New research by Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield reveals a discouraging communication gap between parents and teachers that has potential to affect a child’s success. Teachers feel parents don’t communicate major changes in the home and parents feel teachers don’t share revealing details about their child’s behavior in the classroom. To bridge the gap between what parents and teachers want to hear and what the two parties actually communicate, Grenny and Maxfield suggest both take action at the beginning of the school year. For Parents 1. Over-communicate. Use the beginning of the school year to build and strengthen your relationship with the teacher. Share your child’s interests, talents, and background that will help the teacher connect with and best serve them. During the year, update the teacher on any changes in their life, home, or friend group that could affect the mental, emotional or physical health of your child—such as illness, death, marital status of parents, etc. 2. Swap contact details. Make sure the teacher knows the best time and method to contact you. 3. Partner with your child’s teacher. Reach out. If you have a concern about your child, don’t wait for a teacher to bring it up to you. If you have a question, ask. Teachers work incredibly hard to provide the best for students and often must look after hundreds of them. And don’t forget: a simple thank you goes a long way in strengthening the partnership between teachers and parents. For Teachers 1. Make a call. Use calls or home visits before the school year begins to build and strengthen the relationship. Introduce yourself and share something specific and positive about the child’s academic and character strengths. Share your vision of the teacher-parent relationship as a partnership that is crucial to the child’s growth. Invite parents to share critical information with you and explain the best time and method to get in contact with you. Consider giving the parent a postcard or visual reminder. 2. Send a family survey. Collect essential information about both the student and the family. Learn the student’s strengths, hobbies and unique talents. Ask about the parents and other adults in the child’s life. Learn about family history and family priorities that will help you better connect with and serve their child. 3. Invite parents. Don’t wait until report card conferences to invite parents into the school. Plan a family academic night, math night or literacy night. Increase attendance at these conferences by planning early and using all available methods of communication—the school website, newsletter, etc. 4. Share gratitude and praise with parents regularly. Use quick texts, notes, and emails of gratitude or praise. These build a deepening sense of trust. Keep an open mind about family situations and intentions. View the results of our study in the infographic below or download a copy for yourself.

Dear Joseph, Our twenty-five-year old son is living on his own for the first time. He has a good-paying job but still lives paycheck to paycheck and frequently borrows money from us. We have bailed him out a number of times and just can’t do it anymore. He has asked if he could move back home to save for a year. He manipulates us and often plays the "feel sorry for me" card. As a mother, I hate to refuse helping him. Is letting him move home a good idea? How can we help him learn to control his spending without controlling him? Signed, Apron Strings Dear Apron Strings, You are asking the age-old question: "Am I helping in a way that helps?" When we attempt to help others, it is wise to stop and ask which of two kinds of problems they are facing: 1. Situational 2. Behavioral A situational problem is one that is caused by some external agent. For example, I can’t pay my rent because I lost my job. Or, I failed my final because I caught a virus that kept me bedridden and incapable of studying for three weeks. When someone suffers from a situational problem, it’s easy to help in a way that helps. Usually we do it by solving others’ lack through gifts. We take from our abundance to provide for their lack. For example, I give you $200 to help you make your rent payment. The second kind of problem—behavioral problems—are trickier. These are problems we create through our own choices. For example, I can’t pay my rent because I lost my job . . . because I am unreliable and unpleasant to work with. Or, I failed my final because I got sick . . . because I drank and partied with friends to the point of exhaustion. As you can see from these two examples, situational problems often occur in combination with behavioral ones. As the saying goes, fortune favors the prepared. The converse is true as well—misfortune favors the misbehaving. If you want to help in a way that helps, look for contributing behavioral causes even in clearly situational problems. My principle for helping others is to always ask, "How will my potential help influence their future behavior?" This question is crucial because if you really want to help, your goal should not just be to alleviate present suffering, but future suffering as well. Your compassion should direct you not just to immediate relief, but to total pain. Otherwise, you might act in a way that makes you and them feel good now, but produces much more pain in the long term. So, be clear about what you really want! In 1978, Muhammad Yunus, an unknown economics professor from Chittagong, Bangladesh trudged through a famine-ravaged village trying to find a way to help his starving countrymen. After days of discerning conversation with dozens of villagers, he discovered that most were caught in a cycle of poverty because they lacked access to just a few pennies in capital to sustain their simple income-producing activities. For example, one woman who produced beautiful bamboo stools was forced to borrow the equivalent of twenty-five cents from a village loan-shark at 1000% interest in order to buy her supplies. This exorbitant rate kept her from accumulating the twenty-five cents that would liberate her from this exploitative relationship. Yunus was tempted to reach into his pocket and simply gift the money to this woman. But his social science training caused him to pause. He recognized that while the situational famine was a significant cause of the woman’s suffering, his gift might influence her behavior in a way that would hurt her in the long term. The thought struck him, "The one thing this woman has that I am about to steal from her is her responsibility." A rich outsider solving her problem might cause her to feel less capable of solving her problems on her own. Instead, Yunus loaned her the money. And he charged her interest so she could feel that this was a business relationship. The rest is history. To date billions of dollars of tiny "micro credit" loans have been offered—and repaid—by the poor around the world. Where gifts create dependence, these loans—and the dignity that comes from repaying them—have influenced planning and investing behavior among the poor in a way that has produced a lasting benefit. The most important gift you can hope for your son is not relief of his current suffering but a sense of efficacy, or in other words, a capacity to solve his own problems. You are wise to consider whether one more gift is truly helping or hurting. In fact, your gifts likely come with the message that you don’t believe he can solve his own problems. You may well be influencing his behavior in a way that contradicts your own stated intentions. I wish you the best as you attempt to help him in a way that helps. Good Luck, Joseph

Dear Emily, I lead a support group for single/widowed/divorced individuals for people aged forty to eighty. Meetings are informal and focused on sharing, so an agenda is not usually necessary. However, lately we have had a problem with sidebar conversations. One member in particular, who has little or nothing to say when it is her turn, will make a statement to the person speaking that has nothing to do with the topic. Or she will have a sidebar with her neighbor during another person’s turn. This being an informal support group, I don’t want to establish a lot of rules that would harm our purpose of listening to each other and to offer suggestions when needed. How can I address this without offending the "offenders"? Sincerely, Fed Up Dear Fed Up, As your question demonstrates, leading informal groups is often far more challenging than holding a formal leadership position. It’s often difficult to strike the delicate balance between leading and participating. In a situation like this, I would first consider whether this should be a public or a private conversation. If the problem is pervasive and many people are having sidebar conversations, it may be best to hold the conversation as a group. If the problem is limited to one or two members, it may be better to simply address your concern with those individuals. A couple of suggestions for both situations: Group Conversation If you decide to hold the conversation with the entire group, consider carefully what your intent is and make sure to clarify that up front. Then, describe the behavior you are noticing and its impact without identifying specific people by name. Calling someone out specifically will damage your efforts for building safety. Finally, ask the group for their perspective. For example, you may consider starting with something like this: "When we started this group, our goal was to provide a safe and respectful place where we could listen and learn from one another. Over the past few months, I have noticed that our group has started a pattern of side conversations that may distract from the person speaking. I am wondering if others have noticed this and felt the same impact that I have. What do you think?" With that, you have successfully handled the easy part of the conversation. Now comes the hard part: waiting for, listening to, and discussing the meaning that others share. At this point, the conversation could go in many different directions. Everyone could remain stoically silent, unwilling to speak up and address the behavior. Some could become defensive, thinking you are publicly criticizing them. Others, who agree with you, could start calling people out by name for having sidebars, destroying safety. So, what is your role at this point? You have initiated the topic and it is up to the group to add meaning. Your responsibility will be to maintain the conditions of safety that will lead to a productive discussion. If others become defensive, make sure to point out that this is not about specific people, it is about a group pattern and ultimately about how the group wants to interact. If others don’t see it as a problem, accept that you may be alone in your feelings and be grateful that the group is still working well and serving its purpose for the members. Above all, remember that your intent is to start a dialogue and maintain the safety people need in order to add their perspective. Individual Conversation Should you decide that the issue is only with one or two individuals, you may choose to discuss this privately with them. Doing so naturally creates more safety for the other person. Not surprisingly, the approach is similar: focus on your good intent, share your observations about the behavior and what you see as the impact on the group, then ask for their perspective and be open to hearing their point of view. Two cautions with this type of conversation: 1. Don’t overrepresent what you have heard from others. Your focus should be on sharing what you have noticed. For example, "I noticed last week that you were talking with Todd while it was Suzie’s turn to speak. Ann and other members of the group seemed distracted by your conversation and weren’t able to fully listen to Suzie." What you don’t want to say is, "Lots of people have talked to me about this and are concerned about how distracting it was when you were talking to Todd last week." Share your perspective and leave it at that. 2. Consider both what is occurring and what is not occurring. Sometimes we get over-focused on the impact of the behavior—in this case, that group members are distracted and feel disrespected—and fail to understand what is not happening because of the behavior. Here, the group is neither hearing from this person, nor gaining the benefit of her experience and perspective. When she shares comments primarily in sidebar, everyone is losing out on her insights. Make sure to point out not only what is happening but what is not happening as well, and how that impacts the group. Whichever way you choose to hold the conversation, with the group or with the individual, let us know how it goes! Best Regards, Emily

