May 2009 (Part I): Are You Getting New Clients as Fast as You Would Like?

Getting profitable new clients has never been more important.

Our recent Q1 Sales Performance Poll shows that generating new sales opportunities is ranked as the highest priority by almost 4-to-1 as compared to other key sales challenges.

Savvy sales professionals do not delegate this task solely to the marketing department.

While there is much written about what to do once you are in a new sales meeting, there is little to help sales professionals get the initial meeting.


1. Would you like to create more new sales opportunities?
2. Are you having difficulty gaining initial client appointments?
3. Are your prospecting messages missing their mark?
4. Are gatekeepers stalling your progress?


If you are facing any of the above challenges, then we may have some solution selling training and sales coaching best practices for you.

Learn more about getting meetings with qualified new clients...

May 2009 (Part II): Are You Doing What it Takes to Stand Apart from Your Competition?

If someone were to ask you, "What differentiates your company from its top competitor?"

1. What would you say?
2. What would a colleague say?
3. Most importantly, what would your customers say?

On the surface, many organizations appear to offer similar solutions. Certainly a quick look at most websites would suggest the same. And because, like your organization, your competitors are continually enhancing and expanding their offerings, the distinctions become even more blurred.

Ultimately, knowing a few key things can make the difference between weathering the current economic storm, capitalizing on sales competitive advantage, and failing.

Read more about Differentiating for Sales Competitive Advantage...

April 2009 (Part I): Is Your Learning Solution Set Up to Succeed?

Over 50% of executives today are unhappy with the returns from their investments in learning.

Accordingly, it is not surprising that in tough economies, learning is often one of the first areas to be questioned or cut. In good or bad times, slashing training that does not have a clear business impact makes a lot of sense to us.

While it seems like common sense to ensure that learning investments are set up to succeed, we continue to be surprised that billions are spent each year on corporate training without any assurance that the money is being spent wisely. This does not mean changing all training to elearning because you have a travel freeze or because you want to reduce costs. While elearning can certainly be an effective medium, it means only doing training that makes business sense and setting it up to succeed - regardless of the approach.

Smart organizations make sure that they address ten key training best practice questions before launching any training initiative.

A proper assessment is more than a skill gap analysis. It allows companies to effectively initiate change, align stakeholders, customize solutions, predispose participants, guide coaching, set baseline metrics, target investments, and obtain buy-in.

Starting off on the right foot provides the foundation to save time, money, and reputations.Where do you stand and How do you stack up?

April 2009 (Part II): The #1 Reason Training Initiatives Fail

Training by itself typically does not work. The difference between success and failure is often not apparent until it is too late.

When we talk to HR and training, they consistently tell us that learning initiatives fail for one of three reasons.

1. "Managers do not have the time for their people to be taken away from their jobs to attend training."
2. "We do not have enough executive support or budget to do this right. So this is better than nothing."
3. "We need to do a better job marketing and communicating what we are offering to employees so we can fill these classes. This is really good stuff."

Guess what? It is probably not "really good stuff." Business executives tell us that all three assumptions are largely incorrect.

Unfortunately these common statements reflect the #1 reason that business unit executives, line managers and new supervisors believe that training initiatives fail - a lack of ...Learn More

Leading for Employee Engagement - Igniting Accountability, Commitment and Change-Readiness

Did you know that:

• Over 70% of employees are NOT fully engaged


• Many CEO's are questioning if their employees have what it takes


• Lack of employee engagement costs US businesses over $270 billion dollars a year


• Increased engagement can lead to 2-3% increase in operating margin

It's easy to believe that your employees are engaged when they work long hours, you have low turnover, and the job market is in shambles. However, don't be deceived. People often put in long hours begrudgingly and top performers are always in demand. You need your employees' full effort to reach your targets.

Is there a way to help your people avoid disengagement given the reality of the business challenges that you face?

The answer is, yes. Our research-based Leading for Employee Engagement Program shows leaders how to create an environment in which employees are engaged in spite of the challenging times.

Download the complimentary Employee Engagement Best Practices White Paper.

Employee Engagement Health Check - Are You Doing What it Takes?

Can you afford to have nearly 70% of your workforce complacent or actively disengaged? Unfortunately, recent studies show this to be the case across much of corporate America.

Another startling statistic: engaged workers are over 40% more productive and effective than their unengaged counterparts.

At a time when many companies are struggling to succeed with the "people left behind," those statistics are unacceptable to us. The good news is that the grim data on the lack of engagement may shine a light on an opportunity for you and your organization to increase discretionary effort and productivity, manage and retain talent, and come out of this economic storm stronger than you were before.

