Category: Communication Skills Training

management by hand grenade

Management by Hand Grenade
Posted on 3rd October 2013 in Communication Skills Training, Critical Conversations, Employee Engagement, Executive Coaching, Leadership Development, Management Training

Management by hand grenade is how Paolo Di Canio’s leadership style as manager of footballing side Sunderland was described. And management by hand grenade is the style that has got him sacked. He often spoke about players lacking the right level of desire, that there were not enough leaders on the pitch and that he wanted more “nasty” players – a term he used frequently.

His managerial style was characterised as having a very much a me and them attitude. He was fond of dramatic statements and had a questionable history of falling out with players and footballing authorities wherever he went.

Autocratic Leadership

He favoured an autocratic leadership style and would routinely berate his players in post match press interviews – a surely divisive and dangerous tactic. Contrast this with the approach of truly accomplished man managers who get the genuine buy in of their team.

Di Canio’s focused on passion and making big statements both on and off the pitch – exactly as he was as a player in years gone by. Therefore he could often endear himself to a certain section of stakeholder – the fans, who may well be tired of overpaid, pampered players not putting in the performances that are expected of them.

Lack of Ownership & Personal Responsibility

Regards personal responsibility he never ever said “that’s my fault”, “i take full responsibility”, “i made a mistake”, “sorry”, “i need to change what i am doing” etc. In fact and crucially Di Canio continues to claim that he will not change his style.

Just a few games into the new season saw a player revolt which led immediately to his sacking from the job. His stand off with fans after the most recent defeat telling them to keep their chins up may in his mind have been an attempt to take responsibility but it played out very differently and looked to many like he was saying “what can I do, it’s those non-performing players you need to talk to.” A pretty obvious display of incongruent body language compared to the verbal message.

Reign of Fear, is no Reign at all

A reign of fear is no reign at all. Yes discipline is important, undoubtedly more so in a professional football club than in many organisations.

In short, man management these days requires more listening, probing through questioning, reflecting back, checking for understanding, taking personal responsibility, developing lastig relationships underscored with mutual trust. Alex Ferguson eventually realised this and stopped using his famous “hairdryer” tactic on players – he would loudly chastise under performing players at half time from a range of two inches until they were saturated with fear. In short, management by hand grenade just doesn’t work, influence or have much effect.

Adopting Coaching Approach

The idea of coaching or being supportive to players and staff would be alien to Di Canio.

Also, the blanket approach to man management went out a long time ago as the real art is about understanding each individual and motivating them appropriately. That’s the art of management – that flexibility, awareness and appreciating that all things change.

The lights have certainly gone out on management by hand grenade – public humiliation, denigrating the efforts of others and attempting to control through a reign of fear. And when autocratic management seems so out of place in the macho world of football you realise that times have truly changed.

Sartaj Garewal is the founder of Dynamic Presenting – a creative, leadership development consultancy, adapting theatre training to create leadership programs for business.

Dynamic Presenting – Enabling Powerful Communication

art over science

Art Over Science
Posted on 2nd October 2013 in Art, Communication Skills Training, Emotional Intelligence, Leadership Development, Management Training

Art over science – perhaps it is just possible that the arts can teach us as much as hard science..? The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator or MBTI as it’s more commonly referred to is perhaps the most widely used of all psychological assessments. Now more than 50 years since it was first utilised it seems that its time may be up.

An MBTI test involves answering many multiple choice questions, the results of which fall into one of sixteen identifiable personality types. The test has been used by over 10,000 companies and countless governments and universities. It is estimated that at least 50 million people have undertaken the test at some point in their lives.

MBTI – Still Relevant..?

Like many personality models or behaviour models being peddled today MBTI grew out from psychological research. Whilst such models can certainly be useful indicators re: an individual’s personality style or behavioural tendencies, they remain just that: an indication and nothing more. There is a certain rigidity to defining people in such a pigeon holing manner which is surly questionable.

There are of course dozens of models on the market now all purporting to illuminate some previously hidden aspect of our natures. It rather seems that psychology sees itself as very important, serious stuff without which we could not possibly hope to understand ourselves.

Contrast this approach with themes presented in a non-didactic manner throughout great drama. The power of storytelling may outweigh any supposedly scientific approach to behavioural study. Is it possible that we could gain a greater insight into our behaviour through watching and closely observing fiction than we ever could through cold, robotic psychological testing..?

Sartaj Garewal is the founder of Dynamic Presenting – a creative, leadership development consultancy, adapting theatre training to create leadership programs for business.

