.itf.ca).
By following the progress of a younger manager, this drama reveals how
vital it is to have targets that are: Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic
and Timed.
External
Development
Programs
TO BE COMPLETED BY NOVA SCOTIA PUBLIC SERVICE

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Adaptability and Flexibility
ADAPTABILITY AND FLEXIBILITY

Adaptability and Flexibility involves the ability to adapt quickly to change. It
includes a genuine willingness to modify own style and approach in order to
see others points of view or to achieve a specific objective; includes
interacting effectively with people from other cultures. It entails
enthusiastically changing or easily accepting changes in ones own
organization or job requirements.
This Means...
This Doesnt Mean...
finding alternatives that will

meet the clients underlying
needs
believing your view is the

only one
accepting others points of

view as valid
believing that their opinion

is the only correct one
flexibly applying guidelines or

procedures to get the job
done and meet organizational
objectives
rigorously adhering to
company procedures
deciding what to do based on

the situation and adapting to
fit it
acting in ways that may

have worked before, but
not adapting for possible
differences in situations
enthusiastically adopting new

systems or procedures
wanting to do things the

way you have always done
them
changing your work plan

when urgent problems arise
even though changes may
involve extra work
ignoring problems and

sticking to your original
work plan
making an effort to work

effectively with others even
though their preferred way of
working is different from
yours
disliking people who dont

do things your way

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Developmental
Activities
Level 1 Activities
Understand the background of the people you are working with.
Spend some time talking to your co-workers about their backgrounds,
their work preferences and concerns, their interests.
Try to understand values so that you can adapt your behaviour to match.
Observe the effects this change has on your group dynamics.
Expose yourself to differing views.
Look for opportunities in your working and non-working life to discuss
topics which may have differing points of view. When someone
expresses an opinion different from your own, resist expressing your
point of view immediately. Instead, ask the person to tell me more
about why you think that. Really try to focus on the underlying
reasoning and supporting evidence for their point of view. Resist the
temptation to try to convince them to change to your point of view.
Think about your view in light of their views. Are there options you have
not considered? If you had this conversation before you developed your
views, would you have come to a different conclusion?
Respond to change enthusiastically.
Suppress any desire to complain the next time you are asked to change
your work plan.
Practice adopting a positive attitude and you will find that the new
demands on you will be less stressful.
Think about your own preferences.
Think about the style of work you prefer, for example:
A manager/team leader who leaves me alone/A manager/team
leader who works closely with me
A formal businesslike office / An informal office
People who say what they mean / people who are very polite
Working in a team / Working on my own.
After thinking about your preferences, consider why some people might
prefer the opposite.
What are the possible advantages of each option?
This exercise will help you recognize the difference between This is the
best way and This is the way that I personally prefer.

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Get feedback from your peers on your flexibility.
Tell your peers that you are trying to improve your Flexibility. Ask them
to give you immediate feedback when you are or are not being flexible.
Resist the temptation to defend your point of view if your peers say you
are not being flexible enough. Thank them for their feedback and
consider the possibility that they may be right.
Review other management decisions imagining that you yourself made
the decision.
Think of at least one supporting rationale for the decision and the
argument you (as the decision maker) would use to defend it.
Apply rules in a flexible manner when required.
When a problem situation arises that the normal policies or practices will
not solve, develop a plan of action that applies the rules more flexibly.
Think of how you have seen others handle similar situations or ask them
for their suggestions and interpretations of the situation.
Think of alternatives that will achieve the desired result instead of simply
following the rule.
Avoid telling others something cannot be done because of a rule.
Whenever a rule or procedure gets in the way of what you or a service
partner need to achieve, do not say, Thats the rule-end of discussion.
Instead, think of alternatives that will achieve the desired result.
When you find yourself faced with many competing demands on your
time, ask your manager/team leader for ideas.
Ask your manager/team leader for advice on the priorities and the
implications of any trade off decisions you might take.
The intent is not to ask the manager/team leader for direction, simply to
pick their brain so that you know how best to adapt to the situation.
Seek to understand how your manager/team leader makes decisions
when faced with similar situations.
Learn from someone who is flexible.
Identify a person(s) who adapts to changing situations with ease.
Observe them at work and model your behaviour on what you learn from
them.

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Discuss the underlying reasons behind rules and procedures with your
manager.
Do not bend rules unless you understand the implications of bending
them. Learn more about the existing rules and talk to your manager
about what would happen if certain procedures were changed.
Ask your co-workers about times they have had to bend the rules to
solve a problem for a customer and find out what occurred as a result.
Discuss difficult cases to learn what alternatives are possible.
Make a point of discussing difficult cases with your manager/team leader
to learn what could have been done differently.
By developing an understanding of the alternatives you will be better
able to respond flexibly in the future.
Level 2 Activities
Question your own position.
Review the methods by which you perform your more routine activities to
identify new or better ways of performing them. Learn to play devils
advocate with yourself, particularly when you find yourself with a fixed
commitment to a certain position.
Ask yourself why you are so attached to this particular position. Are
there emotional reasons why you are sticking to one position?

Seek opportunities or volunteer for an assignment where you know
your viewpoints will be openly challenged.
Determine if their approaches and techniques might be useful to
yourself, your organization, or your co-workers.
Talk to friends and family members who approach things differently than
you do.
Build islands of stability.
Try and keep some things constant. This is sometimes called building
islands of stability in a sea of change. For example: build little routines
about how you start and end your work day and keep these up in the
face of change. Another example would be to keep your desk organized
a certain way.

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Work with others who have strong opinions.
Participate in assignments or projects in which you will be working with
others who have strong opinions, styles that are different from yours, or
who have more expertise in the project area than you have. Use these
opportunities to practice being more flexible, using some of the
techniques noted above.
Practice reaching a win-win solution.
Think of any disagreements you have with others.
Rather than trying to win the argument, develop your flexibility by
thinking of a mutually satisfying outcome. Have a discussion with the
other person with the explicit goal of exploring all options.
If you do not have any disagreements now, think back to an earlier one.
See if you can think of a win-win solution that might have worked in that
situation.
Volunteer for projects and assignments that involve topics that are
new and different from your normal work load or represent groundbreaking areas for your business unit.
Ask for projects or assignments where existing policies and practices do
not apply.
Ask for feedback from others on their perception of your progress.
Think of the rules or standard operating procedures that at times have
got in the way of achieving business results.
Note the issues and implications of bending the rules.
Discuss with others under what circumstances it would be appropriate to
bend the rules.
Set a tough personal goal to regularly consider two or more reasonable
alternative courses of action for every major decision.
Keep a record of your thinking by noting the decision and the
alternatives.
Review this record occasionally and ask yourself how flexible are you
being?
Are the alternatives simply straw persons or are they realistic - would
you ever implement them?
How creative are your alternatives?
Recognize that there is rarely only one solution to a problem.

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Identify barriers to keep abreast of any changes or updates in
technology.
Ask information technology specialists (internal and external) questions
about how emerging technologies will impact (either positively and/or
negatively) your business unit.
Identify a new technology that has been recently implemented.
Talk to the key individuals involved in the implementation (both
systems specialists as well as the customer).
Determine why the system was considered and the gains and costs
associated with its implementation.
Gain hands-on experience with a system you are not familiar with (e.g., a
new piece of software, a recently implemented system within the unit).
Consider if your priorities need to be revised.
Review your To-Do list or plan of action to see if anything you previously
had decided should change based on new information.
Try to find at least two things to change. The goal is to improve your
comfort level with changing priorities, goals and methods.
Encourage and promote an effective balance between work and
personal life.
Identify someone in your organization who you admire for maintaining a
balance between his or her work and personal life.
Ask him or her to describe specific events where work or personal
commitments had to take priority.
Discuss the techniques he or she used and how you could apply them in
your own situation.
Be a role model for others. Visibly show others by your own personal
actions that you consider balance between work and personal
commitments a priority in your own life.
Start a group for people who are attempting to achieve a balance
between their work and personal life. Indicate that the purpose of the
group is to share stories and provide mutual support.
Invest time in developing knowledge transfer in the procedures,
systems or machines used in your area.
Take time to read manuals, talk to co-workers, question your manager/
team leader, etc., so that you develop knowledge transfer in your area.
Maintain a list or file on knowledge transfer so you will have access to
multiple ways of doing things, and know ways to adapt when there are
problems.
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Books and
Videos
Understanding Adaptability: A Prerequisite for Effective Performance

Within Complex Environments, by C. Shawn Burke (Jai Press Inc., 2006).
This book takes a multi-disciplinary approach to increasing our
understanding of adaptability within complex environments by integrating
cutting-edge work done by experts in the field and compiling it in one
volume. Specifically, the volume takes a systems approach in that
chapters describe the manifestation and antecedents of adaptability at
individual, team, and organizational levels.
Ping: A Frog in Search of a New Pond, by Stuart Avery Gold
(Georgetown, 2005).
In the tradition of "Who Moved My Cheese?" here is a parable about
change, overcoming obstacles, and making a leap of faith. A frog named
Ping represents everybody who has encountered a setback, needs to
take a risk, or is struggling with the challenges of change-that is to say,
he is all of us. The Owl Ping meets in his journey is the mentor who
helps him find meaning and leap to new heights. The adventure they
embark on together is both engaging and revealing.
The Resilience Factor: 7 Essential Skills for Overcoming Lifes
Inevitable Obstacles, by Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatt (Broadway
Books, 2003)
Resilience is a crucial ingredient to developing Flexibility. Defined as the
ability to persevere and adapt when things go awry, resilience is what
determines how high we rise above obstacles in life and at work. The
book provides practical suggestions in the form of 7 necessary skills to
improve how you react to unexpected challenges and conflicts in your
life.
A Peacock in the Land of Penguins: A Tale of Diversity and Discovery,
by Barbara J. Hateley & Warren Schmidt (New Edition: Berrett-Koehler
Publishers, 2001; Original: Berrett-Koehler, 1997).
A short and rather light fable, this book celebrates the value of diversity.
Openness to diverse styles and cultures is one important side of the
Flexibility competency. This delightful fable humorously and memorably
illuminates the importance of understanding and embracing the full range
of perspectives that people bring to bear on their work. This expanded
edition is enhanced with practical new tips, tools, quizzes, strategies,
checklists, and resources.
Who Moved my Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your
Work and in Your Life, by Spencer Johnson, Kenneth H. Blanchard (New
Edition: Vermilion, 1999; Original: Putnam Publishing Group, 1998).
Change affects everyone, and Who Moved My Cheese? Shows readers
how to deal with change and win. Written in a parable form, this quick
read makes the point that we have to be alert to changes in our lives
and to be prepared to search new ways of doing things, and that theres
no single way to deal with change.
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The Situational Leader, by Dr. Paul Hersey (New Edition: Center for
Leadership Studies: 1997; Original: Warner Books, 1985).
This is the classic book on the theory of Situational Leadership. It
proposes that there is no one best leadership style for all occasions and
hence a key to leadership is flexibility. The book provides practical
insights on how to vary your management style to meet the needs of
people you want to lead, how to diagnose readiness, how to develop
people, and what to do when performance slips.
The Hidden Dimensions, by Edward T. Hall (New Edition: Peter Smith
Publisher Inc., 1992; Original: Doubleday & Company, 1987).
This is an older but still popular sociology book. It explores some of the
subtle but important differences between cultures. This is a good book
to spark your awareness of how diversity can affect interpersonal
relations. If you like this author you might enjoy his other books such as
: Hidden Differences, The Silent Language, Understanding Cultural
Differences. Germans. French and Americans.
Thriving on Chaos, by Tom Peters (New Edition: Harper Collins, 1989;
Original: Random House, 1987) also available on audio cassette.
A popular business management book showing how we can (and must)
respond flexibly to an ever-changing world.
The movie, Dances with Wolves.
In the film, pay attention to how Kevin Costner adapts to the ways of
native people. The lesson for business is to recognize that there is
something to be learned from the difference viewpoints of other people
and other departments.
The movie, Dangerous Minds.
In the film, watch the Michelle Pfeiffer character change her tactics to get
the attention of her students. Who else shows Flexibility in this film?
The movie, Local Hero.
This wonderful film is about an executive sent to a small town in the
British Isles as part of a big oil project. Notice how the lead character
comes to understand and adapt to the point of view of the locals.
External
Development
Programs

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Analytical Thinking
ANALYTICAL THINKING
Analytical Thinking implies the ability to analyze information, identify key
issues, relationships or objectives, diagnose opportunities, make sound
inferences from available information, and draw logical conclusions. The
thinking process may be linear, using cause and effect relationships to
analyze problems in a step-by-step way. At the highest level, the thinking
process is often patterned, demonstrating insight by making connections
between situations or things that are not obviously related.
This Means...
This Doesnt Mean...
resolving a problem in a
systematic, step-by-step way
attempting to solve a
problem by quickly trying
whatever comes to mind
thinking through a problem

before offering a solution
jumping to a conclusion
without thinking through
the facts
thinking about the chain of

events that led to a problem
explaining problems in a
vague, general way, e.g.
that procedure always
goes wrong
thinking ahead about the

outcome of an action (If I do
A, then B and C will also
happen)
solving the immediate

problem without thinking
about what other problems
may follow
using past experiences to

quickly evaluate situations
where information may be
incomplete or unclear
doing work as it comes

without thinking through
the longer term impact
waiting for all the information

before evaluating options
evaluating options before

getting all relevant
information

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Analytical Thinking
Developmental
Activities

Conduct a problem prevention analysis.
Select a particular problem you feel necessary to prevent.
Ensure your investigation and solutions are accurate and implementable.
Maintain your notes as a reference in case the problem occurs.
Monitor how effective your prevention strategy is.
Identify a recent business unit problem that was successfully resolved.
Plan to meet with the people involved in the problem resolution.
Find out how they dealt with the problem or situation. Ask the following:
What overcome these difficulties?

What were resources did they use?
What difficulties did they encounter?
How did they the specific outcomes of their efforts?
Use this information when you are confronted with similar problems or
situations.
Think systematically.
When you approach project planning or problem solving challenges in
your area of responsibility, try to follow a systematic approach of thinking
through how each project or problem relates to the needs and
challenges of the organization as a whole.
Work deliberately at identifying the key linkages among issues and
projects.
Make sure that you pursue a discussion of the big picture and key
linkages with people who are impacted by your work.
Play games that require Analytical Thinking.
The card game bridge is good for developing analytical thinking.
The computer game Lemmings is a simple game that requires
increasingly high levels of Analytical Thinking.
Develop alternative ways of looking at a problem.
Select a business unit issue which you are genuinely interested in
understanding or resolving. The problem should be of limited scope and
you should be familiar with its past history, i.e., what has led up to the
problem and previous attempts, if any, to resolve it.
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Analytical Thinking
Describe the problem in a brief statement. For example, you might state
the problem as: The staff turnover within a particular business unit has
steadily increased over the past two years, or Measures of Service
Partner Satisfaction are not improving despite our new service
programs.
Identify the key factors in the problem from your perspective.
Pretend you are going to tell someone a story about the problem. What
are the three or four key characteristics or details you would want to
convey?
Identify the key factors in the problem from the perspective of others.
Ask yourself the following questions:
How would senior executives view this problem? What factors would
they see at their level?
How would executives in other areas view this problem? What
factors would they see from their perspective?
Prepare a summary of your findings.
Identify the immediate steps you could take on your own to help resolve
the problem. Take the first steps.
Ask for feedback.
Ask your manager to identify specific times where you either showed or
did not show good Analytical Thinking.
Ask him/her to specify what it was about your behaviour which made a
particular impression on them.
Get your manager to talk through how he or she would have tackled the
issue.
Take note of these suggestions and try to apply them in future
circumstances.
Level 3 Activities
Identify and eliminate the root cause of a problem.
Identify a problem in an ongoing client or other work-related situation that
you are having difficulty solving.
Write a brief description of what the problem is and what are its
consequences.
Break the problem into its component parts by clearly identifying:
General problem areas relating to the overall issue (e.g., poor
communication, failure to delegate, inadequate procedures) and how
they relate to each other.

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Analytical Thinking
The root cause(s) of the problem (Note: be sure to distinguish
between a true root cause vs. a symptom or consequence of a root
cause).
Write down a plan of action you will take to address each root cause,
with a completion date for each action.
Keep note of your progress and the outcomes you have achieved.
Evaluate whether your outcomes are meeting your objective of
eliminating the root cause.
Take a longer-term project or assignment that you have become
involved in and invest time to look ahead for potential problems.
Break down the project or assignment into all the critical tasks and key
milestones.
Analyze each task and identify any potential areas of risk. Try to
determine any areas where something could potentially go wrong such
as an untried technology or a shortage of experienced employees.
Sort the potential problems into high and low risk.
Prepare possible alternatives if the potential problems you have
identified should occur.
Review your task break-down, risk analysis and alternatives with your
leader.
Implement an action plan to address those risks.
Identify obstacles.
Look ahead over the next three months. Considering each of the
projects you are working on or plan to work on, with which project do you
anticipate encountering the most difficulties?
Make a list of the major obstacles that you believe you will encounter
that will deter you from achieving your goal.
Analyze what is the root cause of each obstacle and identify what
actions you can take to lessen or overcome the problem before you
encounter it.
Bounce your ideas off trusted, respected colleagues, and ask for their
feedback. Have contingency plans in place.
Write out these actions in a plan, delegating responsibilities where
appropriate, with targeted completion dates for each step. Put the plan
into action and keep a note of your progress.
Try group approaches to problem solving.
Advise your superior that you intend to organize and lead a group to
solve an important problem or issue facing the department or
organization.

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Analytical Thinking
Get together a group of people who can help you brainstorm how you
could approach the problem before you draw conclusions or make
decisions.
Use the following outline to structure an agenda for the meeting:
Prepare a clear statement of the problem. Work with the group to
write a sentence or phrase that clearly states what the problem is.
Brainstorm a list of possible ideas about the problem. This list may
include causes, solutions, action steps, processes or decisions. Do
not critique any ideas until the group has exhausted the list of
possibilities.
Identify the best way to move forward with the assistance of the
group.
Write out a specific plan of action you will take to resolve the problem
or address the issue.
Review your plan with your supervisor.
Keep a record of your progress.
When you are faced by new, difficult or expensive problems, think
through the chain of causes leading to the problem.
The next time an important problem occurs, stop yourself from jumping
to a conclusion as to what caused the problem.
Write down the chain of causes leading to the problem (e.g., A
occurred because of B, B occurred because of C). It is important to
actually write it down or draw a diagram. Most people cannot keep all
the details of a complex situation in their heads.
Advise your manager of what you think can be done to help people avoid
the problem in the future.
Work together with your manager to implement the solution in a feasible
manner.
Identify a persistent problem that has resisted solution.
Set aside sufficient time so that you can really focus on the problem.
If the problem is truly difficult, it will not be resolved in a couple of
minutes between meetings.
Work on a plan that goes to the root of the problem.
Carefully think through the consequences of your plan.
succeed when the others have failed?
Why will it
Fine tune your plan until you are confident that you have addressed the
fundamental issues causing the problem.

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Analytical Thinking
Level 4 Activities
Ask for input by those affected by a problem and analyze that input for
possible solutions.
Choose a pressing work problem or issue.
Review your list with your leader to make sure you have thought of
everyone and then arrange to speak to the people on the completed list,
with your leaders help if necessary.
Ask each individual on your list for information about the nature of the
problem and for suggestions about possible solutions.
Identify several possible courses of action.
Verify the feasibility of the alternatives you have identified with the
individuals you have spoken to and your leader.
Develop and implement a plan for resolving the problem or issue.
Identify a difficult problem or situation where there are several possible
courses of action you can take to resolve it.
Use a chart with the headings below:
Criteria;
Option 1;
Option 2;
Option 3.
Write down the problem.
List the criteria you will use to evaluate each option down the left side of
the chart. For example:
Resource costs (e.g., time, people, capital)
Profitability
Political Risk
Efficiency
Identify several possible options to the problem. Write these across the
top of the chart.
Determine how well each option meets each criteria. Assign a weight for
each option against each criteria using the scale below:
1
2
3
4
5
= Option does not meet criteria

= Option minimally meets criteria
= Option somewhat meets criteria
= Option fully meets criteria
= Option exceeds criteria

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Analytical Thinking
Total the weight scores for each option at the bottom of the chart.
Determine the pros and cons of each option on the chart.
Select the option which best meets your most important criteria.
Assess the costs and benefits of a plan.
Identify a difficult business situation you are going to have to confront
over the next few days or weeks and list the choices of action you have.
List the most likely significant consequences for each choice (use the
table shown in the example at the end of this exercise).
Rate the importance of each consequence. Use a five-point scale:
1 (not very important) to 5 (very important).
Label each consequence as a cost (-) or as a benefit (+).
Make a rough estimate as to the likelihood of each consequence. Use
0% (certain the consequence wont happen) to 100% (certain the
consequence will happen).
Multiply the importance rating by the likelihood value for each
consequence and sum the total (see the example following).
Example: Should we introduce a new sales program to our already busy
schedule?
Consequence
Improve Service
Positive response by
customers
Increased stress level
TOTAL
Importance
+4
+3
Likelihood
100
50
Total
400
150
-5
100
-500
+50
In this example, the analysis indicates the benefits outweigh the costs for this
particular choice of action.
Repeat the above analysis for each choice of action you have identified.
Select the option with the highest totals once you have completed the
totals for each option.
Review your analysis with your leader and ask for his or her input. Add
any other consequences you both identify and repeat your analysis.
Ensure nothing important is missing and commit to your course of action.
Keep a written record of the decisions you make based on this
technique.
This exercise, adapted from the Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, provides techniques
for breaking through organizational gridlock -- persistent problems that exist
between different organizational functions.
Identify a persistent internal problem or set of symptoms that have been

occurring in your area over the past several months.
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Analytical Thinking
For example, the symptoms of the problem might include absenteeism,
incorrect forms being sent out, wrong or missing financial data, the same
pattern of sale losses occurring.
Identify all the quick fixes that have been tried to resolve the problem.
For example: you or your direct report may give pep talks whenever the
problem is bad.
Identify the understandable impact of all the quick fixes (including the
impact on others as well as operations and processes).
For example: if pep talks become too frequent and do not seem to
address the real problems, then employees may become cynical.
Develop a solution that will go beyond the quick fixes and associated
negative consequences and will fundamentally address the nature of the
problem.
Books and
Videos
The Art of Thinking: A Guide to Critical and Creative Thought, by

Vincent R. Ruggiero (Longman, 2006).
Accessible and engaging, this unique text offers strategies for critical and
creative thinking and includes many opportunities for practicing these
fundamental skills. It will help readers think "outside the box" and to
become more effective writers, speakers, and communicators.
Rational Choice and Judgment: Decision Analysis for the Decider, by
Rex Brown (Wiley-Interscience, 2005).
This book takes an innovative approach to decision analysis that moves
away from cumbersome, quantitative methods to give students and
professionals decision-making tools that can be applied immediately.
Simple decision-making models are integrated into the thinking process
to add logical rigor.
Critical Thinking: Tool for Taking Charge of Your Professional and
Personal Life, by Richard W. Paul & Linda Elder (Prentice Hall, 2002).
Critical Thinking is about becoming a better thinker in every aspect of
your life as a professional, as a consumer, citizen, friend, parent, and
even as a lover. Drs. Richard W. Paul and Linda Elder, leaders of the
Center for Critical Thinking, identify the core skills of effective thinking,
then help you analyze your own thought processes so you can identify
your weaknesses and overcome them.
Critical Thinking: An Introduction to Analytical Reading
Reasoning, by Larry Wright (Oxford University Press, 2001).
and
Extensively classroom-tested, this book provides a guide to identifying

and articulating the central patterns found in reasoning and in expository
writing more generally. Understanding these patterns of reasoning helps
to analyze, evaluate, and construct arguments and to easily comprehend
the full range of everyday arguments found in ordinary journalism.
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Analytical Thinking
Six Thinking Hats, by Edward de Bono (New Edition: Little Brown &
Company, 1999; Original: Penguin Group, 1987).
Using case studies & real-life examples, the author shows how each of
us can become a better thinker through deliberate role-playing. He
outlines a brisk, disciplined approach that both individuals & businesses
(from start-ups to major corporations) can adopt to create a climate of
clearer thinking, improved communication, & greater creativity.
The Thinking Managers Toolbox: Effective Processes for Problem
Solving and Decision Making, by William J. Altier (Oxford University Press,
1999).
The book provides a complete set of analytical tools for successful
trouble-shooting, effective planning and for making better decisions
faster, more confidently and more often.
Breakthrough Thinking: The Seven Principles of Creative Problem
Solving, by Gerald Nadler (New Edition: Prima Lifestyles, 1998; Original:
Prima Publishing, 1994).
This book presents some novel ideas on how to approach problems
based on the thought processes of great thinkers. It includes exercises
you can do to practice their suggested approach. While the book can be
a bit dry, most people will find some of the ideas useful.
Strategic Thinking: A Guide to Identifying and Solving Problems, by
Roger A Kaufman (International Society for Performance, 1998).
This book helps readers shape the thinking process with proven
concepts and tools, including mega, macro, and micro levels of strategic
planning, feedback and questioning skills, model building, and visioning.
Included are experience-tested methods for setting objectives, defining
interventions, and integrating all efforts with business goals.
The New Rational Manager, by Benjamin B. Tregoe & Charles Higgins
Kepner (New Edition: Kepner-Tregoe, 1997; Original: Princeton Research
Press, 1981).
Describes a comprehensive problem analysis and decision making
thought process that can be used for teams or individuals in any
circumstance. Recommended for all levels.
The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Tools, Techniques and Reflections for
Building and Learning, by Peter Senge (Currency, 1994) also available
on audio CD.
An excellent source book for individual and group exercises to stimulate
systems thinking approaches to solving organizational problems. Some
of the exercises in this advisor have been adapted from this book.

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Analytical Thinking
The Five-Day Course in Thinking, by Edward de Bono (New Edition:
Viking Penguin, 1992; Original: Basic Books, 1969).
In this classic book by the foremost thinker on lateral thinking, de Bono
articulates that thinking is an enjoyable skill that can be developed
directly. The book offers a series of simple but intriguing problems in
thinking that are designed to help the reader discover their own personal
style of thinking, its strengths and its weaknesses.
Detective stories like Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Ruth Rendell
or John Grisham.
Many detective stories provide a practical and pleasant way to exercise
Insightful Analysis skills. They often provide a variety of clues that the
reader must fit into a pattern to explain who done it, why, and how?
The video, Decisions, Decisions, by Video Arts (International Tele-Film,
1-800-561-4300, www.itf.ca).
In this video, experts show a manager (played by John Cleese) how he
has ignored or neglected the basic principles of decision making. They
then show him how their own decisions would have turned out if the
manager had been in their place. The manager learns that decision
making is a process rather than a single step.
The video, Mindworks Series: Forced Connections, by Producers
Media International (International Tele-Film, 1-800-561-4300, www.itf.ca).
Helps you generate new ideas by breaking the logical patterns in your
thinking and taking you outside your current reality and then forcing you
to apply new thought processes to a challenge. It is effective for
generating ideas that would never be reached by a logical or analytical
process.
The movie, Apollo 13.
This movie is the true story of astronauts and mission control faced with
life threatening problems.
The movie Man on Fire.
Focus on Denzel Washington in this action packed drama as he figures
out who was responsible for the kidnapping of a young girl for whom he
was appointed a protector.
The movie, Murder on the Orient Express or Death on the Nile.
Try to solve the mystery from the clues. If you need time to puzzle things
out, stop the movie while you think.
External
Development
Programs

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Change Leadership
CHANGE LEADERSHIP
Change Leadership is the ability to energize and alert groups to the need for
specific changes in the way things are done. People with this competency
willingly embrace and champion change. They take advantage of every
opportunity to explain their vision of the future to others and gain their buy-in
This Means...
This Doesnt Mean...
publicly describing a need for

change
getting frustrated because one

thinks change should happen
repeating the need for change
sayings things once and

assuming all is understood and
that change will follow
defining and expressing a clear

vision for change that people
can personally relate to
trying to force your vision for

change on people without
anticipating their concerns
being an advocate for changes

that will help the organization
accomplish its objectives
keeping ideas about changes

you think will benefit the
organization to yourself and
getting frustrated
recognizing where change

needs to happen and why
changing for the sake of

change with no focus
proactively searching out

opportunities to talk about the
new vision in both formal and
informal settings at all levels
engaging the organization in a

one-time-only communication
and expecting everyone to
accept the vision
supporting and reinforcing

actions of team members and
others that represent or
contribute to the new vision
inadvertently encouraging
behaviours that are counter to
the new vision

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Change Leadership
Developmental
Activities
Levels 1 & 2 Activities

Learn from someone who excels in leading change.
Identify a person who is perceived as a leader of organizational change.
Study what he/she does when talking or presenting their ideas about
change.
Arrange a meeting with him/her to determine how he/she would

approach a situation involving change.
Determine the reasons behind major initiatives or changes in your

department or unit.
Review with your manager the events leading up to a significant decision

in your unit or organization.
Probe for informal decision making processes or organizational

constraints or norms which led to the decision.
Capitalize on opportunities to promote necessary change within your

business unit.
Identify any specific issues or challenges that continuously resurface and

impede progress in the unit.
Think about how you could leverage the frustration and lack of success
in addressing the issue or challenge to promote making changes.
Plan to advocate your change views at the next available opportunity.
Build support of a target group to accept a change initiative.
Identify a group or division/branch that is a good candidate for a change

initiative (e.g. implementation of new technology, change in leadership,
change in team membership, new training).
Develop a clear case that the change is desirable for this group.
Consider using survey data, if available; interview employees who will be

impacted to identify recurring issues or problems.
Present your case to the individuals who will be most affected by the
change.

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Change Leadership
Convey and reinforce accurate information about the change.
Hold regular meetings.