While Employee Engagement has garnered considerable interest in the last few years, we believe that most companies have not scratched the surface of the impact that Employee Engagement efforts can have on a company's bottom line.

Do you know if you are doing what it takes to effectively engage your employees?

Based upon over 20 years of research and data gathered from over 20,000 managers and 60,000 employees across multiple industries, we have identified the core areas that drive successful employee engagement.

How do you compare? Taking 10 minutes to complete this confidential and complimentary Employee Engagement Health Check could be the first step toward increasing productivity, retention, and profitability for you and your company.

March 2009 (Part I): Does Your Project Need Saving?

If you think that your project does not need help - think again.

Up to 50% of critical projects fail.

Are you doing what it takes to ensure that your key project management efforts succeed?

At a time when most companies are counting on key projects to drastically reduce costs, quickly bring new products to market, and significantly increase the top line, it pays to ensure that your most strategic projects are on the right track.

From our perspective, this means effectively problem solving and efficiently moving key strategies forward that significantly increase revenue and decrease costs.

Fortunately, a failed projects starts off as a troubled project. And the good news is that troubled projects can be identified and turned around before it is too late.

Learn more about LSA Global's proven Project Assessment / 27 Point Diagnostic Tool and start to identify and turn around troubled projects without delay.

March 2009 (Part II): Managing Virtual & Remote Teams: What Works and What Does Not?

In today's dispersed world, almost every high powered team has an important virtual component.

The day-to-day challenges faced by teams that work together at the same location are well documented.

But issues teams encounter with remote or telecommuting members add an additional layer of complexity.

Remote team dynamics are greatly compounded by reliance upon more complex communication technologies as well as by the need to bridge time, geographic, and cultural differences.

Take steps to ensure adequate problem solving training resources are in place and don't let these challenges impede the success of your virtual teams and remote teams.

Workplace Compliance: Health Check Analysis

In 2008, a harassment case resulted in an $18 million verdict against a large California company.

Is Your Company at Legal Risk?

It is a fact that when the economy hits a downturn, employee lawsuits increase substantially (as much as 20% per the EEOC).

For companies in California with more than 50 employees, 2009 is a compliance-training year.

Why? In 2005, California's AB1825 became law.

This law requires all managers/supervisors to take a two-hour training program every two years to prevent illegal sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation. It also requires all new managers/supervisors to take this same training within six months of their hire or promotion date. (CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 12940-12951).

Who knows? Taking 5 minutes to complete this confidential and complimentary AB1825 Compliance Health Check could save you $18 million.

Workplace Harassment: Your Compliance Options

If your organization does not comply with AB 1825, you have three options:

1. Take a Risk - do nothing and hope for the best


2. Take a Risk, Check the Box - find the cheapest elearning solution that may not qualify in court as a good faith effort nor effectively change behavior and see what happens


3. Contact an Expert - implement engaging, cost-effective, compliant, and interactive training that will decrease risk and improve employee relations

We offer proven and cost-effective options (both online and onsite) to help you and your organization become AB 1825 compliant while preventing harassment and discrimination charges.











Our instructors are seasoned attorneys, experienced trainers, and skilled facilitators who use real life situations, stories, and humor to make this potentially dry topic interesting, valuable, and memorable.

Review Your Options

February 2009 (Part I): Can Your Leaders Weather the Storm and Come Out Stronger?

Now is when Leadership really matters.

In difficult times, leaders should have the skills and knowledge to not only weather the storm, but to help you and your company come out of the storm two times faster and two times stronger than your competition.

From our perspective, this means effectively and efficiently moving key strategies forward that significantly increase revenue and decrease costs.

Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to design, deliver, implement, and measure leadership programs that:

1. Do not hinder cash flow and pay for themselves
2. Provide measurable business returns
3. Deliver on your company's top priorities

This is not about "training." This is about running your business to weather the storm and come out stronger and faster than your competitors.

February 2009 (Part II): Does Your Leadership Program Stack Up?

Is a $13 million dollar return realistic for a one-year Leadership Development Program?

It certainly sounds far fetched. Yet those numbers are real. It just happened. Done right, it could also happen for you.

Many profess wonderful results from action learning leadership programs. When we looked closer however, the majority of the results were fuzzy at best.

Done right, Leadership Development should build current leaders. Done right, Leadership Development should build future leaders. Done right, Leadership Development should deliver tangible business results.Get the Facts

January 2009 (Part I): Ensuring that your Salesforce Leapfrogs the Competition

Some of your key competitors will increase their revenue by more than 20% during this recession. If you are struggling with closing key deals, you probably find this statistic hard to believe. We were also skeptical - until it worked for us.