The New Year is quickly approaching, which makes it the perfect time to define yourself as a leader as a resolution for 2014. In a world where it’s easy to lose footing, it’s good to have a guide to get back on track. Forbes has shared several key aspects that you should look for, not only in yourself, but also for the people leading you into the future. Leaders should have a singular identity and a sense of urgency, but they should always be someone you can count on. A great leader should be sure of him or herself and know how to lead. Having someone who lays expectations out ahead of times and sticks to them is a hot commodity. Staying ahead of the game, promoting continuing education and having a knack for seeing unforeseen circumstances also are key aspects of a great leader. Great leaders also know that they didn’t get to the top without help from someone. Recognizing teamwork and how each cog in the wheel works most effectively is a sign of someone who can engage their employees and work best not only as an individual, but also within a team. Charisma may be something one is born with, but passion can be taught. Passionate leaders stand up for beliefs, bravely explore the unknown and shun complacency. They drive their employees to search for the same excitement level. Finally, the best leaders lead by example. They have that "thing" that people are drawn to and make others want to be better. Having a defining presence in a room and being a champion of others, and not just yourself, is a great way to succeed as a leader in 2014.

One of the critical issues facing organizations today is safety….not just safety in the workplace but safety in all facets of our personal lives. After all, if people get injured at home, it affects their on-the-job performance, as well as medical costs. No matter how hard we may try, you can’t order safety. It’s a culture we have to create and each person has to feel it personally. A US Navy destroyer is an inherently dangerous place and no Captain, no matter how good he or she thinks they are, can order safety. In the year prior to taking command of USS Benfold, 31 sailors out of a workforce of 310 were involved in some type of injury producing mishap. The first afternoon after I took command of the ship, one of my sailors was involved in a DUI off base after going to a bar after work. The very night I took command of the ship, one of my sailors was severely beaten in a mugging because he walked out the wrong gate of the base after sunset in one of the worst parts of town. It was a newly reporting sailor who didn’t know that you don’t go to that part of town after sunset. That fact wasn’t included in our welcome aboard program for newly reporting personnel. Are all of these connected? Absolutely!!! It speaks to the culture that we try to create. You can never have a great organization if your top priority is not the safety of your people. The one thing that drove me throughout my entire tenure was that I never wanted to write the parents of any of my sailors and tell them that their son or daughter wasn’t coming home because of something we did or something we failed to do. When I looked at safety on the ship, I assumed my sailors wanted to be safe and so everything I looked at was whether our processes facilitated a safe culture. We implemented a program whereby every week, I would focus on one of the 24 divisions. I would inspect their work spaces for safety and other hazards. I would observe sailors doing their maintenance and quizzing them on the safety precautions. I reviewed their safety training program and participated in seminars with them. During these events they could ask questions about anything they weren’t sure about. I wanted them to understand that the concept of safety was portable to their families and personal lives, as well. We trained on the dangers of drinking and driving and if they were drinking, they could call a local cab company to give them a free ride home which was then paid for out of our morale fund (and not taxpayers money). By the way, we also tried to create a culture of respect whereby sailors didn’t have to go home after work and blow off steam and drink to excess. Any sailor could stop any process if they thought safety was being impaired. Any sailor had a direct line to me if they thought their chain of command wasn’t sufficiently concerned or didn’t see what they were seeing. Every sailor knew that I felt their safety was a top priority of mine and not just lip service. The result? My last year in command, there were two minor incidents; down from 31 incidents two years prior. Was I satisfied? No!!! Two is two too many. But we never missed an opportunity to try and drive that culture of excellence and safety. They go hand in hand.

So you’ve decided that you’re going to do a training evaluation, and, yikes, it is your first one! First, answer these questions: Will the evaluation be used in deciding whether or not to move forward with training? Why is the evaluation being done; that is, what decisions does the company want to make during the evaluation? Who are the key stakeholders who should receive evaluation reports? What do they want from the evaluation? What elements of a evaluation will provide the data to aid in the decisions that you and/or stakeholders want to make? When is the information needed? What resources are available to conduct the evaluation? Can a Steering Committee be formed to aid with the evaluation? Will internal resources be used or will you employ external evaluation resources? Is funding available? What projects will be delayed or not done if the evaluation is implemented? What existing evaluation practices are in place? Can they be leveraged and used in the evaluation? Will this evaluation replace some of these practices? The answers to the questions attempt to get at the purpose of the evaluation and what is prompting it. Implementing your first training evaluation can be a bit intimidating, but, as with any effort, it gets easier and quicker as you do it. First, you need a plan of action—the Evaluation Plan. The key to a successful training evaluation is in the planning. Often, evaluation planning is ignored in favor of getting on with the evaluation work. However, many people fail to realize the value of an evaluation plan in saving time and money and preventing problems. Coming up in this series of posts: Questions training evaluation answer Elements in an Evaluation Plan Evaluation deliverables Evaluation schedule Performing the evaluation Training evaluation and continuous improvement Training evaluation organizational readiness As always, I would enjoy hearing your thoughts on this topic.

As adults, we place a value on every moment in our lives. When it comes to optional education, not compulsory education, we do what we MUST do first - in our jobs, in our lives. This leaves little time for anything else. eLearning and distance learning, unless prescribed, is only accessed when we need to learn something (argument for just-in-time learning). Even when prescribed, as designers, we have very little time to MOTIVATE the learner before they disengage because of perceived lack of value (how will it help me in my work? in my daily life? Oh - this is humourous - I’m going to go through it because it’s fun…). If you are creating a page turner - a ‘PowerPoint on steroids’ - you can be sure that people will disengage quickly unless they need to learn the information or have to click through the course to get credit. Distance education is only as good at the people you have creating it, and often, the money you wish to spend on it. Ben Franklin said, "Penny-wise, pound foolish." This applies to eLearning as well. If you decide on a product completely created in China (sorry China, right now it’s really, very bad), you get what you pay for.  eLearning with a rapid authoring tool by an SME who knows nothing about adult education often falls into the same category. It’s no different than having someone who is a terribly bad facilitator teaching an instructor-led. We’ve all had those. There’s no value in them and we find the time spent  to be excruciating. My advice is to leave eLearning and distance learning to the experts - those who understand the demographics of your learners and how they learn.  Be willing to let go the concept of ‘it must be serious and dry or it’s not learning’ and be driven to spend a little money because as my father used to say, ‘Nothing’s for nothing, kid.’ Oh and just when you think people do not like to learn online - look at social media tools, Google, wikipedia, etc. etc. People crave knowlege - they just don’t like to watch something dull that reads like a PowerPoint. When will we learn? It’s right there to harvest….