Be clear about objectives and expectations for the meetings.
Prepare and communicate the agenda.
Be straightforward,
information.
honest
and
thorough
when
presenting
Include both the positive and negative implications for staff in what
you are discussing.
Establish multiple communication methods.

Create bulletin boards to show progress.
Route memos/emails regarding the change when the information
would be of interest to others.
Make use of posters, pocket reminders and wall charts.
Consider the use of a communication team for your department to
ensure that all staff are informed. The communications team should
consist of members who are known to be strong communicators.
Share information from other departments.

Reinforce to staff that they arent in this alone.
Level 3 Activities
Apply the following change
implementation of change.
management
practices
in
your
Recognize that all new initiatives require you to think of the change you
are bringing forward and how it will be received by the stakeholder, what
is the value it brings for them.
Have a clear understanding of the business case for change.
Mobilize the organization to action by painting a clear picture of the

change.
Ask if there is a need for compliance or commitment.
Have an understanding of personal responses to change.
Ask what resistance you will face and how you will address it.
Continually monitor how things are going.
Get out there and communicate, communicate, communicate!
Ensure you have a plan with measures and contingencies.

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Change Leadership
Develop a change plan.
Review the resources in the Books and Videos section of this

development resource guide.
Select a model of organizational change that fits with the workgroups

current situation.
Develop a draft strategy for implementing change that includes a clear

statement of why change is necessary, a vision of the future state, and
an implementation plan that uses the model of change identified in your
readings.
Review your draft change plan with your manager for input.
Identify next steps for implementing your plan.
Set expectations of continuous personal growth.
Foster a continuous change mindset.
Communicate the business case for change to your employees

relative to the change vision.
Help them understand that change is here to stay. Continual and
accelerating change and improvement are the new business realities.
Communicate the value of change to the organization and the
division.
Clarify roles.
Build in the expectation of continuous improvement and look for

evidence that it is occurring.
Let employees know they have a role in identifying improvements
and enhancing processes and procedures.
Anticipate the impact.
Identify the anticipated impact of change on the team. Although a
change may negatively impact some employees, especially in the
short term, the overall impact will be positive for clients, employees,
and stakeholders.
Get involved with a special interest group or cause that you find
important.
Ask and watch for the ways that the group gets others involved in their
cause.
Seek out an opportunity to put yourself in a position of presenting this

cause or idea to others.
Reflect on what worked and what didnt work based on how the audience
responded.
Transfer key learnings to any work-related change initiatives.

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Change Leadership
Level 4 Activities
Conceptualize and articulate your vision of a change initiative.
Review all the events surrounding the change in your department/unit,

such as external market threats, competitive benchmarking, and
changes to the strategy.
Anticipate the reasons behind potential resistance to the changes and

think about what actions you can take to alleviate that resistance.
Build a persuasive case for change that is personally meaningful to

people.
Develop a communication plan to articulate the change initiative.
Present the change message to a select group for feedback on the

content. Make any necessary changes.
Implement the communication plan to your business unit as well as

clients (internally and externally) who will be impacted. Ensure the vision
is visible to all staff (e.g., pocket reminders, posters, videos, etc.)
Develop multiple two-way communication channels so that you can

effectively monitor the organizations reaction to the message and make
yourself available to answer any questions.
Reinforce your passion for a change initiative and encourage others

to develop commitment.
In communication with your group work emphasize how the current work
effort is related to the change.
When goal setting with your direct reports ensure that they are
referencing the change as one of the goals to which their specific efforts
will deliver.
Identify an opportunity to improve or change a current function,

process or procedure within your department/ business unit.
Assess the scope and impact of the intervention.
Identify the individuals or groups who will be affected by it.
Think about how this change will benefit them and what reasons they
may have for dismissing the change.
Anticipate different problems that may arise and the approaches you
could take to address potential problems. Identify the individuals who
need to be involved in the solution and solicit their input.
Build your business case for the change by preparing a proposal that
includes the benefits and obstacles to overcome, a list of required
resources, timelines, and return on investment, for review with the key
stakeholders involved.

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Change Leadership
Enlist the support you need for a new idea, project or plan.
Identify the people whose support you need.
Anticipate what each of these people thinks about your proposal before
you present your ideas.
Think about what level of involvement these people will expect in

developing and implementing the plan.
Develop a strategy to build the support you need from each key person.
Instill into others your passion for a change initiative and encourage
others to develop commitment.
Identify opportunities with your department/unit to emphasize how the

current work effort is related to the change.
When goal setting with your direct reports ensure that they are
referencing the change as one of the goals to which their specific efforts
will deliver.
Talk to your departments and ask what they are doing to support the
change.
Select a group to pilot a change initiative.
Books & Videos
Identify a group or function that is a good candidate for a change

initiative (e.g., implementation of new technology, change in leadership,
change in team membership, new training).
Develop a clear case for the change that the group can embrace.
Present your case to the group and encourage their participation in

formulating the implementation plan.
Champion the change by supporting the group and reinforcing actions

aimed at making the change initiative successful.
The Change Champions Fieldguide: Strategies and Tools for Leading

Change in Your Organization, by Dave Ulrich, Marshall Goldsmith, Louis
Carter, Jim Bolt and Norm Smallwood (Best Practice Publications, 2003).
This book contains successful tools, instruments, case studies, and
models from the best in the industry that you can immediately apply for
initiating and leading change within your social or organizational system.

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Change Leadership
Radical Change, Radical Results: 7 Actions to Become the Force for
Change in Your Organization, by Eddie Erlandson and Kate Ludeman
(Dearborn Trade Publishing, 2003).
This book shows how anyone, at any level, can begin to bring radical
changes to their company. Focusing on the impact of day-to-day habits
and taking mutual responsibility, the authors offer managers, human
resource leaders, and business consultants valuable tools to help make
transformative, powerful, radical change.
The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their
Organizations, by John P. Kotter and Dan S. Cohen (Harvard Business
School Press, 2002).
Through compelling, real-life stories from people in the trenches, in all
kinds of organizations, the authors attack the fundamental problem that
underlies every major transformation: How do you go beyond simply
getting your message across to truly changing peoples behaviour?
Fast Forward: Organizational Change in 100 Days, by Peter R.
Richardson and Elspeth Jane Murray (Oxford Press, 2002).
This book offers a practical and proven framework for rapid
implementation of strategic change that can be used by executives and
their organizations. The book provides guidance on specific types of
change initiatives such as the launch of a new strategic plan, deep
cultural change, acquisitions, and new products.
Beyond Change Management: Advanced Strategies for Todays
Transformational Leaders, by Dean Anderson and Linda Ackerman
Anderson (Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2001).
This book specifically addresses the interaction of leadership style,
mindset, and the change process in the overall picture of organizational
change. The book includes worksheets, questionnaires, guidelines,
assessment instruments, and other tools.
The Change Leaders Roadmap: How to Navigate Your Organizations
Transformation, by Linda Ackerman Anderson and Dean Anderson
(Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2001).
This book offers comprehensive guidance for navigating organizational
change. The book shows readers how to build a transformational
change strategy and design and implement a successful transformation.
The Leadership Engine, by Noel M. Tichy with Eli Cohen (New Edition:
Harper-Collins, 2001; Original: Harper-Business, 1998).
In this book the authors show why teaching must be the key role of all
leaders. Then, citing famous and not-so-famous leaders, they show what
must be taught and how.

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Change Leadership
Large-Scale Organizational Change: An Executives Guide, by
Christopher Laszlo and Jean Francois Laugel (Butterworth-Heinemann,
1999).
This book provides the principles by which large-scale organizations
reinvent themselves not once, but on an ongoing basis. Continual
reinvention allows leading companies to learn, adapt, and innovate faster
than competitors in complex and fast changing environments.
Leading Corporate Transformation, by Robert H. Miles (Jossey-Bass
Publishers, 1997).
The author details his proven change program - the most sophisticated
and highly developed large-scale change approach in use today.
Your Dont Change a Company by Memo, by Marti Smye (New Edition:
Firefly Books, 1997; Original: Key Porter Books, 1994).
An accessible and practical guide to implementing organizational
change.
Leading Change, by John P. Kotter (Harvard Business School Press,
1996).
Despite the best efforts of management, change programs are more
likely to fail than to succeed, because, according to Kotter, most
organizations are overmanaged and underled. This book provides an
eight step process for leading, rather than managing change. It includes
developing and communicating a vision for the future, empowering all
employees, generating and building on short-term wins and making
change stick in the organizational culture.
The Cultures of Work Organizations, by Trice and Beyer (Prentice Hall,
1993).
This book bridges the management theory and practice gap and shows
managers different ways of understanding what is happening in their
organization and how to deal with the situations they face.
Managing at the Speed of Change, by Daryl Conner (Villard Books, 1993).
This book focuses on how to change not what to change and how to
respond quickly. It gives a professional, structured and very practical
approach to change, dealing with human behaviour, feelings and
emotions. The insights are helpful in learning when and how to convince
people.
Changing the Essence: The Art of Creating and Leading Fundamental
Change in Organizations, by Richard Beckhard and Wendy Pritchard
(Jossey-Bass, 1992).
Essential reading in organizational
behaviours required for success.
change
and
the
leadership
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Change Leadership
Organizational Transitions: Managing Complex Change (2nd ed.), by
Richard Beckhard and Reuben Harris (Addison-Wesley, 1987).
This book provides an excellent introduction to managing organizational
change.
The video The Fifth Discipline: Organizational Learning Strategies for
Success by Producers Media International (International Tele-Film, 1-800561-4300, www.itf.ca).
Peter Senges insights and questions help to explore the link between
personal and corporate vision. It helps to clarify and deepen personal
visions.
The video The Power of Vision by Charthouse (International Tele-Film, 1800-561-4300, www.itf.ca).
This video shows how meaningful visions of the future empower
organizations and individuals to solve problems and accomplish goals.
The movie Braveheart.
Watch how Mel Gibsons character slowly builds commitment and
support to challenge the status quo and lead the resistance against the
English to free Scotland.
The movie Ghandi.
In this movie, Ghandi advocates and leads social change through his
inspirational religious beliefs and teachings.

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Client Orientation
CLIENT ORIENTATION
Develops and maintains strong relationships with clients. Focuses ones
efforts on discovering and meeting the clients needs, while balancing
against the governments key business and strategic priorities. Clients may
be broadly defined, including internal customers or clients, as well as the
public.
This Means...
This Doesnt Mean...
Being patient and polite with

clients
providing efficient but

impersonal service
questioning the clients to

better understand their
needs and their concerns
saying as little as possible

so that you can move on to
the next priority/issue
discussing with the client his

or her needs and satisfaction
with service delivered
assuming the client will let

you know if there is a
problem
taking responsibility to
resolve a clients problem
even if it goes beyond the
normal demands of the job
washing your hands of a

clients problem by passing
it on to someone else
using your knowledge to

think through what would be
best for the client, and acting
accordingly
doing what is faster and

easiest for you
understanding the viewpoint

and objectives of different
clients and why these can, at
times, conflict with the
interest of the organization
steering clear of trying to

deal with the sometimes
conflicting needs and
viewpoints of different
people
making a conscious effort to

understand differences and
establish common interests
with clients
making contact with clients

only when you need to
solve a problem or get
information
working hard to build and

maintain long-term
relationships with clients
focusing on short-term
interactions with clients
without considering the
long-term implications
knowing when to take a

long-term perspective in
addressing a client issue
responding to a client
situation that addresses
their immediate need but
may not be needed over the
long-term

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Client Orientation
Developmental
Activities

Identify someone who has received an award for excellent service so
that you can learn from them.
Ask questions. You want to understand the thinking behind what he or
she did and said in their client interactions (e.g., ask him or her to identify
the clients needs as they see them.).
Do this with a number of colleagues and draw out the effective
behaviours they have in common.
Try to incorporate these behaviours in your own ways of dealing and
interacting with clients.
Ask your manager for feedback on your Client Service Orientation.
Ask for specific, behavioural feedback.
When you are given feedback, do not respond defensively. View this as
a learning activity.
Modify those behaviours that were identified as lacking, deficient, or
inappropriate.
Learn how your work affects your clients.
Find out more about how your work fits into the bigger picture.
Understand the flow of work from others to you and from you to your
clients. This knowledge will help you better understand your clients
needs.
Ask your manager how client decisions are made within your
organization.
When a new client initiative is made in your organization, ask your
manager to review the event with you in order to understand the reasons
behind the decision.
Probe for informal decision making processes or organizational
constraints or norms, which led to the decision.
Ask for advice on ways in which you can frame your ideas and
recommendations on client service to make them attractive to the others.
Respond to client needs in a timely, responsive manner.
Listen carefully to requests or complaints and probe for all relevant
information.
Test your understanding of the client by summarizing what you heard.
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Client Orientation
Address client needs in a responsive manner. Inform the client of the
specific actions that you will take, and make clear when you will be back
in touch with the client to report your progress.
Make a note of how the client reacted.
A useful way to respond to client needs is to ask them to help you create
three lists:
Things you should start to do;
Things you should stop doing;
Things you should continue to do.
Level 3 Activities
Think of something extra you can do for a client. Do it.
This could be making a special effort to help someone overcome a
difficult problem, such as taking some extra time to explain the reasons
for a certain procedure or resolution.
Ask your manager about a particularly challenging or difficult client
problem he or she is currently involved with. Ask to work with him or
her in helping to resolve the situation.
Prepare yourself by really learning about general and specific client
issues.
Get ideas from your colleagues, read about client issues, test your ideas
with others.
Apply your expertise to consider what will be best from the clients point
of view.
Working with your manager, act to ensure the clients get what they need.
Compare successful and difficult interactions.
Review your client interactions for the past week and identify one
successful and one difficult interaction.
Discuss your observations with your manager and then contact the
clients involved to find out and confirm what they liked or how the
interaction could have been improved.
Take action to improve on your activities in future similar situations.
Improve your Client Service Orientation.
Use your knowledge to think through what would be best for a client and
act accordingly.

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Client Orientation
Conduct an interview with a client to determine his or her needs and
satisfaction with current services.
Immediately inform a client if problems in your area will impact on them.
Take responsibility to resolve a clients problem if it goes beyond the
normal demands of the job.
Be patient and polite with others.
Take ownership for a clients concerns.
Identify opportunities for collaboration with people from other
agencies and governmental organizations on client initiatives or
programs.
Work with your manager to establish a task force which would be able to
focus on these programs.
As a group, explore potential opportunities that could benefit all areas.
When discussing possible plans of action, try to come to a consensus on
the following issues:
Who are your key clients?

What do your key clients expect from you?
What would be the biggest complaint clients have?
How well are we currently meeting client expectations?
What gets in the way of effective client service?
What suggestions do we have to improve client service?
Enlist the support within your organization to make a change.

Identify the people whose support you need to implement a new idea,
project or plan, aimed at improving client service.
Find out what each of these people thinks about your proposal, and
develop a plan to do what is necessary in each case to ensure the
support you need.
Take specific steps to learn more about individuals throughout the
organization who provide important client support, or who can help you
accomplish your goals.
Monitor the success of your plan and modify it as you go along.
Develop alternative ways of looking at client service problems.
Describe the client service problem in a brief statement.
Identify the key factors in the problem from your perspective. Pretend
you are going to tell someone a story about the problem. What are the
three or four key characteristics or details you would want to convey?

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Client Orientation
How would upper management view this problem? What factors
would they see at their level?
How would managers in other areas view this problem? What
factors would they see from their perspective?
How does the client view this problem? What are their most
important issues?
Prepare and present a summary of your findings.
Identify any immediate steps you could take on your own to help resolve
the problem. Take the first steps.
Respond to client needs in a timely, responsive manner.
Listen carefully to requests or complaints and probe for all relevant
information.
Test your understanding of the client by summarizing what you heard.
Address client needs in a responsive manner. Inform the client of the
specific actions that you will take, and make clear when you will be back
in touch with the client to report your progress.
Make a note of how the client reacted.
A useful way to respond to client needs is to ask them to help you create
three lists:
Things you should start to do;
Things you should stop doing;
Things you should continue to do.

Assess the quality of your knowledge of the clients organization.
Over a one-month period, keep a log of the frequency and type (formal
or informal) of contacts you make with your clients.
Review the log and assess whether there are opportunities to increase
your availability and the frequency or level of client contact. In particular,
take note if you are making the kind of informal contact that lets your
clients know you are thinking of them, have familiarity with their
organization, and are available to work together to meet both
organizations needs.
Set a goal for yourself to increase the amount of time you spend in
client-related activities that increase your knowledge of their
organizations. Monitor your progress and set new goals each month.

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Client Orientation
Get to know your clients and their underlying needs.
List all of the different groups of clients you currently have (e.g., the
groups of individuals who receive either a service and/or product from
you). Be sure to include both internal and external clients on your list.
List the expectations each group of clients has of you. In other words,
what criteria do they use to determine if the product and/or service that
you provide is acceptable to them?
Verify your list of expectations with each client group. Share your list of
expectations and ask for feedback. How accurate was your original
assessment?
Meet with your most important clients (internal and external) to discuss
their business or Departmental goals with them. Ask them for
suggestions on things you can do to better understand their needs and
environment. This could include job shadowing - spending the day or
part of the day accompanying them through their regular activities.
Update your list of clients and client expectations on a regular (e.g.,
quarterly) basis.
Design and conduct a focus group session with your colleagues.
Develop a list of questions for the following topic areas:
Who are your key clients?

What do your key clients expect from you?
How well are we currently meeting client expectations?
What would be the biggest complaint clients have?
What gets in the way of focusing on the client?
Generate solutions to improve Customer Service Orientation.

Transfer these solutions into an action plan.
Spend time thinking about what your clients want.
Make a list of all those people who rely on you and your work - they are
your clients.
Think about what is important to each kind of client.
Identify the expectations each group of clients has of you. What criteria
do they use to determine if the product and/or service that you provide is
acceptable to them?
Verify your list of expectations with each client and update your list on a
regular basis (i.e., quarterly).
Share your list of expectations with your peers and manager and ask for
feedback.

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Client Orientation
Determine whether it is feasible to reach your clients expectations while
still following the rules of the organization, or with the current resources
the organization provides you.
Involve your key clients in helping shape policy and programs that
affect them.
Gather information about your clients by engaging in meaningful
discussions about your program offerings and explore your clients
thoughts and expectations.
Talk about barriers and how any could be overcome.
Meet with stakeholders and seek to build consensus around their need
and the deliverable your service can provide. Explain governmental
practices and explore any issues that exist with your client given your
approach. Talk about the why behind a particular approach; be open
and consider alternative ways as appropriate.
Books and
Videos
Customer Service: A Practical Approach, by Elaine K. Harris (New

Edition: Prentice Hall, 2006; Original: Prentice Hall, 2002).
Customer Service: A Practical Approach was created in response to the
need for increased customer service and for qualified customer service
professionals. It tackles the important issues facing customer service
providers and customer service managers today. Individual success is
contingent on how effectively fundamental skills are mastered and
carried out. In addition to important content, special emphasis is placed
on self-assessment and the mastery of those skills and abilities that are
missing from the average employee's resume.
Customer Service From The Inside-Out Made Easy, by Paul Levesque
(Entrepreneur Press, 2006).
This book moves beyond what superior customer service looks like and
spells out how you can make it happen. It teaches you how to motivate
your employees to personally focus on customer satisfaction, creating a
chain reaction of contagious enthusiasm that gives businesses a huge
competitive advantage and a surge in customer loyalty and sales.
Customer Loyalty: How to Earn It, How to Keep It, by Jill Griffin (New
Edition: John Wiley & Sons, 2002; Original: Jossey-Bass Publishers
Publishers, 1997).
This pragmatic guide to achieving customer loyalty outlines a seven-step
process for turning prospects into customers and customers into loyal
advocates. Presenting detailed case studies, the author shares her
trademarked Profit Generator System, a step-by-step approach to
pricing, value, positioning, and targeting designed to systematically move
customers up the loyalty ladder.
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Client Orientation
The CRM Handbook: A Business Guide to Customer Relationship
Management, by Jill Dych (Addison-Wesley Professional 2001).
The concise managers guide to making the most of Customer
Relationship Management (CRM). CRM techniques for enhancing
customer service, sales force effectiveness, and marketing strategy.
Expert guidance on staffing CRM projects and choosing CRM vendors.
Includes "Checklist for Success" best practices for the entire project
lifecycle.
180 Ways to Walk the Customer Service Talk, by Eric Harvey
(Performance Publishing Company, 1999).
This book is packed with powerful strategies and tips to cultivate worldclass customer service and promises to be the answer to getting
everyone Walking the Customer Service Talk and building a reputation
of service integrity.
Discovering the Soul of Service: The Nine Drivers of Sustainable
Business Success, by Leonard L. Berry (Free Press, 1999).
Trust-based relationships, generosity, investment in employee success,
executional excellence, leading with values some of the nine values
that underlie the success of great service companies.
Achieving Excellence Through Customer Service, by John Tschohl &
Steve Franzmeier (New Edition: Best Sellers Publishing, 1996, Original:
Prentice Hall, 1991).
This book provides a complete action plan to make exceptional customer
service a central focus of management strategy. It discusses ways to
motivate employees to deliver more than the customer expects, and to
implement company policies and procedures related to customer
satisfaction.
Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self Interest, by Peter Block (New
Edition: Berrett-Koehler, 1996; Original: Berrett-Koehler, 1993).
Put real meaning into the ideas of service and accountability; create a
workplace where every member thinks and acts as an owner; reintegrate
the managing of work with the doing of work - everyone does real work;
replace self-interest, dependency and control with service, responsibility
and partnership; raise the productive capacity of work units and
economic success of organizations.
Excellence in Government: Total Quality Management in the 1990s, by
David K. Carr and Ian D. Littman (Coopers & Lybrand, 1993).
Beyond example, this book presents a comprehensive picture of the right
and wrong ways of introducing TQM in public agencies, and specific,
field-tested, step-by-step procedures for doing it the right way. The book
spells out in detail how top administrators, middle managers, employees,
unions, vendors, and others can make quality job one.
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Client Orientation
The video, "Exceptional Customer Service", (CareerTrack Publications, 1800-780-8476, www.pryor.com).
This video will teach you about the vital role every member of your
organization plays in dealing with customers, and the results of poor
teamwork. It will also help you use 11 creative techniques to improve
your listening skills and how to diffuse irate customers and turn a
potential disaster into something positive. (3 volume Video Set).
The video, How to Deliver Exceptional Customer Service (CareerTrack
Publications, 1-800-780-8476, www.pryor.com).
This four volume video set is designed to train anyone who ever has
contact with customers. Training includes how to build rapport with
customers quickly, how to gracefully handle angry or difficult customers;
the secrets to staying motivated and projecting an attitude of genuine
caring, and how todays service leaders win customers devotion, loyalty
and repeat business.
The video, Quality Customer Service by William Martin (Crisp Learning,
1-800-446-4797, www.crisplearning.ca).
This 20-minute training film is based on a book written by William Martin,
Ph.D and focuses on the personal side of making customers happy. It
describes the numerous factorsoperational and personalthat all
combine to create a winning environment.
The movie Dangerous Minds
In the film, look for instances where the main character acts with the
customers' best interests at heart, and bends organizational rules to do
so.
The movie, It Could Happen to You.
In the film, how do the Bridget Fonda and Nicholas Cage characters
display customer service?
External
Development
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Conceptual Thinking
CONCEPTUAL THINKING
Conceptual Thinking is the ability to identify patterns or connections between
situations that are not obviously related, and to identify key or underlying
issues in complex situations. It includes using creative, conceptual or
inductive reasoning.
This Means...
This Doesnt Mean...
challenging existing processes

and procedures in order to
improve them
assuming that if there is

not a problem, there is no
need for improvement
looking for the common

factors in different situations
and using/modifying
previously successful
approaches to meet the
unique needs of the situation.
reinventing the wheel

with every situation and
overlooking common
sources of difficulty, to
focus on the peculiarities
of each situation.
listening to new ideas and

recognizing their value in
solving problems
thinking that problems that

havent been corrected or
eliminated cant be
integrating and applying

different ideas and
approaches to accomplish a
goal
trying to force-fit standard

approaches without
considering alternatives

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Conceptual Thinking
Developmental
Activities
Level (1-2) Activities

Ask yourself how often do you give yourself time to think about issues
as opposed to just getting the job done?
Give yourself the opportunity to think quietly.
Talk to people about the issue.
Look for people who regularly introduce new thoughts and concepts.
Spend time with them talking about your issue.
Look for ways in which your thinking relates to other issues.
Keep a log of situations at work for which you did not have a solution.
Write down in detail the nature of the situation and your thoughts about
it.
Review the log, consider what you thought at the time, and what you
think now as you reconsider the situation.
Write down alternative courses of action that could have benefited the
situation.
Make use of these actions in similar circumstances.
Talk to others to get their ideas on issues, situations, problems, and
potential opportunities.
Get another persons perspective.
Talking through a problem or situation is a good technique to stimulating
thought and developing insight. Getting another viewpoint adds more
ideas and energy.
Develop your conceptual thinking
conceptually-oriented games.
with
simple
exercises
and
Pick a common item and identify 20 different uses for it (e.g., a fork, a
drinking glass, a computer terminal, a shoe).
Consider any two unrelated items and create a list of reasons they are
similar (e.g., a pen and a coffee cup, a telephone and an orange).
Play games like Pictionary, Whatzit!, Balderdash or Charades.
Make a list of common referral opportunities among your clients/
manager.
Review the types of clients and how best to deal with them.

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Conceptual Thinking
Ask your colleagues in other business units for their input on the referral
opportunities. Ask questions. You want to gain insight into how
someone else sees the situation.
Incorporate these points of view into your own method of addressing
these issues.
Identify the leaders who set strategy for the business; understand their
strategy in order to help you develop your own strategy for working.
Meet with your manager to discuss how you will meet with the leaders of
the other business units.
Spend a week gathering data, observing patterns, creating hypotheses,
and summarizing themes.
Summarize observations into a succinct presentation.
Try to apply these observations into your own way of setting strategies in
your area of responsibility.

Brainstorm solutions to a client problem before you draw
conclusions or make a decision.
Choose a challenging problem that you are currently facing with a client
that you have not resolved.
List all the possible solutions that come to mind.
Do not evaluate or critique any of the solutions or suggestions until you
have exhausted all possible ideas.
End your brainstorming session by identifying next steps.
During the next two weeks make a list of unexpected client problems
or issues that come up and think through the possible trends or
patterns.
Examine the list and try to identify any common themes or similarities,
and ask yourself the following questions:
Have I seen this type of problem before?
What do I already know that may help me to solve the problem?
What may be the cause of the problem?
Is there anything that could have prevented the problem from

occurring? If yes, what action could have prevented it?

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Conceptual Thinking
Is there anything I could have done to speed up my understanding of

the problem?
Note these themes on a piece of paper.
Take action to make use of these identified trends in order to overcome
similar situations in the future.
Build the requirement for more lateral thinking into your daily routine.
Identify a set of criteria that all options must meet; for example, a set
budget, a given timeline for commuting, a specific duration for an activity,
etc.
Identify different ways of getting to and from home, or a different place to
have lunch every day for a week, or a different activity to entertain
yourself or your family every weekend for a month.
Evaluate these alternatives against the above set of criteria.
Gather benchmark information about a current organizational problem.
Work with your manager to identify a problem which needs to be
addressed within your department.
Volunteer to work on developing a solution for the problem.
Find out how others within and outside your organization have dealt with
similar problems or situations.
Document your findings and share them with your manager and coworkers. These can include:
Summarizing a new trend/technique and presenting it to others.
Doing a competitive analysis.
Studying history and drawing business parallels.
Participating in a cross-functional project.
Level 5 Activities
Prepare a presentation on how a new product or service will address
customer needs.
This shouldnt be a long essay, just four or five key points based on your
conceptual thinking of the new product, the existing products and your
clients needs.
Make the presentation to a group within your business unit or to your
client.

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Conceptual Thinking
Ask for input from those affected by the problem.

Identify those who are most affected by the problem.
Ask them for information about the nature of the problem and for
suggestions about possible solutions.
Identify a number of possible courses of action and check out the
feasibility of these alternatives with these same individuals or groups.
Try to picture what you are trying to achieve. How does it look? Is there
anything you would like to change? What one thing would you like to
change in that picture?
Think about what situation this particular problem reminds you of. Are
there any interesting similarities or differences in the two scenarios?
What can you learn from them?
Imagine that you have no constraints to solve this issue or problem -what would you do? Why would you do it? What prevents you from
acting on the thoughts you have?
Talk to people who are not familiar with the issue you are grappling with.
This may include those from totally different areas of expertise or
disciplines that you are used to -- what kinds of things do people come
up with?
Take the results of these approaches and try to come up with some
novel solutions to your problem.
Bounce your ideas off your boss or trusted colleagues.
Try to learn from and incorporate the comments you have collected.
Make some notes to yourself regarding some of the things that have
helped you to become more creative.
Through discussion with appropriate management and staff, identify a
persistent problem or limitation that has resisted resolution.
Work on a plan that goes to the root of the problem or incorporates a
different conceptual approach.
Carefully think through the consequences of your plan or approach from
the perspective of all stakeholders. Why will it succeed when the others
have failed?
Fine tune your plan or approach until you are confident that you have a
feasible approach that will accomplish the objective and will add value.
Present and review your plan with your manager or other stakeholders.