We were pleasantly surprised to find a simple and easy to implement sales methodology that allows a salesforce to create trust, collapse the sales planning process, and close more than 50% of leads.

If you are not happy with your revenue growth, pipeline closure rate, or quality of leads, consider these statistics:

1. Clients who follow this methodology typically increase their qualified pipeline a minimum of 30%.


2. Clients who implement change using this approach usually increase their revenue by at least 20%.


3. Clients who embrace these proven training best practices spend over 90% of their time in front of qualified future clients that want to do business with them.

Learn more about finding your ideal clients and closing new business over 50 percent of the time with Referral Selling Best Practices...

January 2009 (Part II): 8 Steps to Recession Proof Selling

What the heck is going on? Each day seems to bring dire news of additional layoffs, missed forecasts, and unpredictable weather ahead.

With little visibility, many of our clients are certainly being cautious with a strong emphasis on increasing revenue, cutting costs, and doing more with less.

While companies that face failure must do what it takes to cut costs, we believe that you cannot "save your way to success." In order to succeed, companies must grow top line sales revenue and do more with less.

Top line business sales growth can and does occur during a recession. What are you doing to ensure that it happens for you?

Learn more about the 8 key steps to Recession Proof Selling.

December 2008 (Part I): SOS - Survival Skills for Managers in Tough Times

As you read this, 25-40% of your workforce does not trust their manager. This mistrust leads directly to a lack of engagement, decreased productivity, and increased attrition.

If you think that these tough economic times will keep your top talent engaged and employed, think again. Now is the time that you're "A" managers are worth their weight in gold. They know it. Your competition knows it. Are you doing anything to keep the good ones aboard?

In this turbulent economy, you need your managers to be able to do "more with less." To meet this challenge, managers must have the proper management skills, practices, systems, and structures to help them (and you) succeed. Done right, management development should tangibly reduce employee relations issues, drive productivity and engagement, increase revenue, enhance product quality, and improve retention.

Research shows that organizations that make training available in tough economic times fare better and realize higher profits than do organizations that offer little or no training. According to a study commissioned by the ASTD, organizations that invest in training realize 218% higher gross income per employee. Moreover, companies that make training a priority are estimated to grow at a rate three times faster than those without training.

Smart companies view a downturn in the economy as the perfect time to invest and build their management bench-strength. By 2010, we anticipate a mass exodus of baby boomers reaching retirement age and exiting the workforce-leaving companies with a key talent shortage. That's why proactive organizations continue to spend on developing their managers.

To reap the benefits however, management development must be done right. We define "right" as following a proven 6-step process to ensure that you create tangible business results for you, your managers, and your organization.

1. Identifying the desired results using a strategic link analysis, success metrics, and a business case blueprint.


2. Assessing the current situation by aligning leadership and employees, obtaining buy-in, pinpointing skill gaps, and setting baseline.


3. Designing the exact solution utilizing interviews, pilot workshops, customized case studies, predisposition letters, feedback systems, and individual development profiles.


4. Delivering targeted action learning and performance coaching modules supported by a simple Learning Management and Implementation System to handle internal marketing, registration, reporting, and follow-through.


5. Implementing coaching and following through with targeted job aids, customized mastery sessions, implementation focus groups, and individual skill implementation plans.


6. Measuring impact and results of skill adoption on key business metrics including revenue, margin, productivity, engagement, and retention.

December 2008 (Part II): Key Training Outsourcing Questions to Ask

Admittedly, my head was in the sand.

About 10 years ago, my boss (the CEO) asked me if we should consider outsourcing some of our training function. The question caught me off guard. Was this a reflection on me and my team? Did other executives think that we couldn't handle it? After some research and sound advice, I learned that my initial reaction was pretty naïve.

I was running HR and Organizational Strategies for a soon-to-be 2,500 person global consulting firm. Along with the 100 other tasks on our plates, we were in the process of building world class sales, leadership, and performance management programs for our top talent.

Asking for outside help was far from our minds. We wanted to prove to some new members of the executive team that we "had what it takes." We felt that, if we used outside experts, we would not be as valued as if we were to design, deliver, and manage the training all by ourselves.

Fortunately for me (and for the company), some wiser and more experienced people pointed us in the right direction. We realized that a few key questions make all the difference.

Read up on these questions..

November 2008 (Part I): Are Your Most Critical Projects Set Up to Succeed?

Project sponsors and project leaders are often afraid to discuss project concerns until it is too late. With up to 50% of projects failing to meet expectations, the chances are high that at least one of your most critical projects will not succeed.

At a time when every investment dollar must be spent wisely, have you done all it takes to ensure that your project is not the 5,000 pound gorilla in the room?

