A Newsletter Valuing Change

July/August, 1999

Tips for Change

The Art of Listening

• Really listen to what people say.
• Be curious.
• Don't finish other people's sentences for them.
• Be patient.
• Be responsive to what people are saying to you.
• Don't just wait for your turn to say what you want to say.

Planning

Take time to plan. Having a plan helps you be proactive rather than reactive. Include your dreams. Include time for delays as well as the time to modify your plan. Have your plan address accomplishing tasks that are not automatic. Keep in mind you control your plan it does not control you.

Coming Up With Options:

When a situation seems unsolvable: Brainstorm. Don't worry about finding the right answer. Come up with as many alternatives as possible. Be creative and outrageous. When you think you have them all come up with two more. After you have at least eight options choose one.

Invest In Yourself

You are your most important asset. What is the status is of this most important asset? What do you need to do to improve your investment? What steps will you take? By when?

Visualize Enthusiasm

How to Work a Room:, Learn the Strategies of Savvy Socializing – for Business and Personal Success, by Susan Roane offers key suggestions for improving networking and socializing skills. She gives tips on how to circulate comfortably and graciously and have fun in environments that up until reading her book felt risky. Her book helps you understand what holds you back from feeling at ease and how to overcome fears.

She covers roadblocks, strategies to meet more people, what to say, how to start and end conversations, how to prepare, and etiquette.

Buy this book

Charles F. Kettering "I am not interested in the past. I am interested in the future, for that is where I expect to spend the rest of my life." What does your future offer?

Marketing

Expand and cement your existing client relationships by:

• Knowing your client's business.
• Sending information to your clients directly on point for their business.
• Contacting clients to see what business challenges they are facing.
• Visiting clients at their place of business.
• Making referrals to your client's businesses.