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Conceptual Thinking
Look at how technologies are being applied in different industries and

determine how the underlying concepts could be applied in your
organization.
Consider a variety of industries; for example, Manufacturing, Retail,
Construction, Travel and Leisure, Pharmaceuticals, etc.
Investigate how technology is providing solutions internally and
externally and the underlying themes or patterns to which those solutions
speak.
Develop a concept for utilizing similar patterns or themes within your
organization and a supporting business case or strategy paper.
Present and review your concepts with appropriate management.
Books and
Videos
Imagination Engineering: How to Generate and Implement Great Ideas,

by Paul Birch & Brian Clegg (New Edition: Prentice Hall, 2007; Original:
Prentice Hall, 1996).
These British authors bring their past years of experience promoting
creativity within British Airways, as well as in software design and review,
to this latest in a long line of works on enhancing creative skills. The
authors have conceptualized their process into the stages of surveying,
building, way-marking, and navigating. Each stage is highly structured,
with many tools or activity exercises, an explanation of the techniques of
the tools, and practical examples.
The Art of Thinking: A Guide to Critical and Creative Thought, by
Vincent R. Ruggiero (Longman, 2006).
Accessible and engaging, this unique text offers strategies for critical and
creative thinking and includes many opportunities for practicing these
fundamental skills. It will help readers think "outside the box" and to
become more effective writers, speakers, and communicators.
The Five Faces of Genius: Creative Thinking Styles to Succeed at
Work, by Annette Moser Wellman (Penguin USA, 2002).
Having researched the lives and techniques of past and present
geniuses for this book, the author helps workers at all levels build and
refine their working styles.
The Minds Best Work: A New Psychology of Creative Thinking, by D.
N. Perkins (New Edition: Harvard University Press, 2002; Original: Harvard
University Press, 1981).
This book, by a member of the research team project zero, describes
how people think conceptually and creatively. It discusses the creative
episodes of Beethoven, Mozart, Picasso, and others in this exploration of
the creative process in the arts, sciences, and everyday life.
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Conceptual Thinking
Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas, by James L. Adams

(New Edition: Perseus Books, 2001; Original: Addison Wesley Longman,
1990).
Bestselling guide to overcoming creative blocks and unleashing a torrent
of great ideas. Updated for a new generation of problem solvers.
The Jewel That Was Ours, The Secret of Annex 3, and Last Bus to
Woodstock, by Colin Dexter (New Editions: Pan Books, 2001; Original:
Bantam Books, 1980s) also available on audio cassette.
Colin Dexter, a popular crime fiction writer, is quite clever at providing
information that suggests a variety of alternative explanations for
otherwise seemingly unrelated events.
The Ultimate Book of Business Creativity: 50 Great Thinking Tools for
Transforming Your Business, by Ros Jay ( New Edition: Capstone Pub,
2001; Original: John Wiley & Sons, 1999).
This book brings together for the first time, tools for generating
breakthrough ideas. It will inspire you to think about your business in a
radically different way.
Cross-Train Your Brain: A Mental Fitness Program for Maximizing
Creativity and Achieving Success, by Stephen D. Eiffert (New Edition:
Amer Management, 1999; Original: AMACOM, 1998).
When you change the way you think, you can change your life. Thats
the message and the goal of the dynamic mental workout. This book
shows readers how to break through the constraints of career
pigeonholing, tedious routine, and rote learning to recapture the power of
their true creative natures.
A Whack On the Side of the Head, by Roger von Oech. (New Edition:
Warner Books, 1998; Original: Yankee Publishing 1988).
This book is a practical reference tool which will act as a sensible and
motivating guide to improve your conceptual thinking. It is full of
provocative puzzles, anecdotes, exercises, metaphors, cartoons,
questions, quotations, stories and tips designed to systematically break
through your mental blocks.
Flash of Brilliance: Inspiring Creativity Where You Work, William C.
Miller (Harper Collins Ltd., 1998).
Flash of Brilliance describes how to foster creativity in corporate America
and boost the bottom line in the process. In this book, creativity
consultant William C. Miller argues that the most successful companies
encourage inspiration and innovation and allow people to make a
difference.
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Conceptual Thinking

Solving, by Gerald Nadler (New Edition: Prima Lifestyles, 1998; Original:
Prima Publishing, 1994).
Jamming: The Art and Discipline of Business Creativity, by John Keo
(Harper Collins, 1997).
In this book, Kao shows how high-performance companies around the
world have learned the lessons of creativity to leap ahead of their
obsolete competitors. They have learned to make creativity tangible and
actionable, they practice a new managerial mindset, and they have
learned to leverage information technology to enhance creative
collaboration.
The Ideal Problem Solver: A Guide for Improving Thinking, Learning &
Creativity, by John D. Bransford & Barry S. Stein (W.H. Freeman, 1993).
This book incorporates a wealth of research on thinking and creativity. A
detailed framework for tackling problems is provided. It is ideal for
developing ones critical thinking, learning & memory skills, and creative
problem solving.
The Five-Day Course in Thinking, by Edward de Bono (New Edition:
Viking Penguin, 1992; Original: Basic Books, 1969).
In this classic book by the foremost thinker on lateral thinking, de Bono
articulates that thinking is an enjoyable skill that can be developed
directly. The book offers a series of simple but intriguing problems in
thinking that are designed to help the reader discover their own personal
style of thinking, its strengths and its weaknesses.
Intelligence Applied: Understanding and Increasing Your Intellectual
Skills, by Sternberg & J. Harcourt, (Brace Jovanovich, 1986).
This book is probably the best single source of information that treats
conceptual thinking as one of the competencies involved in intelligent
behaviour. On the one hand, it provides a sound and convincing
explanation of why such an intellectual competency must be treated in
terms of the context in which it occurs. On the other, it provides many
practical exercises the reader can employ to understand intellectual
competencies better and to improve his or her skills.

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Conceptual Thinking
How and How Much Can Intelligence be Increased?, by Douglas K.

Detterman & Robert J. Sternberg (eds.), (Ablex Publishing Corp., 1982).
The authors provide a comprehensive review of the research on
increasing intelligence.
Wall Street Journal, Business Week, or the Business Section of the New
York Times.
These periodicals should give a lot of practice in reviewing the patterns
that business writers see happening in the business world. It would
obviously be a mistake to automatically apply to ones particular situation
the concepts that such writers see in general across business situations.
Knowing what is unique about ones own situation is a higher level
exercise of this competency.
The video Discovering the Future, The Business of Paradigms, by
Charthouse (International Tele-Film, 1-800-561-4300, www.itf.ca).
The host and author talks about how existing paradigms can limit our
thinking and talks about creating new paradigms to reshape and achieve
new levels of performance.
The video Why Didnt I Think of That?, by American Media (International
Tele-Film, 1-800-561-4300, www.itf.ca).
Cultivating the creative spirit requires tools to help view surroundings in a
new light. Stretch your employees' thinking skills with the 10 challenges
presented in this mind-expanding video.
The movie, A Beautiful Mind.
In this movie the key character John Nash, played by Russell Crowe,
demonstrates the hallmark characteristics of conceptual thinking. Look
for how he recognizes patterns, uses analogies to make complex things
simple and create a new theory that impacts the field of economics and
eventually earns him a Nobel Prize.
Watch the PBS television series Connections and Connections II.
These entertaining shows trace various seemingly unrelated
technological developments over time and show how they interconnect.
They also discuss the creativity and ingenuity of great thinkers.
External
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Decisiveness
DECISIVENESS
Decisiveness is the ability to make decisions based on analysis of the
information presented in the face of ambiguous or conflicting situations, or
when there is an associated risk.
This Means...
This Doesnt Mean...
using past experiences to

quickly evaluate situations
where information may be
incomplete or unclear
doing work as it comes

without thinking through the
longer term impact
looking for the common

factors in different situations
and using/modifying
previously successful
approaches to meet the
unique needs of the situation
focusing on the peculiarities

of each situation, without
considering common
sources of difficulty
between situations
prioritizing required
information to help you
determine when you can
make a sufficiently informed
decision
waiting for all the

information to be clear
before evaluating options
thinking ahead about the

outcome of an action (If I do
A, then B and C will also
happen.)
solving the immediate

problem without thinking
about what other problems
may follow, the longer term
impact
integrating and applying

different ideas and
approaches to accomplish a
goal
trying to force-fit standard

approaches in order to
maintain consistency
identifying key factors in a

complex problem,
associating seemingly
unrelated information in
order to limit the risk in
ambiguous situations where
a decision need to be made
pondering every complex

detail of an issue until you
are absolutely sure that the
eventual decision is right

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Decisiveness
Developmental
Activities

Keep an issues log.
When an issue arises, record information in the following areas:
Nature of issue (include a description);
Person/department presenting issue;
Perceived priority/importance;
Time available to resolve issue;
Cost/implications if unresolved.
Be very inclusive when you begin.
Using this information, look for similar issues recorded in your log.
Review the actions you or others took to resolve the issue and which
information you/they used in formulating the action plans.
Compare this to the information you have recorded have you included
irrelevant information? Highlight the information that will be most relevant
to the resolution of this issue.
As you act to resolve the issue, make note of any information you require
and do not have. Once you have responded to a number of similar
issues, you may find there is a pattern in the types of information you
need to successfully respond.
Create an environment which is supportive of making good decisions.
Think about times when you have made good decisions what
environmental factors were present? Some examples might include:
Sufficient time and resources available;
Peers who had similar issues and shared perspectives;
Timing: the issue came up during a non-busy time;
Implications of non-resolution were clearly defined.
Contrast these factors to those in place when your resolutions have been
less successful.
Build your boundaries for dealing with issues. Which factors must be in
place? Which ones are beneficial, but not necessary? Which ones can
you control?
When the next issue arises, evaluate the environment against your
criteria. Involve others to help you maintain your boundaries (delegate
other, less essential work to give yourself time and space to think, etc.).
Evaluate the success of your resolution and efforts to maintain a positive
decision-making environment.

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Decisiveness
Have someone model his or her decision-making process for you.
Be sure to explore and question the factors they consider in this type of a
decision.
For this particular type of decision, what particular areas of knowledge
and resources do they generally use?
Shadow a decision with someone whose Decisive Insight you value.
After generally discussing the decision to be made, take some time on
your own to consider the factors involved in the decision.
Develop your own response to the decision, addressing all the factors
youve just identified.
Present your response to the individual. Be prepared to explain all
elements of your response.
Discuss what the differences are between your approach and the
approach the individual took. What are the similarities?

Identify obstacles.
Look ahead over the next three months. Considering each of the projects
you are working on or plan to work on, with which project do you
Analyze the root cause of each obstacle and identify what actions you
can take to lessen or overcome the problem before you encounter it.
Agree a way forward with stakeholders to remove obstacles.
Set aside sufficient time so that you can really focus on the problem. If
the problem is truly difficult, it will not be resolved in a couple of minutes
between meetings.
Work on a plan that goes to the root of the problem.
Consider the background to the problem.
Try breaking the problem down into pieces, and examining each
separately.
Consider similar problems from the past. Is any information that youve
gathered previously relevant in this situation?
Carefully think through the consequences of your plan. Why will it
succeed when the others have failed?
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Decisiveness
Fine tune your plan until you are confident that you have addressed the
fundamental issues causing the problem.
When you are faced by new and difficult problems, think through the
chain of events leading to the problem.
The next time an important problem occurs, stop yourself from jumping
to a conclusion as to what caused the problem.
Write down the chain of events leading to the problem (e.g., A occurred
because of B, B occurred because of C). It is important to actually
write it down or draw a diagram. Most people cannot keep all the details
of a complex situation in their heads.
Identify any gaps in the information you have at hand. Use past
experiences to make any assumptions youll need to come to a decision.
Work together with your peers to implement the solution in a feasible
manner.
Ask for feedback.
Ask your peers to identify specific times where you either showed or did
not show effective decision-making skills.
Ask them to specify what it was about your behaviour, which made a
particular impression on them.
Ask them to talk through how he or she would have tackled the issue.
Take note of these suggestions and try to apply them in future
circumstances.
Identify a recent business unit problem that was successfully resolved.
Plan to meet with the people involved in the problem resolution.
Find out how they dealt with the problem or situation. Ask the following:
What difficulties did they encounter? How did they handle the difficulties?
Is there anything they feel they could have done to prevent the
difficulties from arising? Were there any issues that they nipped in the
bud? What would they do differently next time?
What resources did they use? Are these the typical resources that are
used, or were additional ones brought in?
How did they measure the specific outcomes of their efforts? Were they
satisfied with this method of measurement? How successful were the
outcomes? How successful were the outcomes expected to be? What, if
any, different methods of measurement would they use the next time?
Use this information when you are confronted with similar
problems or situations.

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Decisiveness
Take a longer-term project or assignment that you have become
involved in and invest time to look ahead for potential problems.
Break down the project or assignment into all the critical tasks and key
milestones.
Analyze each task and identify any potential areas of risk. Try to
determine any areas where something could potentially go wrong such
as an untried technology or a shortage of experienced employees.
Sort the potential problems into high and low risk.
Prepare possible alternatives if the potential problems you have
identified should occur.
Review your task breakdown, risk analysis and alternatives with your
manager.
Implement an action plan with appropriate time scales to address those
risks.
Identify obstacles.
Overcome your confidence killers.
Think about a time when you had a good idea but were unsuccessful in
countering the resistance you encountered. Review the steps you took in
developing the idea and readying it for presentation.
How did you come up with the idea?
How much time did you have to develop the idea?
Who else did you involve in the development and presentation?
How did you prepare the idea for presentation (exhaustive analysis,
feedback from others, conceptual description, etc.)?
How did you prepare yourself for the presentation?
To whom did you present?
When/where was the decision made to not pursue your idea.
Walk through each of the steps you took, remembering what you were
thinking and feeling during each of them. What you are looking for is the
point at which your confidence began to falter.
This point serves as your trigger event and may be based on your own
thoughts and feelings, or on your reaction to others and external events.
Think about how you can recognize these trigger events in the future
what thoughts/feelings/situations do you need to be on the lookout for?
Plan for the occurrence of these trigger events you are likely to meet
them again, so be ready for them. Actually write down the actions or
statements you could use in those instances. These notes can form a
type of cheat sheet should you get into a situation, which feels
uncomfortable for you.

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Decisiveness
Remember that ultimately, you are in control of your actions once you
have identified the people or situations which make you feel threatened,
you can choose to react to them automatically or you can respond to
them in a way which recognizes it is difficult for you, but does not work
against your own progress or idea.
Build a cross-departmental innovation and solution team.
When addressing an issue, gaining the input of individuals from diverse
backgrounds will help you understand the broader implications of issues
and actions.
Identify all the groups who will be affected by the issue and invite a
representative from each of the groups to join the team.
Have each representative define the issue from his/her groups
perspective and outline what success in dealing with the issue would
look like. Your role in this discussion is to be a facilitator, not to have an
opinion.
As a group, decide which areas of the issue to tackle first and put action
plans in place.
Keep an on-going record of what you learned from each of the group
representatives, for future reference.
Refer to these notes the next time an issue arises which has implications
for another group. Incorporate the perspectives or approaches into your
own analysis of the situation and validate your views with members of
that group.

Identify and plan for obstacles.
Look ahead over the next three to six months. Considering each of the
projects you are working on or plan to work on, with which project do you
Write a two to three sentence summary of the project, which captures
the objective, rather than the steps of the project. Keeping your eye on
the ball in this way will help you distinguish high and low risk situations,
and evaluate potential ways of dealing with difficulties.
Drawing on your knowledge of the issues involved and the context,
consider the root cause of each obstacle.
Identify what actions you can take to lessen or overcome the problem
before you encounter it. Write out these actions in a plan, delegating
responsibilities where appropriate and informing individuals of the
potential risks involved.
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Decisiveness
Provide targeted completion dates for each step.
Develop a contingency plan to enable you to deal with unforeseen shifts
in direction.
Put the plan into action and keep a note of your progress.
Develop a new concept or transform an idea that would have a
significant impact.
Review current practices within your branch in order to identify an area
or issue that needs revision, or that could benefit from some form of
revitalization.
Investigate and gather information from various sources (peers, trade
journals, competitors, stakeholders, etc.) related to this issue.
Discuss your findings with your peers. Gather their input on the
relevance of the gathered information.
Develop different approaches for dealing with the issue by integrating
your learning, and discussions with your peers with what you already
know about current practices within the business unit.
Develop a business case that supports a change including such things
as strategic repositioning and leveraging, resource utilization,
cost/benefit impact, and so on.
Examine the pros and cons from the perspective of each stakeholder
group (e.g., sales, marketing, etc.).
Create a draft implementation plan. Include a transition plan for migration
or conversion to the new approach, or communication plan for
positioning the project, and updates to stakeholder groups.
Present your ideas and case to the appropriate group.
Keep current with trends and issues affecting government in general
as well as your organization.
Consider the factors that define success in your organization. Choose
the two or three which you feel are most critical and research how your
organization measures up against other organizations on these factors.
Also consider the level at which you want to gather this information (e.g.,
local, regional, national).
Look at what other organizations are doing. What assumptions are they
making? How are these assumptions driving their strategy?
Attend industry or economic conferences and seminars.
Collect information about best practices and key success factors in
organizations that you believe could be transferable to your
organization.
Monitor various information sources (e.g., newsletters, meeting minutes)
to help you anticipate legislative or industry standard changes that you
will need to accommodate.
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Once you have a solid base of information regarding these factors, you
may want to identify and apply concepts which may improve your ability
to tap into untried market areas.
Create and maintain an on-going monitoring system to capture how
leaders in other industries are responding to their challenges.
Think about what would be the most effective manner to gather this
information. Share your ideas with your peers.
Keep your records up to date. Keep these records in a centrally
accessible location so that others may access and add to them.
Build personal networks that will facilitate the gathering of additional
information. Continue to update your records with new information.
Once you have gathered some information, spend some time thinking
about how it could be adapted for government purposes.
Initiate discussions with peers about the information, and evaluate the
merits of the various options.
Develop alternate ways of looking at an issue:
Select an issue that you are genuinely interested in understanding or
resolving. The problem should be of reasonable scope and you should
be familiar with its past history (i.e., what has led up to the problem and
previous attempts, if any, at resolving it).
Describe the problem in a brief statement.
For example, you might state the problem as: The staff turnover in my
particular branch has steadily increased over the past two years.
Identify the key factors in the problem from your perspective.
Pretend you are going to tell someone a story about the problem. What
are the three or four key characteristics or details you would want to
convey?
How would management in other areas view this problem? What factors
would they see from their perspective?
How would customers view this problem? What factors would they see?
Prepare a summary of your findings. Identify any immediate steps you
could take on your own to help resolve the problem. Take the first steps.
Incorporate several perspectives into your problem-solving approach.
Identify individuals who are most affected by a problem.
Ask them for information about the nature of the problem and for
suggestions about possible solutions.
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Decisiveness
Imagine that you have no constraints to solve this issue or problem -what would you do? Why would you do it? What prevents you from
acting on the thoughts you have?
Talk to people who are not familiar with the issue you are grappling with.
This may include those from totally different areas of expertise or
disciplines than you are used to -- what kinds of things do people come
up with?
Try to picture what you are trying to achieve. How does it look? Is there
anything you would like to change? What one thing would you like to
change in that picture? Will the courses of action that you have
generated allow you to achieve your goals?
Take the results of these approaches and try to come up with some
novel solutions to your problem.
Bounce your ideas off trusted colleagues and the individuals affected.
Try to learn from and incorporate the comments you have collected.
Make some notes to yourself regarding some of the things that have
helped you to become more creative.
Books and
Videos
Flipping The Switch, by John Miller (Putnam, 2005).

In his bestselling ""QBQ!" The Question Behind the Question," Miller
revealed how personal accountability helps to create opportunity,
overcome obstacles, and achieve goals by eliminating blame,
complaining, and procrastination. Now he takes readers to the next level
to show how they can use the power of the "QBQ!" and personal
accountability every day.
Judgment in Managerial Decision Making, by Max H. Bazerman (New
Edition: John Wiley & Sons, 2005).
This book examines judgment in a variety of organizational contexts, and
provides practical strategies for changing your decision-making
processes and improving these processes so that they become part of
your permanent behavior. Throughout, you'll find numerous hands-on
decision exercises and examples from the author's extensive executive
training experience that will help you enhance the quality of your
managerial judgment.
QBQ! The Question Behind the Question, by John Miller (Putnam, 2004).
In this book Miller provides a method for putting personal accountability
into daily action, which can bring astonishing results: problems get
solved, barriers come down, service improves, teamwork grows, and
people adapt to change.

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Decisiveness
Smart Choices: A Practical Guide to Making Better Decisions, by John
S. Hammond, Ralph L. Keeney & Howard Raiffa (New Edition: Broadway
Books, 2002).
Authors Hammond, Keeney and Raiffa, among the worlds best-known
experts on resolving complex decision problems, have created a set of
techniques for assessing your options more clearly and effectively,
ultimately empowering you to make smarter choices. Their step-by-step
procedures combine solid research with practical experience and
common sense to help you specify your objectives, identify creative
alternatives, make reasoned trade-offs, clarify uncertainties and evaluate
the risks.
Decisions, Decisions: The Art of Effective Decision Making, by David A.
Welch (Prometheus Books, 2001).
In this engrossing and entertaining guide, David Welch, who has studied
the decision-making process at the highest levels, shows how both the
science and the art of decision making are essential to us all. Welch lays
out nine steps to effective decision making and then shows us how to
apply these steps to real-world situations. You'll learn how to assess your
own strengths and weaknesses because self-knowledge is critical for
making the right decisions.
The Managerial Decision-Making Process, by E. Frank Harrison (New
Edition: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999).
The Managerial Decision-Making Process focuses directly on decisions
made by middle and upper levels of management in organizations of all
types. The book develops senior-level management decisions in a
process model using concepts from psychology, sociology, philosophy
and economics.
Solving, by Gerald Nadler (New Edition: Prima Publishing, 1998; Original:
Prima Lifestyles, 1989).
The Thinkers Toolkit: Fourteen Skills for Making Smarter Decisions in
Business and in Life, by Morgan D. Jones (New Edition: Crown Publishing
Group, 1998; Original: Random House, 1995).
This book highlights the reasons why it is so difficult for us to think
analytically, and teaches a variety of useful skills to beat biases and
beliefs when making decisions. Written by a former head of the Analysis
Training Branch at the Central Intelligence Agency, Jones applies braintoughening exercises to typical business problems.

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Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Tools, Techniques and Reflections for
Building and Learning, by Peter Senge (Currency, 1994) also available
on audio CD.
This book looks at systems thinking which involves a high level of
Insightful Analysis. It is an excellent sourcebook for individual and group
exercises to stimulate systems thinking approaches to solving
organizational problems. Some of the exercises in this guide have been
adapted from this book.
The Ideal Problem Solver: A Guide for Improving Thinking, Learning
and Creativity, by John D. Bransford & Barry S. Stein (New Edition: W.H.
Freeman & Company, 1993; Original: W.H. Freeman & Company, 1984).
This book incorporates a wealth of recent research on thinking and
creativity. A detailed frame work for tackling problems is outlined.
Managing with Dual Strategies: Mastering the Present, Preempting the
Future, by Derek F. Abell (Free Press, 1993).
Discusses how companies deal with pressures for superior present
performance and improved change management. Explains how to
handle duality through experiences, analytical perspectives, and
decision-making orientations.
Intelligence Applied: Understanding and Increasing Your Intellectual
Skills, by Sternberg & J. Harcourt, (Brace Jovanovich, 1986).
This book treats conceptual thinking as one of the competencies
involved in intelligent behaviour. It provides an explanation of why such
an intellectual competency must be treated in terms of the context in
which it occurs. It also provides many practical exercises the reader can
employ to understand intellectual competencies better and to improve
his or her skills.
Business Periodicals and Newspapers.
These periodicals should give a lot of practice in reviewing the patterns
that business writers see happening in the business world. It would
obviously be a mistake to automatically apply to ones particular situation
the concepts that such writers see in general across business situations.
Look for patterns and innovations which might transfer to your situation.
Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Ruth Rendell or John Grisham,
Detective Stories.
Many detective stories provide a practical and pleasant way to exercise
concept formation skills. They often provide a variety of clues that the
reader must fit into a pattern to explain who done it, why, and how?.

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The video Discovering the Future, The Business of Paradigms, by
Charthouse (International Tele-Film, 1-800-561-4300, www.itf.ca).
The host and author talks about how existing paradigms can limit our
thinking and talks about creating new paradigms to reshape and achieve
new levels of performance.
The video, Decisions, Decisions, by Video Arts (International Tele-
Film, 1-800-561-4300, www.itf.ca).

In this video, experts show a manager (played by John Cleese) how he
has ignored or neglected the basic principles of decision making. They
then show him how their own decisions would have turned out if the
manager had been in their place. The manager learns that decision
making is a process rather than a single step. The video vividly
demonstrates that consultation and communication are essential in the
decision making process.
The video, Red Movie, by Melrose (International Tele-Film, 1-800-5614300, www.itf.ca).
In todays hectic work environment, everyone is being asked to make
more decisions for themselves, and more quickly. This increases the
pressure of decision-making, however, they still have to be right. Set in
The Decision Lab, this video makes everyone think about how they make
decisions, and how they can go wrong. Then a series of fundamental
tests ensure that every decision is the right one.
The movie Apollo 13.

This powerful and engaging film demonstrates how a group of people
demonstrated exceptional organizational commitment to save the lives of
the three astronauts. In particular note the commitment demonstrated by
the mission control commander and his team.
The movie Murder on the Orient Express or Death on the Nile.
Try to solve the mystery from the clues. If you need time to puzzle things
out, stop the movie while you think.
External
Development
Programs

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Development of People
DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLE
Works to develop peoples contribution and potential. Involves a genuine
intent to foster the long-term learning or development of others, including
direct reports, peers, team members or other staff. The focus is on the
developmental intent and effect rather than on a formal role of training.
This Means...
This Doesnt Mean...
making positive comments

regarding an employees
current and expected abilities
and potential to learn and
develop
giving only negative

feedback and/or criticizing
personal traits
ensuring that there is a clear

understanding of roles,
accountabilities and specific
expectations
assuming direct reports

know what is expected of
them
actively monitoring the quality

of others work, giving on-thejob instructions and training, or
other practical support, as a
means of enhancing
performance
taking a no news is good

news approach
giving specific feedback on a

regular, frequent basis and
reassuring employees after a
setback
giving occasional
feedback only and
assuming that employees
will want to deal with
difficult situations on their
own
establishing and actively

tracking direct reports
performance targets and
progress on development plans
conducting only annual

performance reviews
designing significantly new

processes for teaching
traditional materials
waiting for someone else

to design new or
innovative training
processes
actively seeking work

opportunities that will challenge
your employees and will enable
them to learn new skills
assigning work that you

know employees will do
well because they have
done similar assignments
many times before

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Developmental
Activities
Level 1 Activities
Conduct a self-audit.
Monitor the way in which you communicate about your employees and/or
members of your team.
Check yourself to ensure that you communicate positively about the
strengths and capabilities of others and refrain, whenever possible, from
criticizing others in your exchanges.
Strive to deal directly with individuals with whom you are displeased
rather than complaining to others.
Refrain from engaging in exchanges with others who do not follow these
guidelines, withdrawing from discussions about the weaknesses of team
members.
Examine your own style of supporting your direct reports in
assignments or regular job responsibilities. Ask yourself the following
questions:
Do I give my direct reports an opportunity to think and act
independently?
Do I tell my direct reports what to do or do I give them the overall
objective and let them determine what to do?
Have I identified appropriate times to provide direction to my direct
reports and times when I should be leaving them to function on their
own?
Record the number of positive and negative comments you make over
a two-week period, also noting the context in which the comments
were made.
Review the above, and for each negative comment, decide if it was
appropriate and necessary.
For those negative comments that were necessary, change the comment
so that it conveys the same information, but has a positive tone and can
be perceived as constructive criticism.
Carefully consider comments before delivering feedback to ensure that it
is delivered as constructive criticism.
Make a concerted effort to steadily increase the amount of positive
feedback you provide so the ratio of positive to negative is about 3 to 1.

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Analyze your effectiveness in pushing decision-making to the lowest
possible level within your business unit by asking yourself the
following questions:
To whom do I delegate/depend on?
Am I restricting myself to one or two people?
Am I making all the decisions?
Can I delegate more accountability to my peers or staff?
Do I interfere by offering unsolicited input to individuals to whom I have
given accountability?

Work with direct reports to identify the strengths and development
needs that they will need to work on over the next year.
Meet with each member of your employees.
Ask the individual to describe his or her proposed development plans.
What are the individuals goals?
What skills/behaviours must the individual demonstrate to reach
those goals?
Provide your perspective on the development plan.
Agree on a plan which incorporates both your input and the employees
suggestions.
Discuss how you can support the individual in his or her development.
Commit to providing that support (e.g., training courses, books, etc.).
Assist employees in enhancing their confidence in their abilities.
Make a point of spending some time with your employees and observing
how they practice their skills.
Give specific, behaviourally based feedback about their performance and
demonstrate how to practice important skills.
Be supportive of your employees efforts to try new ideas, test new
abilities, or exercise authority.
Provide support in their skill development in the form of financial
resources, time, reinforcement, and encouragement.
Be frank, providing negative as well as positive feedback, while ensuring
that you make clear what the individual can do to improve.