If you cannot answer yes to all of the following questions, chances are you should take a look under the covers to help get your project managers and supervisors back on track.

• Is your project on time and on budget while delivering the quality results that you expect?
• Are agreed-upon project success metrics and project risks being regularly monitored and communicated with all key stakeholders?
• Does the project have the right resources, talent and sponsorship to succeed?
• Is the change management process working effectively?
• Would you consider the project team a high performing team?
• Is the project schedule realistic and inclusive of areas out of the project's control?

If you can confidently answer yes to the above questions, you are most likely in a good position. If you are unsure, our project assessment and diagnostic is for you.

As one of our clients recently said, "spending a little time and a little money can save you a lot of time, a lot of pain, and a lot of money."

Improve project skills and learn to diagnose project risk and success.

November 2008 (Part II): How to Influence Your Project Team

While it may work for this giraffe, it usually takes a lot more than a "carrot and stick" approach to effectively influence project teams. Especially remote and virtual teams.

Once a project team becomes proficient at the fundamental science of project management (e.g. project risk, politics, definition, planning, kickoff and execution, assessment and compliance), it is usually the "people stuff" that gets in the way.

Positively influencing team members who may or may not fall under your leadership often determines the success of a project and cross-functional employee retention initiatives.

The first step in remote and virtual team influence is to establish a climate for influence. Read the white paper "Influencing Your Team" to learn effective ways to improve project skills and the first things a team needs to accomplish.

October 2008 (Part I): Is Your Training a Perfect 10? Should You Care?

What would happen if the Olympics used training's most prevalent approach to scoring?
In addition to creating some interesting arguments, Nadia's perfect 10 would probably turn into something similar to:

• "I think she did pretty well. Very entertaining."
• "I'd recommend watching her again."
• "While I liked it, I wish her routine was my more applicable to my specific job."

While it sounds crazy in this context, thousands of organizations continue to allow training to be the least measured and most ineffective process in business. Based on over 600 measurement projects for Fortune 1000 companies around the world, we know that Training Measurement can now be done both efficiently and effectively. Done right, training measurement will:

• Quantify business impact
• Drive focus and accountability
• Provide specific feedback for coaching
• Support employee retention initiatives

Learn more about training measurement done right...

October 2008 (Part II): If Training is NOT a Popularity Contest, Why Do We Keep Treating It Like One?

"People really like it. We have waiting lists! Our workshops are very popular. We're really happy."

Unfortunately, "popularity" is one of the most common answers we get to justify training expenditures and approaches from Training and HR Departments.

But popularity as a learning business metric is about as effective as tracking hours trained, dollars spent, people trained, courses offered, subjects covered, modalities used, and the look and feel of the workbooks.

Done right, training is about...

Learn more about training done right...

September 2008 (Part I): Training Assessments Done Right

Most assessments are not only statistically invalid, but they are often implemented in a way that inhibits trust, decreases relevance, and wastes time.

We believe that the purpose of a training assessment should be to answer the questions: "What is holding us back?" and "Where should we focus?"

We also believe that training assessment should be customized to each unique environment, drive toward outcomes rather than simply seek opinions, and guide strategies by comparing skills to actual performance.

And from a purely practical point of view, we believe as well that assessments should be short, relevant, cost effective, and timely.

In addition to traditional interviews and focus groups, LSA Global offers three proven online training assessment options. With over 600 assessment and training measurement projects over the last 15+ years, we think you'll be pleasantly surprised with the speed, cost, flexibility, and value of these options.

Learn more about 3 Best Practice Training Assessment Options...

September 2008 (Part II): Training Assessment Health Check

Wouldn't you rather spend a little bit of money before you spend a lot of money? While it seems like common sense to diagnose before prescribing, we continue to be surprised that billions are spent on corporate training each year without any assurance that the money is being spent on the right areas.

Unfortunately, there are hundreds of poorly designed assessments being peddled in the marketplace that are too long, too theoretical, and invalid. A proper assessment however, can be used to efficiently and effectively initiate change, align stakeholders, pinpoint skill gaps, customize workshops, predispose training participants, guide coaching, set baseline metrics, target investments, and obtain buy-in.

In order to see if you should be using a skills assessment BEFORE investing in training, please complete our training assessment health check.

5-10 minutes could save you a lot of time, a lot of money, and possibly your reputation.

Learn more about 3 Best Practice Training Assessment Options...

August 2008 (Part I): Can you Afford Your Project Going Off Track?

More than 50% of projects fail to meet original expectations or success criteria. Up to 75% of project leaders do not know if their projects are on track.