Dynamic Presenting – Enabling Powerful Communication

leadership development

Leadership Development Today
Posted on 14th September 2013 in Communication Skills Training, Leadership Development

Leadership development means that leaders must be able to reach beyond a reliance on only their cognitive ability to demonstrate other capabilities.

Just two decades ago, the majority of white-collar employees expected to be paid a modest salary, receive standard benefits and keep their job for years as long as they did what they were supposed to do. Few expected to be coached or developed. Fewer still expected their leaders to understand them, to be intuitive, to create energy, or to break down barriers and facilitate the flow of information. Times certainly have changed as these days top graduates see strong coaching, mentoring and leadership development programs as important as salary in choosing prospective employers.

New Behaviours

Leaders now need to protect, to inform and to have the strength of character to do the right thing. Which also means ‘fessing up’ when they haven’t done the right thing.

Behaving purely dispassionately and coldly analytically will distance you from the others. Good leaders need to be right in the mix, getting their hands dirty. It will be appropriate at times to display emotional connectedness and vulnerability – all believable human qualities.

Draw on head, heart or gut behaviours as differing situations and events demand.

Too often, leaders reflexively rely on their proven way of solving problems, approaching relationships or capitalising on opportunities. They automatically assume they can approach fresh challenges in the way they always have. They end up being partial leaders, which creates problems. I guess thats why the term innovation is bandied around so often these days. Innovation through conscious leadership development is needed as so many leaders have failed.

Leadership Development as Training Focus

As a consequence of a shifting landscape and greater focus on the actions of leaders, leadership development has grown rapidly as an area of study and training. There are a plethora of training options out there, offering everything from presentation impact to executive coaching to managing critical conversations to media skills training.

Sartaj Garewal is the founder of Dynamic Presenting – a creative, leadership development consultancy, adapting theatre training to create leadership programs for business.

Dynamic Presenting – Enabling Powerful Communication

Bespoke Leadership Development

Leadership – It’s Something We Can All Do
Posted on 18th February 2013 in Communication Skills Training, Leadership Development

Leadership development is a fascinating growth area of study and research. Every day there are a million blog posts, tweets and updates on Facebook and LinkedIn around the broad notion of leadership and developing necessary skills to be deemed good at it. There are more “Top 10 Tips to become a CEO” than anyone who is actually working to become a CEO would have the time to read.

We at Dynamic Presenting have been guilty of getting in the mix and piling it all on the heap as well. Some articles and posts out there are very informative, engaging, sometimes amusing. Others are just repetition of well known nuggets of wisdom.

Do Leadership

When it comes down to it though, leaders simply have to DO leadership like an actor has to turn up on stage regardless of how rehearsals went and deliver what they have to. They have to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in, in whatever way they deem best. Just like learning to drive, there’s no point turning it into an academic exercise insisting that theory is all important. Get behind the steering wheel and get going. Each time you stall, you will learn more about your own resilience, determination and creativity than through any studied means.

Dynamic Presenting’s Bespoke Leadership Development

That’s why when we deliver bespoke training courses for our clients, we focus on their specific needs in the moment and are more than happy to change up our day’s agenda if that will yield greater benefits. We also place the accent very firmly on DOING many practical exercises…repeatedly.

See how Dynamic Presenting’s bespoke communication and presentation skills training could benefit you.

Sartaj Garewal is the founder of Dynamic Presenting – a creative, leadership development consultancy, adapting theatre training to create leadership programs for business.

Dynamic Presenting – Enabling Powerful Communication

Be Authentic

Be Authentic – Attend a Conference as Yourself
Posted on 12th July 2012 in Communication Skills Training, Emotional Intelligence, Leadership Development

How to be authentic? What does that actually mean? And who am I without my accomplishments – past, present or future? We all hang labels on ourselves and others. Indeed we’re pretty much trained to do this from the get go. We define ourselves by our jobs, specific roles, industry sectors, educational backgrounds, family backgrounds, race, religion…. But and this is kinda impossible to do, who are we if we could strip away those societal layers..? Would that stripped down person be our natural, authentic self..?

Meet New People

Intriguing and illuminating Harvard Business Review article on how to just be yourself when meeting new folk at a conference. https://hbr.org/2012/03/how-to-attend-a-conference-as.html

Many of us label ourselves according to our professional role and thats the prism we then view life through. When meeting people for the first time we tend to offer up “I’m an engineer” or “I’m an actor” etc quite readily. In so doing we label ourselves and attempt, albeit subconsciously, to restrict other people’s perceptions of us into the pre-determined arena we would rather they see us in.