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Give how-to instructions.
Provide your employees with clear detailed instructions of what needs to
be done and why.
Explain how the task will be done.
Together, formulate an action plan to implement the development
activities.
Learn to adapt your style.
Use the management planning grid below to determine the extent of
involvement you should consider giving to your team and each individual
given their skills, knowledge, competencies, and their willingness to
adapt to change.
High
Knowledge and Ability
Management Planning Grid
Low
Encourage expression of
feelings
Ask for ideas and suggestions
Provide moderate feedback
Be direct in conveying
consequences
Hold frequent group meetings
Give information and direction
Provide detailed instructions
and moderate feedback
Monitor closely
Be direct in conveying
consequences
Hold frequent group meetings
Low
Encourage sharing of ideas,

suggestions, options
Ask group to decide
frequency of meetings
Delegate important
responsibilities
Encourage discussion and
sharing
Provide detailed instruction
and high levels of feedback
Hold frequent meetings
Involve in brainstorming,
idea generation on specific
issues
Delegate safe
responsibilities
Willingness and Confidence
High

Provide learning opportunities.
Review your current workload and assess which tasks could be
delegated to a subordinate.
Select an employee for the assignment who demonstrates the
competencies required for the task.
Make clear that the purpose of the delegation is to make the subordinate
more comfortable with increased responsibilities, not simply to do your
work.
Provide clear direction and parameters for action.
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Monitor and coach regularly.
Anticipate and tolerate some mistakes.
Keep a record of the decisions you make.
possible level within your business unit by asking yourself the
following questions:
To whom do I delegate/depend on?
Am I restricting myself to one or two people?
Can I delegate more accountability to my peers or employees?
Do I interfere by offering unsolicited input to individuals to whom I have
given accountability?
Examine your own style of supporting your direct reports in
assignments or regular job responsibilities. Ask yourself the following
questions:
Do I give my direct reports an opportunity to think and act
independently?
Do I tell my direct reports what to do or do I give them the overall
objective and let them determine what to do?
Have I identified appropriate times to provide direction to my direct
reports and times when I should be leaving them to function on their
own?
Consider the following points when providing coaching to address a
performance problem with a direct report.
Does the person agree there is a problem? If not, consider how you
might need to reposition the issue to help them recognize that a problem
exists and to consider the steps needed to resolve it.
Encourage the person to come up with alternatives. Solutions generated
by the individual are more likely to be accepted.
Does the person recognize that the responsibility for improvement lies
with him or her, not you? Emphasize that you will provide
encouragement and feedback.
Be sure to recognize and reinforce improvements in performance,
especially in the early stages.
Consider consulting human resource professionals if repeated attempts
do not result in improvement.
Take quick action if tough decisions are required.
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Grow the talent pool of your direct reports by providing developmental
challenges. Look for challenging assignments that will provide them
with greater exposure in the organization and opportunities to develop
senior management skills and abilities.
Review past assignments that you have provided to your direct reports.
Give your direct reports experience by letting them stand in for you on
various occasions.
Send them to executive management meetings in your place.
Give your direct reports an opportunity to present a business case to the
senior employees.
Keep abreast of developments (e.g., new project start-ups, new
mandates) in other areas that may provide development opportunities.
Provide job assignments that will increase individuals exposure to
different operations and management experience.
Encourage the sharing of resources across functions and divisions.
Keep abreast of developments (e.g., new start-ups, downsizing) in other
areas that may provide staffing and development opportunities.
Provide job assignments that will increase individuals exposure to
different operations and management experience.
Share your current talent pools, identify gaps.
Identify opportunities to share resources for the benefit of individual
departments and the organization as a whole.
Maintain a development file on each of your direct reports.
Keep track of successes (e.g., achieving goals), failures (e.g., not
upholding commitments), development needs (e.g., improving problem
solving skills), and how you have agreed to help.
Ensure that your notes are behavioural and specific, including actions
taken by the individual, attitudes displayed, dialogue, impact of
behaviour on results, etc.
Provide feedback frequently and as close in time to the actual event as
possible.
Reference your file during the competency assessment process.
Develop a continuous improvement mindset by including feedback
(both positive and negative) as a regular, expected part of all meetings.
Use the special award programs, or other, less formal means, to
recognize significant, special efforts.

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Whether it is positive or negative, to be effective, feedback needs to be
timely, specific and behavioural, rather than general and judgmental.
Focus on the work, not the person, and give specific examples, e.g., the
comment, You have not developed a succession plan for your area, is
much less likely to arouse defensiveness than the comment, Youre not
doing your job.
Be frank, providing negative feedback as well as positive, while ensuring
that you make clear what the individual can do to improve. Be prepared
to outline the resources or other support you can provide the employee
with in order to assist in his/her development.
Incorporate best practices discussions into all regular meetings, so that
employees can share their successes and learnings.
Identify long-term career goals of your employees.
Meet with each of your employees to discuss his/her career goals and
long-term interests and aspiration. Make references to these goals
during your employees year-end performance reviews.
When planning for performance objectives with your employees, try to
also include plans for the employees development in their goals for the
period.
Solicit their suggestions for areas in which they would like
developmental opportunities, but also have your own ideas in mind
with concrete actions to help focus their development on the longer
term goals of your organization.
Developmental opportunities should not be limited to formal training
courses.
On-the-job activities such as special projects or
assignments, delegated activities and job shadowing, for example,
provide excellent developmental opportunities in cost effective ways
that also contribute to attaining the goals of your organization.
Arrange to have your high potential employees promoted or
transferred to a challenging new post.
Be ready to give up your best workers so that they can go tackle new
challenges.
Consider positions outside the department if you believe that will
broaden them.
Books and
Videos
Coaching, Counseling and Mentoring: How to Choose the Right

Technique to Boost Employee Performance, by Florence M. Stone (2nd
Edition: AMACOM, 2007; Original: AMACOM, 1999).
People are the most important asset to an organization. This book will
show you the benefits to coaching, mentoring and counseling your
employees to achieve the best results for your organization.
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Coaching Life Changing Small Group Leaders, by Bill Donahue and Greg
Bowman (Zondervan, 2006).
This book focuses on coaching leaders. It is a particularly useful
resource to managers/leaders who are responsible for coaching direct
reports who have their own small teams.
1001 Ways to Reward Employees: 100s of New Ways to Praise!, by Bob
Nelson (Workman Publishing Co, 2005).
Looking for innovative ways to recognize employee development? This
book will assist you in finding the right recognition or reward for
succeeding in a developmental activity. Use rewards to foster
development.
Coaching and Feedback for Performance, by Duke Corporate Education
This book offers a step-by-step guide for how to develop talent within an
organization. It helps managers develop a coaching strategy with direct
reports and to use regular feedback throughout the coaching process.
Coaching for Meaning: The Culture and Practice of Coaching and Team
Building, by Vincent Lenhardt (VHPS Palgrave, 2004).
This book focuses on the concept of a leader as a bearer of meaning
and purpose within the organization, and the significance of this
coaching and team building.
The author presents tools for the
development of managers as coaches and models for how to achieve
this.
Behavioral Coaching, by Suzanne Skiffington and Perry Zeus (McGraw-Hill
Book Company, 2003).
This book presents a coherent definition and model of behavioural
coaching based upon scientific, validated behavioural principles.
High Performance Leadership: Creating, Leading and Living in a High
Performance World, by Graham Winter (John Wiley & Sons Canada,
2003).
This book is a powerful, proven and easy-to-implement approach to
leadership that is essential in the fast and competitive business
environment of the 21st century. The book is based on a hugely
successful leadership and team development process which has been
tested in over 50 organizations.

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The One Minute Manager, by Kenneth Blanchard & Spencer Johnson

(Trade Paperback: Zebra Bouquet, 2002; Original: Berkley Publishing
Group, 1987) also available on audio CD.
This book discusses how specific feedback in the form of short, oneminute praising or reprimands can be used to increase productivity,
profits, and job satisfaction.
The Complete Guide to Coaching at Work, by Suzanne Skiffington and
Perry Zeus (McGraw-Hill Book Company, 2000).
This book offers beginners an introduction to coaching, with a step-bystep blueprint of successful coaching methods, models and tools. It
includes insights on how to permanently enhance personal and
organizational effectiveness, performance, and growth in the workplace.
Coaching for Commitment, by Dennis C. Kinlaw (Jossey-Bass Publishers,
1999)
In todays employee-centered organizations, the opportunities for
leadership no longer rest with managers and supervisors alone-everyone
needs to be a coach! All coaching seeks to improve performance and
improve the working environment for everyone. This book will give you
some advice and tips on how to make coaching your responsibility.
Tao of Coaching, by Max Landsberg (Harper-Collins Canada Ltd., 1997).
Motivate people by transforming them into all-star managers and
employees. Managers should become coaches, whose responsibility to
enhance the performance and learning abilities of others. The Tao of
Coaching offers a global strategy for every manager to lead a winning
team.
Leaders as Coach: Strategies for Coaching and Developing Others, by
David B. Peterson (Ph.D.) and Mary Dee Hicks (Ph.D.) (Personnel
Decisions International, 1996).
This book helps coaches develop and equip people with what they need
to develop themselves. It outlines five essential coaching strategies:
forge a partnership, inspire a commitment, grow capabilities, fuel
momentum and activate the environment.
Developing High Performance People: The Art of Coaching, by Oscar G.
Mink, Keith Q. Owen and Barbara P. Mink (Addison-Wesley, 1993).
This book shows leaders how to: create a high performance
environment; help employees to deal with barriers to top performance;
analyze their own level of competency as a coach, personalize a
performance plan for each employee; and develop a practical action plan
for employee training and development.

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The video, 1001 Ways to Energize Individuals, by Business Advantage
Inc. (International Tele-Film, 1-800-561-4300, www.itf.ca).
This video offers some simple ideas, tips, and strategies to help make
exceptional employee performance a reality. It is focused on helping
managers to connect with their employees, encourage creativity, and
integrate challenge into their work.
The video, The Art of Coaching in Business (Greylock Associates, 888279-4857).
This video program will help managers from the shop floor to the
boardroom learn how coaching impacts the bottom line and how to use a
coaching process to improve their associates' performance. Experts in
the fields of business, sports, music and dance share their wisdom and
experience about what it takes to coach successfully. The video is
organized around 7 coaching issues and provides key summary insights
into each of these key issues.
The video Practical Coaching Skills for Managers (CareerTrack
Publications, 1-800-488-0928) [2 hrs. 57 min]
This video will help you understand the difference between coaching and
managing, and give you best practices to get new employees up to
speed, fast. It will also give help in giving effective feedback, and how to
turn team conflict into positive change.
The video Youll Soon Get the Hang of It (Owen Stewart Performance
Resources Inc., 1-800-263-3399) [25 min]
This updated version is the definitive program on the techniques of oneto-one training. In a variety of situations, the program demonstrates the
psychology of why people want to learn and how to help them learn.
Managers will learn how to spot needs and teach new skills.
The movie, Chariots of Fire.
This film about training for the Olympics has numerous scenes of
coaching and development, focusing on the person rather than just the
task.
The movie, Good Will Hunting.
This is a story about making someone see his opportunities in the future.
External
Development
Programs

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Effective Interactive Communication
EFFECTIVE INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION

Effective Interactive Communication implies the ability to transmit and
receive information clearly and communicate effectively to others by
considering their points of view in order to respond appropriately. It includes
using tact and diplomacy in all communications as well as the ability to
convey ideas and information, both orally and in writing, in a way that brings
understanding to the target audience.
This Means...
This Doesnt Mean...
demonstrating interest when

someone mentions an issue that
concerns them; recognizing and
understanding non-verbal behaviour
(e.g., eye contact and body posture)
giving lip service to concerns but

then ignoring the issue that has
been raised; accepting what is said
at face value without considering
non-verbal cues
deferring judgment on what

someone is saying and, instead,
focusing on finding out more
jumping in with a solution when

someone is starting to express
their concerns
using verbal and non-verbal cues

(e.g., eye contact, body posture,
conversation) to fit the situation
listening but not hearing what

others are saying
paraphrasing to ensure you

understand what your business
partner said
making assumptions about your

business partners requests
knowing when and to whom to

communicate information to
sharing information without

consideration to the recipients
customizing responses to reflect

individual differences
relying on pre-crafted responses

when answering questions
thinking about how people will

respond before you communicate
your thoughts
thinking exclusively about the

practical technical matters and not
considering the people you are
talking to
preparing for meetings by

considering the needs of the
audience and tailoring your
presentation accordingly
presenting points that are not

relevant to your audiences
(manager, staff or customer)
situation and needs
able to communicate complex

concepts to varied audiences
delivering the same information

without tailoring to the audiences

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Developmental
Activities
Level 1 Activities
Pick a colleague in the organization who you believe would benefit
from having someone listen to their issues. For example, someone
who is having difficulty with work.
Create an opportunity to have them discuss the situation with you (if they
wish).
Use this discussion to practice your listening skills.
Indicate your interest in their ideas to keep the discussion going. Be

sure that you are genuine.
Assess whether you were able to help your colleague. Were you
listening? Did you convey your interest? How could you tell that you
were able to help them?
Ask clarifying questions.
Learn to ask clarifying questions of the people you are communicating

with. This enables you to gather important information, and conveys your
interest in what they have to say. Over the next two weeks, take the
following steps in dealing with a direct report, peer or client:
Ask open-ended questions that require more than just a yes or no
response.
Ask the individual for his/her perception of the problem.
Check out how well you have been listening by rephrasing the
individuals comments in your own words.
Check the accuracy of your information. Are there certain areas that led
you astray?
Increase your use of non-verbal behaviours when speaking with

others.
Use the SOLER technique:

S - Sit squarely, with your arms and legs uncrossed.
O - Maintain an open posture.
L - Lean slightly forward in the direction of the speaker.
E - Maintain eye contact. (Be sensitive when doing this some
people are uncomfortable with extended eye contact).
R - Stay relaxed; pay particular attention to how you are holding
your shoulders and neck.
Allow for pauses - some important thinking can go on during silences in

conversations.
Nod your head to indicate you are listening and understanding.

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Minimize distractions; have your telephone calls held.
Assess whether you did everything you could to show that you were
receptive to others.
Level 2 Activities
Keep a log of situations where you felt you demonstrated effective
interpersonal communication.
Review the log and get comments from another person.
Pay special attention to situations when someone approached you to

express his or her feelings. Did you take the time to get a real
understanding of the individuals issue?
Were there any situations in which you were feeling time pressured, and
perhaps didnt listen as actively as you could have?
Reflect on the situations to identify where you could have listened more
actively.
Make efforts to improve your skills in weak areas that you identified.
After conversations, set aside time to consider whether you were paying
attention to non-verbal cues, and try to determine whether your
interpretation of them was accurate.
Increase the number of open-ended questions you ask to draw out the
needs, interest, concerns and objectives of others.
Monitor the number of open-ended questions or probes (e.g., What do

you think about..?, Why did you feel that? How would you have
approached...?, Tell me more about...), you use with others in a one-day
period.
Consciously increase the number of open-ended questions and probes

you use in conversations for the next month.
Pay attention to the difference in reactions you get from others when you
use open- or closed-ended (yes or no) questions.
Pay attention to the non-verbal cues of others during your next

conversation.
Look for:
Arms or legs crossed (anger, withdrawal or resistance).

Facial expressions (different emotions depending on the exact
expression).
Hands folded (thinking, weighing of alternatives).
Lack of eye contact (detachment, boredom, fear).
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Note: non-verbal cues differ somewhat from culture to culture. The

descriptions above refer to behaviour that is common in Canada.
Keep in mind that the meaning of cues may vary from person to
person.
After conversations, assess whether you were paying attention to nonverbal cues and try to determine whether your interpretation of them was
accurate.
Ask your manager to observe your behaviour when obtaining

important information from others in the organization.
Ask for feedback on your communication skills. Make sure the feedback
refers to a specific behaviour or example of something that you did or
said, which demonstrated the competency effectively or ineffectively.
Ask your manager what he or she would have done differently. Make
sure he or she explains the reasoning behind the suggestions.
Develop situations where you need to modify your behaviour.
Choose situations which naturally occur or are not within a formal setting
(e.g., a scheduled meeting in the office).
Initiate conversations with people about work-related concerns by asking

questions such as What would you change if you could? or What
would you do differently?.
Make it clear to people that you are interested in generating a number of

different opinions and are not looking for the right answer or an answer
that has to agree with your opinion.
Adjust your behaviour accordingly.
Monitor your behaviour over time.
Level 3 Activities
Clarify the message you are trying to convey.
Use examples to build up a clear and reasoned argument to support

your case.
Consider whether supplemental data or research would make your

message more persuasive.
Think about how your interpersonal style contributes to both positive

and negative feelings another person might be experiencing.
Jot down what you would do differently to make the interaction more
positive, and use that information to develop a plan for the next time you
interact with that person.

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Gather information on your interactions by performing a Conversation
Diagnostic, and discussing the results with your manager.
During an upcoming meeting, trace the conversation patterns, the

frequency of interaction that you have with each individual, and the
verbal challenges that occur.
Indicate conversation patterns by placing an arrow every time
someone speaks, from them, towards the person they are
directing their comment to.
Indicate frequency of interaction by putting a (+) on each
conversation arrow every time someone speaks.
Indicate challenges by putting (ch) on each corresponding
conversation arrow. Challenges occur when one person disputes,
objects, or demands more of an explanation from the speaker.
Joe
Sue
Matt
Bill
You
Jim
Cathy
Make additional notes about times that you are shut down by objections,
challenges, etc.
This exercise gives you a sense of the dynamics of the meeting,

especially indicating how you are participating relative to the other
individual.
Discuss the outcomes of the diagnostic with a trusted peer, or your

manager. Get detailed feedback on their perception of the outcome
especially with regard to how you performed in terms of Persuasive
Influence.
Adjust your communication style to best fit the individual based on

their style, background, or job level.
Identify a situation where you had to modify your communication

approach to fit the individual.
Outline the nature of the situation and the approach you used.
Why was it effective or not effective?
What worked and why?
What would you have changed?
Identify a current or future situation in which you will have to adjust your
communication style to fit the individual.

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Determine your approach using information from the analysis you just
did.
Try to identify unspoken concerns, in order to ensure that you have a

complete understanding of the individuals needs.
Use your experience to effectively manage future communication

processes.
Reflect on the success of your approach. What were the differences

between the situation you analyzed and the situation you just prepared
for? What would you do differently next time?
Try to understand a point of view which is different than your own.
After an interaction with a person who has disagreed with your position,
try to put yourself in his or her shoes. Imagine what that person was
thinking or feeling at the time.
Determine whether you can summarize their concerns. If not, return for
further discussion.
This time, repeat their concerns in order to confirm that you heard them
correctly.
Dont try to solve others problems by offering a solution or your

judgement on their opinions. Instead, try to say things that will make
them feel that you understand their concerns and can see things from
their point of view.
Think about how your interpersonal style contributed to both positive and
negative feelings the person might have been experiencing.
Reflect on the outcome of your attempts to convince others after

meetings or presentations.
Realistically assess how successful you have been.
If possible, take additional action. If not, commit to using better

techniques next time.
Constant practice and on-going reflection on what you did will lead you
to develop higher levels of this competency.

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Level 4 Activities
Practice by looking
presentations.
for
opportunities
to
give
speeches
and
Guest speak at a departmental/organizational function or at a national

seminar.
Give an information session on your team/department/division to another

team/department/ division.
Remember to tailor your message appropriately for each audience.
Intervene to help resolve problems.
Intervene in problems related to the lack of co-operation between your

direct reports or co-workers.
Use questions to elicit the underlying cause of the problem. Dig deeper
to understand the history or context of the issue.
Encourage the direct reports to give each other behavioural feedback

about concern areas.
Make helpful suggestions for resolving the underlying issues and

intervene as necessary.
Keep a record of the results you see regarding improvements in their

relationship.
Analyze your audience before your presentation or meeting (an

audience can be one person or a group).
Consider what else is currently happening within the organization that

might impact your proposal/idea. Do you need to gather more
information to better understand this context?
Identify two or three things from your presentation that will most benefit
your audience.
Prior to the meeting, speak to other people who may know how to get
your ideas accepted by your audience. Do they have advice or
information that impacts your intended approach?
Speak to other people who may know how to get your ideas accepted by
your audience.
What are the main questions or concerns your audience has? List these
concerns.
What current issues is this audience dealing with that are related to or
might impact your idea/proposal?

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Monitor the reactions of the group when you make presentations.
Look for non-verbal signs of resistance or boredom (e.g., observe body

posture, eye contact).
Take note of the number and type of questions the audience is asking.
Are they related to your presentation? Does your audience want to know
more?
Choose alternative impact and influence techniques (e.g., adjust your

tone or pace, ask open-ended questions, look for mutually beneficial
solutions) and note the effect this has on your audience.
Use alternative strategies in the face of resistance.
Books & Videos
Take the time to think of some alternate strategies, if your attempts at

influence and persuasion are not working.
Write down the names of each of the individuals who presently support
your idea and those who do not.
Solicit the assistance of those who support your idea in persuading the
others. This may include asking them to speak directly to the opposers or
asking their suggestions for the best way to persuade them.
If some opponents to the idea cannot be persuaded in this manner,

identify individuals not involved in the decision who have strong
relationships with the opponents and solicit the same assistance from
them.
Try these new strategies and make note of what works best.
Share your ideas of alternate influence strategies with these individuals.

Do they have any additional suggestions? Do they know of any reason
why some of these strategies would be more appropriate than others?
Inappropriate?
How to Talk So People Listen: A Guide to 21st Century Communication,

by Sonya B. Hamlin (New Edition: Wellness & Lifestyle, 2005; Original:
Harper & Row, 1987).
This book includes comprehensive and well-organized information that
addresses the needs of both speaker and listener. The author provides
practical information to those who want to improve their capacity to
understand and to communicate on the job and beyond.
Basic Business Communication: Skills for Empowering the Internet
Generation, by Raymond V. Lesikar & Marie Flatley (McGraw-Hill Ryerson
Ltd., 2004).
This excellent textbook provides both student and instructor with all the
tools needed to navigate through the complexity of the modern business
communication environment.
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Excellence in Business Communication, by Courtland Bovee & John Thill
(Prentice Hall, 2004).
This book gives the foundation for excellent, effective, and practical
business communication. By offering On the Job simulations that
feature actual companies, readers apply business communication
concepts to real situations and sharpen their problem-solving skills.
How To Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere: The Secrets of Good
Communication, by Larry King (New Edition; Gramercy Books, 2004;
Original: Crown Publishing, 1994) also available on audio CD.
Learn how to start a conversation, give speeches and presentations,
improve listening skills, put people at ease, and discover the key to
effective business meetings.
How to Use Power Phrases: To Say what you Mean, Mean what you Say
& Get what you Want, by Meryl Runion (McGraw-Hill, 2003).
Easy-to-master techniques for more effective communications in all
areas of life. In this guide, Runion explains why effective communication
is more than just a business tool. It is also the key to happier, healthier
relationships, and greater personal fulfillment and business success.
Communication Catalyst, by Mickey Connolly & Richard Rianoshek
Connolly and Rianoshek make their speed-guaranteed communications
skills accessible to any business owner or manager. Helps readers
improve the quality of their communication, and to promote trust,
creativity, and coordinated action, thus producing more results per hour
and achieving a true competitive edge.
Communicate to Win: 12 Key Points for Success, by Heinz Goldmann
(Wedding Solutions, 1995).
This book presents a 12-point plan for communication success. A
chapter is devoted to each rule, including listening, with four key
questions and four case studies to highlight good and bad practices.
Messages: the Communication Skills Book, by Mathew McKay, Martha
David & Patrick Flanning (New Edition: New Harbinger Publications, 1995;
Original: New Harbinger Publications, 1983).
This book gathers the most essential communication skills into one
volume with many examples and exercises. It begins with basic listening
skills.
The Business of Listening: A Practical Guide to Effective Listening, by
Diane Bone & Associates (Thomas Nelson, 1995).
Its a fact - most us use only one third of our listening capacity! Learn
how to expand your listening abilities and become a more effective
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communicator with this concise self-study book. Easy step-by-step
improvement program teaches you how to take in greater amounts of
information, remember more, and hear between the lines.
The video, Business of Listening by Diane Bone (Crisp Learning, 1-800446-4797, www.crisplearning.ca).
This 20-minute training film is based on a book written by Diane Bone. It
identifies the elements of good listening, bad habits to watch out for, and
tips for improving listening style.
The video, Communication Essentials by Ash Quarry Productions
Good communication is an essential key to an efficient and productive
workplace. In today's flatter, team-focused organizations, all employees
need to assume responsibility for developing their communication skills
to a high level. This series will ensure that your employees communicate
efficiently, productively, and co-operatively, resulting in higher morale,
greater productivity and more open communication throughout your
organization.
The video, Take Time to Listen by American Media (International TeleFilm, 1-800-561-4300, www.itf.ca).
This training video is designed to show participants the skills required to
be excellent listeners. It shows how to use three basic steps to listen at
100 percent efficiency Stop, Listen and Think.
The movie, Heidi.
Watch the movie and pay attention to how the priest listens and
responds to the old grandfather. Remember to have your Competency
Dictionary handy to watch for different levels of the competency.
The movie, Twelve Angry Men.
This is a movie about a group of men deliberating in a jury room. Watch
how they communicate with each other.

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Impact and Influence
IMPACT AND INFLUENCE

Implies an intention to persuade, convince, influence or impress others
(individuals or groups) in order to get them to go along with or to support the
organizations direction. The key is understanding others, since Impact and
Influence is based on the desire to have a specific impact or effect on others
where the person has his or her own agenda, a specific type of impression to
make, or a course of action that he or she wants the others to adopt.
This Means...
This Doesnt Mean...
using novel tactics to make a

point
being too busy to worry

about the niceties of
communication
relating the benefits to client

needs and creating
scenarios clients can relate
to
assuming that every client

wants the same thing and
never adapting a
presentation
presenting the points that will

have the most impact with
enthusiasm, confidence and
credibility
using a standard influence

approach or the same
argument over and over
with every staff member
regardless of their
personality (I told them
again and again but they
just didnt get it.)
preparing for meetings by

considering the needs of the
audience and tailoring your
presentation accordingly
presenting points that are

not relevant to your
audiences (manager, staff
or customer) situation and
needs
considering the point of view

of the other people involved
in a project so that you will
know how to bring them onside
telling it like it is from

your own, or your
departments point of view
and blaming the other
person if they dont
respond as you would like
thinking through your

approach before asking for
something or giving direction
(what you will say, who you
will say it to, when you will
say it)
giving up after a single

attempt to convince
someone (They werent
interested so I didnt even
try)
thinking about how people will

respond before you present
an argument
thinking exclusively about

the practical technical
matters and not

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This Means...
an argument
This Doesnt Mean...

considering the people you
are talking to
considering specific
situations, areas of potential
resistance and identifying
strategies that will achieve
the desired outcome
trying to convince a group

of colleagues by relying
exclusively on facts and
logic in your arguments
meeting with key decisionmakers before an important

meeting to solicit input and
gain support
taking a one-shot
approach, expecting to be
able to quickly persuade
others on major issues
based on short term efforts
building support for your

position over time by
developing relationships,
testing ideas, and finding
allies
driving your position

without concern for the
long-term implication

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Developmental
Activities

Think about the process of getting to the result, not just the end result.
Dont let your eagerness to achieve a certain result be a barrier to
achieving it.
When people seem reluctant to buy in to a good idea, then stop thinking
about how great the end result will be. Instead, focus on the process,
which will put you on the right track of thinking about the people involved
and how you need to influence them.
Ask some of your peers to give you feedback on your ability to
influence others.
What have they observed that makes you successful in influencing
others? (Ask them for specific examples.)
What areas do you need to work on?
What suggestions do they have to help you improve your Impact and
Influence with others?
Observe other people who you feel are skilled in influencing others.
Identify the activities or techniques they use in encouraging people to
follow a course of action.
Ask for their guidance on how you might improve your influencing
abilities.
Develop your speaking style to better persuade others.
Record yourself next time you make a presentation to a group. (Be sure
to get the groups permission before you tape the session.)
Review the tape and ask yourself:
Did the tone and pattern of my voice match my words and the
meaning I was attempting to convey?
Did the pace of my speaking make communication clear?
Did I use a level of language that was appropriate to my audience
(e.g., did I use unnecessary technical jargon that my audience might
not have understood?)?
Could I change what I said and how I said it to have made my
presentation more powerful and persuasive?

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Invite your manager to observe you in a meeting or an interaction with
a customer where you know you will need to be persuasive.
Get detailed feedback on how you performed in terms of Impact and
Influence.
Ask for his or her observations on how the audience reacted in the
meeting.
Ask your manager for an opportunity to lead a special project.
Prepare a list of impact and influence techniques you would like to
practice.
Practice the new techniques and ask for feedback from the group.
As you practice the skill you will become more comfortable, so forge
ahead!
Ask your manager for an opportunity to prepare and present a
proposal to senior management.
Remember to ask for feedback after the presentation.
Ask some of your peers whom you trust and respect to give you
feedback on your ability to influence others.
Use the following guidelines when asking for feedback:
What have they observed that makes you successful in influencing
others (ask them for specific examples).
What areas do you need to work on?
What suggestions do they have to help you improve your Impact and
Influence with others.