It’s that time of year. The air is turning crisper, and football is creeping into conversations. Many managers and leaders worry that football is a workplace distraction. And it’s a natural concern. When you see people’s phones and computers loaded up with NFL information instead of the most pressing business projects, it can be alarming.However, if you are worried about your employees doing their jobs, that is the problem - not football. When used effectively, fantasy football can be a uniting activity that creates more positive energy and commitment than without.Try these three ways to use fantasy football as a culture enhancer: Support a company-wide fantasy football league.Don’t fight the football frenzy. It is a large force out there. Sited in a Forbes article from last year, around 33 million people participate annually in fantasy football. It can be a fun activity for anyone in the company.At Fierce, the league adds value. Fantasy football is a grassroots effort by individuals in the company who want to make it happen. There are no defined company resources allocated besides our office space. However, fiercelings can make the case if there are other desired budgets or resources. People look forward to this time of year, and ultimately, it adds energy and fun camaraderie in the office. Insert the topic into conversations.Fantasy football can bridge different departments and titles. It gives a common interest and topic of conversation. I encourage you to talk about the status of the league or leagues in scheduled meetings and events, when appropriate.At our Fierce sales and marketing meetings, people talk about the league and what lessons they are learning as the season goes on. This is a great way to learn something new about football and your colleagues.Encourage respect and learning.The reality is that some people have zero interest in fantasy football, or football for that matter. Football is an opportunity to show respect to people with all levels of participation. It is important that you do not favor people in any way. Encourage others to talk about their interests as well - who knows what that will bring. Perhaps a company-wide chess tournament? A marathon of black and white films?The point is, when people feel cared for and listened to - they care about their work and the people around them on a deeper level. So tell me, does your company have a fantasy league? How does it help or hinder your workplace?The post 3 Tips to Use Fantasy Football as a Culture Enhancer - Not Distractor appeared first on Fierce, Inc..

Most people reserve their brains for the workplace and their hearts for the home, but there is much to be said for online training experiences that build an emotional connection with your corporate learners. In this article, I’ll share 7 tips to help you engage your employees through emotional learning. How To Engage Employees Through Emotional Learning: 7 Tips For eLearning Professionals One of the most significant challenges facing corporate eLearning developers is how to get their learners hooked. They need to be engaged, focused on the task at-hand, and excited about their online training in order for it to be truly successful. All of this can be easier said than done, however, unless you can get them emotionally involved. In this article, I’ll be offering 7 tips to engage and inspire employees by tapping into their emotions. 1. Put your corporate audience in charge. Let your corporate learners take control of their own online training experience by choosing when, how, and what they learn. Give them a clear idea of what they need to complete by the training deadline, but then allow them to take it from there. Of course, you can offer them support when they need it, but giving them the opportunity to work autonomously empowers them to learn and boosts their confidence. 2. Use mistakes as learning tools. Mistakes often have a negative connotation. However, if you know how to truly analyze and reflect upon mistakes, they hold the power to transform learning behaviors. If an employee makes a mistake during the online training course, then draw their attention to it and offer input on how they can improve. Constructively criticize corporate learners without making them feel as though they failed the task. This automatically triggers their brain to absorb the correct information and commit it to memory. More importantly, it makes them aware of the fact that you care about their success, and that they are free to take risks that can lead to professional growth. 3. Encourage learner reflection. At the end of every online training activity or module, give your employees ample time to reflect upon their eLearning experience. Allow them to absorb what they have learned and to determine how they can improve moving forward. This time for self-reflection also gives them the chance to focus on their emotions, such as how they felt about the online training experience, and determine how they can use their newly-found information in the real world. When they can see how the training will benefit them on-the-job, they will understand the true value of their eLearning experience and be more willing to actively participate. 4. Honor negative emotions, rather than hiding them. Let’s be perfectly honest; some employees aren’t particularly fond of compliance training or taking the time to learn about new product updates. There are also certain employees, particularly over-achievers, who tend to beat themselves up when they cannot master a topic in a timely manner. This is when it’s crucial to honor negative emotions by encouraging your corporate learners to analyze why they are feeling this way, as well as how they can channel their energy into a positive endeavor. For example, you can ask them to reflect upon why they don’t want to participate in the online training course, then work together to formulate a training strategy that works for them or stress the benefits of taking the eLearning course. 5. Challenge learners’ opinions. Think about the last time someone told you that your opinion was wrong or that they disagreed with your viewpoint. Despite the fact that an opinion cannot be "wrong", as it’s all a matter of personal perspective, when someone challenges our assumptions this typically evokes a strong emotional response. It makes us question the knowledge that we already have stored in our long-term memory banks, and to reassess our way of thinking about that particular topic. So, why not tap into these strong emotions by contradicting popular opinion or making a bold statement. For example, you can question a common work practice or turn a popular belief on its head. This not only grabs their attention, but gets their mental gears turning and prompts them to consider alternate approaches to work related challenges and tasks. 6. Praise is the key to persistence. Ultimately, every member of your corporate learning audience wants to improve themselves in some way. Even those who may seem more reluctant to participate still have an inherent desire to be better at what they do or, at the very least, improve their work practices in order to climb the corporate ladder. This is where praise comes into play. If you praise your learners when praise is due, this will fuel their motivation and make them more emotionally connected to the online training experience. Though it’s important to provide constructive criticism to fix incorrect learning behaviors, giving them the praise they need can strengthen favorable behaviors. 7. Let them know that they make a difference. Employees can often lose sight of the fact that they make a difference in the workplace. The job duties that they carry out on a daily basis make the company more successful, thereby increasing their own professional success. Emphasize the fact that online training will give them the ability to become not only better employees, but more confident and self-fulfilled individuals. Stress the fact that their contribution to the organization truly matters, and that you appreciate they are taking the time to develop their skills and knowledge base. If they know that you respect their participation and acknowledge their efforts, they are going to be more engaged and emotionally connected to the online training experience. Conclusion With these tips and tricks, you can transform any online training course into an emotionally-centered, highly effective online training experience for your corporate audience. Even compliance training can become exciting and engaging if you add emotional learning to the equation. Interested in learning more about motivating your corporate learners? Read the article How To Create A Motivational eLearning Experience: 6 Tips For eLearning Professionals to discover 6 top tips to create a motivational eLearning experience for every member of your corporate audience. The post 7 Tips To Engage Employees Through Emotional Learning appeared first on TalentLMS Blog.