It is controlling behaviour and smacks of inherent fear. Great advantages lie in store for those willing to temporarily suspend the importance of their titles, rank and status and just be in the moment. We are all imperfect and vulnerable. If we can trust ourselves to show some of that vulnerability to others, then those people will trust us – because they will see their own vulnerabilities reflected back – and so they will know us.

Allowing Ourselves to be Authentic

If we could allow our ego’s to chill out and just be in the moment, viewing the familiar and unknown with the same optimism then we get out of our own way. Then we strip layers of padding – our role, company etc – away and are more vulnerable and open to change and new experiences. Which in turn lead to new adventures as our authentic selves, personally and professionally.

Sartaj Garewal is the founder of Dynamic Presenting – a creative, leadership development consultancy, adapting theatre training to create leadership programs for business.

Dynamic Presenting – Enabling Powerful Communication

Emotional Intelligence growth decade

Emotional Intelligence – Decade of Personal Growth
Posted on 9th July 2012 in Communication Skills Training, Emotional Intelligence, Employee Engagement

Awareness of Emotional Intelligence has grown rapidly over the last 10 years. A crucial area of analysis in terms of personal and professional development. The phrase was first coined by leadership figure and journalist Daniel Goleman.

Emotional intelligence is all about understanding your own emotional state in any given moment and being able to understand that of those around you as well. There are great personal benefits in understanding why you feel any particular emotion and being able to clearly distinguish and articulate what you are feeling is immensely powerful. Of course, this meat and drink to those of us who work in theatre and drama, where fundamental emotions are our stock in trade.

Report on Emotional Intelligence

Intriguing read about the development of “Emotional Intelligence” over the last 10 years, now viewed as a crucial area of analysis in terms of personal development and leadership. This report looks at 15 or so key composite areas within the field of Emotional Intelligence and offers insightss based on industry, age, gender, culture etc. Interestingly the self-employed tend to have a higher overall level of EI – something to be said for living as a forager and not relying on the falsehood of job security and making things happen…?

http://www.jca.eu.com/pdf/DecadeofEIReport.pdf

Why do business leaders lack Emotional Intelligence?

Perhaps surprisingly and despite an avalanche of research, discussion and debate, many C-suite leaders are still emotionally inept. Why is that? A recent survey concluded that middle managers often have far more emotional intelligence than those at the top of organisations. Could it be that they are more skilled in people management as they have to make people related decisions everyday? Whereas the average CEO rarely has to encounter the same number of ground troops.

Perhaps organisations are still focused on tangibles and hard figures above all else. A decade of emotional intelligence is just the beginning…

http://www.inc.com/travis-bradberry/why-leaders-lack-emotional-intelligence.html

Sartaj Garewal is the founder of Dynamic Presenting – a creative, leadership development consultancy, adapting theatre training to create leadership programs for business.

Dynamic Presenting – Enabling Powerful Communication

emotional intelligence ten years

Emotional Intelligence. 10 Years Strong
Posted on 21st May 2012 in Communication Skills Training, Emotional Intelligence, Leadership Development

Emotional Intelligence has garnered a lot of focus and press coverage of late. Now, some 10 years after the concept was born, it has proven to be much more than just a fad. Indeed, as a concept it has gained a lot of respect amongst business leaders. There are many training courses offering workshops in developing emotional intelligence. And the phrase has now passed into common, everyday usage.

The higher up in an organisation you climb the more important it is to be emotionally intelligent. Managers who score higher on a test of EI report less stress, higher morale and experience less illness.

Safety & Survival

One of the first principles of human behaviour is safety and survival. To that end we are constantly scanning our environment for danger, both consciously and unconsciously. Emotions (fear, anger, sadness, joy & disgust) are one major and rapid pathway for alerting us toward challenge and threat in our environment. We also use emotions to communicate this information to others. Recent research has shown that the brain has specific areas dedicated to processing emotional information (Joseph LeDoux – `The Emotional Brain’).

21st century survival is as much about self-preservation in the social and psychological world as it is in the physical. So emotional intelligence is really about our ability to integrate our emotions with our cognitive thoughts. Thereby ensuring our everyday safety and survival in the modern world. And like other forms of intelligence some people are better at it than others.