This uncertainty can spell trouble in terms of project time, budget, quality, and employee retention.

However, project uncertainty can also provide an opportunity to get back on track.

If you would you like to formally compare your project to research-based best practices - to turn around troubled projects, kick projects off on the right foot, or take your Project Management Practices to the next level - then the LSA Project Management Best Practices Diagnostic Tool is for you.

Project Best Practices Diagnostic / Assessment

August 2008 (Part II): Building High Performance Project Teams

When projects require more than one person to complete, they also require teamwork. You can have the best boat, but regardless of the weather, it is the "people stuff" that typically causes problems on projects.

While it is true that, for successful end results, you need to excel at the science of project management, it is also true that poor project teamwork will destroy the most carefully crafted plans, business cases, and project risk management strategies.

One best practice for creating high performance project teamwork is to build a Problem Solving Culture on each an every project team. This "Problem Solving Machine" has a specific approach and clear characteristics that have proven invaluable to project teams over the years.

Read More about building a High Performing Project Team...

July 2008 (Part I): Bottom Line Learning - Leaders in Action

Less than 25% of corporate training initiatives are directly tied to a company's key business initiatives.

Economic uncertainty often rightfully spells trouble for corporate learning agendas and other expenditures that are not closely linked to a company's strategic priorities. Difficult times can also be a difficult time to get leaders to attend learning programs because they are too busy working on "other priorities."

However, these times can also be a call to Learning & Development leaders to align their activities with prevailing priorities and mission critical programs intended to have a quantifiable impact on the bottom line of the company. If none exist, consider taking your game to the next level by championing a learning initiative that will do just that.

For Learning & Development leaders looking to have a real impact on the business, their challenge is turning L & D initiatives into direct value creation processes - one that prepares leaders to better manage the business and execute the strategy while creating immediate value to the business. State of the art leadership development is quickly being viewed as learning that takes place within the context of work initiatives tied to strategic business imperatives.

Action Learning provides an ideal platform for achieving both powerful leadership learning and meaningful business results. It is a process where developing leaders work on a project to produce real business results while learning new leadership and business skills. In essence, it creates a structured practice field to learn through doing. The level of complexity and infrastructure can range from simple assignments with a small group of leaders to company wide, mission critical business transformations.

Learn more about our Bottom Line Learning: Leaders in Action Program...

July 2008 (Part II): 7 Action Learning Design Best Practices

Would you be surprised to find that most Action Learning Programs do not change behavior or deliver true business results?

While Action Learning can be a powerful learning platform, poor action learning design can greatly minimize the desired impact. As a guiding design principle, we have found that the larger the dose of "business reality" - the better.

To us " business realty" means a minimum $6 million to the bottom line though revenue increases and/or cost reductions.

With that in mind, here are 7 Action Learning design best practices that should be addressed.

June 2008 (Part I): Are You Focused on the "Money Making" Skills

Can you believe that less than 50% of companies focus on the key skills required to grow their business - the skills that help drive revenue, increase productivity, and meet strategic targets? Regardless of the macro economic conditions, we find that figure, and the associated waste of billions of training dollars, appalling.

Despite the increased pressure on tangible business results, organizations continue to fall short in the areas of strategic skill identification, skill gap analysis, business alignment, and the Transfer of Training(TM). Companies continue to take ineffective short cuts and purchase or cancel training that never should have been considered in the first place.

Business results and skill alignment can and should be accomplished without costly or time consuming "Dilbert-like" consulting services and approaches. Yet, as has been proven over and over again, training on its own does not provide business results or improved performance.

If you would like to target your training investments wisely, then our proven Training Assessment Services are for you. We can help you align leadership and employees, pinpoint critical skill gaps, and create individual coaching plans that put your company on the positive side of the statistics.

Learn more about our proven Training Assessment Services

June 2008 (Part II): Are Training Marketing Concerns Causing You to Miss the Boat?

When we talk to Human Resources and training, they tell us that learning initiatives fail due to a lack of marketing. But, business executives and employees tell us that this assumption is wrong.

Marketing for training is all about getting the right skills to the right people in the right way at the right time and at the right price. It is about creating awareness and making it easy to "buy" training that makes sense to the individual, their boss, and the organizational design.

We do not advocate against using proven marketing techniques to communicate professional development options. Quite the contrary. Standard marketing approaches, such as sponsorship by senior leaders, visibility on your intranet, easy registration and tracking, targeted marketing emails, clear value propositions, success stories, incentives, and promotions, are the tickets to play the game.

If you 're struggling with low attendance at your training programs and think that marketing is the cause, you are probably missing the boat. The boat that we are talking about carries executives as its passengers. The boat that we are talking about has business alignment and business results as its rudder and helm. We have yet to find a training program aligned with individual and business performance goals that does not have a waiting list - with or without marketing.

