The Leadership Japan Series By Dale Carnegie Training Japan

Dale Carnegie Training Japan: http://japan.dalecarnegie.com/ Leadership is about creating environments that influence others to achieve group goals. This works because people support a world they help create.There are five success areas for leaders to focus on that make all the difference. Rate your performance by giving yourself a mark on a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high) for each area.Self-directionThis is a must for leaders. If you can’t organise yourself, your ability to have others follow you is doubtful.Effective self-directed leaders have a personal vision which they review each day to remind themselves that the compass is more critical than the clock. They write down this vision and they write down their goals. They do this because they know there is magic in committing generalities to specifics in written form.They have a broad range of goals around their main roles in life, so that the balance between business and non-business is never compromised.They have clearly defined values that guide their beha

Dale Carnegie Training Japan: http://japan.dalecarnegie.com/ We have probably all been on the receiving end of it or have been a witness to it. The presentation is completed, after which come the questions; some are fact finding, some seek clarification, while some are just plain nasty.Perhaps the questioner is not trying to be mean, but the result is the same. All eyes in the room burn a hole into you as everyone waits to see how you are going to handle this little Scud missile that is thinly disguised as a question.Some presenters splutter, nervousness sapping intellectual and verbal powers, while some give such a pathetic response we can see their credibility sail out the window as they speak. Some get angry, assuring everyone there that they are not fit for higher responsibilities because they can’t control their emotions.Do these questions come up? Yes, so there is no point imagining that we won’t have to face the meeting room moment of truth.Do we usually prepare beforehand, in the event that someone mi

Dale Carnegie Training Japan: http://japan.dalecarnegie.com/ Doing more, and doing it better, faster and with less is driving global business. A cadre of professional managers running organisations is going the same way as the typing pool.Organisations can no longer afford managers who only manage; instead, they also need them to be leaders. This begs the question: what is the difference between a manager and a leader?Simply put, leaders build people and manage processes, while managers just manage processes.The organisation has various processes that must be completed entirely, efficiently and reliably—the classic belief of “getting the paperwork sorted”. Attention to detail is paramount. Multi-tasking, time management, and personal effectiveness all contribute to process success.The manager must ensure these activities are being carried out correctly and so the supervision of staff is key. If the operation is not coordinated, then there is potential for chaos. However, it is more likely we are dealing with

Dale Carnegie Training Japan: http://japan.dalecarnegie.com/ How big is your database of contacts? How many business cards have you collected and filed? How many people do you know? Turns out these are all rather pointless questions!The best questions are: how many people know you and how many care?Networking throws up images of attending events, exchanging contact details and handing over meishi.This is basically a push model, where you push your details out to others in the hope that it will lead to business. But what is missing?The care factor. Yes, they have your beautifully designed and carefully crafted message-laden card, but do they care?What happened during your initial interaction that would create or increase the care factor?I go to the occasional event here in Tokyo and, like many others, belong to chambers of commerce and study groups. Sometimes I look at my diary and wonder whether I should remove the word “president” from my business card and replace it with “professional event attendee”.I am a

Dale Carnegie Training Japan: http://japan.dalecarnegie.com/ “Hey, it’s a jungle out there”. A brilliant meeting followed by a woeful meeting; the emotional roller-coaster world of sales.You’re up and down within minutes, depending on the client’s interest and reaction. You’re always too early or too late for the business chance.The client is never on your timetable, especially your schedule around meeting the month’s quota. So how do we keep salespeople motivated to push through and produce the needed results?Managing salespeople requires time-usage perspective. Break the team composition down to some key segments; the star, the non-performer, the new or developing, and the plateaued employee.Our natural instinct is to spend a disproportionate amount of our time on “fixing” non-performers. Stop doing this!Instead, spend only 10% of your time on it and give them clear guidelines, firm activity targets, lots of encouragement and sell them hope.Tell them they can do it but let them do it—don’t do it for them. S

Dale Carnegie Training Japan: http://japan.dalecarnegie.com/ Success is usually thought to be built on a combination of personal attributes such as intelligence, technical knowledge, street smarts, hard won experience (built on failures from pushing too hard), guts and tenacity.  Our varsity halls offer a vast array of academic knowledge, information, insights, concepts, theories, tomes, technology and debate.  Company education is usually focused on producing detailed product knowledge and navigation clarity around the organizational labyrinth. Tick the boxes on all of these and you are off to the races for career progression.  Trouble usually starts though when they recognize you and start to expect leverage from your personal abilities.  Leverage means not just what you can individually contribute, but your capacity to get contribution from others they have placed in your charge.  As the old saw goes "all of our troubles in life walk on two legs and talk back".  Welcome to management! Even if you are a pow

Dale Carnegie Training Japan: http://japan.dalecarnegie.com/ Corporate learning isn’t working. Heroically, time and treasure are being spent by company leaders to improve staff performance. Inherent in that goal is that we as recipients learn something new or re-learn what we supposedly should know already. Talking to companies interested in increasing people performance, we have noted some common barriers to making learning work.Business conditions, markets, the competition are all in a state of flux and change is now "constant". Companies attempt to respond. The clarion call goes out to the troops to rally behind the latest change. New policies, slogans, work methods, and systems "cascade" and are met with disinterest or just tacit compliance.The changes usually require everyone to "learn" to do things in a new or different way. The desired order is usually (1) learn, (2) change, (3) improve results. The breakdown point in this continuum is the one in the middle – change. The organisation may want improved

Dale Carnegie Training Japan: http://japan.dalecarnegie.com/    "I don’t understand!". Well in Nippon, particularly, what a pandora’s box or treasure trove that statement is, depending on your point of view. Employees who respond in this way may have a number of subterranean issues bubbling away. As managers, our ability to plumb the depths of what they are saying is integral for success. Here are 5 hidden meanings behind that "I don’t understand" response. Gauging which one applies is the combined IQ and EQ test for managers. Here are few hints on passing the test and getting your just reward – keeping your job! 1 – They don’t know what to do They may genuinely not understand the task content or have enough experience to execute what you require of them. They may not want to "fess up" to their lack of ability, because they fear the consequences. 2 – They don’t know how to do it Funnily enough common sense is not so common it would appear. What is obvious to a seasoned, experienced manager may be "Swahili" to

Dale Carnegie Training Japan: http://japan.dalecarnegie.com/ Often, the issue is the structure of the service model. Employ the cheapest hourly labour, provide the barest minimums of training, have non-professional management and count the money. In the case of Japan, they can also exploit high levels of basic politeness.Hot milk is a by-product of coffee shops, but try getting a glass of hot milk if it isn’t on the menu.When my wife was pregnant with our son, she avoided coffee and tea, but wanted something warm to drink. She became pregnant while we were based in Sydney, Australia (during a temporary posting) and there was no hot milk on the menu, but flexible Aussies and so “no worries”.The same coffee shop would charge her a slightly different amount each time, depending on the serving staff on that shift. They would just decide what they thought it should cost, as it wasn’t already specified.Back in Japan, there was a sea of hot milk everywhere in coffee shop land, but staff always gave a firm “no”. And