Servant leadership seems like an oxymoron. Are you serving? Or are you leading? Managers who practice servant leadership are doing both. The Robert F. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership describes the servant-leader as someone who "shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible." Although this leadership philosophy dates back to around 500 BCE, it has only recently become commonplace. According to the book The World’s Most Powerful Leadership Principle by James C. Hunter, "servant leadership is emerging on a grand scale in many parts of the world. The evidence of this is that many of the most admired and successful organizations on the planet are now practicing the disciplines of servant leadership." The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. is one of the many organizations that exercises servant leadership. The following list of DO’s & DON’Ts presents the basic principles and benefits of servant leadership and shares a little of The Ritz-Carlton perspective. DO recognize the qualities needed to be a servant-leader. In the book Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership, authors James W. Sipe and Don M. Frick define a servant-leader as "a person of character that puts people first." Servant-leaders are focused on nurturing and coaching employees. Their role is to help others develop and grow. Herve Humler, President and Chief Operations Officer at The Ritz-Carlton, expressed this concept when he said: "My friends are the 40,000 Ladies and Gentlemen of The Ritz-Carlton. I want them to succeed, and I want to make sure they have the tools to succeed." Servant-leaders express humility, and recognize and value the contributions of others. Servant-leaders are also people of high moral character. General Norman Schwarzkopf wisely stated: "By far the single most important ingredient of leadership is your character. You will find that 99 percent of all leadership failures in this country in the past one hundred years were not failures in competence. They were failures in character." Servant-leaders must express qualities such as integrity, strength, empathy, humility and appreciation. DON’T be concerned that servant leadership will make you less authoritative. Leaders may be worried they will lose a sense of authority and power if they become servant-leaders. Adam Grant addresses this point in his book Give and Take. He writes: "Research suggests that there are two fundamental paths to influence: dominance and prestige. When we establish dominance, we gain influence because others see us as strong, powerful, and authoritative. When we earn prestige, we become influential because others respect and admire us." Leaders who are givers and show genuine care for employees build prestige, which "has more lasting value" according to Grant. Bob Kharazmi, Global Officer, Worldwide Operations at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C., explains it this way: "If you don’t create relationships with your team, then you are using formal authority. When you have a relationship and there is trust, then you have moral authority." He continues, "formal authority gets the job done to some degree, but it does not get the job 100% done. Moral authority gets the job 100% done. I practice moral authority because if I have relationships, then I have earned trust and then I only need to say something once." DO expect servant leadership to increase loyalty and employee engagement. According to the Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership, "Leaders who are seen as persons of character are more likely to generate loyalty, creativity, and productivity among company employees." Servant-leaders must walk their talk. Their actions need to align with their character. They must also ensure that their actions are helpful and not indulgent or enabling. In the book Turn the Ship Around!, the author, Captain David Marquet, asserts that "Taking care of your people does not mean protecting them from the consequences of their own behavior….What it does mean is to give them every available tool and advantage to achieve their aims in life, beyond their specific job." When employees see their leaders empowering, supporting and genuinely caring for them, they will naturally become more trusting and loyal toward their leaders. The Employee Promise at The Ritz-Carlton states that, "Our Ladies and Gentlemen are the most important resource in our service commitment to our guests." Employees who feel valued for their service are more likely to be engaged. DON’T forget about empowerment and trust. Trust is one of the advantages of servant leadership. The Scrumban [R]evolution claims that, "Servant Leaders engender trust, which catalyzes higher levels of worker engagement, the offering of the workers’ discretionary effort and ideas, and greater speed in change and innovation." Trust also makes empowerment possible. As Stephen R. Covey notes in the foreword to the seminal book Servant Leadership, "The only way you get empowerment is through high-trust cultures and an empowerment philosophy that turns bosses into servants and coaches, and structures and systems into nurturing institutionalized servant processes." Empowered employees are better equipped to handle problem-resolution, and they feel a greater sense of ownership and accountability. Covey also says that only those organizations that "align their systems, structure and management styles to support the empowerment of their people…will survive and thrive as market leaders." DO see the relationship between servant leadership and organizational culture. If an organization’s culture isn’t dedicated to service and prioritizes profits over people, then servant leadership will not work. Servant leadership and culture have a symbiotic relationship: An organization with a culture of service will foster leadership committed to service, and servant-leaders need a culture devoted to service in order to succeed. DON’T be surprised that servant leadership impacts profits. Organizations that practice servant leadership tend to put people before profits. If you are a for-profit organization it may seem foolish to value people over profits. However, choosing to make people your top priority has a surprising result. "Ironically, the practice of putting people before profits makes an organization even more profitable," according to the Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership. The book also asserts that "organizations that say ‘people are our most important asset’ and mean it, have a significant competitive advantage." Each year The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. identifies five priorities known as the Key Success Factors. Customers and employees are always the top priorities and financial performance is always the fifth priority. For many decades, The Ritz-Carlton has successfully practiced service leadership and continues to embrace a mindset of service that includes our customers, our employees, our communities and the world. ∞ The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center offers advisory services, courses and presentations to organizations that wish to benchmark the award-winning business practices of The Ritz-Carlton. Your organization can learn about The Ritz-Carlton methodology for customer service, employee engagement and leadership development. We also guide organizations through a multi-step process in order to achieve sustainable culture transformation. The Blog Post DO’s & DON’Ts of Servant Leadership appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Relationships are the currency of business. As a salespeople, it’s our job is to leverage relationships to collaborate, strategize, and ultimately reach a solution that best fits our clients’ goals. But being successful is about more than knowing a client’s business, analyzing their needs, or having solutions ready at our fingertips. It’s about understanding that how we ‘show up’ with this wealth of knowledge directly influences the direction of our ongoing relationships and interactions. Whether a veteran account manager or a rookie, we all need to be mindful of how we communicate, especially with those who are critical to the success of our business. Here are 4 tips that I keep front of mind when engaging clients: BREATHE By taking a few mindful breaths before picking up the phone or entering the room, I become more focused, less anxious, and have a stronger ability to actively listen. It’s a simple—and yet critical—technique to support a relaxed and healthy voice and also helps to establish the level of energy that I plan to bring to the conversation. REALLY LISTEN Strong client relationships are built on trust, and trust begins with being present in the moment and fully hearing the client’s needs, context, situation, and history. After being genuinely curious and asking strategic questions, I try to stop talking and listen with intent. HAVE EMPATHY We’ve all heard the old saying, "You can’t understand another person’s experience until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes." I think most of us have good intentions—but when up against a deadline or a quota it’s easy to skip the empathy and jump to problem solving—to check the box and move onto the next ‘To Do’. To make a meaningful impact on the day-to-day lives of clients, I try to stop and consider what may be occurring on their end, take the time to ask the right questions, and above all, ensure they know they’ve been heard. BE MINDFUL OF TONE Whether meeting with a client in person or speaking with them on the phone, tone influences the energy in the conversation and impacts the way our clients perceive the dialog.  Ensuring that tone is congruent with a message is critical, otherwise we risk coming across as disingenuous or even disrespectful. Prior to speaking with a client, I think through the purpose of the message (to excite, warn, etc.) and focus on my purpose during delivery.  For instance when meeting someone for the first time, I find that if I try to be my best authentic self (with a smile, if appropriate), a tone of warmth and compassion is inherently applied to the words exiting my mouth. At the end of the day, I remember this:  In each interaction with a client, I have the opportunity to deposit emotional currency into the bank of our relationship, by being fully present and mindfully authentic. What other aspects do you stay mindful of when speaking with clients? What are your most effective presence tactics? The post How Sales Presence Impacts Clients appeared first on Ariel Group.        Related StoriesClaim It until You Make ItThe Employee Engagement EquationHow to Influence Without Authority 