Research into Emotional Intelligence

The Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations was founded in 1996. It was set up to aid the advancement of research and practice related to emotional intelligence in organizations. The following research projects and articles are provided by the Consortium. http://www.eiconsortium.org/reports/reports.html

Some further recommended tools to test your emotional intelligence: http://emotionalintelligence.net/products/?gclid=CKKsyYCrkbACFYwQfAodakDgyg

Sartaj Garewal is the founder of Dynamic Presenting – a creative, leadership development consultancy, adapting theatre training to create leadership programs for business.

Dynamic Presenting – Enabling Powerful Communication

Change-Management-London-Market-Professionals

Change Management – London Market Professionals
Posted on 11th May 2012 in Change Management, Communication Skills Training, Leadership Development, Management Training

Leading change management professionals were in attendance to hear Sartaj Garewal speak at a unique, new event for insurance and change management professionals. This will be the first of several events by London Market Professionals. This aims to create a forum for influential figures within the London insurance market to meet and exchange views. Professor Roger Maull’s keynote speech addressed ‘New Models in the Digital Economy.’ Sartaj Garewal and Roger Oldham www.amethystbc.co.uk  jointly delivered a session on ‘Human Dynamics of Change.’

Change-Matters-London-Market_Professionals-Sartaj

Change Matters

‘CHANGE Matters’ will become a regular forum for experienced change management professionals. An opportunity for those who work in the London insurance market to meet, network and discuss key issues, drivers and concerns of the day.

The overall aspiration is to enhance the standing, knowledge and awareness of those responsible for change management delivery in the London Market. CHANGE Matters meetings will be held every 2-3 months. These events will involve presentations from experienced change management professionals and keynote speakers on topics of mutual interest. The mission is to add value to the change community. Audience interaction will be encouraged. Where the event adds value to a individual’s knowledge and skill set, it may qualify for continuing professional points, depending on the rules of the respective governing professional body.

Build your social network

The post event drinks gatherings are an important part of the LMP events. They will allow practitioners to interact with their peers, exchange viewpoints and build social networks. The meetings will be held in central venues such as the London Underwriting Centre. The Lloyd’s Building is another likely venue.  LMP was founded by Brian Groves and Roger Oldham in January 2012.

What happens at Change Matters events?

We will be inviting quality speakers from the world of change management, education, learning and from our own sector too. The aim is to assist attendees with their professional development. Allow them to discuss and debate matters of common interest and meet their peers in a friendly social environment.

How often will the events be held?

At least four – six times annually. Late in the afternoon on a Thursday to ensure as little impact on the working day. And allowing people the freedom to stay on for an hour afterwards to socialise over a glass of wine.

Who should attend?

Especially aimed at change management professionals working in the insurance sector. But also for anyone with an interest in operational change.

How much does it cost?

Nothing, it is completely free to all change management professionals.

What’s in it for me?

Knowledge, education, opinions, questions, panel discussions. And crucially, social interaction with like minded change management professionals.

We have big plans for LMP including numerous added benefits for members. Further training, education and wider social events will bring together members of the HR Matters, Legal & Compliance Matters and Cloud Matters groups.

Sartaj Garewal is the founder of Dynamic Presenting – a creative, leadership development consultancy, adapting theatre training to create leadership programs for business.

Dynamic Presenting – Enabling Powerful Communication

investor pitching for social entrepreneurs

Investor Pitching Skills for Social Entrepreneurs
Posted on 11th May 2012 in Communication Skills Training, Investor Pitching, Keynote Speeches, Presentation Skills Training

Dynamic Presenting provided a series of workshops on investor pitching for social entrepreneurs. Sartaj Grewal advised entrepreneurs with social, educational and community based business ideas on how best to pitch to potential investors and win start-up funding. The focus was on communicating personal stories and emotional selling.

Village Capital – Pitching for Investment

Village Capital is an incubator program, started in 2010, which has been run in New Orleans, Boulder, Mumbai and San Francisco. It has been cited as “#1 Trend to Watch in 2010” on Change.org; featured in Wall Street Journal, Inc. Magazine and Beyond Profit. So far, the program has incubated 82 entrepreneurs selected from over 500 applications and developed amongst other skills, their investor pitching ability.

The first European Village Capital, was hosted at Hub Westminster, as a twelve week program designed for entrepreneurs to accelerate their for profit social businesses. In workshops focused on fundraising, marketing and designing for impact the 16 participants will develop the core skills needed to attract investment and scale their businesses as well as receiving mentoring and coaching from our team of experienced advisors.

At the heart of Village Capital lies the belief that entrepreneurs benefit from building peer networks for review and support. The program culminates in peers selecting two entrepreneurs that receive investment prizes of £50,000 each.

