in this issue
	Leadership Corner: Improving Your Presentation IQ Coaching Corner: Transitioning From Top Performer to New Manager

Leadership Corner: Improving Your Presentation IQ

The difference between mere management and leadership is communication." ~Winston Churchill How many times have you given a call for action and been disappointed with the results? How many times have you given a state of the company address only to be met with muted applause or glazed looks? Be honest with yourself. It happens to the best of us. Delivering our message to large groups challenges all of us to understand how people learn and respond to communication. Someone once wisely noted: The greatest mistake in communication is the assumption that it has happened. Leaders do not necessarily come with communication skills, and yet those skills are one of the keys to success as a leader. As you recall from March's Success Strategies newsletter column on "How Do You Create a Culture of Innovation, Excellence, and Commitment in Your Company?" only 31 percent of employees surveyed believed their leaders were effective in communication, and only 52 percent thought their leaders were able to draw a line of vision from their job to the corporate goals. (Watson, Wyatt, Worldwide 2002 [based on 12,750 employees]) When presenting important information to an audience, it is important to remember that people only retain: 10 percent of what they read; 20 percent of what they hear; 30 percent of what they see; 70 percent of what they discuss; 80 percent of what the experience; and 95 percent of what they share. (William Glazer) If you want to capture the enthusiasm of your audience, get them from the passive (read, hear, see,) into the active (discuss, experience, share).That creates a call for action. You also have to engage them in what Boyd Clarke (The Leader's Voice: How Your Communication Can Inspire Action and Get Results) calls the three channels of communication: facts, emotion, and symbols to garner response from the different "stations" inside the brain. And remember the wise words of educators whose business it is to communicate information: Tell them what you're going to tell them Tell them Tell them what you just told them. You can improve your ability to get your message across by remembering to ask yourself these questions in preparation: Begin with the end in mind—what do I want to convey, inspire, challenge? Who is my audience? How will I create buy-in? How do I want to get the message across? What do I hope they will do as a result of this communication? What is the most effective way to communicate? Which channels should I use to reach my audience? If you deliver your message with passion and conviction, balance the methods of communication, and practice practice practice, you will differentiate yourself and create an enthusiastic commitment to your vision and a powerful call to action. by Bonni Carson DiMatteo, CMC ©2003

Coaching Corner: Transitioning From Top Performer to New Manager

How Do Great Salespeople Make Great Sales Managers...Or Do They? Whenever I meet a new Sales Manager, I am reminded by a comment Mark McCormick, the founder of IMG, one of the leading law firms that caters exclusively to the stars (athletes more specifically), once said and that was, "Congratulations! Your vulnerable." From that experienced and more than likely highly successful salesperson, comes the neophyte sales manager. Two questions to ask yourself: Did we promote this person because he was an excellent salesperson, or Did we promote them because they have the acumen to be a great manager? More often than not, we promote the great salesperson. Not that this is wrong, because we run the risk of losing such individuals if we do not. But, when we do, have we provided the education and/or expertise to continue this individual's capacity to over- achieve? More than three out of four companies do not. They have little if any formal development program for these individuals. Most salespeople, in the course of their careers, have taken one or more sales courses to become the individuals they are, but only a select few have any opportunities to learn the management skills, so different than sales skills. While the salesperson is more a technocrat, understanding his or her company's products and how to sell them over the competition, the sales manager must truly become a market analyst, financial guru, and general manager rolled into one. He must continue to be an inspiration, but must distance himself to a certain degree from his former peers and the actual sale itself. The successful sales manager checks his ego at the door and insures his staff is up to the task of achieving the plan set forth by the company. This is a very simplified perspective because the role is much more sophisticated than that, in that she, or he, is also responsible for the following: Achievement of company sales goals (in spite of the fact that there might be quality issues, delays in new product introductions, lack of advertising support, etc., comes with the territory) Maximize sales success through an optimal number of sales people. What a beautiful word "optimal" is because oftentimes this number is different in the eyes of the sales manager as opposed to the GM, but it is the great sales manager who has learned that this is reality and he must deploy his troops properly to achieve the expected results. Motivation and management of staff becomes pivotal, but micromanagement of that same group becomes counterproductive. They are all professionals and must be treated as such. There is the motivating, hiring, training, and sometimes terminating members of his staff, and the latter is something some individuals have such a hard time with that they cannot bring themselves to do it. Lead the sales function, not do the sales function. Withdrawal from being the center of attention can be a hard and painful process. Now he must manage the process. Transition to consummate team player; no longer an individual star. Think strategically. Like a three dimensional chessboard, he or she must know where the Company pieces are, as well as his customers and competitors. Administrative function. There is the establishment of sales promotions, campaigns, contests, meetings, commission plans, forecasting, planning, and so many other things that are integral to the company's financial security and success. This is more than many sales people realize; so, when they reach this point, they can be overwhelmed with the requirements...and insecure. There is more, much more, but if you can be left with one notion as you read this, it should be to ask yourselves, "How do I make my sales manager exceptional, not vulnerable? In what way can I invest in this person to amplify what has made him or her a success as a salesperson to become an even better business manager?" by Peter Schwartz ©2003