SEMINARS AND BREAKOUTS:

 

BUILDING BRIDGES THROUGH CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION

JPA will show you, with practical suggestions, how to communicate more effectively with those from other cultures around the world.  You will leave the session better understanding: 

1. A specific overview of differences, and similarities, between people from different cultures.
2. The four core components that make up our different cultures around the world.
3. Unintentional positive and negative stereotyping, and how and why we all do it.
4. Some basic but powerful strategies for communicating better with those from different backgrounds.

 

BUILDING HIGH-PERFORMING, HIGH-ACCOUNTABILITY LEADERSHIP TEAMS THAT ACHIEVE MEASURABLE RESULTS (2 days)

This full, highly-interactive is meant for any group that has to work as a team and lays out, step by step:

1. The process for pulling together as a high-functioning, accountability-based, collaborative team that achieves measurable results
2. It has been used extensively with executive and management teams, project teams, IT groups, cross-functional teams, departmental teams, and more
3. In many cases, managers or project leaders go through the process and then are trained to carry it out into their own groups.  

NOTE: This is not a team-building seminar.  It is a highly participatory program where the focus is on "real world" issues.  Participants can be expected to roll up their sleeves, work and play hard, and can expect numerous issues and problems to be worked through.  Thus, this seminar goes way, way beyond team-building; it is designed for building a "real-life" team that will obtain lasting results and can be integrated with both individual and group performance measures.

 

EFFECTIVE NEGOTIATION AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT SKILLS FOR BUILDING LONG-TERM BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS (2-3 days)     

This program is designed to not only help people become excellent negotiators; it includes communications and critical thinking skills that helps people operate as a leader, originator and manager of ideas and actions, and to develop ongoing, collaborative relationships with the other party.  Whether one is negotiating with internal or external customers, all these skills are necessary for maximum results:

1. A service-oriented, consultative approach to negotiations
2. The win-win approach to negotiations: what does that actually mean?
3. How we are perceived by others and how to influence others' perceptions
4. Learn the "wiifm" principal and how people make it work for them
5. Discovering your own communication style
6. Other communication skills necessary for negotiation
7. Influencing skills for the negotiator
8. Negotiation and conflict resolution skills
9. Controlling conflict
10. Negotiating for results
11. Special circumstances
12. How to handle difficult people
13. Negotiations within your organization
14. Managing stress to improve your performance

This program is highly participatory.  It includes interactive discussions, role playing, many exercises, self-assessments, videotaping that will be used for feedback, coaching and making specific behavioral changes as needed.  Appropriate individual and group exercises are included.

 

GIVING EXCELLENT PRESENTATIONS AND RUNNING OUTSTANDING MEETINGS

Research indicates that presentation skills are critical to not only any job where presentations are given, but it also critical to career success as well.  If you run meetings or give formal presentations, you need this course.  Joan Pastor, Ph.D., an internationally recognized speaker, trainer and consultant, or one of her trainers with similar credentials and background, will conduct  this two-three day seminar.

The focus of the seminar and time allotted to it is as follows:

1. Understanding the different types of presentations one can give (depending on the results you want to achieve)
2. How to get it down on paper in an appropriate format, with a practice segments in front of others.
3. Body and verbal language, Q&A, handling difficult participants, group dynamics
4. How to connect with your listeners, persuasive vs. informational talks, or whatever other areas are desired

People will leave with a much clearer idea of how to make an excellent presentation, what their own personal strengths and challenge areas are, and with greatly increased confidence in how to give different types of presentations and handle a variety of group situations.

A special segment on overcoming the fear of speaking can be built into the training or be given as a break out session at a conference.

 

IMPROVING LEADERSHIP SKILLS ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION

You pride yourself on your job skills and have worked hard to develop areas of expertise.  However, you also have good ideas to share and feel you don't know how to communicate them well, really influence people and make change happen.  Welcome to the other side of your job, the ability to lead and influence others by communication, collaboration, and performance management skills.  In this session, we will look at:

1. Your leadership style, differences in leadership styles between different types of professionals, and how to use this information to adapt your approach and increase "buy-in"
2. How to communicate clearly more complex or technical types of information and what results you want to see happen
3. If you manage others, using leadership styles to learn how to give constructive feedback about performance issues and changes you want them to make and manage subordinates better in general
4. How to use positive and constructive feedback to actually change people's perceptions in a positive way

 

LEADERSHIP AND BUILDING COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIPS ACROSS YOUR ORGANIZATION

Any time a person is required as part of his/her profession to influence others to change the way they do things, that person is in the business of leadership.  While there are several styles of leadership,  this seminar focuses on the facilitative, which is the approach one uses when influencing people in positions of equal or higher authority than one's own.  Facilitative leadership recognizes that when changes cannot be achieved purely by the weight of one's title/position, then important communication, collaborative and facilitative skills are needed to encourage others across the organization to consider, and adopt, the changes one wants them to make.