The myth-busting team is back to bust myths and chew some gum. And we’re all out of chewing gum. This week we’ll examine 6 common myths about mobile learning, beginning with… 1. Mobile Learning is all about being mobile Names don’t always tell the whole story (if they did we wouldn’t need books and movies — we’d just ask for the names of the characters). While "mobile learning" seems to be about doing eLearning while being mobile (e.g. while commuting to work on a train), that’s not really required. People can (and do) engage in mobile learning from their sofa at home, from the beach, at a cafe and generally everywhere. The "mobile" in mobile learning is more about the devices that you access your eLearning content with than about where you do it or whether you’re on the go while doing it. Which brings us to our next myth: 2. Mobile learning is merely using a smartphone to do eLearning That’s sort of correct (although the smartphone can also be a tablet or even some future wearable device), but again it doesn’t tell the whole story. While you’ll indeed use a smaller mobile device to do mobile learning, that doesn’t mean that you’ll be doing the same kind of eLearning that you’d do using your laptop. The smaller screen, (possibly) slower connection and touch based interaction, call for a different approach to the amount of eLearning content you show and how you present it. Then there’s the fact that people view mobile learning in a more casual fashion (compared to the ceremonial and purposeful sitting behind a desk to complete some eLearning course module), which also calls for a lighter touch. With these things in mind, we can say that to do justice to mobile learning you don’t just deliver eLearning content as is to mobile devices. Rather, you adapt it for them. 3. Mobile learning is not really learning There’s this idea (well, myth) that you can’t properly do eLearning on a small screen and that mobile phones and short learning sessions are not adequate for teaching purposes. This is wrong in at least two ways. First of all, have you checked smartphones lately? Information density, especially on the flagship models with "retina" (Hi-DPI) displays, rivals our office monitors of yore. And screen sizes are only getting bigger. Depending on your target demographic you could pack a lot of material on a single, small screen. Then again, you probably shouldn’t. See, eLearning is not about the density of transmitted information, but about how well that information is absorbed by your learners (see also our previous point about mobile learning needing material that works well with the medium). There are several mobile learning guidelines and tricks that you can use to allow your learners to benefit from mobile learning, letting you use the small screen and the short focused sessions to their advantage. 4. You have to have a native mobile app While there are several excellent native mobile learning applications out there, you don’t have to offer one to your learners. Merely giving them web-based access to your mobile learning portal is perfectly adequate. In fact, unless you’re going to create something really special, that needs to talk to the phone sensors and take full advantage of its capabilities, there’s no reason to go native. Mobile browsers, while not as full featured or fast as their desktop counterparts, are still quite capable and mature, and should be able to cover all of your mobile courses’ needs. As for monetization, a web page allows you to use your existing subscription scheme, without giving a 30% cut to Apple (as is the case with subscriptions and purchases paid through the App Store). And of course your web page will work just as well on Android, Windows Phone and whatever platform appears in the future. 5. Mobile learning needs special infrastructure Not really. If you have an existing LMS that serves your eLearning portal, it should be able to cope with mobile users just fine without further expenses. As long as you serve your mobile learning courses as web pages, you don’t need any special hardware, software or further expenses to cater to mobile devices. You can either serve your existing courses with a responsive, mobile friendly theme that will make them presentable in smaller screens, repurpose your desktop-focused content by formatting it for mobile devices, or even create entirely new courses with mobile learners in mind. 6. It’s an either / or proposition There is no rule saying that you or your learners have to be fully committed to mobile learning. Of course you could offer mobile only courses, but you could just as easily allow your students to access their courses from both their desktop and their phones. You could also use mobile learning as a complementary side-channel to your desktop learning offering; just something to keep your learners occupied while outside and bored that gives them bite sized chunks of information taken from your full course material. Mobile learning, in the end, is what you make of it, and this also depends on what the needs of your learners are (obviously, e.g. teenagers learning a foreign language will have different schedules and mobile use habits compared to enterprise employees completing a certification course). So here we you have it. Half a dozen myths busted. The myth-busting team shall take a rest now, but watch this spot, as we’ll be back with more eLearning-related myths to bust next week. The post 6 myths about mobile learning appeared first on TalentLMS Blog.

Did you notice that Goldman Sachs (of all companies!) has just forbidden its interns from working after midnight? Seems like their HR people, if not the pooh-bahs, have just suffered an attack of political correctness aka social responsibility. So even if one of their starting interns wants to work his version of overtime (like into the wee hours), s/he won’t be allowed. OK as a married man myself with kids I understand the tradeoffs. Sometimes the HR people have got to stop you killing yourself for the sake of your family and kids. I get it. But is everyone even a workaholic anyway? Maybe I am revealing a gross lack of observational skills, but in my work experience what I have observed is that the people who have lacked the most in the work-life balance have usually been the ones who made the biggest breakthroughs and contributions to their companies and professions. They were usually the innovators. Did you ever hear of Steve Jobs or Elon Musk telling their employees to slack off for the sake of their families? What do you think would have happened to their products, companies and shareholders if they had? Remember Malcolm Gladwell and his 10,000 hour rule (from his book "Outliers")? That was what he calculates you need to put in workwise to make a breakthrough in any field. Do you think the Beatles would have succeeded if they had all decided that they would do the 10,000 hours over their lifetimes instead of just a couple of years? Would we have had the Merseybeat if they had chosen just to take it easy? Nope, you wanna make incredible breakthroughs; you gotta make "sacrifices" (more on this later). And, although it’s not politically correct to say so, so does your family. It’s just the nature of things. Ask anyone who has achieved great things and see if they tell you anything different. And that doesn’t just mean business. How about art? Ask Van Gogh. He went crazy of course, but look at his art. Do you think we remember him just because he lived in Paris and liked to spend his leisure time drinking with his pals? Or the poet Rimbaud. Francis Crick of DNA fame. In fact anyone who ever achieved something really great. And not just for themselves; for their company, country, mankind. And for these people who strived mightily, was it really a sacrifice? Of course not! In the vast majority of cases they were doing it for themselves! For them it wasn’t work, it was fun! In the great debate about work-life balance, for them this wasn’t work, it was life! Just like normal people get their hots on from watching their kids play soccer or going shopping with the wife to and kids, workaholics get theirs through working 24/7 on things that they too are passionate about; in their cases things that can change the world, or their company instead of giving their family the benefit of their presence. We might not like to talk about that aspect but that doesn’t make it any the less true. Those breakthrough types are having their own kind of fun; but in their case it has huge social, not family achievement as its aim. When Big Brother mandates that we all strive for work-life balance, we are descending yet another level in the gradual depreciation of human achievement. It’s up there with grade inflation and declining school scores for math and reading. The mommy state is now telling us that we shouldn’t work too hard achieve because it might make some people - yes, families, kids and spouses - unhappy. But what about society advancing? Doesn’t that matter? What about all those families who have unhappy and unfulfilled lives with a breadwinner who leans mightily on the life side - say an alcoholic - and who doesn’t give a s**t for them anyway? Maybe that doesn’t ever happen?? Most people are normal anyway. That means most people, without any prodding by anyone, will go heavily for the life rather than the work, at least if they have half a choice. The vast majority of people aren’t going to have the disproportionate societal impact that the workaholics have. Those people are relatively rare. Wouldn’t we need more of them, not less? I do think most people should aim for work-life balance, as they probably already do from my observations on full restaurants on the weekend. That’s how we keep PTAs going, kids coached for soccer and raise funds for rowing clubs. But why try to rip the heart out of the overachievers who make the biggest breakthroughs and work the hardest for things they believe in? Surely that doesn’t make any sense? Everyone is talking about innovation and how we need more of it. The work-life drive seems custom-designed to reduce or even eliminate it. You can’t have your cake and eat it. Yet the fashion is to reduce outstanding efforts and hope the rest takes care of itself. I don’t think it’s an accident that Goldman Sachs made this inane ruling given that they are now visibly well after their peak and on the slippery downslope to mediocrity. The bureaucrats have taken over and we clearly shouldn’t expect that company to do anything of any significance any more. That one-time innovator now looks more like a government department than a meat-eating corporate mover and shaker. How about copying the FAA which still doesn’t have a modern functioning computer system after billions of dollars have been totally wasted. Looks like it could use a lot more work and a lot less life, right? As T. S. Elliott wrote: "That’s the way the world ends; not with a bang but a whimper". When the world’s end happens, we’ll obviously all be on our permanent vacation.  Read More