Read more about Not Missing the Boat...

May 2008 (Part I): Do Your Leaders Need to Make Better Strategic Decisions?

Executives today face an avalanche of information clamoring for action and attention. It is vital that Leaders quickly navigate through the hype, spin, and manipulation to separate the relevant from the irrelevant, the important from the trivial, and the myths from reality.

Failure to make key strategic decisions will result in incorrect actions based on invalid information and in a waste of valuable resources. You can afford neither inaction nor knee-jerk action. Critical thinking principles and procedures are what you need to prevent dysfunction.

Our proven strategic decision-making workshop takes a few of your organization's key past decisions, analyzes the variables that led to action, and applies those lessons to key future decisions.

Learn more about Strategic Decision Making for Leaders...

May 2008 (Part II): How to Fast Track Your Leaders?

Are your leaders prepared for the #1 challenge that they will face in the next 12-36 months?

91% of Senior Executives responding to a recent survey said that the "challenges that their organizations face are much more complex than they were five years ago."

This complexity means that leaders and managers must be better and faster at formulating, choosing, and implementing more innovative strategies. To do this, they must take a different approach.

Read More about How to Fast Track Leaders...

March 2008 (Part I): Selling to Executives - Don't Let This Happen to You

Selling to executives is different. Executive barriers are higher and more complex to hurdle. Before executives or senior directors approve a purchase decision, they need to understand specifically how the product or service will specifically impact their overall corporate goals.

To sell to these high level decision, makers successfully, you must be able to effectively accomplish 3 main objectives:

• Identify your target customer's key business and financial goals, objectives, strategies, and operating issues.
• Link your ....

Learn more about the 3 keys to Executive Selling...

March 2008 (Part II): Moving Beyond Consultative Selling

While solid product knowledge and advanced consultative selling skills can deliver increased revenue, they will not deliver industry leading sales results.

Industry leadership comes when real business acumen is added to the mix and you become a trusted advisor as opposed to merely acting as one.

For your company to maintain or achieve industry leadership your sales force must be fluent in three areas...

Get the White Paper to learn more

February 2008 (Part I): Training Assessment - How to Do it Right

Despite excellent intentions, we estimate that over 50% of training providers and internal company practitioners misuse and misapply training assessment tools and techniques.

Properly designed and applied training assessments should clearly answer two key questions:

• What is holding us back?
• Where should we focus?

Training assessments should also be customized to each unique environment, be outcome-based (not opinion-based), and compare skills to actual performance to guide strategies.

Learn more about effective assessment approaches...

February 2008 (Part II): Training Measurement - The Case for Why and How It Should Happen

Even though we have completed over 400 successful training measurement projects with Fortune 1000 clients around the world, we continue to hear concerns about training measurement.

More often than not the hesitation involves three central arguments:

• There are too many variables.
• It is too expensive.
• No one else is doing it.

All three arguments are not valid. Training measurement can be efficient, accurate, and cost effective.

With that said, training measurement projects should only take place for business relevant training when answers to the following questions are valuable to you and your organization.

Get Whitepaper

January 2008 (Part I): Organizational Savvy - Political Skills to Successfully Navigate Power and Politics with Integrity

Despite excellent intentions, many employees, managers, and executives become victims of "behind- the-scenes" political forces operating in their organizations.

These include power and political dynamics, perceptions, turf and ego, and even sabotage.

This high-energy intensive political skills workshop adjusts attitudes about power and politics, confronts naivete about organizational dynamics, and provides practical political skills and strategic influence skills for building organizational impact with integrity.

Clients like CitiBank, Wells Fargo, Constellation Energy, CVS Caremark, Autodesk, Apple, and Genentech find this workshop extremely valuable.

Learn more about becoming politically savvy...

January 2008 (Part II): How are Politics Affecting You and Your Company?

Each business day, a corporate version of "survival of the fittest" is played out. Power plays, turf battles, deception, and sabotage block individuals' career progress and threaten companies' resources, results and key employee retention iniatives.

Being Organizationally Savvy means never having to say, "I didn't see it coming."

It also means achieving career success, maximizing team impact, and protecting your company's reputation and bottom line. How? - By utilizing ethical but street-smart strategies for navigating corporate politics to gain "impact with integrity."

Clients like CitiBank, Wells Fargo, Constellation Energy, CVS Caremark, Autodesk, Apple, and Genentech find this workshop extremely valuable.

Download Whitepaper...