Keep a log of situations where you attempted to persuade someone (a
customer, staff member, manager) to take a specific course of action
(e.g., be more customer focused, sell a greater variety of services).
List the techniques that you think were successful.
Identify those techniques that you think were not useful.
Incorporate and practice your successful techniques in your next
situation.
Reduce and eliminate those techniques which were not useful.
Remember that different strategies will work better with different people,
in different contexts.
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Form a group with peers to share successful experiences in

influencing staff to perform better.
Identify specific situations and the techniques that lead to successful
outcomes.
Recognize the specific techniques and behaviours others used which
resulted in success.
Prepare ideas or something actionable that can be shared with others.
(e.g., a tip sheet).
Practice. Look for opportunities to give speeches and presentations.
Guest speak at a business function or at a business association.
Give an information session on your business unit to another business
unit.
Keep the following ideas in mind at your next meeting.
Review the agenda before the meeting.
Determine ahead of time what contributions you can make.
Write down what your objectives are and what you would like to achieve
at the meeting.
Make sure you understand the perspective of the people you are trying
to influence.
Consider each of the individuals who will be at the meeting and what
their likely responses will be in reaction to your proposals.
Where you are lacking information about their reactions, try to find
out more about their position and perspective via informal
conversations with them.
Be one of the first people to offer ideas or suggestions and try to make
suggestions more often.
Observe others in the meeting who are highly influential. Note the
behaviours they demonstrate and try out the techniques they use.
Resist backing down quickly if you are challenged in the meeting. Try
restating your position clearly and calmly to ensure others understand
your viewpoint.
Be alert for windows of opportunity.
Whether or not you can persuade others in the organization to take a
course of action will depend to a large extent on what else is going on.
Keep on top of upcoming initiatives, new programs or policy directions.
Look for windows of opportunity when it is the right time to push for your
ideas.
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Conversely, be aware that there are times when you will be unable to
persuade others, no matter how good your idea or powers of persuasion.
Analyze your audience before your presentation or meeting (an
audience can be one person or a group).
What are the main questions or concerns your audience has? List these
concerns.
Identify two or three things from your presentation that will most benefit
your audience.
Speak to other people who may know how to get your ideas accepted by
your audience.
Level 5 Activities
Develop your negotiating style with others. Follow this exercise:
Identify an opportunity to negotiate an issue with someone.
Consider your usual or typical negotiating style based on one of the
categories below (be brutally honest with yourself):
Win/Lose: where you typically see yourself winning and the other
party losing in the process;
Lose/Lose: where you typically see both yourself and the other
party losing in the process;
Lose/Win: where you typically see yourself losing or giving in during
the process;
Win/Win: where you typically see both yourself and the other party
being satisfied with the outcome of the process.
Think about the other partys position. What will his or her key points
be? How will you respond?
Meet with someone whose negotiating skills you would classify as
win/win.
Review the current situation and your typical approach to negotiating
with this person.
Ask this person how you and the other party can move closer to a
win/win agreement.
Practice the negotiation.
Meet with the other person(s) to negotiate.
Use the feedback you received during your conversation.

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Find a goal which both you and the other person can agree and focus
on.
Maintain the focus on your common objectives.
Monitor your own thoughts and feelings throughout the discussion.
Note the reactions you are having to what the other person says.
Use this information to help you manage the negotiation process.
Consider alternative ways of influencing a colleague before you make
contact.
Mentally review relevant background (the individual's past needs,
strengths, interests).
Make sure you understand the perspective of the person you are trying
to influence (the issues he or she is facing, the demands placed on him
or her by the organization, etc.).
Write down your objectives and incorporate them into an Action Plan.
Consider:
what is definitely necessary?
what is the ideal outcome?
what could be negotiated away?
Consider the likely responses the person will have to your proposal.
Think of several alternatives and pick the ones that will work best with
this particular person.
Express positive expectations when you meet, e.g., share your
expectations for a positive outcome to the meeting.
Prepare for negotiations and test your idea before presenting it.
Gather information to support your position and think about the impact
you need to make to win over the party you are influencing.
Anticipate the goals of the other party and take the time to work out the
appropriate approach or test your idea or response to an issue on a few
colleagues first, if you do not know how people will react to a proposal.
Take note of their response and get a feel for whether they would be
supportive of your position.
Adapt your proposal accordingly based on the feedback you received
before going public with your proposal.
Gear your strategy toward finding a solution that not only satisfies your
goals but which also meets the needs of the other party.

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When implementing any new strategy or major initiative, consider the
impact on all those involved, both internally and externally.
Identify the individuals or groups impacted and keep them informed.
Whenever possible, make a personal visit to key influencers and
stakeholders and talk to them about:
the current changes
the importance of these changes
what the changes mean to them
how they can become involved in the transition.

Actively solicit the advice and commitment of the key stakeholders
before implementing the new strategy or initiative.
Remember that different stakeholders will have different issues and
needs - once you have the information, take some time to consider
the ways in which you can best meet the priority needs of each
group, while still maintaining a workable solution or proposal.
Ask key stakeholders to actively promote the new strategy or initiative on
your behalf. Justify your request to them - sell them on the changes so
they can sell others.
Reflect on the outcome of your attempts to convince others and

influence situations after a project or assignment that didnt go the way
you had hoped.
List the key events where you would have liked things to have gone
differently.
Think of what you said and did to influence each event and the resulting
effect that it had.
Where the resulting effect was successful, be aware of your approach
and continue to use it in the future.
Where the resulting effect was less than successful, think about the
people who were involved and what you could have done differently to
influence the situation.
Try to think of similar situations in the past where what you said or did
influenced the situation more along the lines of what you were expecting.
Discuss your observations and insights with someone you trust to gain
their perspective and feedback.
Identify some key learnings from the exercise and commit to
incorporating these learnings into future situations where you will need to
influence others.
Constant practice and on-going reflection on what you did will lead you
to develop high levels of this competency.

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Books and
Videos
The Art of Mingling, by Jeanne Martinet (New Edition: VHPS Trade, 2006;
Original: Griffin, 1992).
This book shows you how to start a conversation, how to become part of
a group, or how to respond if youre approached. Using recognized
situations, this book will teach you how to overcome fears, meet new
people confidently and with charm, and achieve success in every kind of
gathering.
The Power of Persuasion: How Were Bought and Sold, by Robert V.
Levine (John Wiley & Sons, 2006).
This book offers an incisive new take on the mindsets of those who prod,
praise, debase, and manipulate others to do things they never thought
theyd do and are sometimes later sorry they did.
Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story, by Jerry Weissman,
(New Edition: Prentice Hall, 2006; Original: Financial Times Prentice Hall,
2003).
Its time to learn how to make your presentations unforgettable and
irresistible. This book shows readers how to connect with even the most
high-level audiences and transform presentations from dry recitals of
facts into compelling stories with a laser-sharp focus on what matters
most: what's in it for the audience.
The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence, and Persuasion through the
Art of Storytelling, by Annette Simmons (New Edition: Basic Books, 2006;
Original: Basic Books, 2002).
Showcasing over a hundred examples of effective storytelling drawn
from the front lines of business and government, as well as myths,
fables, and parables from around the world, Simmons illustrates how
stories can be used to persuade, motivate, and inspire in ways that cold
facts, bullet points, and directives can't.
Influence without Authority, by Allan R. Cohen and David L. Bradford
(John Wiley and Sons, 2005).
This classic work, now revised and updated, gives you powerful
techniques for cutting through interpersonal and interdepartmental
barriers, and motivating people to lend you their support, time, and
resources. It presents a clear model and effective, practical strategies for
convincing and influencing those around you in order to accomplish
important workplace goals-to the benefit of you, your colleagues, and
your organization.
Changing Minds: The Art and Science of Changing Our Own and Other
Peoples Minds, by Howard Gardner (Harvard Business School Press,
2004).
Drawing on decades of cognitive research and compelling case
studiesfrom famous business and political leaders to renowned
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intellectuals and artists to ordinary individualsGardner identifies seven
powerful factors that impel or thwart significant shifts from one way of
thinking to a dramatically new one.
Face to Face Communications for Clarity and Impact, by Harvard
Business School Press Staff (Edited by Harvard Business School Press,
2004).
Culled from Harvard Business School Publishings respected newsletters
Harvard Management Update and Harvard Management Communication
Letter, this text offers tips on eye contact, asserting oneself in
uncomfortable situations, speaking directly, and giving constructive
criticism, this is the essential guide to using the spoken word more
effectively.
How To Prepare, Stage, and Deliver Winning Presentations, by Thomas
Leech (New Edition: AMACOM, 2004; Original: AMACOM, 1993).
This book will show you how to make your presentations more effective,
speed up the frequently tedious and costly process of putting together a
presentation, and make the giving of the presentation itself a much more
enjoyable experience for you and your audience.
Brag! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It, by Peggy
Klaus (Warner Books, 2003).
A renowned communication expert introduces a subtle and effective way
of selling your best asset yourself without turning off those youre
trying to impress.
Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship (John
Meacham, 2003).
This book chronicles the friendship of Franklin Roosevelt and Winston
Churchill, two of the most influential men of the 20th Century. The author
makes the point that, were it not for this close bond between the two
great leaders of the Western democracies, the entire history of World
War II, and the subsequent peace, might have been quite different.
Leading Out Loud, by Terry Pearce (New Edition: John Wiley & Sons,
2003; Original: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1995).
In this book you will not learn how to gesture effectively or use
meaningless sound bites to please an audience. You will learn that the
power to move lies in authentically tapping your own values and
experiences in preparing a speech, and making sure that what you say
conforms to what you believe, even when it displeases your audience.

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Talk Your Way to the Top: How to Address Any Audience Like Your
Career Depends on It, by Kevin R. Daley, Laura Daley-Caravella, (McGrawHill Trade, 2003).
This book is about people who have to speak in front of critical listeners
as part of their business lives, and introduces you to a number of
situations common to everyday business. It then details the skills you
need to communicate without fear and make the best impression
whether you are speaking to an audience of 1 or 1,000.
Maxwell 3-in-1: The Winning Attitude, Developing the Leaders Around
You, Becoming a Person of Influence, by John C. Maxwell (Thomas
Nelson, Inc., 2003).
This all-inclusive volume contains three books in one. Maxwell 3-In-1:
The Winning Attitude, Developing the Leaders Around You, Becoming a
Person of Influence from John C. Maxwell reveals how individuals can
expand their abilities and develop leadership qualities. The volume
covers a lot of ground, from interacting with people more effectively and
communicating more efficiently, to adopting positive and helpful
attitudes.
The Power of Indirect Influence, by J.C. Tingley (AMACOM, 2001).
This insightful book looks at way people can alter their communication
skills to exercise influence over other people. It teaches a six-step
program for readers to determine whether a person should use indirect
or direct influence in any given situation.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, by Robert B. Cialdini (New
Edition: Quill, 1999; Original: Harper Collins: 1993).
This book explains the six psychological principles that drive our
powerful impulse to comply to the pressures of others and shows how
we can defend ourselves against manipulation.
How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie (2nd Edition:
Pocket, 1998; Original: Simon & Schuster, 1982) also available on audio
CD.
This is a classic book on influencing others that provides helpful
information for you to develop this competency.
Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, by Roger
Fisher and William L. Ury (Penguin Books, 1994) also available on audio
CD.
This book provides direct methods for negotiating in personal and workrelated situations. It also provides helpful techniques for resolving
conflict and making a positive impact.

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How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less, by Milo OFrank
(Distican, 1990).
This is a practical guide on presenting ideas and influencing others.
Power: the Inner Experience, by David C. McClelland (Irvington
Publishers, 1979).
This book gives insight into the application of influence motivation and
the thinking patterns that can underlie it.
The video, Exercising Personal Power, by Ash Quarry Productions
This video shows how to influence others to gain better positioning. How
to appreciate the limitations of position power. How to use your skills,
knowledge, experience, qualifications and expertise to influence others.
How to influence people by offering 'rewards'.
The video, Getting to Yes Video Workshop, by Learncom
Based on the international best-seller and featuring Dr. Roger Fisher,
William Ury and Bruce Patton of the Harvard Negotiation Project and
Conflict Management Inc. This two-video program demonstrates a
pragmatic and systematic approach to implementing interest-based
negotiation, a powerful strategy for effectively pursuing your interests
while simultaneously building long-term relationships.
The video, Stand and Deliver, by Mind Resources (International TeleFilm, 1-800-561-4300, www.itf.ca).
This entertaining, step-by-step guide to improving your presentation skills
reveals easy techniques to improve your confidence, vocal skills, body
language, content relationship with your audience, use of technology and management of nerves!
The movie, Erin Brokovich.
Based on the real-life story of the title character played by Julia Roberts.
Brokovich is a feisty legal clerk (watch how she gets her job!) who is
instrumental in exposing the misdeeds of a powerful corporation which
has exposed families to disease-causing industrial residue. Watch how
she impacts her boss, the opposing legal teams and the individual
families and community affected by the residue.
The movie, Ghandi
Observe how one individual tries to influence a society and what
happens.

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The movie, Gung Ho
An illustration of more and less effective means to persuade.
The movie, Wall Street
This movie depicts a person in the midst of multiple sources of influence
and shows how effective some techniques can be.
The movie, Patton
This is the classic movie on impact and influence. It shows how one
individual was able to mobilize thousands to change the course of the
Second World War.
The movie, Man Without A Face
This movie stars Mel Gibson who provides a positive influence on a boy.
The movie, Twelve Angry Men
Watch the Jimmy Stewart character influence the other jurors to
reconsider the evidence. The setting is a jury deciding on a murder case
- the first vote is 11 guilty and 1 not guilty; by the end the verdict is not
guilty.
The movie, Working Girl
This film demonstrates how the Melanie Griffith character changes the
way she is perceived in the organization by putting forward her ideas to
the right people.
The movie, Mr. Hollands Opus
This film is about a composer who takes up teaching music. Notice how
he uses Impact and Influence with his students.
The movie, Glory
This film is the story of the first black regiment recruited to fight in the
Civil War. Notice the Impact and Influence the Colonel has on the
regiment.
The movie, The Shawshank Redemption
This is a movie about prison life. Notice the Impact and Influence Andy
has on the warden, the guards, and on his fellow prisoners. Warning:
this film contains violent scenes.
External
Development
Programs

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Interpersonal Understanding
INTERPERSONAL UNDERSTANDING
Interpersonal Understanding involves dealing with people in a respectful and
sensitive manner. It implies truly listening, understanding, accepting and
respecting the opinions, feelings, perspectives and motivations of others. It is
also the ability to use this knowledge to shape ones own responses and to
show a concern for the welfare, dignity and feelings of others.
This Means...
This Doesnt Mean...
demonstrating interest when

someone mentions an issue
that concerns them
giving lip service to

concerns but then ignoring
the issue that has been
raised
creating opportunities for

meaningful discussion, e.g.,
inviting an employee to sit
and talk in a relaxed
environment
quickly getting the facts

from someone and rushing
on to the next thing
deferring judgment on what

someone is saying and,
instead, focusing on finding
out more
jumping in with a solution

when someone is starting
to express their concerns
recognizing when an
employees non-verbal
behaviour (e.g., eye contact
and body posture) does not
match what he or she is
saying
accepting what is said at

face value without
considering non-verbal
cues
recognizing underlying
concerns or feelings in a coworker that they may not be
expressing
ignoring concerns unless

they are explicitly brought
up by your co-worker
thinking beyond the

immediate issue to look at
root causes of behaviour
focusing on solving
someones immediate
problem
focusing on the individual

circumstances that are driving
someones behaviour and
tailoring your response
accordingly
relying on stereotyped
explanations to account for
someones behaviour and
giving canned responses
providing direction by helping

someone better understand
their situation
telling someone what the

solution is to their problem

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Developmental
Activities
Level 1 Activities
Pick a colleague who you believe would benefit from having someone
listen to their issues. For example, someone who is having difficulty
with work.
Create an opportunity to have them discuss the situation with you (if they
wish).
Use this discussion to practice your listening skills.
Indicate your interest in their ideas to keep the discussion going.
Assess whether you were able to help your colleague; Were you
listening, did you convey your interest?
Increase your use of non-verbal behaviours when speaking with
others. Encourage the quality of your listening, especially when you
disagree with the speaker. Re-familiarize yourself with the basic
principles of active listening techniques:
Use the SOLER technique:
S - Sit squarely, with your arms and legs uncrossed.

O - Maintain an open posture.
L - Lean slightly forward in the direction of the speaker.
E - Maintain eye contact. For example, be sensitive -- some people
are uncomfortable with extended eye contact
R - Stay relaxed; pay particular attention to how you are holding
your shoulders and neck.
Allow for pauses - some important thinking can go on during silences in

conversations.
Nod your head to indicate you are listening and understanding.
Minimize distractions; have your telephone calls held.
Assess whether you did everything you could to show that you were
receptive to others.
Diagnose the reasons why you are not being a good listener.
Force yourself not to engage in distracting activities while exchanging
with others.
Invest some thought in how you can manage your time so that you can
get your work done, but still listen effectively when it is important.
For example, if you need some uninterrupted time to work, set time
aside and hold all calls; then when you do take calls or have
meetings you can give them your full attention.

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Level 2 Activities
Put yourself in informal work situations where you can test and
practice your Listening, Understanding and Responding.
Choose situations such as informal discussions about work-related
concerns.
Initiate conversations with people who have such concerns by asking
questions such as What would you change if you could? or What
would you do if you could?
Listen and see if you can summarize or paraphrase their concerns.
Repeat their concerns to see if you heard them correctly.
Ask for further details about their thoughts or feelings.
Dont try to solve their problems. Instead, try to say things that will make
them feel that you understand their concerns and can see things from
their point of view.
Assess whether you have looked for and participated in informal work
discussions where you could practice listening and understanding.
Identify someone who is good at listening and understanding. Arrange
to spend some time observing what he or she does and says.
After an interaction with a client or colleague, ask for a brief analysis of
what he or she was thinking during the conversation.
Try to use the same sort of reasoning in your next interaction, and
monitor the other persons response to it.
Ask your manager or another colleague to quietly sit in (or arrange to
have someone else sit in) on a meeting.
Ask for feedback on your listening, understanding and responding skills.
Based on this feedback, identify one specific behaviour you will focus on
improving during the next week.
Repeat this process periodically.
Assess any progress on the behaviours you focused on improving.
Keep a log of situations where you felt you demonstrated effective
communication.
Review the log and get comments from another person.
Pay special attention to situations when someone approached you to
express his or her feelings. Did you feel too busy to talk and essentially
brush the person off?
Make efforts to improve your interpersonal understanding in weak areas
that you identified.
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Level 3 Activities
Make yourself visible and interested in whats going on.
Make a routine (i.e., once a week) of casual walk-abouts in your work
area of your employees or team.
Use the opportunity to gather information, not give it.
Ask open-ended questions and focus your questions as much as
possible on the needs of individual team members e.g., how things are
going, what difficulties are being encountered and what, if anything, you
can do to help.
Try to ensure that no more than 30 percent of the conversation is
conducted by you.
Restate and/or summarize what you hear, where appropriate, to show
that you are listening.
Ask others if they have noticed that you are trying to listen more.
Later, make a brief written summary of each team members expressed
concerns.
In your next walk-about, revisit these concerns with each team member.
Pay attention to the non-verbal cues of others during your next
conversation.
Look for:
Arms or legs crossed (anger, withdrawal or resistance).
Facial expressions (different emotions depending on the exact
expression).
Hands folded (thinking, weighing of alternatives).
Lack of eye contact (detachment, boredom, fear).
Note: non-verbal cues differ somewhat from culture to culture. The
descriptions above refer to behaviour that is common in Canada. Keep
in mind that the meaning of cues may vary from person to person.
After conversations, assess whether you were paying attention to nonverbal cues and try to determine whether your interpretation of them was
accurate.
Take courses on counseling or take a volunteer job that requires active
listening and responding.
Pay close attention to how the other experienced counselors listen and
respond.

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Increase your use of paraphrasing in conversations.
Monitor the number of times you paraphrase during conversations

with others. For example, rephrasing another persons ideas, facts
and/or feelings and feeding it back.
Practice using paraphrasing as a way to check your understanding of
what the other person is saying.
Use a questioning tone.
Be careful not to alter their words to suit your meaning (which is a
technique of arguing not listening).
Consciously increase the number of times you paraphrase during

conversations for the next month.
Level 4 Activities
Increase the number of open-ended questions you ask to draw out the
needs, interest, concerns and objectives of others.
Monitor the number of open-ended questions or probes (e.g., What do
you think about..?, Why did you feel that? How would you have
approached...?, Tell me more about...), you use with others in a one-day
period.
Consciously increase the number of open-ended questions and probes
you use in conversations for the next month.
Pay attention to the difference in reactions you get from others when you
use open- or closed-ended (yes or no) questions.
Explore with your team what they are thinking and feeling and resolve
to make changes for improvement.
Explore with your team what they are thinking or how they are feeling
about current situations related to things such as work volumes,
organizational shifts, technology changes, markets, etc..
Probe to uncover their perceptions regarding the issue and then their
personal thoughts and feelings.
Ask for recommendations, where appropriate,
constraints such as budget and staffing levels.
within
identified
Ask clarifying questions.

Learn to ask clarifying questions of the people you are communicating
with. This enables you to gather important information, and conveys your
interest in what they have to say. Over the next two weeks, take the
following steps in dealing with an employee, peer or customer/client:
Ask open-ended questions that require more than just a yes or no
response.
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Ask the individual for his/her perception of the problem.
Check out how well you have been listening by rephrasing the
individuals complaints in your own words.
Learn to listen for information on the forces that contribute to the
change process.
Identify a situation which needs to be changed or a problem that has a
fairly clear solution.
Initiate conversations with your co-workers, direct reports, and/or
managers about situations needing change.
Listen to their discussions to see if you can identify the forces that are
driving or could drive the needed changes to achieve the desired
situation.
Listen to identify the forces, which may block change so that the situation
remains as it is presently.
Explore with your team what they are thinking and feeling and resolve
to make changes for improvement.
Explore with your team what they are thinking or how they are feeling
about current situations related to things such as work volumes,
organizational shifts, technology changes, markets, etc.
Probe to uncover their perceptions regarding the issue and then their
personal thoughts and feelings.
Ask for recommendations, where appropriate,
constraints such as budget and staffing levels.
within
identified
Use your communication skills to determine what is contributing to, or

hindering a peers ability to make choices.
Speak to a peer who has made a complaint or asked for assistance.
Find out the nature of the problem and his/her expectations.
Paraphrase your peers problem and needs in order to ensure that you
have understood him or her.
Discuss a list of options that would benefit your peer. Try to identify the
issues that are most important to him/her. Use this information to move
towards a narrowing of the list of options.
Throughout these discussions, try to understand how your peer feels by
putting yourself in his or her shoes.
Intervene to help resolve problems.
Intervene in problems related to the lack of co-operation between your
employees or co-workers.
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Use questions to elicit the underlying cause of the problem.
Encourage the employees to give each other behavioural feedback
about concern areas.
Make helpful suggestions for resolving the underlying issues and
intervene as necessary.
Keep a record of the results you see regarding improvements in their
relationship.
Reflect on the impact of your communication style.
Think about situations when your communication style contributed to
both positive and negative feelings for another person.
Think back to how you became aware of the persons feelings and how
you reacted at the time.
Increase your use of paraphrasing in conversations.
Monitor the number of times you paraphrase during conversations with
others. For example, rephrasing another persons ideas, facts and/or
feelings and feeding it back.
Practice using paraphrasing as a way to check your understanding of
what the other person is saying.
To effectively paraphrase, be sure to:
Use a questioning tone (rather than asserting that you already know).
Be careful not to alter their words to suit your meaning (which is a
technique of arguing, not listening).
Be conscious not to interrupt as you are doing this.
Consciously increase the number of times you paraphrase during
conversations for the next month.
Adjust your communication style to best fit the individual based on
their style, background, or job level.
Identify a situation where you had to modify your communication
approach to fit the individual.
Outline the nature of the situation and the approach you used.
Why was it effective or not effective?
What worked and why?
What would you have changed?

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Identify a current or future situation in which you will have to adjust your
communication style to fit the individual.
Determine your approach using information from the analysis you just
did.
Try to identify unspoken concerns, in order to ensure that you have a
complete understanding of the individuals needs.
Use your experience to effectively manage future communication
processes.
Ask how others see you.
Get into the habit of asking others what message or intent they perceive
in your communications.
This can be done briefly, frequently and informally by asking questions
like Am I being clear?, and How do you interpret what I am saying?,
or Do you understand?
Books and
Videos
Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman (New Edition: Bantam Books,

2005; Original: Bantam Books, 1997).
The Western cultures esteem analytical skills measured by IQ tests: but
there is clearly more to success and happiness, even in technological
societies, than IQ alone. Goleman has written one of the best books on
the nature and importance of other kinds of intelligence besides our
perhaps overly beloved IQ.
How to Talk So People Listen: A Guide to 21st Century Communication,
by Sonya B. Hamlin (New Edition: Wellness & Lifestyle, 2005; Original:
Harper & Row, 1987).
This book includes comprehensive and well-organized information that
addresses the needs of both speaker and listener. The author provides
practical information to those who want to improve their capacity to
understand and to communicate on the job and beyond.
How To Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere: The Secrets of Good
Communication, by Larry King (New Edition; Gramercy Books, 2004;
Original: Crown Publishing, 1994) also available on audio CD.
Learn how to start a conversation, give speeches and presentations,
improve listening skills, put people at ease, and discover the key to
effective business meetings.
Management Communication:
Principles and Practice, by Linda
McJannet & Michael E. Hattersley (McGraw-Hill, 2004).
Is a text and casebook that includes essential coverage of the principles
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of effective writing and speaking and aims to help the reader master the
full range of skills required of a successful manager.
Managing Conflict With Peers, by Talula Cartwright (Center for Creative
Leadership, 2003).
A great many peer conflicts arise from incompatible goals or from
different views on how a task should be accomplished. This book allows
manager to build effective relationships by examining three key issues
that can cause such clashes and also influence their outcome.
Body Language, by Julius Fast (New Edition: M. Evans & Company, 2002;
Original: Pocket, 1988).
This book will help you recognize non-verbal cues about how a person is
feeling.
Interpersonal Skills at Work, by John Hayes (Routledge, 2002).
This book provides a clearly structured and comprehensive overview of
the interpersonal skills that are essential for effective functioning at work.
It presents a micro skills approach to skill development that can be used
to improve interpersonal competence, as well as explaining, through the
use of illustrations and practical examples, how to read the actual or
potential behaviour of others around us.
Understanding Yourself and Others: An Introduction to Interaction
Styles, by Linda Berens (Telos Publications, 2001).
This book reveals the four fundamental interaction style patterns for you
to "try on" in your search for understanding yourself and others. Within
these patterns are clues to the "how" of our behaviours. Find out how
you consistently seem to fall into certain roles in your interactions with
others and how you can shift your energies to take on other roles when
necessary.
Listen Up: How to Improve Relationships, Reduce Stress, and Be More
Productive by Using the Power of Listening, by Larry Lee Barker, & Kittie
Watson, (St. Martins Press, 2000).
In this book, the authors help readers identify their listening style and bad
listening habits before teaching skills that will help readers gain more
control when communicating and become more successful partners,
learners, and employees.
Harvard Business Review on Effective Communication, by Ralph
Nichols, Leonard Stevens, Fernando Bartolome, Chris Argyris & Antony Jay
(McGraw-Hill Ryerson College, 1999).
With topics that include how to run a successful meeting, change
frontline employees' behaviour, and build effective management teams,
Harvard Business Review on Effective Communication offers useful tips
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for all businesspeople.
Messages: the Communication Skills Book, by Mathew McKay, Martha
David & Patrick Flanning (New Edition: New Harbinger Publications, 1995;
Original: New Harbinger Publications, 1983).
This book gathers the most essential communication skills into one
volume with many examples and exercises. It begins with basic listening
skills.
Lets Talk: An Introduction to Interpersonal Communication, by Freda
S. Eldon (New Edition: Ginn Press, 1991; Original: Addison-Wesley, 1981).
This is an easy-to-read handbook covering topics on listening skills, self
awareness, non-verbal communication and conflict reduction.
How to Read a Person Like a Book, by Gerald Nierenberg (New Edition:
Pocket, 1990; Original: PB Publications, 1982).
This book will help you recognize non-verbal cues about how a person is
feeling.
The video, Communication Essentials by Ash Quarry Productions
This series will ensure that your employees communicate efficiently,
productively, and co-operatively, resulting in higher morale, greater
productivity and more open communication throughout your organization.
The video, Effective Listening by Ash Quarry Productions (International
Learn the five key skills to improve listening - show interest, focus on the
key issue, summarize and check, listen for the common thread, and
exlpore feelings.
The video, Listening and Understanding by Ash Quarry Productions
Gain a whole new perspective on "active listening". How to avoid five
traps that interfere with effective listening and understanding. How to
implement five techniques to improve your listening and understanding
skills. How to ensure your communication is fully understood by others.
Watch Ingrid Bergman in The Inn of the Sixth Happiness.
She shows interpersonal understanding and strength in responding to a
totally foreign situation. The film also shows how this competency
develops out of an intense concern and caring for others.
External
Development
Programs

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Relationship Building
RELATIONSHIP BUILDING
Relationship Building involves the ability to develop contacts and
relationships internal and external to the organization to facilitate work efforts
or to gain support/cooperation. It implies building long-term or on-going
relationships with clients or stakeholders (e.g. someone internal or external
to the organization, on whom your work has an impact). This type of
relationship is often quite deliberate and is typically focused on the way the
relationship is conducted.
This Means...
This Doesnt Mean...
making a conscious effort to

understand differences and
establish common interests
with your colleagues in other
areas of the organization
making contact with other

colleagues only when you
need to solve a problem or
get information
learning and remembering

information about customer
families, hobbies, etc.
keeping things strictly

business when talking to
customers
developing a network of
support with stakeholders to
help attain organizational
goals
contacting stakeholders
only when you need to
solve a problem or gather
information
cultivating useful contacts

with a broad range of people
in a variety of strategic
positions
networking without a
purpose
serving on community
committees whose
membership includes
influential people within your
service area
turning down invitations or

not being involved in
community groups
establishing a long-term
relationship with internal and
external stakeholders
focusing on the short-term

with a stakeholder to build
immediate project support
without considering the
long-term implications
seeking the ideas and

concerns of colleagues for
mutual benefit
ignoring the opinions and

ideas of your colleagues
and believing your ideas are
always the right ones
building and nurturing

relationships with people in
other organizations that may
have a direct impact one
keeping only internally

focused

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This Means...
ones work

This Doesnt Mean...
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Developmental
Activities
Level 1 Activities
Look for opportunities to socially meet with individuals who have
information of value to you or are in positions of influence.
Consider becoming involved in local clubs, associations, charities, sports
activities, etc. that these people are involved in.
If you enjoy athletic activities, take up a sport (for example golf,
squash, hockey) where you can participate with others.
Let others that you think could bring value to your unit/organization know
that you have an interest in the sport and ask them to participate with
you.
While playing strike up conversations about business topics of
importance and interest to you.
Use free information when talking with others (e.g., information
others volunteer about their interests, personal values, preferences,
personal life).
Actively listen to conversations and identify information that could be
used as an entree to small talk.
Use free information to prepare questions that will get the other person
to expand on their interests, etc., (e.g., What was it like going to school
in another country? How long have you been a runner?).
Review your formal (work-related) and information (non-work related)
networks on a regular basis, and apply the techniques noted above to
consciously solidify and expand your network.
Generic Suggestions.
Learn as much as you can about your clients businesses. (That
knowledge will help you and your employees be seen as business
partners)
Know who the key decision-makers are within your client (internal or
external) organizations. Get to know them and the people who influence
them within these organizations.
Learn as much as you can about your contacts within specific customer
organizations. Interact with them professionally and socially as much as
you can.
Find ways to keep in regular contact with your client contacts, even when
you are not directly selling to them.
Find common interests that you can discuss and possibly engage in with
your clients.
Talk to your clients about topics unrelated to specific selling situations.