Yesterday, was National Read a Book Day. So I have to ask…did you read a book?           Shared in 6 Science-Backed Reasons To Go Read A Book Right Now, the Journal of Neurology found that those who engaged in mentally stimulating activities, such as reading, earlier and later on in life experienced slower memory decline compared to those who didn’t. In particular, people who exercised their minds later in life had a 32 percent lower rate of mental decline compared to their peers with average mental activity.I don’t know about you, but those facts definitely strike me as a reason to pick up a book. Lowering my memory decline over time is definitely something I want to sign up for.On top of that, reading gives you more space to go deeper into yourself and reflect on your own interpretations. Reading solicits a different kind of mental engagement compared to watching television or browsing social media.My boyfriend, Eric, and I recently started reading books with and to each other instead of flipping on Netflix or staring at our phones at night. It has been a very fun way for us to reflect on story lines and talk deeply about topics that come up for us. We recently read Girl on a Train by Paula Walkins, and throughout our dinners, we would conspire about what would happen next to the characters.Perhaps you can try a similar experiment with your partner, a family member, or a friend. This week’s tip is to choose read a new book. There are so many great books out there. And a shameless plug, if you haven’t read Fierce Conversations and Fierce Leadership, maybe you should pick one up.The post Fierce Tip of the Week: Read a New Book appeared first on Fierce, Inc..

Only 18% of those currently in management roles demonstrate a high level of talent for managing others. (source) Advice from John Cashion, Corporate Director, Culture Transformation at The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center: As it states in the Employee Promise of The Ritz-Carlton "Our Ladies and Gentlemen are the most important resource in our service commitment to our guests." In order to fulfill this promise, our leaders around the world must invest in our Ladies and Gentlemen (this is what we call our employees) on a daily basis. Leaders cannot just sit behind their desks. They need to actively engage and nurture the progress of their staff. One of the ways this is accomplished is through training and mentoring—and this includes developing hourly employees into successful managers and then leaders. Managing employees is important, but true leaders guide, inspire excellence and help employees grow. When leaders are committed to the individual aspirations of their teams, they can impact employee engagement, increase employee retention and strengthen the reputation of their organization. ∞ Join us for a one-day symposium on November 12th. The day includes a Ritz-Carlton executive panel with Herve Humler, president & chief operations officer of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. The Blog Post Significant Stat: Management Roles appeared first on The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Fine.  This is it.  I’m doing it.  I’m going to dedicate it to digital paper.  This blog post is going to focus on Games and Gamification.  This is particularly difficult for me, because there is so much misunderstanding about the difference between the two. So lets get a few things straight first.  I come from a background in Modeling and Simulation (no, I’m not too short for that, thanks though mom).   That means, from my perspective every game is at its core, a simulation.  Every single game.  Tetris?  A simulation of box stacking.  Call of Duty?  A war simulation.  Sonic the Hedgehog?  A simulation of a land far far away where hedgehogs behave that way.  Real or imagined, they are all simulations.  They become games when game characteristics are added to them.  For example, take a simulation of the box stacking, as in Tetris.  Add in score, the ability to control the boxes by rotating and dropping them, color coding, previews of the next box coming, leaderboards, the ability to get rid of rows of boxes, and increasing speed and you get a game.  For Call of Duty, add in a rich story line, the ability to control a character, goals and "quests", the ability to compete with others, great metrics and increasing complexity and you get a game.  These are the fundamentals that create a game.  They aren’t always the same.  They aren’t all fun.  But they have these two things in common, a simulation + game characteristics = game. Then we have gamification.  Gamification is not a game.  It does not take something and make a game of it.  It is a motivational construct.  It motivates a behavior.  Judy Unrein reminded me that learning is not a behavior.  She couldn’t remember who to attribute that little gem to, but I think its an excellent point.  Therefore, gamification is adding a few very specific game characteristics such as points, badges, achievements, even story to a REAL WORLD task.  This is the key element.  Real World Task + selected characteristics (points, badges, achievements, leaderboards) = gamification.  Games are not "gamified" content.  If it’s a game, its not gamification.  Games do have the characteristics that gamification has.  But, they are not the same thing. Examples of gamification include getting gold stars for doing your chores, getting badges like boy scouts for learning new skills, and hitting the high score on your sales charts at work.  These are not games.  They are gamification.  They are things that you are doing in the real world, but you are being rewarded for doing them.  Maybe you wouldn’t do these things if you didn’t get a reward.  Maybe you have to do them anyway.  Doesn’t matter. So why the big hang up for me?  Because people are calling gamification implementations games.  And, quite honestly, they don’t work the same way, and they don’t have the same outcomes.  Basically, I don’t want games to get a bad rap because gamification fails.  The Gartner group reported in 2010 (I think) that in the next 5 years, organizations would spend 50 BILLION dollars on gamification implementations.  They reported in 2012-2013 (I think) that something like 80% of those implementations would fail.  I don’t want the good name of games, and the good work that games are doing to be lumped in with gamification constructs can’t do. Ok, maybe that’s not it.  Buts its apples and oranges.  And the two should not be lumped together.  Additionally, the industry dictates its own categorizations.  The eLearning industry should not create its own terminology that doesn’t cross over.  We wouldn’t like it if another industry started calling eLearning something like webweblooloo would we?  Well, that’s how they feel about us calling anything games by the name gamification.  Let’s not make them call us webweblooloo professionals ok? So, what are games good for?  Games are good for so many things!  But, of course, not everything.  When I work with an organization who is considering games, one of the first questions I ask is do you think your employees could benefit from practicing this skill?  If the answer is yes, then most likely you could benefit from a game.  A well-crafted carefully considered game that is.  Games are great for providing experiential learning, practice opportunities, reinforcement, problem solving, leadership training, and even teaching! Gamification on the other hand is good for different kinds of things.  Gamification is great for brand loyalty, marketing, stickiness, and motivating a behavior.  Gamification is not good for training or learning.  I will say that again in case you glossed over it.  Gamification is NOT good for Training OR Learning.  Why?  Because learning and training are not behaviors.  Simple right?  Think about it this way.  You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink right?  Same with gamification and learning.  You can motivate someone to interact with your content, but you can’t make them learn it.  The content itself is what results in the learning.  Not the reason you’re taking it.  Additionally, when you motivate using a rewards based system you are eliciting a motivational construct called extrinsic motivation. So, what does this mean?  There are two kinds of motivation within cognitive psychology, Extrinsic and Intrinsic.  Extrinsic motivation has a focus on winning because you want the prize (even if its just a badge or recognition).  Intrinsic motivation has a focus on winning because you are the best at the task.  This means that when you are motivated by anything other than the desire to learn, you may not learn it.  Now this is tough when we are providing any kind of learning organizationally.  How much algebra did you really want to learn in school?  You were motivated to learn it because you wanted to get to the next grade, or you were avoiding the punishment of failing.  Basically all of our education came from an extrinsic motivation.  But, ask yourself, how much algebra did you learn?  I mean, really learn?  Just enough to pass the test?  Or did you learn enough to consider yourself good at it?  For me, it was the latter?  I was motivated to get a passing grade in the course, not to really understand algebra.  Mandatory training like information assurance and sexual harassment are much the same.  Sure, we want people to understand them, but, that’s not up to us entirely.  It’s up to how we create the climate to reward deeper understanding. Crystal clear right?  Don’t worry, I still struggle with it.  Karl Kapp said it best when he said that we shouldn’t get into the business of counting the number of game characteristics that you have to add before something becomes a game vs. gamification.  I agree with his approach completely because to me there is practically no overlap.  I would love to hear your  thoughts on this, but in the meantime, let’s put together a few challenges to see if you can figure out if something is a game or if its gamification!! Monopoly at McDonald’s Games Czar says this is gamification.  This one is a particularly interesting one because monopoly is a game right?  Yes.  Yes it is.  Monopoly at McDonald’s however is not fully a game.  It’s a marketing strategy that rewards your purchase of items in large sizes in order to get pieces.  Now, what do you need those pieces for?  To win prizes. Poker. Games Czar says this is a game.  Now, what is this game simulating?  What game characteristics have been added to this simulation?  Think very hard.  In the meantime, I will too.  I’ll have to get back to you on this one. Horse.  Yes, as in basketball. Games Czar says this is also gamification.  It is again the gamification of a game.  You are trying to make baskets in order to win, you are not playing basketball, which is a game. Ticket to Ride Games Czar says game.  You’re simulating building railroads, you’ve added in competition, challenge, randomness, characters, time, and score. Rockband Games Czar says game.  You’re simulating being a band, you’ve added in competition, challenge, score, customization, quests, characters. As you can see, nothing is cut and dry.  And sometimes gamification is added to an actual game.  And the real world situation in that case is playing the game.  Wild stuff right?