The next Village Cpital Programme for Spring 2012 will be announced shortly. For enquiries email hello@hubventurelabs.net

Nominet Trust Accelerator

www.nominettrust.org.uk

Nominet Trust’s project partners can take advantage of our Accelerator Programme delivered by Merism Capital

The programme delivers a seminar series which includes topics such as “scaling up a social enterprise” and “pitching for investment”. Project partners also benefit from access to mentors and experts who can help them address specific challenges facing their organisation.

The sessions are led by a variety of speakers with specific expertise in different areas. Spring 2012 sessions are:

  • The Impact Investment Landscape
  • Measuring Social Impact and Value
  • Assessing different business models
  • Investor pitching
  • Company structures and due diligence
  • Growing pains
  • Marketing
  • Exit strategies from the investor and organisational perspective
Sartaj Garewal is the founder of Dynamic Presenting – a creative, leadership development consultancy, adapting theatre training to create leadership programs for business.

Dynamic Presenting – Enabling Powerful Communication

The Basics of Learning Communication

The Basics of Communication
Posted on 23rd February 2012 in Communication Skills Training

Dogs bark, horses neigh, birds tweet, and humans speak…..?

Hmm…that is how we communicate verbally but this is not by any means the way we communicate entirely. Peacocks spread their plumes, dogs prick their ears, chameleon’s change colour and humans communicate with each other in many, many ways.

Communication is much more than the words which come out of our mouths. Communication is sending or receiving information by whichever means possible or necessary. Humans are good at seeing and understanding the subtlest of communication. The smallest eye movement…as small as a dilating pupil signals a message to the other person.

When you think of improving your communication skills, think of it holistically. Think of your whole body being a hub of communication.

How humans communicate other than through words

Visual Communication
  • Physical gestures are our non-verbal communication tools where the language of the body communicates on its own or in partnership with speech. Think hand gestures, head angles, physical poses, posture. Communicative gestures could be waving, holding your thumbs up, pointing or saluting. But they are not universal and you need to understand the different gestures for different countries in order to be well received. Sign language is of course the ultimate communication using an entire repertoire of gestures. We are apparently born to speak with our hands and researchers have found that children at 18 months old who use hand gestures have better language abilities later on in life.  20 Hand gestures you should be using 
  • Our faces are extremely expressive and communicate countless emotions without actually saying a word. A person’s face is our best indicator of someone’s emotions. There are seven universal micro-expressions: disgust, anger, sadness, fear contempt, surprise, happiness which appear at speed as fast as 1/15to 1/25 of a second. These facial expressions of emotion are the same across every culture.
  • Role of facial expressions in social interactions
  • A guide to reading micro-expressions
  • Colour change is the main way a chameleon communicates and is also a factor in human communication. We know what it is like to blush and go a little pink or red in colour through embarrassment. Blushing is a sign of emotional rumblings and is normally involuntary and triggered by emotional stress. Unfortunately there is not a lot you can do about this one other than make sure you are relaxed before any potentially uncomfortable situation.

Auditiry Communication

While speech is how you use words, voice is how you create sound. ‘It’s not just what you say it’s how you say it’. When we speak people are not only listening to the words we utter, but are also listening to the tone and clarity of our voices. The speed we speak at can tell the other person the speed we work at and can also tell them when we are nervous. The pauses you take, the tone and pitch you speak at are all important qualities in communication. There is also a ‘Timbre’ which is the emotional quality of your voice, the attitude behind what you are saying. A listener will perceive your attitude to what you are saying through the timbre in your voice and will use this to create a perception and understanding of you and what you are saying.

Touch Communication

Touch is the first sense that we acquire and the secret weapon in any successful relationship. A more personal way of communicating, its’ taking things to the next level in a business relationship. Every time somebody gives you a handshake it gives you an impression of them, good, bad or in-different and is the most effective way to communicate emotion. There’s more to touch in the workplace than a handshake and a pat on the shoulder…! Giving your colleague a business hug is the next level of connection, sharing vulnerability and mutual respect in a non-threatening embrace.

Why not find out how others perceive you through your own holistic communication techniques. Ask a friend or colleague:
  • How do I communicate?
  • How would you describe my communication style?
  • How do I make you feel when I am communicating with you?

Read more about Communication Skills Training
Read our other blog posts discussing Communication Skills

Sartaj Garewal is the founder of Dynamic Presenting – a creative, leadership development consultancy, adapting theatre training to create leadership programs for business.

Dynamic Presenting – Enabling Powerful Communication