Course highlights include:

1. How to move away from a checklist and authoritative approach to a collaborative one
2. How and why you want to be perceived as communicating well and being fair
3. Non-manipulative and positive persuasive communication skills that increase collaboration
4. Understanding how to integrate your own communications style with others and why that is so important
5. The step-by-step process for communicating in a win-win approach
6. The single most powerful communication tool of all and why it works
7. Learning your own style of communication and how you do, or do not, collaborate effectively with others
8. How to anticipate another person's needs, and the personal power it creates
9. Sizing up where the other person is coming from at the start
10. Communicating in a "win/lose" scenario, or when the person has difficulty partnering with you for various reason
11. How conflict arises in the best of circumstances, and why
12. How to defuse open conflict and reduce passive resistance when it can not be avoided
13. Handling emotions of self and others, including those with "street smarts" and in a higher position than yours

Lots of interactive exercises that will teach you, step-by-step,  how to communicate and collaborate effectively so that others' (and your department's) perception of you becomes increasingly positive

 

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND COACHING FOR MANAGERS

(2 days)

This seminar focuses on performance management at the individual level, but has also been tailored to group and organizational levels as well.  Using the organization's vision, mission, key strategic plan and business objectives as a starting point, the following topics are covered in depth as part of the course:

1. Overview:  Performance management, goal setting, and coaching's proven connection to increasing individual performance
2. Performance Leadership:  Before you start managing Individual performance
   1. Optimal activities the leader would have done, or learned how to do, before developing individual goals with direct reports (do not all have to be in place before performance management, goal setting and coaching skills are taught; they serve mainly to give the larger picture from which the best individual goals are created
3. The Performance Management System (PMS):  The step-by-step process for managing performance and coaching effectively
   1. Formal PMS:  How often will you formally discuss and measure performance with employees
   2. Setting up or modifying the organization's performance appraisal process to make it work for your department or group
   3. How to do the performance appraisal process so it really works
4. Coaching and Giving Feedback:  Set up and styles
5. Three approaches for giving feedback and coaching, depending on the situation and time, and when to use each one
6. Practice, practice, practice throughout the course

 

THE PSYCHOLOGY BEHIND FRAUD, UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR, AND WHITE COLLAR CRIME (1-1/2 days)

Though CEOs and CFOs have figured prominently in recent years in relationship to fraud, the fact is that people of all backgrounds and all professions are capable of committing fraud.  There are many reasons why people may act unethically, but one of the least discussed is related to a small group of people who, with the right combination of inner traits and smarts, can cause the most damage to an organization. 

 It is this small (estimated 5-7%) group who can be the deadliest killers of all to your company.  It is this group that is behind most of the larger and costliest fraudulent crimes.  Now that senior management and the managers below them are being held accountable for fraud by SOX and other legislation, it is in their best interests to know the opportunities and limitations they have in this arena, and how to both educate and protect themselves properly.

Over the years, by bringing both clinical and business research together, Joan Pastor has identified a syndrome, or a pattern of traits and behavior that: 

1.  Explain these types of people
2. How to identify them, and external conditions in a company that encourage them to make their plays
3. What management and each employee must do to promote an ethical, and therefore high quality and loyal, workforce that will lead to increased profitability and greatly reduced headaches, both in the short-term and the long-run.  

This seminar is both powerful and invaluable, one that will benefit all organizations, small to large.  

 

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEADERSHIP AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

(2 hours to 2 days.  If two days, the seminar would include a whole section on stress management.)

Emotional Intelligence is a topic that has become of critical importance.  Effective leadership has always been considered important, but with the recent bailouts of major companies and banks, it is all too clear just how much power a leader has over his or her followers.  Despite all the research that has been done on leadership, there is still a great deal we have not understood that might finally be clarified through research in emotional intelligence.

1. What is it that allows a leader to choose a course of action that may or may not be perceived as effective by others?
2. What is it that causes people to follow one person and see them as their leader, but not another?
3. When is leadership unhealthy and/or ineffective, and how can we prevent, or stop, bad leaders?
4. Finally, how does emotional intelligence factor into all of this, and how can EI teach us to be more effective leaders? 

The answers will help you better understand effective leadership in all areas of life, and specifically in your organization. 

 

SEMINARS ONLY

ADVANCED FACILITATION, MEDIATION AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT TRAINING (3 days)

This course fills a gap for those managers and leaders who have had facilitation skills training, but are exposed to contentious situations in group settings due to inherent conflicts between various parties on topics of a sensitive nature.  Meetings are designed to air opposing opinions require specialized training focusing on:

1. Conflict management and prevention skills
2. Mediation skills (both within a meeting and one-on-one situations
3. Advanced facilitation tools for managing people's emotions and information that help the various parties to find possible solutions or at least areas of agreement.

This is a highly interactive skills development program.  There is extensive practice of the skills learned, and there will also be a chance to facilitate through a simulation modeled on an actual situation.