2013 was my second visit to the Games 4 Change (G4C) conference in New York City.  Last year I was so inspired by my trip that I decided to submit a proposal to present at this conference and was very very excited when it was accepted.  The G4C festival represents the Games for Change movement (see prior blog post on Games Movements) and is THE place for truly meaningful games.  This year’s conference was again inspiring.  I met amazing people working on amazing projects and was honored to be included in the speaker population.  The new venue provided some much needed room for a quickly growing conference, and was hands down the coolest place I’ve ever presented. The highlight of this year for me was AMPLIFY project.  This project is dedicated towards Literacy and STEM learning outside of the classroom.  That’s right, casual games for learning.  I love it.  Not only were the games shown here clever and well put together, they were visually gorgeous.  The project brings together national and international game studios to build a variety of games.  My favorite games within this project include: Lexica - a fantastical game designed to get students interested in literature by Schell Games (I don’t agree with their hiring process, but they did a great job on this game). Storycards - a card game of authors and characters by Preloaded. And SimCell - a game by Strange Loop that explores the cells of muscles I met some really great people including people from the Latin America Games for Change initiative and many game developers who really care about the world!  You can check out some of the presentations (including mine I think…eeek….on You Tube!)  The Games 4 Change awards also showcased some really great efforts!  Check them out here http://www.gamesforchange.org/festival2013/games/

Head on over to www.gamification.co to read my post on the dark side of gamification! Thanks to Gabe Zicherman and Ivan Kuo for inviting me to submit!

With technology rapidly changing the world around us, businesses that embrace new ways of working are the ones that will succeed. Technological change has always driven changes in working practices. As evocatively captured in Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony for the Olympics, industrialisation brought forth new forms of transport and communication that not only transformed England’s countryside but also the nature of work. The development of the moving assembly line in the early 20th century drove further change through strictly regulated workflow and the efficient division of labour.    Today, we are seeing a transition away from these industrial modes of working. Driven by the proliferation of powerful devices such as smartphones and tablets, coupled with high-speed Internet connectivity, this change will be no less profound than the Industrial Revolution was. For many organisations in both the public and private sector, the build up to the London Olympic and Paralympic Games has accelerated this change as they have sought to minimise the impact to business continuity. But many other organisations have resisted this transition. According to research we carried out before the Olympics, only 10 per cent of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in London had adopted new working practices to minimise potential disruptions. As it has turned out, there has been much less disruption than expected. But this is no argument for complacency. Conditions can change rapidly, as we saw in 2010 when unexpectedly heavy snow cost UK businesses more than £1 billion in lost productivity as staff struggled to make it into work, frequently cancelling or postponing meetings as a result. The affects of the volcanic ash cloud disruption in the same year were felt far wider than just the UK. Over 300 airports across Europe were disrupted, and more than 6.8 million passengers were directly affected. On a global scale, conditions can change just as quickly. A recent survey by International Data Corporation suggests that in the next three years more than one billion workers across the globe will be working remotely. The survey showed that of the 1.3 billion workers, 244.6 million will be in Europe, 212.1 million in the Americas and 838.7 million in emerging economies of the Asia Pacific region. In this new era of work, businesses that have increased their capacity to work flexibly will maintain or even improve productivity, while those that lag behind risk losing everything. Where will your business be?   Photo credit: NASA

Collaboration is an innately social activity. As with anything social, collaboration can be a strong force of change, whether you are communicating with your workplace constituents or your broader influential community. Business collaboration is a natural arm of this new social space defined by products like GoToMeeting. However, it’s the people who use GoToMeeting who truly define the real beauty and purpose of our product by showing us how collaboration really flows within their larger river of life. The incredibly innovative people who understand mechanisms for transforming business through collaboration typically implement a whole host of tech tools that create great efficiencies in how they communicate and lead. Whether they are heading up a weekend beach barbeque with friends or rallying an executive leadership team to adopt new value-improving practices, these folks use technology to define a new way of conducting all aspects of daily existence. For over 20 years, Citrix has consistently placed the desires of customers first by developing products that enable businesses to grow and outperform the market. At the helm of these companies are, of course, very inspired people, and among them are the pure entrepreneurs - the leaders who make our preoccupation with "business" much more interesting. For our serial Meeting Is Believing campaign, our goal is to find out what insights these remarkable GoToMeeting customers hold and how they enact their vision. From a narrative perspective, the Meeting Is Believing campaign is a take on testimonials with an underlying "day in the life" structure. This coupling of lifestyle with pure business creates far more rich content, cultural context, brand affinity and relatability within our target SMB space than fabricated or scripted content do. In other words, we’re tapping into our most vibrant customers and asking them to reach beyond our product use in their daily life. We sought to capture the pure human-interest part of the story first and then allow it to unfold into a greater tale in which GoToMeeting plays a decisive role in empowering communication. Mindjet CMO Jascha Kaykas-Wolff was the perfect protagonist for our first foray into the campaign. His creativity is clearly pervasive in all his pursuits - from "agile marketing movement" leader to serial entrepreneur to imaginative technologist to armchair anthropologist. Additionally, he is always eager to share his ever-emerging thoughts and ideas on his blog, Twitter and Facebook. Look for the campaign in your next issue of Inc and Entrepreneur, in airports and online at Facebook, Twitter and You Tube. Our next installment is in the works at this very moment. In fact, the crew and I are flying to Indianapolis over the weekend to shoot the interview. The entire team is really excited to build on this excellent momentum and deliver many more incredible stories of innovation.