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Develop relationships that are win-win. Come to agreements that work
for both your company/department and the client. Dont sacrifice longterm success for short-term gain.
Use existing contacts to make new contacts within client organizations.
Gather business cards or write down names and titles so you can follow
up with these new contacts.
Nurture both old and new relationships within client organizations. Dont
pay attention to one at the expense of the other.
Be your clients voice in the market. Represent your clients issues,
concerns, and complaints within your own organization, and take rapid
action to resolve them.
See yourself as someone who can help your customers run their
businesses or functional areas better. Looking at your job this way will
change your interactions from transactions to partnerships.
Be a resource for your clients. Provide them with useful information and
recommendations that help them understand what it all means for them.
Initiate informal contacts. Join an association or charitable group or
become involved in a community activity.
Initiate informal contacts outside of the office (e.g., home, out-door
activities, clubs), with individuals from the department or other
organizations on at least a monthly basis.
Introduce yourself to at least one new person each time you meet.
Set goals for yourself to establish good levels of trust and rapport, and at
the same time, learn more about your own or other organizations.
Keep a written record of what you learn.

Improve your relationship with one or two co-workers.
Set a goal to have at least one conversation each week with the person not including business discussions.
The conversation can include outside interests, family, sports, whatever
interests you.
Focus on learning more about the person, not their job.
Take an inventory of the groups, associations, friends and business
contacts that you have, and consider how frequently you contact them
to keep informed about issues of mutual interest.
Set up a schedule to maintain regular contact with those who are key
influencers.
Regularly attend networking luncheons, dinners, seminars, discussion
forums, etc., at least once a quarter.
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Regularly ask yourself who did I see today that gave me some useful
information about what is going on in the organization? Stay in touch
with that person on a regular basis.
Regularly meet with colleagues in other business units and identify
opportunities or projects that will be of value for you both to work on
together.
Keep a brief record of information about your contacts (birthday, the
name of their partner, their interests, their favourite sport).
Make a point of speaking to contacts about the following social matters
before or after discussing business:
Birthday
The name of their partner
Their interests
Their favorite sport
Expand your network through existing contacts.

Ask someone you know in a contacts organization to identify and
introduce you to other influential people within his or her organization.
Plan to meet with these new people.
Use these new relationships to further expand your networks.
Try to understand your contacts point of view.
After an interaction with a contact, put yourself in their shoes and try to
imagine what they were feeling or thinking during your interaction with
them.
Think about how what you did influenced that person in either a positive
or negative fashion.
Write down what you would do differently next time to make the
interaction more positive.
Use that information to develop a call plan for the next time you interact
with that contact.
Meet with individuals who are visiting the organization.
Take measures to meet with these individuals.
Discuss their ideas as a way of establishing the basis of a relationship
for future exchanges.
Conduct client conferences.
Sponsor a seminar or client conference that addresses topics and issues
that concern clients in your district.
Spend time with your sales reps and their clients to identify the issues
and concerns, and then design and coordinate appropriate activities to
address those concerns.
Consider researching and presenting one topic yourself.
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Get to know the people you are working with.
Get to know the people before working on a project together.
questions such as:
Ask
Am I comfortable working with this partner?

What different strengths do they bring to the project and how might I leverage
those strengths?
Is it the right fit?
Communicate through phone, e-mail, or meetings to get to know your
prospective partners.
Screen out partners who are not a match or gather additional information
about people you are unsure of or do not know about from other sources
(internal or external) of the organization.
Develop a network.
Build a large network to develop your expertise and the visibility of your
organization.
Identify individuals whose expertise you can use to develop your own
area or that of the government as a whole.
Exchange ideas and expertise on a regular basis to keep up to date on
industry trends, patterns and changes related to your service area.
Proceed with caution when commencing a partnership where committing
to funding is involved.
Ensure benefits are clearly understood.
Make sure the benefits of the relationship are clearly stated and mutually
understood.
Communicate the goals and objectives of the relationship and how you
see the partnership developing.
Ask for input and listen to the other party to clarify their expectations and
address any concerns.
Develop a plan to do what is necessary to ensure the support you need
from each key person.
Serve as an ongoing resource for your contacts.
Every time you read an article or book, or come into contact with
information you find interesting or useful, ask yourself if any of your
contacts might be interested in the same information.
Make copies of the information and pass it along with a short note to
those who might be interested.
Use following up on the information as an excuse to chat with these
contacts and get information about whats going on with them.

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Know your contacts business.
Talk to your contacts about their business, not just your products and
services.
Keep up-to-date with whats happening in the industry by talking to your
contacts regularly, reading business magazines and publications, talking
to your employees and other colleagues, and talking to your contacts
about the critical short and long-term issues facing them.
Summarize and share this information with your contacts; act as a
sounding board for your contacts.
Use meetings to expand your client contacts.
When you have a meeting scheduled with one or more contacts within a
client organization, ask the individuals participating in the meeting to
invite their superior, one of their direct reports, or anyone else who might
be interested.
Control the number of participants to keep the meeting manageable, but
try to have at least one new face in each meeting.

Improve the quality and depth of the relationships you have with your
clients. The skills you will gain in this exercise will also help to build
your personal and working relationships.
List the clients with whom you have regular contact.
Use the scale below to evaluate the quality of your relationship with each
client on the list:
1 = Poor relationship (i.e., there is a current serious problem which
has not been resolved)
2 = Adequate relationship (i.e., strictly business/transaction
oriented)
3 = Reasonably good relationship (some successes but room for
improvement)
4 = Extremely good relationship (many successes, some social
contact).
Identify any barriers that get in the way of your client relationships and
identify specific actions you can take to remove the barriers.
Set a date for improving the relationship with each client on your list.
Monitor your progress against your goals; re-evaluate each of your client
relationships.
List all the individuals who currently exist in your work-related network
- people you interact with on a regular basis.
Identify the kind of role each person occupies in your network. For
example, information sources, coach or mentor, expert advisor,
supporter, and performance feedback advisor.
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Ask yourself if there are any roles you would like to see expanded or
added to your network.
Make a conscious effort to identify and get to know people who can fill
those roles.
Try to approach these people in a social or non-threatening situation.
Ask their opinion about the kind of work you do and if they could help
you achieve some of your job-related objectives.
Try to return the favour by offering your assistance or identifying areas
where you may help the individual achieve some of his/her goals.
Review your formal (work-related) networks on a regular basis, and
apply the techniques noted above to consciously solidify and expand
your network.
Take a planful approach to interacting with co-workers.
In conversations with co-workers or clients, try to include one personal
disclosure in each conversation. This could include things such as your
opinion on a specific topic, or your feelings about an issue or current
event, or something about yourself or your background that the person
does not already know.
Keep notes in your journal of how the individual responds and new
things you learn about them in the process.
Invite clients to events of interest outside work.
Invite clients to join you and, if appropriate, selected others from your
organization in non-work related activities sponsored by or paid for by
your organization (e.g., sports events, performances, cultural events).
Ask your contacts to invite several others from their own organization
who they think might also enjoy the event.
Use the event to get to know your existing contacts better and to expand
your network of contacts within the organization.
Make sure that the clients know that there are no strings attached.
Offer a broader perspective.
Give your client the benefit of your knowledge, and your experience with
a broad range of clients, to help them sort out whats happening in the
industry.
Be an informal source of benchmark information for your clients.
Let them know about trends in the industry or district without betraying
any confidential information.
Offer to do a presentation to a selected group of individuals within the
client organization on trends in the industry.
Initiate and support relationships.
Bring colleagues (internal or external to the organization) together to
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generate ideas aimed at supporting strategic alliances, (e.g., funding for
a new project, a new technology, etc.).
Look to relationship as permitting you to exceed the value of individual
effort because of combined efforts.
Evaluate the probability of success or feasibility of each alternative as a
group rather than on your own.
Determine an action plan that will help incorporate the best approach
and ideas to achieve your organizations business goals.
When implementing a new strategy or major initiative, consider the
impact on all those involved.
Identify the individuals or groups impacted in a new strategy or initiative
and keep them informed about the process.
Whenever possible, make a personal visit to relevant partners.
Talk to them about what is going on, tell them about the strategy and
assess the impact of major initiatives.
Actively solicit the advice and commitment of partners before
implementing the new strategy or initiative.
Develop a plan to do what is necessary to ensure the support you need
from each key person.
Keep regular contacts.
Make sure you keep up with the people you have met through
conferences, meetings, and visits.
Meet regularly to find out what is going on within your community sector,
as well as any social, economic or political forces that will impact the
government.
Discuss new opportunities, initiatives, and approaches to science
management.
Review your achievements and challenges.
Develop informal partnerships.
Work with others on a project-by-project basis to enhance the quality of
your work.
Develop relationships with external sources, (e.g., universities, other
organizations in the public sector), and access those sources when you
need to pursue funding, or need access to a specialized field.
Combine resources so that both parties achieve a win-win outcome.
Jointly plan future activities and provide guidance and support when
needed.

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Books and
Videos
The Art of Mingling, by Jeanne Martinet (New Edition: VHPS Trade, 2006;
Griffin, 1992) also available on audio CD.
This book shows how to start a conversation, how to become part of a
group, or how to respond if youre approached. Using recognized
situations, this book will teach you how to overcome fears, meet new
people confidently and with charm, and achieve success in every kind of
gathering.
Bravo Principal: Building Relationships With Actions That Value
Others, by Sandra Harris (Eye on Education, 2004).
In this book, the author offers their perspective from that of the school
environment to help explain how relationship building is based on how
you treat others.
The Frog Prince: Secrets of Positive Networking, by Darcy Rezac (Frog
& Prince Network Corp., 2003).
This book lays out the new reality of networking. In this age of business
and personal uncertainty, never have you needed your network more.
Equally as important are the revolutionary new scientific discoveries that
prove that networks, including social networks, form and act in a certain
manner. In this book you learn how to tap into this new knowledge, and
how to build your own powerful positive social networks - for both
business and life.
Lessons Learned: Shaping Relationships and the Culture of the
Workplace, by Roland Barth (Corwin Press, 2003).
An informal discussion of interpersonal behaviour on the job. A loose
autobiographical essay on the author's lessons learned about
relationships at work
The Networking Survival Guide: Get the Success You Want By Tapping
Into the People You Know, by Diane Darling (McGraw-Hill Trade, 2003).
This book walks readers through the entire process of networking,
including setting your networking goals, identifying and developing your
potential contacts, following up on leads and turning them into
opportunities.
The Handbook of Interpersonal Skills Training: 16 Complete Training
Modules for Building Working Relationships, by Bob Wall (McGraw-Hill
Trade, 2000).
Bad communication, lack of trust, and poor interpersonal skills are often
the key cause of weakness and inefficiency in an organization. This
book contains twenty complete training modules or lesson plans to help
trainers teach mangers and employees how to improve productivity
through better working relationships.

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Networking Smart: How to Build Relationships for Personal and
Organizational Success, by Wayne E. Baker (New Edition:
Backinprint.com, 2000; Original: McGraw-Hill, 1993).
The ability to manage networks of people can make or break a career or
a whole company. This book teaches managers the techniques they
need to successfully develop, maintain, and use people networks to full
advantage.
PowerSkills: Building Top-Level Relationships for Bottom-Line Results,
by James P. Masciarelli (Nimbus Press, 2000).
In this book you'll learn practical tips and techniques -- a sustainable
process for becoming more savvy and successful in managing
relationships for results, whether you're at the top of your company or
determined to get there.
How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie (New
Edition: Pocket, 1998; Original: Simon & Schuster Trade, 1981) also
available on audio CD.
This is the classic book on developing relationships with others. It
explains the fundamental techniques of handling people, ways to make
folks like you, 12 tricks of persuasion, methods to change people without
resentment and dozens of other tips for successful interpersonal
relations.
Conversationally Speaking:
Tested New Ways to Increase Your
Personal and Social Effectiveness, by Alan Garner (New Edition:
McGraw-Hill, 1997; Original: Lowell House, 1991).
The author provides a set of techniques for initiating contact with others,
how to ask conversation-promoting questions, and how to achieve more
rewarding relationships with others.
Building Strategic Relationships, by William Bergquist, Jul Betwee, and
David Meuel (Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1995).
This book shows how successful alliances are launched, developed, and
concluded - within the corporate world and between corporate entities.
Networking Success:
How to Turn Business and Financial
Relationships into Fun and Profit, by Anne Boe (Health Communications,
1995).
Follow Boes lead for obtaining incredible personal and professional
success.
She provides a road map to establishing necessary
relationships to be successful in life and business.
People Skills, by Robert Bolton (Touchstone, 1986).
A practical handbook for developing effective communication skills and
strengthening ties with family and co-workers. Author Robert Bolton
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describes the twelve most common communication barriers, showing
how these "roadblocks" damage relationships by increasing
defensiveness, aggressiveness, or dependency. He explains how to
acquire the ability to listen, assert yourself, resolve conflicts, and work
out problems with others. These are skills that will help you communicate
calmly, even in stressful emotionally charged situations.
The video, If You Really Want to Get Ahead, (Core Career Strategies
Inc.).
This video is loaded with ideas that will help you manage smarter, get
along with people better and recognize and apply those things that are
vital to your professional growth. Youll learn how to promote yourself,
how to become remembered by the right people, and how to make
yourself indispensable to your organization.
The video, People Skills, (Core Career Strategies Inc.).
This highly entertaining program reveals innovative techniques for
interacting with others more successfully by getting on their wavelength.
The video Relationship Strategies Course, by American Media
With Dr. Tony Alessandra. This twovideo course utilizes dramatic
vignettes to illustrate how to build successful & working relationships
through effective communication.
External
Development
Programs

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Self Confidence/Courage of Convictions
SELF CONFIDENCE/COURAGE OF CONVICTIONS

Self-Confidence/Courage of Convictions is a belief in ones own capability as
expressed in increasingly challenging circumstances and confidence in
ones decisions or opinions. It may include providing leadership, direction,
and inspiration to others by making difficult decisions and taking actions that
may not be popular but are in the best interests of the organization and its
clients.
This Means...
This Doesnt Mean...
speaking in a confident and

assured manner even when
you will need to think for a
moment to find a solution
sounding uncertain to your

clients
seeking out new challenges

and responsibilities
playing it safe by confining

ones tasks to a specific wellknown area
taking appropriate action

even when others may
disagree
behaving arrogantly, and

blatantly acting against your
leaders wishes
standing up and defending

your ideas if challenged,
including by more senior
employees
backing down, or remaining

silent, when someone
criticizes your position
believing that your course of

action is the correct one
even when initial attempts
may fail
backing down or changing

major plans at the first sign
of failure or dissent
continuing with an
appropriate action plan, even
when there are political
pressures to stop
using the opportunity to

behave arrogantly, never
take others interests into
consideration, and blatantly
acting against others wishes
taking action based on your

expertise and understanding
of the situation
double-checking all your

ideas with others, and
waiting for their agreement
before continuing with the
plan

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Developmental
Activities
Level 1 Activities
Identify someone in your organization whose confidence you admire.
Work with your manager to identify a person who has an acceptable
level of self-confidence, and establish a mentor relationship with that
person.
Ask how he or she feels about his or her own skills, abilities or character
shown while interacting with people.
Listen for the type of self-statements used to build his or her own
confidence.
Commit to use any you feel are relevant to your own situation.
Establish a development plan with your manager to increase your selfconfidence.
Identify areas with your manager where you both feel impressed with
your performance.
Make a list of those areas in order of the difficulty in performing them.
Determine other tasks which require many of the same capabilities but
are at a slightly more difficult level of performance.
Establish a development plan with your manager to work on these tasks.
Review your performance and comfort level with these tasks, and begin
to increase the level of difficulty as you come to feel more comfortable
with the tasks you are currently performing.
Do attainable tasks first.
Identify those workday tasks and activities, which you must accomplish.
Select those that you know you can accomplish, and complete those
first.
Reward yourself upon completion of those activities by going for a brief
walk, discussing a recent accomplishment with a colleague, and so on.
Reward yourself after you have completed the assignment -- this will
reward positive work-related behaviours and make you feel selfconfident when approaching additional tasks and activities during the
day.
In conversations with others, express your opinion.
Voice your opinion, even if it differs from others.
Respect others self-esteem. Dont tell them you think they are wrong;
just state that your point of view is different, and express it.
Before introducing or presenting a new plan or idea, boost your comfort
level by over-preparing and over-practicing.

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Do so much background work (reading, thinking, discussing with others)
that you are able to respond authoritatively to any question you may be
asked.
Practice giving the arguments that support your position.
Get peers to play devils advocate and practice responding to them.
Keep track of successes.
Keep track of successes - things you do well.
Make a list of your personal strengths.
Read your list to remind you of your positive qualities and where you are
feeling badly about yourself.
Practice speaking confidently.
Identify a co-worker who shows self-confidence.
Listen to their tone and the words they use.
Practice speaking with authority and confidence by emulating your coworker.
Ask your co-workers to listen and let you know if you sound confident or
are going overboard.

Strengthen your confidence in taking a clear stand on difficult or
unpopular issues.
Talk with a colleague who has made a good decision that was initially
unpopular.
Ask him or her how they dealt with other peoples opposition and how he
or she presented arguments in favour of the decision.
Incorporate some of the strategies in presenting your own arguments.
Make a practice of acknowledging that your stand on an issue may be
unpopular with others.
Be sure to explain why your point of view should be considered.
Consider ways of enhancing your self-confidence in your interactions
with others.
Prepare a list of situations with peers, clients, suppliers and/or team
members that you regard as outstanding. For each situation identify:
What you did or said that led to a successful outcome.
The one or two positive feelings you had about yourself at the time.
Refer to this list just prior to important interactions with others to enhance
your self-confidence.

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Visualize the outcome you want to achieve prior to important meetings
with others (e.g., team members, key clients and suppliers, government
representatives).
Picture what you will say and do to make the contact a success (athletes
use this technique to achieve peak performance).
Level 4 Activities
Identify your strengths at work and challenge yourself to improve on
these.
Map your current or potential work activities against the list of criteria for
successful work performance.
Note how closely other work activities match to your strengths and
identify those activities, which are not as closely matched.
Choose a project that is challenging but attainable to work on.
Outline a set of realistic goals and expectations for that project.
Monitor your progress and your ability to reach those self-imposed goals
and expectations. If you encounter difficulties and roadblocks, remind
yourself of the ways in which you have overcome similar obstacles in the
past.
Continue to challenge yourself by increasing the scope or complexity of
the new tasks.
Ask your leader for an opportunity to lead a meeting or group initiative.
Prepare ahead of time so that you are not too nervous in front of the
group.
Assess your performance with your leader and brainstorm suggestions
to improve for next time.
As you practice the skill, you will feel more comfortable and selfconfident.
Books and
Videos
Learned Optimism, by Martin E.P. Seligman (New Edition: Vintage, 2006;

Original: Random House, 1991).
This book delves into the research on how people attribute the causes of
failure and success, and how that affects their performance and the rest
of their lives. Offering many simple techniques, Dr. Seligman explains
how to break an I - give-up habit, develop a more constructive
explanatory style for interpreting your behavior, and experience the
benefits of a more positive interior dialogue. A very helpful book to think
about healthier ways to deal with a failure or success.

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Ultimate Secrets of Total Self-Confidence, by Robert Anthony (New
Edition: Berkley Trade Publishing, 2006; Original: Berkley Publishing Group,
1985).
This is an excellent book for those who want a step-by-step strategy for
building self-confidence and creating the life they desire. A renowned
communication expert, Anthony introduces a subtle and effective way of
selling your best asset yourself without turning off those youre trying
to impress.
I Think Ill Stand Up, by Scott Schwefel (iUniverse, Inc., 2004).
I Think I'll Stand Up is a guidebook that walks you, the reader, through
the 8 necessary steps to achieving success and self-confidence. The
author, Scott Schwefel, founded Minnesota's largest technology training
company in 1995, and later sold his interest in that company, in 2003, for
over one million dollars. Using thought provoking questions, and
personal anecdotes, the author helps you discover your true passion,
and set aligned goals down on paper, in a way that virtually guarantees
your success.
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Steven R. Covey (New
Edition: Free Press, 2004; Original: Free Press, 1990).
This book provides thought provoking ideas on clarifying your personal
values and how to translate them into your daily and weekly activities.
An excellent read. This book has been made into an audio cassette.
Increasing Confidence (Essential Lifeskills), by Philippa Davies (Dorling
Kindersley Publishing, 2003).
This book covers understanding confidence, how to build up confidence
levels, mastering self-confidence, and adapting motivating strategies.
The Resilience Factor, by Andrew Shatte & Karen Reivich (Broadway
Books, 2003).
The Resilience Factor is a practical roadmap for navigating unexpected
challenges, surprises, and setbacks at work and home. Their premise-that your thinking style determines your resilience--underlies the books
promise: you can boost resilience by changing the way you think about
adversity.
Stand Up for Your Life: A Practical Step-by-Step Plan to Build Inner
Confidence and Personal Power, by Cheryl Richardson (Simon &
Schuster, 2003) also available on audio CD.
This book will take you on a journey that will provide you with new "selfhonouring" strategies to transform your fear and self-doubt into power.
You'll learn to trust yourself. You'll build new courage muscles that will
increase your self-esteem. And you'll develop the confidence to step out
into unknown territory so you can realize your greatest potential.
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Feeling Good, by David D. Burns (New Edition: Harper Collins Canada,
1999; Original: Penguin, 1981).
This book, written by a renowned psychologist outlines simple step by
step techniques to control the negative thought patterns that lead to lack
of self confidence and low self-esteem. Highly recommended.
Ten Days to Self-Esteem, by David D. Burns (Harper Collins Canada,
1998).
This book, helps to uncover the source of poor self-esteem and turn it
around. Though a 10-step program it teaches you how to change
negative thinking, challenge self-defeating ideas and identify signs of
depression and anxiety.
The Six Pillars Of Self-Esteem, by Nathaniel Branden (Bantam, 1995)
also available on audio CD.
This book represents six action-based practices that provide the
foundation for establishing and maintaining self-esteem.
It also
discusses the importance of self-esteem in key areas of ones life,
including the work place.
Awaken The Giant Within, by Anthony Robbins (Free Press, 1992).
This is a popular self-help book which helps you feel better about
yourself and confident that you can achieve more. The acknowledged
expert in the psychology of change, Anthony Robbins provides a stepby-step program teaching the fundamental lessons of self-mastery that
will enable you to discover your true purpose, take control of your life and
harness the forces that shape your destiny.
The video Communicating With Confidence To Get The Job Done,
(Core Career Strategies Inc.).
This video shows you the tactics used by todays most respected and
successful communicators.
The video Developing Positive Assertiveness, by Sam R. Loyd (Crisp
Learning, 1-800-446-4797, www.crisplearning.ca).
This video will help individuals to find their natural style of
communication, use assertive words properly, and take charge of their
lives. It helps them to make positive assertiveness a productive force in
their lives.
The video Developing Self-Esteem, by Connie
Richardson Company, 1-800-488-0319, www.rctm.com).
Palladino
(The
This video helps individuals to assess their current level of self-esteem,

develop positive belief systems, overcome fears, and turn negative
thinking patterns around.
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The video Straight Talking, by Video Arts (International Tele-Film, 1-800561-4300, www.itf.ca).
The training video features John Cleese on how to handle situations
assertively.
Cleese demonstrates the negative results of both
submissive and aggressive behaviour and then demonstrates how to
handle situations assertively by working toward a shared goal.
The Movie, Local Hero.
This wonderful film is about an executive sent to a small town in the
British isles as part of a big oil project.
The Movie, Shirley Valentine.
This British comedy shows how a woman gains greater self confidence
through foreign travel.
The movie, The Shawshank Redemption.
This film is about prison life. Watch Andy display self-confidence in his
efforts to expand the prison library, and in his dealing with the warden,
the guards and with Red.
The movie, Twelve O'clock High.
This is an inspirational example of the positive side of being very
demanding, very tough and very clear.
External
Development
Programs

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Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
Self-Control is the ability to keep ones emotions under control and restrain
negative actions when provoked, faced with opposition or hostility from
others, or when working under stress. It also includes the ability to maintain
stamina under continuing stress.
This Means...
This Doesnt Mean...
continuing to perform effectively

in stressful and difficult
circumstances
giving up and letting fear

take over
remaining calm when personally

attacked
lashing out and overreacting
keeping things in perspective

despite fatigue and frustration
letting events take control

of you
coping effectively with ambiguity
wanting everything to be
black and white
working effectively under tight

deadlines
letting stressful times get the

best of you
maintaining a businesslike
approach when unduly annoyed,
disturbed, or disrupted by others
being rude and impolite
responding calmly with a sense of

empathy and perspective when
something happens that makes
more work for you
blaming others and getting

angry when something
happens that makes work for
you
remaining polite and in control

when speaking with customers
and dealing with malfunctioning
systems (e.g., downed computer)
getting angry or flustered

when there is a big rush at
work and something goes
wrong
ignoring rude behavior from a

customer, focusing on calming
them and then moving on to deal
with the problem
expressing strong emotions

such as anger, frustration, or
fear in response to an
intimidating customer
holding your tongue and taking a

deep breath to relax when
something annoys you
sharply complaining to some

who is getting on your
nerves
taking steps to calm someone

(e.g., a co-worker or client) who is
upset
refusing to get involved in

emotionally charged
situations, or saying or doing
things that make the
situation worse
maintaining an open perspective

on a customers concern or
problem; exploring different
alternatives; displaying empathy
refusing to look for

alternatives to resolve a
customers concern or
problem; digging in your
heals

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Self-Control
Developmental
Activities
Level 1 Activities
Think before you react.
Take a deep breath, count to three in your head and then re-evaluate the
situation.
If you feel what you want to say or do may be inappropriate then dont do
it, wait until you can revisit the situation with a clear head.
Remove yourself from the situation.
If its a phone call, put the person on hold temporarily or tell them youll
call back.
If in a meeting, excuse yourself.
This will allow your emotions to subside before you act.
Level 2 Activities
Keep situations in perspective by leading a balanced life.
Dont focus all your energy in one area of your life.
Maintain a healthy lifestyle in order to keep your stress level in check.
Eat right, exercise regularly, get plenty of sleep and drink at least 8
glasses of water a day.
When experiencing strong emotions, such a lifestyle should facilitate
maintaining your composure and continuing your conversation or task.
Identify techniques that work well for you to effectively cope with
negative stresses in your life.
These may include things such as exercise, working at hobbies,
spending additional leisure time with family and friends, spending more
time alone, meditation, knowledge of human development, reducing the
amount of caffeine in your diet, etc.
Find ways to incorporate more of these activities into your routine at
times when you find your stress levels rising.

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Self-Control
Next time you find yourself in a stressful situation involving
interpersonal conflict try practicing one or two of the suggestions
below:
Recognize that others will not always be willing or capable of
understanding or accepting your point of view.
Present your point of view clearly but diplomatically.
Remove yourself from the situation. For example, if its a phone call, put
the person on hold temporarily. Allow your emotions to subside before
you act.
Refer to the Books and Videos section of this guide. The references in
this section contain many helpful techniques for dealing with
interpersonal conflict situations.
Evaluate the outcomes of interpersonal conflict situations once you have
applied some of these suggestions. Do you feel differently? How are
others affected by your new behavior?
Demonstrate active listening to reduce conflict and stress.
Summarize the main points being expressed by others.
Be sure to communicate the content of what was said as well as the
feeling behind the content. This demonstrates to others that you are
actively listening.
Use humor.
The appropriate use of humor can lighten your load and make it easier to
maintain diplomacy.
If you find work is making you angry or you are getting frustrated, chat to
your peers to laugh it off.
Do not use humor with someone who is angry with you or your
department -- be serious in helping them.
Use quick stress relievers.
Implement, with the approval of a physician, a regular (i.e., at least three
times a week) exercise program, including cardiovascular training,
muscular conditioning and stretching exercises.
Reduce your intake of caffeine, alcohol and, if you smoke, nicotine. All
these drugs can significantly decrease your ability to cope with strong
emotions such as stress.