EFFECTIVE BUSINESS MAPPING FOR PROCESS ASSESSMENT AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTPROCESSES (2 days)

Effective processes are the lifeblood of an organization. If the organization has a great vision or product or service, but does not have the means in place to implement or manage any of these effectively, growth and financial performance will be greatly compromised. This practical seminar arms you with skills to analyze the way your organization or any work function within it really operates, to identify risks and opportunities for improvement, and to implement changes or new processes that will have an immediate impact on quality, customer service, productivity and financial performance.  A few of the topics covered in this course are as follows:

1. What is business process mapping, and what are the tools used in process mapping (overview)
2. How to construct process flow charts that are efficient and effective
3. Flow process mapping, top-down flowcharts, block diagrams and work flow diagrams
4. Determining value-added vs. non-value added activities
5. The number of participants involved in the mapping process and why you cannot use the same tool or the same people skills with different sized groups
6. Change analysis tools, the companion tool to process mapping.

MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT SERIES

Note:  For additional information, see a detailed Outline for a 4-1/2 day seminar on Excellence in Performance Management that was prepared for one of our clients.

This important and insightful series of three courses by Dr. Joan Pastor provides vital information on what it takes to be a successful manager and leader at any level. You will learn skills that will make your job and your life much easier, much more enjoyable, and will measurably increase your awareness of yourself and how people think, feel and act.  Most important, you will be able to measure the difference between your current level of effectiveness and your optimal ability to manage and lead.  Developed over a 20-year period, the series are well-proven in their ability to create positive and proactive change in individuals and groups.  All three are:

1. Focused on real life issues, challenges and opportunities present in your workplace
2. Completely customized to your particular situation, rarely for any extra fees
3. Facilitated by Joan Pastor or a hand-picked, carefully trained and credentialed person
4. Designed to increase participants' understanding and demonstrable skill at leading and managing others.  Each course can be given independently of the other, though it is encouraged that all three be given for the best results.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEADERSHIP AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE (2 hours to 2 days.  If two days, the seminar would include a whole section on stress management.)

Emotional Intelligence is a topic that has become of critical importance.  Effective leadership has always been considered important, but with the recent bailouts of major companies and banks, it is all too clear just how much power a leader has over his or her followers.  Despite all the research that has been done on leadership, there is still a great deal we have not understood that might finally be clarified through research in emotional intelligence.

1. What is it that allows a leader to choose a course of action that may or may not be perceived as effective by others?
2. What is it that causes people to follow one person and see them as their leader, but not another?
3. When is leadership unhealthy and/or ineffective, and how can we prevent, or stop, bad leaders?
4. Finally, how does emotional intelligence factor into all of this, and how can EI teach us to be more effective leaders?

The answers will help you better understand effective leadership in all areas of life, and specifically in your organization.  


WEALTH MANAGEMENT TOPICS

The following are offered as both break-out sessions and full day seminars.

1.    Working with Wealthy Family Businesses

If you are a lawyer, accountant, financial planner or other professional who works with people with wealth, you invariably have encountered family businesses.  Prosperous family businesses carry a whole separate set of challenges and opportunities, and these directly impact how financial decisions are made.  This seminar looks at the various challenges that you, as one of the above professionals, encounters.


2.    The Psychology Behind Those With New Money and Those With Old  

It is no secret that those born with a silver spoon in their mouth usually have very different perceptions about money and wealth than those who make their money.  In this seminar you will:

•  Study the profiles of both groups
• Why so many people make money, then lose it, and end up making it back again
• The role gender, ethnicity, age, region, religion and other factors that contribute to the profiles (or do they?)
• The unique challenges parents face with their children and vice versa
• The interaction between value (personal, familial, cultural) and behavior around money, and
• How to adjust your approach and style to match the type of client and client background.

3.    How to Help Your Clients Change Bad Financial Habits  

Just because people have money doesn't mean they know how to manage it wisely.  Indeed, it is usually those who think they "know all about money and how to manage it" who make the worst financial decisions.  Or, they make poor decisions in other areas of their lives and businesses that negatively impact their financial situation as well.

You will learn:

• How to determine quickly the amount of self-awareness and self-insight the individual and their families have in their own behavior
• Several positive ways to help them come in touch with reality

4.     The Relationship Between Leadership, Money and Heart   

People generally believe, right or wrong, that those who have money are not very caring about those who don't.  And research confirms that business people who earn their wealth often value relationships less than getting results (unless the relationship will enhance the results).  Even if the research is wrong, the perception is there.  So, the question is:  can people who have obtained wealth through hard work or through inheritance also be powerful leaders who truly care about others?  Of course, the answer is yes, because there are excellent leaders out there doing just that.

This seminar profiles:

• Specific leaders who reflect the general perception
• Analyses their leadership styles, values and traits, and
• Demonstrates the role of emotional intelligence in leadership and the heart.

This is a fun and extremely popular keynote.