San Francisco, the City by the Bay, is one of the top travel destinations in the world. Home to Silicon Valley, the Bay Area is also the birthplace and continual pacesetter for everything tech. For the first installment of GoToMeeting’s serial Meeting Is Believing campaign, we (clearly) couldn’t resist including some of the city’s most stunning features to frame our story of the thoughtful technology marketer Jascha Kaykas-Wolff, chief marketing officer of Mindjet. If you are not familiar with San Fran (not "Frisco," unless you want to make a native wince), we staged the beginning and end of this "day in the life" against photogenic landmarks. In the morning shot, Jascha is greeted by the historic "Port of San Francisco" neon sign hanging over the Ferry Building - a throwback to when it was a thriving shipping hub. Disembarking, he strolls across Justin Herman Plaza towards Lower Market Street on his way to the Mindjet office in Levi’s Plaza, just a short distance away. Finally, the Golden Gate Bridge graces the backdrop of the evening ride home. Throughout the filming, Director/Producer Jeff den Broeder and Director of Photography Alex Kopps capture key visual elements of the unique environment where some of our most innovative customers live and work. These scenes play critical roles in making the story compelling by adding texture, meaning, depth and culture. Through this approach, we sought to immerse the viewers in the personality and vision of the customer to create a real connection. Ultimately, we get to see a true human interest story that reveals what it’s like inside the minds of people at the top of their game. In addition to recording live action, we asked Laura Flippen to shoot still photos of Jascha around the Mindjet office using primarily natural light. Though we scouted the location a few days prior and followed a shot list, we left ourselves open to capturing unexpected moments over the course of the shoot. Relaxing and having some fun has a great and desirable effect on the final images. The goal is to project very consistent, natural energy - the same look and feel we seek to capture with live action - only in a static format. This consistency across media types strengthens the clarity and force of our story and directly affects how the market perceives our campaign. Advertising requires more than just coming up with an idea and creating a set of tactical touch points to increase trial volume. It’s about having a vision, understanding the long-term marketing, business and cultural challenges, acknowledging the fierceness of the marketplace, and making sure the idea has legs to support the needs of a big organization like Citrix. Perhaps most important for us, though, is understanding how we can maintain the quality, content and narrative thread of the GoToMeeting brand in a way that is relevant to our audiences for years to come.

I love HDFaces. As a Citrix employee, I’m supposed to love it. But as a remote employee, I really love it. You see, I’ve been with Citrix for six years. For five of those, I’ve worked from my home office in Santa Rosa, CA (the #5 city in the U.S. for teleworkers!). There are a lot of things about working from home that are amazing - number one being that I am able to see my 10-month-old son more often. (He’s that cute skeleton in the photo above.) But, as anyone who works from home could tell you, it gets a little lonely. You miss out on the water-cooler talk, the gossip and the spontaneous fun that makes you feel like part of the team. HDFaces video conferencing helps you get some of that back. Having a webcam makes you feel more connected - you get to soak up the background and notice little things like a person’s haircut or the scarf they are wearing. You see the person behind the voice. For me, HDFaces makes meetings more fun. You can probably guess from the photo what’s coming next! In the name of fun and team building, GoToMeeting is hosting a little contest this All Hallows’ Eve. How to participate: Here’s how it works. On Halloween, schedule a GoToMeeting session with your team. Get costumed up and turn your webcams on! Then: Take a screenshot or photo of your HDFaces session. Post it on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #MakeMeetingsFun. Fill out this webform. Easy as that! The winner will be the team with the most creative costumes. (Yes, it’s subjective.) Prizes The winning team will have their photo published in all the GoToMeeting social channels, and each team member (up to 6 people) will receive a $50 Visa gift card. Eligibility You and everyone in the photo must be over 18 years of age. You must be a U.S. resident. You can read the full legal rules here (PDF). Not a GoToMeeting customer? Don’t worry - you can still participate. Sign up for a free trial. Happy Halloween - now let’s see those costumes! UPDATE: Check out our new photos from today on the GoToMeeting Facebook page.

Where do you work? If you’re a workshifter like me, the answer to that question is a pretty long list. I mostly work from my home office, but sometimes, like today, I set up camp in my living room in front of the fireplace. Occasionally, when I’m stir-crazy, I work from coffee shops, or when it’s sunny, from my backyard. The spring before last, I once worked from a car while riding cross-country. Point is, these days work can take place anywhere - and it does. Here at Citrix, we believe work is a thing you do, not a place you go. I fully agree, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go places that are fun to work from! As the community manager for the Online Services division of Citrix, I get to interact with real people using our products. One of my favorite things is when customers share photos of where they workshift from. This happens often with people in the GoToMyPC community, who take advantage of remote access to work anywhere. In fact, we recently released an updated Android app for GoToMyPC that offers greater mobile support, so you can now connect to your Mac or PC from your iPad, iPhone, Android device or even Kindle Fire. To celebrate, we’re hosting a photo contest! How to participate Here’s how it works. Over the next five weeks, take photos of the interesting places you work - you can be in the picture or you can snap the photo of your view. Then: Post your photos to Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #Workshifting and mention @GoToMyPC. Fill out this webform. Easy as that! Submit as many photos as you want, but remember you can only win once. The winners will be those who managed to work from the most unique places. (Yes, it’s subjective. Prizes The winners get a $50 Amazon gift card and bragging rights. Each Monday until December 17, we’ll announce the "Workshifter of the Week" and feature his or her photo on the GoToMyPC Facebook page.  Eligibility You must be over 18 years of age. You must be a U.S. resident. You can read the full legal rules here (PDF). Not a GoToMyPC customer? Don’t worry - you can still participate. And if you want to try GoToMyPC, sign up for a free trial. Need help brainstorming cool places to work from? Check out Workshifting.com - it’s got tons of tips and resources to help you workshift anywhere. We look forward to seeing your photos!

Today, we have a guest post from Gihan Perera. Gihan is a consultant, speaker and author who helps professional speakers, trainers, thought leaders and other business professionals to leverage their products, services and business practices - particularly with their online strategy. He is also the author of the books Secrets of Internet Business Success and Webinar Smarts, among many others. Find out more about Gihan and see more here. The workplace of the 21st century is no longer a "place" where employees congregate from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday. The growth of telecommuting, outsourcing, off-shoring and globally dispersed teams means the modern leader needs to work effectively with an "invisible workforce," a trend that is only going to increase. Here’s two big reasons for this trend: The virtual workforce gives organizations a competitive advantage in reducing fixed costs and recruiting the best talent. Remote workers are more productive than in-office workers. This changing landscape poses challenges for managers, who admit they don’t know how to manage and lead virtual teams effectively. Team leaders cite issues of trust, communication, managing deadlines and achieving consensus in decision-making. In fact, even though two-thirds of leaders consider it important for their managers to be able to lead virtual teams, few (22%) admit those managers have the necessary skills. One of the biggest challenges leaders face with virtual teams is creating trust - absolutely crucial for an effective team. In-person teams build trust through physical interactions and engaging at a personal level. For example, team members might spend time with each other, share meals, have personal conversations and even socialize outside work. Leaders struggle to foster these same interactions in virtual teams, and might even be rebuffed if they try. For example, online meetings tend to be more efficient and focused than in-person meetings, so participants often don’t want to "waste time" with personal chitchat, playful banter or lingering after the meeting ends. The solution is not to try harder, but to do it differently! Virtual teams build trust through work-related performance - for example, reliability, consistency, integrity (keeping promises) and responsiveness. This is good news for leaders, because these factors also improve productivity and results! At first glance, it seems these factors should be important for all teams, and that’s true. However, in-person teams can sometimes be more tolerant of failure in these areas. For example, somebody in an office can walk over to a colleague’s desk to check that a task is on track. Virtual team members don’t have that luxury, so have to rely on their colleagues keeping their promises to deliver on time. Leaders can leverage technology to facilitate these trust interactions in virtual teams. For example: Email to communicate needs, promises and actions Online project management tools for tracking and transparency Online meetings for real-time collaboration Discussion forums, bulletin boards, blogs and wikis for managing and sharing the team’s knowledge Webinars and slidecasts for disseminating information and prompting discussion These are all useful, but online collaboration tools are probably the most important. Indeed, the majority of leaders say collaboration software is important or even mission critical for their teams. This is not surprising, because these tools help to build trust at both the personal and professional levels. If you’re leading a virtual team, don’t rely on what’s worked in the past with your in-person teams. Instead, plan carefully the tools and rules you’ll put in place to foster trust. What are you strategies for keeping in touch with a virtual team? Tweet your tips to @GoToMeeting. Photo Credit: Pink Sherbet Photography via Compfight cc