December 2007 (Part l): Coaching for Sales Performance

Did you know that effective sales management can create a competitive advantage that greatly impacts revenue growth, sales retention, and client satisfaction?

Sales leadership training can create effective sales managers and elminate a long- term problem for many organizations.

Promoting highly effective salespeople to the role of sales manager seems to fail as often as it succeeds, and there is little documented evidence of sales managers' independent contribution to organizational value.

Our research shows a 29% increase in top-line performance due to some critical few skills of sales managers independent of the skills of their salespeople.

Learn more about how to use Sales Management as a source of competitive advantage...

December 2007 (Part ll): How to Manage Top Sales People

Did you know that effective sales leadership training can create a competitive advantage that greatly impacts revenue growth, sales retention, and client satistaction?

Creating effective sales managers has been a long-term problem for many organizations. Promoting highly effective salespeople to the role of sales manager seems to fail as often as it succeeds, and there is little documented evidence of sales managers' independent contribution to organizational value.

Our research shows a 29% increase in top-line performance due to some critical few skills of sales managers independent of the skills of their salespeople.

Learn more about how to use Sales Management as a source of competitive advantage...

November 2007 (Part l): Powerful Project Management Post Mortems

Research suggests that up to 75% of projects fail to meet original expectations or success criteria. In our minds, this number is unacceptable.

Each year, we conduct project post mortems with experienced, qualified, and motivated project teams that did not succeed. Our experience shows that spending a little bit of time to take stock throughout the project and at the end of a project can pay big dividends.

Post mortems also help ensure that you do not build irreversible walls between stakeholders, developers, departments, and team members.

If you are not making major improvements in cost, quality, stakeholder satisfaction, and time between projects, then our Post Mortem Methodology is for you.

Learn more about how to use Post Mortems to drive success...

November 2007 (Part ll): How to Manage Stakeholder Risk on Projects

Would it surprise you to learn that being on time, on budget, and fulfilling all requirements does not necessarily mean project success? Whose requirements are we trying to meet anyway? And who decides if the original due date can be changed when the scope grows?

The key to many complex projects is optimizing stakeholder involvement in a way that makes sense.

When it comes to stakeholders, you better be asking yourself the following 3 questions:

Who cares?

What do they care about?

What am I going to do about it?

To most good project leaders, these questions are pretty elementary. Here's the twist. As we developed a workshop on stakeholder management built on those three questions, one of our project risk management experts put all the pieces together when he said, "That's just risk management for people."

We think he's right.

Read how to effectively manage stakeholder risk...

October 2007 (Part l): Truly Managing Performance

Performance Management is a hot and confusing topic these days.

First of all, the term has different meanings for different people.

Secondly, business leaders who plan to introduce a Performance Management initiative have a variety of important concerns that they are trying to address:

• Inability to execute key strategic goals.
• Need to reduce overall costs and increase productivity.
• Retention of top performers in key positions.
• Lack of bench strength and succession risk.
• Desire to formalize and actively develop cultural philosophies and values.

Just as concerns vary, so do Performance Management implementation strategies, practices, and tools. Whether the initiative is focused on aligning goals, integrating systems, or performance coaching, the underlying objective is to positively influence and align individual performance.

Yet, most PM initiatives are still founded on the initial premises and assumptions of traditional Performance Management approaches.

Learn more about how to manage performance...

October 2007 (Part ll): 5 Keys to Successful Performance Management

If you want better performance from your employees, the following four statements may surprise you:

Forget about making managers' lives easier.

Dump your performance appraisal and "coach" moniker.

Shift accountability away from employees.

Stop paying them off.

While these statements may seem to contradict what you have heard about successful performance management practices, we have found that the following five practices break away from conventional thinking to help solve the age old problem of the cumbersome, ineffective, and often ridiculed performance management practices.

Read the 5 Keys to Performance Management...

September 2007 (Part l): How to Sell to Executives

Are you having difficulty accessing and influencing key client executives to increase revenue?

Before executives or senior managers approve a purchase decision, they need to see how the product or service will impact their key corporate goals.

Sales industry leadership and true differentiation requires (1) Product and service knowledge, (2) Consultative selling skills, and (3) Applied business acumen.

Solution selling training is the key to succeeding with executives, you must address both current technical needs and strategic business needs - the critical needs that keep executives awake at night.

Learn more about how to sell higher ...

September 2007 (Part ll): Upgrading Your Sales Force

Business sales training can help you to increase revenue, margins, and personal success by turning more of your "B" Players into "A" players?

Typically A players represent the top 10 to 15% of your sales force.

Giving you're A and B players the tools to uncover complex business issues that are relevant to their customers and the skills to be able to link their solutions to those issues is the key to upgrading your sales force. The results will reveal themselves in the numbers.