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Self-Control
Use a support group of friends, peers and family members. Follow these
suggestions:
List all the people who can support you in work-related and personal
stressful situations.
Review your list and determine if you are lacking support in any area.
Identify any gaps in your support network. Take specific actions to
strengthen your support network (e.g. ask your peers and friends where
they have found helpful support).
If personally criticized, calmly explore reasons for the criticism.
Level 3 Activities
Develop a win-win strategy for resolving conflict and minimizing
stress.
Identify a difficult client situation where you have a significant
disagreement with the client.
Categorize your typical negotiating style into one of the categories below
(be honest with yourself).
Win-Lose -- where you typically see yourself as winning and the
other party losing in the process
Lose-Lose -- where you typically see both yourself and the other
party losing
Lose-Win -- where you typically see yourself losing or giving in during
the process
Win-Win -- where both you and the other party being satisfied with
the outcome
Meet with the team leader, review the client situation and ask for
suggestions on how you and the client can move closer to a win-win
agreement.
Apply your win-win strategies to resolve the client conflict.
Find a goal which both you and the client can agree and focus on.
Maintain a focus on your common objectives.
Monitor your thoughts and feelings throughout the discussion. Note
the reactions you are having to what the client says. How does the
client respond to your actions?
Discuss the results of the meeting with the team leader.
Review the initial starting positions of yourself and the client. How
much closer were both of you at the end of the discussion?
Review what you thought and felt at the time. Did you experience
strong emotions? Discuss what you did to control your feelings.
Plan a strategy for incorporating what you have learned to
successfully resolve your next difficult client situation.
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Practice calming others.

Be on the lookout for situations where you can help others calm down.
When there is an opportunity, seize the chance to practice calming
others.
Try a variety of techniques such as:
Calmly listening to the person who is upset.
Speaking in a calming tone of voice.
Holding yourself in a relaxed, non-threatening way (body language).
After each incident reflect on what worked and what didnt.
You can be confident that with practice you will become increasingly
skillful at calming others.
When faced with a crisis, identify those people required to handle the
problem. Have them meet and explain the problem.
Assign responsibilities and set up procedures for keeping you informed.
Work with the group/individual to ensure that a resolution is delivered
that meets the needs of the organization and/or client.
At the conclusion of the crisis ask the group/individual what was
learned? How can this type of situation be avoided in the future? Who
will take responsibility to ensure that this does not happen again?
Analyze the results of your discussions.
Review the initial starting positions of yourself and the other person.
How much closer were both of you at the end of the discussion?
strong emotions? Think about what you did to control your feelings.
Plan a strategy for incorporating what you have learned to successfully
resolve your next difficult negotiating situation.
Write and mentally rehearse a plan for how you will respond in the
event of disappointment or challenge.
Identify one or two situations in the recent past (home or work) where
you demonstrated high levels of self control and one or two situations
where you had difficulty maintaining self control.
Make notes about the techniques you used in the situations where you
demonstrated high levels of self control.
Think about whether your previously successful techniques would have
helped in the situations where you had difficulty maintaining self control.
Plan to use them the next time a similar situation arises.
If you feel that the techniques would not have helped, or you tried them
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and were not successful, identify what it was about the situation that
made it different and jot down some ideas or techniques that you might
try next time. Keep a record of what happens to further evaluate.
Keep a log, over the next month, of situations that are particularly
stressful and involve interpersonal conflict and stress.
Write down the key points describing the situation.
When did it occur, who was involved, what was the outcome?
Note how you reacted to the situation. What did you think, feel and do at
the time? What was the outcome? Were you satisfied with the result of
your behavior?
Review the situations and try to identify any common themes.
Recognize if there are specific types of situations that cause you to react
badly.
Use the chart below to keep track of these situations.
Work on improving your reaction to stress.
Stressful Situation / Reaction / Outcome
Build awareness of what you are feeling in stressful situations.
Stop and ask yourself the following questions next time you are in a
stressful situation:
What is happening right now? What am I?

doing? (pause)
thinking? (pause)
feeling? (pause)
What do I want to do right now? Think about your objectives in the
current situation. What do you want to achieve?
What am I doing that is getting in the way of achieving my
objectives? Think about what you want to do next. Say to yourself I
choose to...
Be clear about your choice of action, then do it.

Investigate the barriers that prevent agreement in conflict situations.
Determine the root cause for disagreement.
categories:

Consider the following
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Facts -- what are the issues? what actually happened? what is the
data or information?
Methods -- how should the situation be resolved? what are the
steps?
Goals -- what needs to be accomplished?
What outcome would best satisfy everyone involved?
Values -- what is important to each individual or group involved in the
situation?
Use the above categories to help establish the source of the
disagreement or conflict. Discuss these sources with those involved to
help clarify assumptions and, in doing so, reduce tension and clear the
way for removing barriers to resolution.
Listen to the viewpoints of others as if you are hearing them for the first
time. Be open to new ideas and perspectives.
Consider how the other person views the situation. Seeing the situation
from the other persons perspective may provide new insights to
resolving the conflict.
Think twice before placing blame.
The next time you are angry with someone or some department pause a
moment before placing blame.
Think about what could be done to prevent these problems and discuss
with your peers or team leader.
Self Control becomes easier when you direct your thoughts and energy
towards solving the problem rather than assigning blame.
Role play a difficult client situation with a colleague.
Watch for your own emotional responses and practice responding
calmly.
Identify someone in your organization (e.g., a colleague or employee)
who shows excellent Self Control.
Ask your peers for their opinion on the person you have identified. Are
there any other people whom your peers might also recommend as good
role models?
Observe how the person you have identified handles situations where
Self Control is especially important.
Ask the person you have identified to describe the kinds of situations
he or she faces that require self control.
Observe the person during an actual situation. Note what the person
actually says or does.

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Afterwards, ask the person to describe the thoughts and feelings he
or she had during the interaction.
Review your findings with your peers. Apply two or three techniques you
learned at your next opportunity.
Ask for your peers to give you feedback on how to handle stressful or
difficult situations.
Identify the different types of situations that you have had difficulty
controlling your emotions (e.g., interacting with a difficult or demanding
customer).
Ask your peers to describe what they have observed you doing or saying
(probe your peers for specific examples).
Ask your peers for suggestions on how you might handle these
situations more effectively in the future. Note your peers suggestions
and apply them to the next time you face a stressful situation with a
customer or co-worker.
Meet with your peers periodically to review your progress.
Ask your manager to involve you in resolving difficult or stressful
customer situations.
Use these situations as opportunities to practice diplomacy.
Ask your manager to give you feedback on how you managed the
situation.
Take notes on how you thought you did and discuss it with your
manager.
Learn to see things from the customers point of view.
Ask your manager/team leader what kind of complaints they have
received from customers over the years.
Ask for specific stories (without naming any names).
Try to understand the situation from the clients point of view.
If Help Desk staff exercised Self Control would it reduce complaints?
Develop a win-win strategy for resolving conflict and minimizing
stress.
Identify a difficult client situation where you have a significant
disagreement with the client.
Categorize your typical negotiating style into one of the categories below
(be honest with yourself).
Win-Lose -- where you typically see yourself as winning and the other
party losing in the process
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Lose-Lose -- where you typically see both yourself and the other
party losing
Lose-Win -- where you typically see yourself losing or giving in during
the process
Win-Win -- where both you and the other party being satisfied with
the outcome
Meet with your manager/team leader, review the client situation and ask
for suggestions on how you and the client can move closer to a win-win
agreement.
Apply your win-win strategies to resolve the client conflict.
Find a goal which both you and the client can agree and focus on.
Maintain a focus on your common objectives.
Monitor your thoughts and feelings throughout the discussion. Note
the reactions you are having to what the client says. How does the
client respond to your actions?
Discuss the results of the meeting with your manager/team leader.
Review the initial starting positions of yourself and the client. How
much closer were both of you at the end of the discussion?
strong emotions? Discuss what you did to control your feelings.
Plan a strategy for incorporating what you have learned to
successfully resolve your next difficult client situation.
Practice calming others.
Be on the lookout for situations where you can help others calm down.
When there is an opportunity, seize the chance to practice calming
others.
Try a variety of techniques such as:
calmly listening to the person who is upset
speaking in a calming tone of voice
holding yourself in a relaxed, non-threatening way (body language)
After each incident reflect on what worked and what didnt.
You can be confident that with practice you will become increasingly
skillful at calming others.
Books and
Videos
Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman (New Edition: Bamtam, 2006:

Original: Bantam, 1995).
Drawing on groundbreaking brain and behavioural research, Goleman
shows the factors at work when people of high IQ flounder and those of
modest IQ do surprisingly well. These factors include self-awareness,
self-control and empathy.
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In Control, by Redford Williams (Rodale Books, 2006).
The creators of the internationally acclaimed Lifeskills workshops
teaches readers how to handle all types of stressful situations. This
eight-week program works equally for "hot reactors," who blow up when
things don't go their way, and "cool reactors," who swallow their
emotions.
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey (New
Edition: Free Press, 2004; Original: Distican, 1990) also available on audio
CD.
This book presents a holistic, integrated principle-centered approach for
solving personal and professional problems. Covey reveals a step-bystep pathway for living with fairness, integrity, honesty, and human
dignity. Topics include: being proactive; and principles of cooperation
and leadership.
Power of Positive Thinking, by Norman Vincent Peale (New Edition: Free
Press, 2003; Original: Fawcett, 1987) also available on audio CD.
Faith in yourself makes good things happen to you. This classic guide to
self-esteem and success will help you learn how to: break the worry
habit; get other people to like you; avoid "the jitters" in your daily work;
believe in yourself and everything you do; develop the power to reach
your goals, and so much more.
The Little Book of Stress Relief, by David Posen, M.D. (Key Porter Books,
2003).
In this book, stress expert Dr. David Posen teaches us how to take back
control of our lives and regain a satisfying work-life balance. Dr. Posen
proposes that we change our fundamental thinking and lifestyle choices
by becoming aware of our behaviour, making informed choices and
giving ourselves permission to make the necessary changes in our dayto-day lives.
Body, Mind and Sport: The Mind-Body Guide to Lifelong Fitness and
Your Personal Best, by John Douillard (New Edition: Three Rivers Press,
2001; Original: Crown Harmony Books, 1994).
This book discusses the attainment of peak performance through
ayurveda and exercise. Dr. Douillard describes ayurvedic fitness as a
tailor-made lifestyle and fitness routine to individual body type, and a
precursor to more enjoyable living. Its not just exercise, but a lifestyle
claims Douillard.
Perfect Health: the Complete Mind/Body Guide, by Deepak Chopra, M.D.
(New Edition: Harmony Books, 2001; Original: Harmony Books, 1989).
This book presents to its readers easy steps on how to relax the mind
and body in stressful situations.

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Working With Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman (New Edition:
Bantam, 2000; Original: Bantam, 1998) also available on audio CD.
This book discusses the components of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) with
respect to the work environment. Drawing on studies conducted in more
than 500 organizations, Goleman reveals that EQ is the single most
important determinant of success.
Feeling Good, by David Burns (New Edition: Harper Collins, 1999; Original:
Penguin, 1981).
This book, written by a renowned cognitive psychologist, outlines simple
step by step techniques to control the negative thought patterns that lead
to lack of self-confidence and low self-esteem. Highly recommended.
Attitude: Your Most Priceless Possession, by Elwood N. Chapman
(Crisp Publications Inc., 1995; Original: Crisp Publications Inc., 1987)
A practical, workable guide to better human relations. Chapman famous
for attitude development seminars teaches how you can maintain and
transmit a positive attitude by anticipating successful encounters.
Stress for Success, by Peter Hanson, M.D. (New Edition: Stoddart, 1993;
Original: Collins Publishers, 1989).
Focuses on the major problems and pressures of todays workplace and
explains how to deal with its most stressful challenges: handling
corporate mergers and acquisitions, managing techno-stress and the
problems of the computerized workplace. How to affirm leadership but
avoid the bad-boss syndrome.
Quantum Healing: Exploring the Frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine, by
Deepak Chopra, M.D. (Bantam Books, New York, 1990).
This book shines with the mystery, wonder and hope of miraculous
recoveries from cancer and other serious illnesses. Dr. Chopra brings
together the most recent research on this topic from Western medicine
and the Ayuervedic medical tradition.
Type A Behavior and Your Heart, by Meyer Friedman (Fawcett, 1982).
This book contains good descriptions of Type A behavior and readers
can easily identify with some of the characteristics described. The Type
A pattern is probably the best researched personality syndrome in
psychology.
Power: The Inner Experience, by D. C. McClelland (Irvington Publishers,
1979) - pp. 173-192 on protest masculinity.
A good source of information on impulsive aggressive behaviour.
McClelland attempts a deeper motivational explanation for male
impulsive aggressive macho behavior in a study of Mexican culture.

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The video Stressed Out? Out Stress!, by Mind Resources (International
This video recognizes the danger signs and helps us take positive steps
to combat and alleviate stress. This informative training program, guides
you through a variety of real life examples of workplace stress, and
suggests positive solutions to turn it around and make it work for you.
The movie A House of Your Own.
This movie vividly presents what happens to an otherwise sympathetic
character who keeps expressing her anger and self-centeredness with
physical aggression.
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Strategic Orientation
STRATEGIC ORIENTATION
Strategic Orientation is the ability to link long-range visions and concepts to
daily work. It includes an understanding of capabilities, nature and potential
of the department and the Organization. It involves taking calculated risks
based on an awareness of societal, economic and political issues as they
impact the strategic direction of the department and the Organization.
This Means...
This Doesnt Mean...
continually assessing how

day-to-day tasks support the
broader governmental
objectives
planning your work based

on short-term
commitments and
deadlines
aligning your branchs goals

with the governments
strategic goals
setting goals in your

branch that are
independent of
government priorities
visualizing what might or

could happen by preparing
and reviewing contingency
plans for future problems and
opportunities; developing
resources necessary to carry
them out
reacting and taking a dayto-day approach to

handling issues and
challenges; focusing on
the short term and
neglecting the future
engineering and promoting

new business opportunities
focusing on existing
processes and products
assessing economic,
environmental, social, and
technological trends and
calculating any potential
implications these may have
on your branchs future
direction
constantly revising your

branch based on new
information

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Developmental
Activities

Determine benchmarks.
Collect information about best practices and key success factors in the
government.
Use this information to develop benchmarks for performance and
behaviour in your own branch. Share these benchmarks with your peers
and other managers to test for accuracy and alignment.
Analyze division productivity reports.
Read through a productivity report from another branch. Write down the
five most important things this report tells you about the branch. Think
about how this information might change your perspective on the
division.
Share what you learn with your manager or colleagues.
Review the priorities and current activities of your unit.
Identify those that will deliver the expected short-term results and those
that will deliver the longer-term results.
Do you have the right balance between short-term and longer-term?
What is your unit doing that meets its short-term goals but is not
necessarily a must do?
Meet with your colleagues to discuss those activities that will not deliver
short-term or longer-term results. Re-assign resources to those priorities
that require more support.
Conduct a SWOT analysis.
Conduct an environmental scan of strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats (SWOT) related to your branch. List each;
determine the specific actions and steps that you can take to improve
performance in your division. Discuss the results with your manager.
Learn more about the division and future assumptions of clients/key
service partners.
Study client/key service partner satisfaction surveys and external reports
to better understand needs.
Talk to clients/key service partners about issues and trends affecting
them, as well as their future concerns.
Summarize the common themes that you have identified.
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Discuss your findings with your colleagues/staff to incorporate their
impressions into the critical issues facing the client/key service partner.
With colleagues and staff, draft a plan to outline what you can do to help
clients/key service partners address issues.

Assess a current branch process or policy against the governments
strategic priorities.
Select any one of your branchs current processes or policies which you
consider to be less than effective.
Analyze the process/policy against each strategic priority and determine
if it is a support or hindrance. List the strategic priorities that are
supported and those that are hindered.
Taking one of the strategic priorities that are hindered, brainstorm the
changes that could be made to the process or policy that would align it
with the strategic priority. Repeat the brainstorming exercise for the
remaining strategic priorities that are hindered.
Redraft or modify the process or policy using the results of the
brainstorming exercise that are more likely to lead to the desired results.
Test the revised policy with some of the key stakeholders that you will
need to champion it, as well as with those people who will be affected by
the changes.
Produce a written report summarizing what you have learned from this
exercise.
Using a similar procedure as outlined above, create an entirely new
process or policy to meet some future needs of the branch which you
have anticipated.
Schedule strategic planning sessions with your team members.
Ensure participation of team members from various locations.
Communicate the overall vision for the organization and your area.
Lead your team members through an environmental scan SWOT
exercise, (i.e., strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) and
determine the key factors affecting your branch.
Ask each team member to conduct a similar exercise with their teams.
Reconvene your team
environmental influences.

members
to
present
their
teams
key
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Lead the team through an exercise of identifying overlaps, gaps and
establishing overall priorities and accountabilities.
Ask each team member to translate the teams priorities into team and
individual priorities and accountabilities.
Hold regular meetings with your team members to review progress and
determine required changes in direction or priorities.
Review the priorities and current activities of your branch/division.
Identify those that will deliver the expected short-term results and those
that will deliver the longer-term results.
Do you have the right balance between short-term and longer-term?
What is your branch/division doing that is a nice to do rather than a
must do?
Meet with your colleagues to discuss those activities that will not deliver
either short-term or longer-term results. Reassign resources to those
priorities that require more support.
Assess your branch/divisions contribution to the ministrys or OPS
strategic directions.
Identify your branch/divisions specific expertise. Ask yourself, What
outputs, accomplishments or services would be lost, now and in the
future, if our division did not exist?
Test whether the major mission for your branch/division is aligned with,
and adding value to, the overall direction of the government.
Review the strategic plan for your branch/division.
Once you have identified your branch/divisions contributions, consider
how its expertise should evolve and adapt over time to continuously add
value and support the organizations strategic plan.
Produce a written record of your conclusions and the action steps
required.
Prepare a strategic human resource plan for your area.
Analyze your divisions objectives and strategy. Determine if there are
any staffing issues that are affected by the direction of your division.
Does your strategy imply a need for a different mix of skills, knowledge
or behaviours among your current staff in the future?
Review the organization chart for your branch, showing all teams and
their members. Identify positions that may open up or change due to
promotions, lateral moves, attrition and/or resignations.
Identify competencies required for jobs.

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Identify other staff within the division who could serve as successors to
key roles within your branch, including your own. Put plans in place to
develop the competencies of potential successors.
Get input from your peers.
Talk to your peers in other divisions on a regular basis about issues and
trends affecting them and their concerns for the future.
Ask your peers in other divisions to share their workplans, the
assumptions on which these plans are based, and the trends affecting
their branches.

Keep current with trends and issues affecting your division, ministry
and the government.
Review local, national and international events and trends generally
affecting your division by reading relevant publications (i.e., local and
international newspapers, technical reports, etc.).
Consider the
implications these developments may have for your division.
Look at what other ministries/government branches are doing.
assumptions about the future drive their current strategy?
Attend provincial and
conferences/seminars.
federal
government
or
private
What
sector
Collect information about best practices and key success factors in other
branches that you believe could be transferred to your branch.
Anticipate changes in legislation and/or accepted standards and
determine any adjustments your branch will have to make in order to
continue accomplishing its objectives.
Determine how your branch could be re-organized to better meet
longer-term objectives by using the following process.
Develop and test your assumptions.
Review the information collected, identify the major themes and
formulate a direction.
Facilitate a meeting with internal experts to help quantify your
assumptions on environmental factors impacting the government.
Test your assumptions by participating in an external forum on current
government issues and future trends.
Participate in Internet or Intranet forums on relevant topics.
Draw appropriate conclusions.

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Outline the impact of your assumptions and the implications on people,
technology, product/service and process.
Obtain and review samples of successful strategic plans/papers which
have been produced either internally or externally.
Review your conclusions with trusted colleagues/staff.
Develop a plan to reorganize the branch. Identify the measures of
success which will help guide implementation.
Identify your key clients critical issues and assumptions about the
future.
Study client satisfaction surveys and external industry reports to analyze
client needs.
Talk to clients on a regular basis about issues and trends affecting them
and their concerns about the future.
Create solutions to meet their concerns.
Summarize trends.
Prepare a monthly report summarizing information from various sources
about current social, environmental, and technological trends.
Research where to get reliable and helpful information about your
branchs financial position. Define the key factors that you want to track
(e.g., IT advances, means of product or service delivery) and set up a
formal tracking system.
Once you are comfortable with your tracking system, expand it slightly to
include the innovative concepts of other divisions or areas that may add
value to your branch.
Develop a cuttings file or a discussion list of ideas that you feel are
relevant to your branchs productivity/efficiency.
Tell your employees and your manager about this summary.
Books and
Videos
Six Sigma: The Breakthrough Management Strategy Revolutionizing

the Worlds Top Corporations, by Mikel J. Harry and Richard Schroeder
(New Edition: Currency, 2006; Original: Doubleday, 2000).
The Six Sigma Breakthrough Strategy is one of the most compelling and
successful management strategies of the last quarter century. It focuses
on business processes and the components that comprise those
processes.

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Strategy Safari: A Guided Tour Through the Wilds of Strategic
Management, by Henry Mintzberg, Joseph Lampel and Bruce W. Ahlstrand
(New Edition: Free Press, 2005; Original: Simon & Schuster, 1998).
This book provides a thorough critique of the contributions and limitations
of 10 dominant schools of strategic thought.
Built to Last, by Jim Collins & Jerry I Porras (New Edition: Harper Business,
2004; Original: Harper Collins, 2002) also available on audio CD.
This book, written by a team from Stanford's Graduate School of
Business, compares what the authors have identified as "visionary"
companies with selected companies in the same industry. The authors
juxtapose Disney and Columbia Pictures, Ford and General Motors,
Motorola and Zenith, and Hewlett-Packard and Texas Instruments, to
name a few. The visionary companies, the authors found out, had a
number of common characteristics, which are described.
Fundamentals of Management, by Stephen P. Robbins, David A. DeCenzo
& Robin Stuart-Kotze (New Edition: Pearson Education, 2004).
This book provides an informative and practical introduction to
management, including the latest concepts and practices. Organized
with useful learning tools, the book discusses issues of small and large
companies, e-business, and other important issues to managers in the
21st century.
Re-Imagine: Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age, by Tom Peters
(Dorling Kindersley Publishing, 2003).
By focusing on how the business climate has changed, this book outlines
how the new world of business works, explores radical ways of
overcoming outdated, traditional company values, and embraces an
aggressive strategy that empowers talent and brand-driven organizations
where everyone has a voice.
Business Strategy: A Guide to Effective Decision-Making, by Jeremy
Kourdi (W.W. Norton & Company, 2003).
Tools, tactics and techniques for making effective strategic decisions in
business today.
Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, by Ram Charan,
Charles Burck, Larry Bossidy (Crown Business, 2002) also available on
audio CD.
While failure in today's business environment is often attributed to other
causes, Bossidy and Charan argue that the biggest obstacle to success
is the absence of execution, and they describe the building blocks-leaders with the right behaviours, a culture that rewards execution, and a
reliable system for having the right people in the right jobs--that need to
be in place to manage the three core business processes of people,
strategy, and operations.
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When Giants Learn to Dance, by Rosabeth Moss Kanter (New Edition:
Haper Collins Canada, 1999; Original: Simon & Schuster, 1989).
A collection of case stories that illustrate how organizations learn to
rapidly shift their strategies to adapt to the changing needs of the internal
and external environment.
Digital Economy: Promise & Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence,
by Don Tapscott (New Edition: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd., 1997; Original:
McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd., 1995).
Tapscott introduces the notion of a new digital economy where three
converging technologies transform business. Success, he says, belongs
to those who can compete through the networking of human intelligence.
The Leader of the Future: New Visions, Strategies, and Practices for
the Next Era, by Frances Hesselbein, Marshall Goldsmith & Richard
Beckhard, (eds.) (Jossey-Bass, 1997).
In this book, various authors contribute chapters on the leader of the
future, reflecting on the environmental context within which
organizations will exist and the demands that the future will bring for
business leaders.
Making Strategy Work: Building Sustainable Growth Capability, by
Timothy J. Galpin (Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1997).
This hands-on book outlines the steps managers need to take so they
can confidently implement corporate strategy within their departments
and divisions and throughout their organizations. The author bridges the
gap that so often exists between strategy and action, and offers the tools
managers need to translate plans into results-oriented strategic change.
The Balanced Scorecard, by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton
(McGraw-Hill Ryerson College, 1996).
This book is proof positive of the benefits of investing in the long-term -in customers, in employees, in new product development, and in
systems -- rather than managing the bottom line to pump up short-term
earnings.
Competing for the Future, by Gary Hamel & C.A. Prahalad (New Edition:
McGraw-Hill Ryerson College, 1996; Original: Harvard Business School
Press, 1994).
This book advises companies to constantly think ahead to the future, and
sets out a plan for how to accomplish this.
Fundamental Issues in Strategy, by Richard P. Rumelt, Dan E. Schendel
& David J. Teece (New Edition: McGraw-Hill, 1995; Original: McGraw-Hill
Ryerson College, 1994).
Twenty-two
of
the

most
influential
strategy
thinkers
take
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comprehensive look at the intellectual backbone of the field of strategy.
Strategic Alliances, by Michael Yoshino & U. Srinivasa Rangan (McGrawHill Ryerson College, 1995).
This book talks about new alliances (cross border relationships) that
have become an integral component of competitive strategies. These
new alliances are envisioned as instruments of longer-term competitive
advantage, and the book reveals possible risks and rewards of choosing
alliance strategies.
Technology Trendlines, by Jessica Keyes (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1995).
This book is a must-read for executives who want to stay current in the
fast-changing field of information technology. It offers a look into a future
that conducts business in a drastically different fashion.
Thriving on Chaos, by Tom Peters (New Edition: Harper Collins, 1989;
Original: Random House, 1987).
A popular management book showing how we can (and must) respond
flexibly to an ever-changing world.
The video, Football and the Art of Strategic Planning (Vision Films
Associated).
This video illustrates the effectiveness and importance of the strategic
planning process by using a professional football club as an example.
The video, Applied Strategic Planning: Executive Briefing, by William
J. Pfeiffer.
This video presents an overview of the applied strategic planning
process by J. William Pfeiffer, Ph.D. J.D. president of University
Associates, Inc. Dr. Pfeiffer uses the Applied Strategic Planning Model
to illustrate and to explain chronologically the steps necessary for
effective strategic planning. He also shares insights and examples from
his work in numerous organizations.
The video, What is Strategic Planning, (Owen-Stewart Performance
Resources Inc., 1-800-263-3399, www.owenstewart.com).
This video demonstrates the five important steps in developing a
strategic plan. It is designed to assist you with the first stage in creating
an organizational culture which relates strongly to the concepts of
strategic planning.
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Team Leadership
TEAM LEADERSHIP
The intention to take a role as leader in a team or other group. Team
Leadership involves communicating a compelling vision and embodying the
values of the Nova Scotia Public Service. Team Leadership is generally, but
not always, shown from a position of formal authority. The team here
should be understood broadly as any group in which the person takes on a
leadership role, including the organization as a whole. Team Leadership may
also involve ensuring others understand and achieve performance
expectations, reviewing others progress and results to keep them focused
on goals, and holding them accountable to standards of performance,
especially if they do not perform as required.
This Means...
This Doesnt Mean...
painting an exciting picture for

the team of its mandate and
doing things that create some
enthusiasm to achieve it
leaving the team to

function without guidance
and objectives
making tough decisions which

support the team and the
organization, and which are in
line with personal and
organizational ethics
bowing to internal or
external pressures to act in
a way which goes against
the values and beliefs held
by you, the team and the
organization
keeping team members

informed about decisions and
explaining the rationale
behind them
dictating orders and giving

incomplete information
managing team procedures

and meetings through the
efforts of team members
believing that if you want it

done right, you need to do
it yourself
clearing away bureaucratic

barriers or other problems
that are making it difficult for
your staff to get things done
getting stuck in these

barriers yourself or not
believing you can do
anything about them
modeling good teamwork and

holding people accountable
for being good team players
treating teamwork as a low

priority item
actively promoting the

mission and goals of the
group as it relates to the
strategic direction of the
organization
delegating tasks to others

without providing them with
an understanding of the
ultimate goal

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This Means...
This Doesnt Mean...
walking the talk using your

behaviour to demonstrate the
actions you expect from other
team members
creating rules or policies

for the team which you do
not follow (i.e., do what I
say, not what I do
mentality)
treating all team members

equally and fairly
being nice to everyone

(sometimes tough action is
called for)
setting direction and providing

role clarity
being the most technically

competent person on the
team
making ongoing efforts to

enhance team and individual
morale
leaving it up to your staff to

let you know what they
need to get the job done
making sure your team has

appropriate training and other
resources to complete the
assignments you give
acting as an administrator
passing along information
on policies
taking the lead in

communicating the mission
and goals for your team
assigning tasks to your

team and expecting them
to do it whether they like it
or not
interacting with group

members to create
excitement and commitment
to the group mission
creating tension and stress

in your team by pushing
your employees to
accomplish tasks which
they do not have the
resources for

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Developmental
Activities

Ask for regular feedback on your team leadership style from your
manager, your peers and your team members.
Ask others to identify specific behaviours you need to start doing and
stop doing to improve your leadership effectiveness.
Focus on changing one of these behaviours for a period of time and
observe your impact on others.
Remember not to argue or defend your behaviour - it may make others
reluctant to provide honest feedback in the future.
Increase your exposure to colleagues and other executives whose
managerial style is significantly different from your own.
Talk to them about their jobs and the behaviours they use to manage
their people.
Identify those techniques or behaviours you would like to integrate in
your own managerial approach.
Ask your manager to identify some mentors who have high Leadership
skills.
Arrange to have regular conversations with at least one of these
mentors.
Make a point of discussing specific issues in your department.
Model your behaviour after your mentors and use any suggestions he or
she might have.
Solicit the opinions from all team members when making team
decisions.
Avoid making an important decision until the opinions of all the team
members have been heard.
Make sure all members agree to support the decision.
Ask team members to justify and defend their opinions if there is
disagreement among team members.
Suggest common ground solutions or compromises if differences of
opinion remain.
Be alert to subtle feedback about your leadership from your team.
People reporting to you will often tell you what they think you want to
hear other than what they believe.
Be sensitive to subtle signs of dissatisfaction.
Use your Interpersonal Understanding skills to draw out unspoken
concerns (see Interpersonal Understanding developmental activities).
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Schedule a special meeting (possibly an off-site meeting) for your
business unit to address an important matter.
Use these special meetings to develop and obtain agreement about a
plan of action and to help build skills, trust, morale and commitment.
Control the amount of time spent on individual contributor activities.
Time spent on individual contributor activities (e.g., writing a report,
doing an analysis, negotiating with a supplier) is time spent away from
managing your team.
Consider whether you are spending too much time on individual
contributor activities--perhaps because you find these enjoyable.
Take a hard look at your priorities; make sure that your team comes first.
Take measures to reduce the time you spend on individual contributor
activities and invest more time and energy in the team you are
responsible for.
Monitor your time management on a monthly basis.
Set a good example for your team by developing your group facilitation
skills.
Facilitate rather than direct group discussions.
Use active listening skills to draw out the ideas and creativity of others.
Protect minority opinion by providing an environment in which those who
propose minority solutions feel comfortable voicing their ideas.
Remember that the most obvious or popular solutions are not always the
best.
Encourage meetings that are problem-oriented rather than solutionoriented (i.e., make sure the problem is fully defined before the group
jumps in and generates solutions).
Use a sequential structure to do this (e.g., spend the first 15 minutes on
defining the problem, and the next 20 minutes generating solutions).
Use brainstorming techniques to generate alternate solutions to
problems.
Strive for quality rather than quantity.
Inform group members of the steps you will take in group facilitation of
meetings and your reasons for taking these steps.
Assess your facilitator skills by monitoring the effectiveness of your team
and the extent to which they solve problems; you may also want to ask
for direct feedback from your team members or your peers who have
seen you facilitate.
Identify a critical organizational issue(s) that impacts other divisions as
well as your own.
Take the lead in forming a cross-functional, multi-level task force or team
to address and resolve the issue.
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Organize an appropriate communication plan to keep appropriate
stakeholders apprised of progress.