When it comes to investing in your sales force the greatest return comes from concentrating on both your A and B players. First, provide your A players with...

Read more about upgrading your sales force...

August 2007 (Part l): Project Management Diagnostic Tool

Would you like to work on improving project management skills to start off on the right foot, continuously improve, or support some key decisions?

Our experience and research tell us that up to 75% of projects fail to meet original expectations due to at least one of the following 5 key problems:

Lack of commitment.

Inability to define project scope and manage change.

Lack of resources.

Unrealistic schedules.

Poor definition and planning.

The LSA Project Management Best Practices Diagnostic Tool is based upon multi-industry project best practices and research. The results, combined with face-to-face interviews, are used to develop a targeted Project Results Blue Print to concretely define the action steps necessary to meet your goals.

Read more about pinpointing your needs...

August 2007 (Part ll): #1 Reason Executives Believe Training Fails

When we talk to HR and training, they consistently tell us that learning initiatives such as sales negotiation training, performance management training or any other type of training fail for one of three reasons. Business executives tell us that all three assumptions are incorrect.

Do any of these actual quotes from HR and training clients sound familiar?

People do not have the time to attend training.

We do not have enough executive support or budget to do this right.

We need to do a better job marketing what we are offering to employees so we can fill these classes.

These unfortunately common statements reflect the #1 reason that business unit executives, line and new managers believe that training initiatives fail...

Read more about the #1 reason that training fails...

July 2007: 5 Key Succession Planning Trends

Did you know that "talent mobility" is increasing as fast, if not faster than the performance management expectations of most companies?

While the majority of companies with more than 500 employees have already taken some steps to begin a succession planning process for senior management positions, most agree that they do not have the right "talent ready at the right time.

One of the key goals of any succession planning effort should be that there is no "hiccup" in seamlessly executing the business plan, at least from a talent and employee retention perspective.

To ensure success, we recommend implementing 5 key lessons learned from the field.

Read more about the 5 keys lessons...

June 2007: Channel Objectives, Metrics, and Dashboards

More and more organizations are finding that their Channels are not living up to their original performance expectations.

Channels are a complicated business, filled with nuance, complications, and outright complexity. What works in one situation might be counterproductive in another.

As a result, an important job for a channel leader or manager is to evaluate, adapt, and execute within a flexible framework that allows alignment across multiple objectives and metrics.

Read more about the 5 keys lessons...

May 2007 (Part I): 5 Project Success Factors

While almost every industry and profession continue to commit a greater proportion of their time and resources to key projects, up to 75% of their mission critical projects continue to fail to meet original expectations.

Few projects are easy. Even when the technology is proven, the requirements are clear, and the budget is sufficient, for various reasons, problems arise and project risk factors are not properly managed.

While many projects fail, others exceed or meet expectations.

If you have led or been involved with projects, you know that you must start with agreed upon goals and key stakeholders.

Read about the 5 Keys to Project Success...

May 2007 (Part II): Project Management Tools & Templates

Are you looking to save time, reduce costs or improve project quality?

Best Practice templates, applied correctly, can greatly increase your chances for success by providing guidance, a common language, and proven concepts to integrate into your project.

With over 15 years of project management experience with leading organizations around the world, these templates were created by PMI certified PMP experts to help project teams improve the project skills needed to succeed.

Get Project Management Best Practice Templates...

April 2007 (Part I): Does Your Interviewing Process Work?

In a previous issue of the Harvard Business Review, Larry Bossidy, the past CEO of AlliedSignal, describes interviewing as "the most flawed process in American business."

Based on over 25 years of experience helping organizations improve competency-based behavioral interviewing training and practices, we couldn't agree more.

More and more of our clients have increased hiring. More and more of our clients utilize an inconsistent and unproven interviewing process that takes too much time and does not produce the desired results.

While we know that hiring the right people significantly decreases costs and increases productivity, fewer and fewer organizations have the skills to interview effectively-they don't have a clear picture of the ideal candidate nor how to ask the questions that will predict performance once hired.

We think the problem is obvious.

Read more about improving your hiring process...

April 2007 (Part II): Tools for Hiring Top Talent

If you are working long hours while trying to add important members to your team, you should be asking yourself lots of questions.

Based on over 25 years of experience helping organizations improve competency-based behavioral interviewing training and practices, we suspected you might be wondering how best to accomplish this objective.

Despite the best intentions, 90% of all terminations are due to performance factors that never appeared on a resume. Most companies exert 2-4 times more time and effort to interview and select new employees than is required.

It is possible to hire "A" players faster with less effort.

Read more about improving your hiring process...