Set clear performance objectives for team members as part of the
Performance Management Process.
These objectives should be:
Specific: describes what the end result will look like

Measurable: expressed in quantifiable terms
Attainable: the goal is realistic
Relevant: linked to organization or unit goals
Timeframed: provide target completion dates.
Communicate these objectives to your team members.

Ask for their input.
Compare performance to the standards you have set in each area of
accountability on a regular basis (e.g., quarterly, annually).
Take action to meet with those people who have difficulty meeting the
objective criteria and discuss ways of improving performance.
Look for opportunities to visibly celebrate individual and team
successes.
Recognize the successes of individual contributors and teams in public
forums (e.g., management team meetings) by providing the specifics of
what was done well.
Show your appreciation to direct reports or individual team members
through personal memos or face-to-face communication.
Encourage and support team celebrations at the completion of project
milestones.
Ask team members to evaluate the effectiveness of the team. Ensure
that they identify both strengths and weaknesses.
Evaluation criteria may include the following:
Clarity of purpose
Problem solving
Decision making
Change
Customer focus
Quality of work
Conflict resolution
Work processes
Feedback.

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Rate your team using the following scale for each criterion:
1 = Team is Not at all Effective
2 = Team is Slightly Effective
3 = Team is Effective in Some Situations but Not Others
4 = Team is Effective Most of the Time
5 = Team is Effective All of the Time
Repeat the exercise every three months to see if perceived team
effectiveness is improving.
Use regular team meetings as an opportunity to share information and
ideas.
Explore, as a group, ideas about how to improve team results and how
the team can contribute to company objectives.
Positively reinforce members of the team who take risks in suggesting
new ways of approaching tasks.
Include information on the big picture - events in the organization that
will help team members understand the goals of the organization.
Keep brief notes on the ideas put forward.
Determine, as a group, ways by which these ideas can be put into
practice.
Clarify acceptable team behaviour.
Develop a short list (no more than six) of norms or values for your
department to guide decision making and interpersonal behaviour.
Norms may be identified in the following areas:
Communication
Problem Solving
Decision Making
Change
Customer Focus
Quality of Work
Conflict Resolution
Work Processes.
These can be extremely valuable in encouraging a particular culture
in your group.
Use them as guidelines for giving performance feedback and to address
interpersonal problems within the group.
Inform group members of the steps you will take in group facilitation and
your reasons for taking these steps.
Make sure your rules apply to yourself as well. For example, if you are
promoting an environment which supports conflict resolution, then make
yourself available to resolve any conflicts or difficulties your direct reports
may be having with you.
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Conduct a scenario review and planning session with your team.
Lead team members through the process of identifying what could
happen in the next six months that could interfere with projects or
planned actions.
Describe the possible scenarios and their potential impact, both positive
and negative.
Lead the team in developing a plan to handle these situations if they
should arise.
Determine method of incorporating the plan into regular team processes.
appropriate level and practice delegation.
Review the activities on your tactical calendar that your team must
accomplish in the next month.
Identify the team members to whom you have assigned each
responsibility.
Indicate the degree of authority the person has in doing the work.
Analyze your results by asking yourself the following questions:
Do I give primary authority to only one or two people?

Can I assign some work to someone at a lower level?
Do I over manage by giving people who do not need help ideas
about solutions or how to proceed?
Improve your leadership performance accordingly.
Level 5 Activities
Provide a strategic context to your direct reports and team members.
Use regular meetings with team members to communicate the strategic
direction of the organization and to keep people informed about activities
in your area and the organization as a whole.
Consider these suggestions to enhance your meetings:
Include everyone who is going to be directly affected by a decision.
Begin the meeting with information on the big picture events in the
organization that will bring to life its goals.
Ask for the opinions of all team members when making decisions.
Avoid taking significant action or making an important decision until
the opinions of all the team members have been heard.
Provide information and explore ideas about how to improve team
results and how the team contributes to company objectives.
Positively reinforce members of the team who take risks in
suggesting new ways of approaching tasks.
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Keep brief notes on the ideas put forward.
Clarify the teams mission.
Initiate a process with your team to either develop or re-visit a mission
statement for your unit.
Provide the framework and a draft of your initial thoughts, and use a
group process to fine-tune the mission statement.
Include feedback, where appropriate, from the departments customers
in the discussion to ensure that your mission meets their expectations of
you.
Post the final product prominently and refer to it regularly in group
meetings when agreement has been reached.
Identify a critical organizational issue(s) that impacts other divisions as
well as your own.
Take the lead in forming a cross-functional, multi-level task force or team
to address and resolve the issue.
Organize an appropriate communication plan to keep appropriate
stakeholders apprised of progress.
Spend time developing and living up to a personal vision.
Over the next several months, develop a personal vision of what you
believe a manager/team leader should be.
Test if the vision is realistic by practicing it in your daily work.
As you develop confidence in your vision, communicate it to the team.
Books and
Videos
The 360 Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the

Organization, by John C. Maxwell (Nelson Books, 2005) also availabe on
audio CD.
In this book, the author asserts that you don't have to be the main leader
to make significant impact in your organization. Good leaders are not
only capable of leading their followers but are also adept at leading their
superiors and their peers. Debunking myths and shedding light on the
challenges, John Maxwell offers specific principles for Leading Down,
Leading Up, and Leading Across. 360-Degree Leaders can lead
effectively, regardless of their position in an organization. By applying
Maxwell's principles, you will expand your influence and ultimately be a
more valuable team member.
The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All
Levels, by Michael Watkins (Harvard Business School Press, 2003) also
Watkins offers proven strategies for moving successfully into a new role
at any point in one's career by providing a framework for transition
acceleration that will help leaders diagnose their situations, craft winning
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transition strategies, and take charge quickly.
The Leadership Pill: The Missing Ingredient in Motivating People
Today, by Ken Blanchard & Marc Muchnick (Simon & Schuster, 2003) also
Destined to be a transforming experience for countless readers, The
Leadership Pill shows business managers at any level how to apply the
right techniques for getting both results and the commitment of their
people, even when the pressure to perform is high.
The Leadership Challenge, by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner
(New Edition: John Wiley & Sons, 2003).
In this edition, the authors emphasize that the fundamentals of
leadership are the same today as they were in the 1980s, and as theyve
probably been for centuries.
Heroic Leadership: Best Practices from a 450-Year-Old Company That
Changed the World, by Chris Lowney (New Edition: Loyola Press, 2005;
Original: Novalis, 2003).
This book examines organizational principles derived from the history
and teachings of the Jesuits and applies them to modern corporate
culture. Based on the four core values of self-awareness, ingenuity,
love, and heroism, this book identifies practices that sixteenth century
priests developed to foster strong leaders and achieve longevity.
High Performance Leadership: Creating, Leading and Living in a High
Performance World, by Graham Winter (John Wiley & Sons, 2003).
This book is a powerful, proven and easy-to-implement approach to
leadership that is essential in the fast and competitive business
environment of the 21st century. The book is based on a hugely
successful leadership and team development process which has been
tested in over 50 organisations.
How to Become a Great Boss: The Rules for Getting and Keeping the
Best Employees, by Jeffrey J Fox (Hyperion Press, 2002) also available
on audio CD.
Fox gives advice on how to become, and remain, a great boss. Fox's
advice is delivered in snappy, to the point chapters that zero in on his
creative advice.
The Leaders Voice: How Communication can Inspire Action and Get
Results, by Boyd Clarke, Ron Crossland (SelectBooks, 2002).
With this book, business executives and others can acquire the muchneeded skills effective leaders use to manage change in turbulent times.

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Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence, by
Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee (Harvard Business
School Press, 2002) also available on audio CD.
This book explores the consequences of emotional intelligence for
leaders and organizations. The authors argue that a leaders emotions
are contagious, and must resonate energy and enthusiasm if an
organization is to thrive.
The Future of Leadership: Todays Top Leadership Thinkers Speak to
Tomorrows Leaders, by Warren Bennis, Gretchen M. Spreitzer, and
Thomas G. Cummings (John Wiley & Sons, 2001).
This book addresses issues that keep CEOs up at night, including why
we tolerate bad leaders, why leadership is everyones business, and how
ethics will play into new leadership.
The Spirit of Leadership: Optimizing Creativity and Change in
Organizations, by Robert Spitzer (Executive Excellence Publishing, 2000).
Many organizations have invested in the skills and structures of change,
but have forgotten the more intangible quality of spirit. As a result, their
changes have been short-lived, their adaptability slow, and their ability to
move to the "next level" nonexistent. The absence of spirit (even with all
the right skills and structures) has prevented these organizations from
developing a self-motivated desire to change for the common good.
Indeed, the absence of spirit has led to abject resistance to change.
The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader: Becoming the Person
Others Will Want to Follow, by John C Maxwell (New Edition: Thomas
Nelson, 2000; Original: University of Toronto Press, 1999) also available
on audio CD.
John C. Maxwell now provides a concise, accessible leadership book
that helps readers become more effective leaders from the inside out.
Daily readings highlight twenty-one essential leadership qualities and
include "Reflecting On It" and "Bringing It Home" sections which help
readers integrate and apply each day's material.
First, Break all the Rules: What the Worlds Greatest Managers Do
Differently, by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman (Simon and Schuster,
1999) also available on audio CD.
In seven chapters, the two consultants for the Gallup Organization
debunk some dearly held notions about management, such as "treat
people as you like to be treated"; "people are capable of almost
anything"; and "a manager's role is diminishing in today's economy."
"Great managers are revolutionaries," the authors write. "This book will
take you inside the minds of these managers to explain why they have
toppled conventional wisdom and reveal the new truths they have forged
in its place.

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The Leadership Moment: Nine True Stories of Triumph and Disaster
and Their Lessons for Us All, by Michael Useem (Three Rivers Press,
1999).
This book presents some surprisingly effective profiles to show how
others have responded when push truly comes to shove. Among them is
the story of how flight director Eugene Kranz worked calmly and
efficiently to return the endangered Apollo 13 astronauts safely back to
Earth.
Soaring with the Phoenix, by James A. Belasco and Jerre Stead (Warner
Books Inc., 1999).
In an environment of constant change, it is not enough to just tweak the
present situation. Organizations must take a good look at themselves
and come up with ways to reshape the whole environment in which they
exist. This book is a step by step guide with advice on how to do just
that.
The Leadership Engine, by Noel M. Tichy with Eli Cohen (HarperBusiness, 1998).
In this book the authors show why teaching must be the key role of all
leaders. Then, citing famous and not-so-famous leaders, they show what
must be taught and how.
Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It, by
James M. Kouzes & Barry Posner (Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1995).
This is a guide to help managers understand the fundamental
importance of credibility for building personal and organizational
success, and for fostering trust within work, family and the community.
Principle-Centered Leadership: Strategies for Personal & Professional
Effectiveness, by Stephen Covey (New Edition: Free Press, 1992; Original:
Distican Inc., 1991) also available on audio CD.
This book explains that the key to dealing with the challenges that face
us today is the recognition of a principle-centered core within both
ourselves and our organizations. Dr. Covey offers insights and guidelines
that can help you apply these principles both at work and at home -leading not just to a new understanding of how to increase quality and
productivity, but also to a new appreciation of the importance of building
personal and professional relationships in order to enjoy a more
balanced, more rewarding, more effective life.
A Force for Change: How Leadership Differs from Management, by
John Kotter (Free Press, 1990).
This book describes the nature of leadership within cogent case studies
of effective application (see especially Chapter 2).

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The video America3: The Power to Create (Owen Stewart Performance
Resources Inc, www.owenstewart.com, 1-800-263-3399).
This program uses the experience of the crew of America3 to highlight
the key strategies for creating a winning team: turn setbacks into
opportunities, focus on common goals, and understand the value of
communication - the formula the won America's Cup, yachting's most
coveted prize. In 1992, the crew of America3 won the Americas Cup by
overcoming obstacles and focusing on teamwork, technology and talent.
The video Creating Leaders, by WynCom Inc. (International Tele-Film, 1800-561-4300, www.itf.ca).
This live Fortune 500 Forum panel discussion features Harvard professor
John P. Kotter and CEOs Alfred M. Zeien of Gillette, Lewis E. Platt of
Hewlett-Packard, and John M. Trani of The Stanley Works. They look at
the best ways to identify and cultivate leaders within organizations.
The video Solving the Leadership Puzzle, by Learncom (International
With Richard C. Whiteley. This program identifies, defines and illustrates
the four practices that effective leaders share.
The video Team Building: How to Motivate and Manage People
(Career Track Publishing, 1995).
In this three-volume video program, managers learn how to turn
conventional work groups into teams.
Management expert Mark
Sanborn leads the viewer step-by-step through the team-building
process including how to structure the team and set objectives.
The movie Apollo l3
Look for examples of effective leadership behaviours, both in space by
the mission commander (played by Tom Hanks) and on the ground by
the manager of mission control.
The movie Crimson Tide
This dramatic thriller is set aboard a submarine. Watch the differing
leadership styles of the two lead characters. Note how different crew
members respond to the leadership styles.
The movie, Master and Commander The Far Side of the World.
Watch how Jack Aubrey (played by Russell Crowe) leads his vessel in a
titanic and epic struggle of the seas during the Napoleonic Wars.
External
Development
Programs

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TEAM ORIENTATION
Works collaboratively with others to achieve common goals, to be part of a
team and work together, as opposed to working separately or competitively.
Team Orientation may only be considered when the subject is a member of
a group of people functioning as a team, generally where he or she is not the
leader (e.g., M&A teams, functional work groups, etc.). Team Orientation
also includes taking the role as leader in a team or other group. It implies a
desire to lead others. Leadership is not always shown from a position of
formal authority. The team here should be understood broadly as any
group in which the person takes on a leadership role, including the
enterprise as a whole. Team is broadly defined as any task or processoriented group of individuals.
This Means...
soliciting and utilizing the
skills, ideas and opinions of
team members
keeping others informed and
up-to-date about any relevant
or useful information
keeping in mind the concerns
of other team members as
well as your own concerns
supporting and encouraging
team members
speaking of team members in

positive terms
bringing group issues out in

the open which may be
personally threatening or
difficult to deal with
regularly soliciting input in

team meetings or circulating
reports for comments; then
amending reports or actions
as a result of the input
defending the teams
reputation when others
criticize
encouraging the exchange of
information and flow of ideas
with others

This Doesnt Mean...

preferring to be left alone
to get on with your own
work
telling various pieces of
information to different
parties
engaging in win-lose
competition with other
members of the team
placing blame or making
judgements about other
team members
expressing negative
expectations and opinions
of team members
only offering opinions on
other group members'
behaviour without being
willing to examine your
own short-comings
going through the motions
of soliciting input but never
applying or synthesizing
the gathered information
keeping quiet or ignoring

critical comments about
your team members
using excuses (e.g., time,
cost) as ways to exclude
others from discussion
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Developmental
Activities

Make an effort to participate on projects that will require a high level of
Teamwork and Co-operation.
Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity to improve your Teamwork
and Co-operation skills.
Prior to beginning the project, create a list of the behaviours and actions
which you believe a good team member needs to demonstrate.
Review these with your team.
Meet with members of your team during or after the project to discuss
how you demonstrated Teamwork and Co-operation and whether you
fulfilled your initial list of behaviours.
Emulate a role model.
Identify someone in the organization who demonstrates the capacity to
be an excellent team player.
Observe this person in action and make note of what he/she does to
encourage, facilitate and support teamwork and team morale.
If the person is on the same team as you, ask him/her to observe you
and give you feedback and suggestions about how you could improve
your teamwork skills.
Hold follow-up meetings for feedback and additional coaching at least
quarterly to track your progress and maintain your motivation.
Identify the resources the group needs to accomplish their goals.
Identify the things you are able to obtain on their behalf and take action.
Identify any constraints that exist in terms of providing required
resources.
Engage your team in problem solving to develop plans to overcome
shortages of resources.
Level 3 Activities
Solicit opinions from all team members when making a team decision.
Hold regular information meetings with your team to keep them up to
date on activities in your department, the larger organization and the
community.
Solicit input from team members regarding how your team can best
realize the organizations goals and contribute to area/department goals.

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Consider all of the ideas and suggestions you receive.
Allow this information to have an impact on your teams discussion of
priorities, objectives and approaches.
Ensure that the team can explain why certain suggestions are utilized.
Seek feedback from your manager and/or peers on your Teamwork and
Co-operation behaviours.
Ask a peer to help monitor your actions and give you feedback.
Ask for his or her perceptions of when you have effectively participated
as a team member to solve problems and when you have missed
opportunities to do so.
Take note of these observations.
Take steps to improve upon those actions that are less effective.
Ask questions that draw out the needs, interests, concerns, and
objectives of other team members.
Demonstrate your interest in and understanding of what was said by
restating it in your own words.
Seek points of agreement between your positions, making an effort to
point out the similarities, not just the differences.
Make a list of all the concerns.
Brainstorm an action plan with other team members so that as many
concerns can be addressed as possible in achieving the group objective.

Avoid destructive messages.
When interacting with team members, make a conscious effort to avoid
sending messages that minimize Teamwork and Co-operation, such as:
Communication Shut-down a statement or action that cuts off
discussion with no plan to continue.
"You Should" Statements like You should do this which sounds
parental and insinuates that I know better than you.
Discounting minimizing another persons
inappropriate reassuring, distracting or humouring.
comments
by
Threatening expressing (directly or indirectly) an intention to do

harm.
Communicating Through Someone Else a statement that
expresses dissatisfaction indirectly to the person but through
someone else.

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Mind Reading assuming that your perception of a confusing
message is right without clarifying or assuming the other person can
read your mind.
Silent Treatment feeling resentment or anger toward another, but
not addressing it directly with that person.
Double Blind sending a message where the words say one thing
but the body language or attitude convey a different meaning.
Judging/Blaming placing blame or making judgements about
another person; often involves finger pointing.
Premature Advice offering immediate advice to someone without
showing concern for their feelings, listening, or helping them
problem-solve.
Listen during team meetings.
Dont answer your own questions, practice remaining silent for at least
10 seconds after you ask a question.
If you disagree with someone in a team meeting, first acknowledge that
persons point of view before offering your opinion.
Summarize objectively differing points of view on issues and explicitly
acknowledge that there is a difference of opinion.
Ask for the groups help when there appears to be conflict in the group.
Practice the following skills and behaviours when you have situations
of potential conflict in your team.
Emphasize peoples common goals, and how everyone depends on
each other.
Treat each person with respect.
Practice good listening skills.
Have the group develop its own rules of conduct (e.g., Voice facts not
emotions).
Help to define the problem by coaching others to be concise and stick to
facts.
Coach them to avoid repeating the same points over and over.
Insist on true consensus within the team.
Look for opportunities to acknowledge team and individual success,
formally or informally.
Recognize the contributions of team members in public forums,
referencing specifically what individual members did well.
Use formal
performance.
communication
to
acknowledge
successful
team
Let individual team members know your appreciation through personal

memos or face-to-face communication.
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Encourage and support team celebrations at the completion of a new,
difficult or challenging task or project.
Make a list of the key strengths and limitations of each person on your
team.
Review your list with your manager and ask for his or her input.
Look for opportunities and plan projects to use the strengths of each
individual.
Seek your managers assistance to find opportunities to maximize team
member strengths and to provide developmental opportunities for these
individuals with limitations.
Books and
Videos
Mastering Virtual Teams, by Deborah L. Duarte & Nancy Tennant Snyder

(New Edition: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2006; Original: Jossey-Bass
Publishers, 1999).
This revised and expanded second edition includes a CD-ROM packed
with useful resources that allow virtual teams to access and use the
books many checklists, assessments, and other practical tools quickly
and easily. The authors provide updated guidelines, strategies, and best
practices for working cross-culturally and cross-functionally, across time
and distance, to see a project through.
The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization,
by Peter M. Senge & Bryan Smith (New Edition: Currency, 2006; Original:
Doubleday, 1994).
This book describes the secret of how to get teamwork in your teams. It
argues it is a learning process, with your people aiming high, then
learning to create the results they desire.
The Power of We: Succeeding Through Partnerships, by Jonathan H.
Tisch & K. Weber (John Wiley & Sons. 2005).
The CEO of Loews Hotels, Tisch preaches a management philosophy of
cooperation: forging partnerships with employees, customers,
shareholders and communities.
The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization,
by Jon R. Katzenbach & Douglas K. Smith (New Edition: Harper Collins,
2003; Original: Harvard Business School Press, 1993).
Use this practical approach to ensure success with your teams.
Examine reasons why some team efforts fail and avoid them. Learn
what to expect as you study the team performance curve.

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Team Orientation
Cross-Functional Teams: Working with Allies, Enemies and Other
Strangers, by Glenn M. Parker (New Edition: John Wiley & Sons, 2002;
Original: Jossey-Bass, 1994).
This top expert on teamwork provides tips on easing the interactions of
cross-functional teams. This new edition contains fresh examples and
additional case studies of successful cross-functional teams from IBM,
Parke-Davis, Xerox, Boeing, BOC Gases, government agencies, and
more.
How to Make Collaboration Work: Powerful Ways to Build Consensus,
Solve Problems, and Make Decisions, by David Straus & Thomas C.
Layton (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2002).
Collaboration is an everyday practice that many people find to be a
frustrating, even exhausting, experience. How to Make Collaboration
Work provides a remedy: five principles of collaboration that have been
tested and refined in organizations throughout the world. Author David
Straus shows that these methods can help any group make better
decisions and function more effectively.
Leading Teams: Setting the Stage for Great Performance, by J. Richard
Hackman (Harvard Business School Press, 2002).
This book outlines what leaders can do to structure, support, and guide
teams in a way that enhances the social processes essential to collective
work. The book also offers a new and provocative way of thinking about
and leading work teams in any organizational setting.
High Five! The Magic of Working, by Kenneth Blanchard & Sheldon
Bowles (Harper Collins, 2000).
This book combines the spellbinding charm of a timeless parable with
cutting-edge information about why teams are important and what
individuals and organizations can do to build successful ones.
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable, by Patrick M.
Lencioni (John Wiley & Sons, 2002) also available on audio CD.
Lencioni begins by telling the fable of a woman who, as CEO of a
struggling Silicon Valley firm, took control of a dysfunctional executive
committee and helped its members succeed as a team. Story time over,
Lencioni offers explicit instructions for overcoming the human behavioral
tendencies that he says corrupt teams (absence of trust, fear of conflict,
lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability and inattention to
results).
The New Why Teams Dont Work: What Goes Wrong and How to Make
it Right, by Harvey A. Robbins & Michael Finley (Berrett-Koehler, 2000).
This updated book includes completely new material on team
intelligence, team technology, collaboration vs. teamwork, team balance,
teams at the top, the team of one, plus all new and updated examples.
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Turning Team Performance Inside Out: Team Types and Temperament
for High-Impact Results, by Susan Nash (Davis-Black Publishing, 1999).
In this book, the author defines the five critical characteristics essential to
team effectiveness: strategy; clear roles and responsibilities; open
communication; rapid response to change; and effective leadership
and details how each is influenced by the personality types and
temperaments of the team members as individuals.
Achieving Consensus; Tools & Techniques, by Eileen Flanigan & Jon
Scott (Crisp Publications, 1996).
This easy-to-read book discusses the ability to work together, make
decisions together, and implement them. It explains the importance of
reaching group consensus and alignment, in order to help the team
succeed.
Team Players and Teamwork, by Glenn Parker (New Edition: Jossey-Bass
Publishers, 1996; Original: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1990).
This book defines 12 characteristics that distinguish effective teams and
team players. Ineffective team styles are also highlighted and discussed.
The Team Handbook, by Peter R. Scholtes, Barbara J. Streibel, & Brian L.
Joiner (New Edition: Oriel Inc., 1996; Original: Oriel Inc., 1993).
This is a best-selling comprehensive resource book that organizations
around the world use to teach people how to be effective team members.
In addition, it contains tools and methods that teams use in their work.
Team Effectiveness and Decision-Making in Organizations, by Richard
Guzzo, Eduardo Salas & Irwin Goldstein (Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1995).
This book provides the latest research perspective on teams: their
nature, function, effectiveness, decision making process, and ability to
change the face of organizational life.
Leading Teams: Mastering The New Role, by John H. Zenger, Ed
Musselwhite, Kathleen Hurson, & Craig Perrin (Irwin Professional Publishing,
1994).
This resource, written for team leaders, provides practical approaches for
sharing leadership in teams.
Groups That Work (and Those That Dont): Creating Conditions for
Effective Teamwork, editted by Richard Hackman (Jossey-Bass 1981).
This book describes different kinds of functional and dysfunctional
groups and explains principles of group functions.

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Team Orientation
The video, America3: The Power to Create (Owen Stewart Performance
Resources Inc., 1-800-263-3399, www.owenstewart.com).
This program uses the experience of the crew of America3 to highlight
the key strategies for creating a winning team: turn setbacks into
opportunities, focus on common goals, and understand the value of
communication - the formula that won America's Cup, yachting's most
coveted prize. In 1992, the crew of America3 won the Americas Cup by
overcoming obstacles and focusing on teamwork, technology and talent.
The video, Building The Perfect Team by Video Arts (International TeleFilm, 1-800-561-4300, www.itf.ca).
The ideal team is composed of individuals whose skills complement each
other. But finding the right members is a difficult challenge. This video
shows how to identify people in terms of their team role and discusses
how to compose a team with the correct mix of players.
The video, Five Star Teamwork by Workplace Publishing (International
This new program features the remarkable team at the Four Seasons
Restaurant in New York City - for 40 years one of the top-rated
destination restaurants in the world - and the principles they live by.
The video, Groupthink2e (Owen Stewart Performance Resources Inc., 1800-263-3399, www.owenstewart.com).
This video explains why well-informed group members go along with the
majority. Eight symptoms (rationalization, shares stereotypes, selfcensorship, mind-guarding and direct pressure, illusions of morality,
invulnerability and unanimity) are discussed.
The video, Team Building by Ash Quarry Productions (International TeleFilm, 1-800-561-4300, www.itf.ca).
This program describes the five characteristics of effective teams and
what each team member must do to build the team.
The movie, Mr. Hollands Opus.
This film is about a composer who takes up teaching music. Notice how
he works with his team - the orchestra.
The movies The Mighty Ducks", "The Dirty Dozen", "Cool Runnings" or
"The Great Escape
These are all films about Teamwork and Co-operation. Notice the
importance of working toward a common goal.
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Development Resource Guide

As depicted in the accompanying chart, previous research and

On the job experience and challenging job assignments;

15% Relationships and Feedback from on the job

15% Off the Job Learning (community

15% Training & Executive Education

Consider including in your learning plan elements of each area; keeping

How to Use This

Within the Guide

Review and identify 1-2

Read the section

Read the section

Share with your

Prioritize your competency gaps, identifying those competencies that will

Development Resource Guide

The guide is not intended to be an exhaustive list of possibilities but

Developing a competency is a partnership between you and your

As you develop a competency you should move through the following

Development Resource Guide

Development Resource Guide

This Doesnt Mean...

looking for new and better

working with current

setting your own high

relying on others to set the

improving the performance

being satisfied with the

striving to continuously stay

setting and reaching difficult

striving to beat project

being satisfied if the project

working to improve your

being content with what you

foreseeing and acting on

looking at each obstacle as

Development Resource Guide

Level 1-2 Activities

branchs quality of services,

Find out if your personal goals are challenging yet attainable.

Development Resource Guide

Development Resource Guide

Level 4-5 Activities

Development Resource Guide

Development Resource Guide

Development Resource Guide

Resource costs (e.g., time,

Profitability (e.g., 15%)

Balance between Client and BU

Development Resource Guide

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, by Mordecai Richler (New Edition:

TO BE COMPLETED BY NOVA SCOTIA PUBLIC SERVICE

Development Resource Guide

Adaptability and Flexibility

ADAPTABILITY AND FLEXIBILITY

This Doesnt Mean...

finding alternatives that will

believing your view is the

accepting others points of

believing that their opinion

flexibly applying guidelines or

deciding what to do based on

acting in ways that may