TOP 10 Books on Negotiation: Apr '07 Barnes & Noble
1. Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
By Roger Fisher, William Ury, Bruce Patton, 2. Power of a Positive No: How to Say No and Still Get to Yes
By William Ury ...
Online Resource of the Month, Dec. 2006 Accompli
ONLINE RESOURCES: PowerPoint Presentations, Articles and more on Change, Leadership Development and Teams, at no cost at Accompligroup.com.
Harvard Business Review
MAGAZINE: Best practices, latest and greatest ideas about how to run anything. "I love it online and offline." ~ Janice, CEO Coaching Circles
What Coaches Suggest
Here is our set of products and services we believe will assist you in sharpering your communication skills. Books, magazines, reports, tools, PowerPoints and much more.
The Art of Influencing Up by Marshall Goldsmith
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"Great wisdom not applied to action and behavior is meaningless data." —Peter Drucker
Knowledge workers are people who know more about what they are doing than their boss does. My guess is that you, like most of my readers, are a knowledge worker. Many knowledge workers (especially those with technical backgrounds) have years of education and experience that enable them to come up with great ideas.
Yet this same group has almost no training in how to "influence up" and ensure that their great ideas actually get accepted. Great ideas that are never implemented don't make much of an impact on the organization.
The guidelines listed below are intended to help you do a better job of influencing your upper management. They won't always ensure your success, but they will definitely improve your odds!
Take responsibility. Think like a salesperson—not a technician.
In many ways, influencing up is similar to selling products or services to external customers. They don't have to buy—you have to sell!
Any good salesperson takes responsibility for achieving results. No one is impressed with salespeople who blame their customers for not buying their products. When making your pitch, treat upper managers like great salespeople treat their customers.
While the importance of taking responsibility may seem obvious in external sales, an amazing number of people in large corporations spend countless hours blaming management for not buying their ideas, as opposed to blaming themselves for not selling those ideas. If more time were spent on developing our ability to present ideas and less on blaming management, a lot more might get accomplished.
Focus on the big picture—not just what's in it for you.
An effective salesperson would never say to a customer: "You need to buy this product, because if you don't, I won't achieve my objectives!"
Effective salespeople relate to the needs of the buyers. They don't expect buyers to relate to their needs. In the same way, effective "upward influencers" relate to the larger needs of the organization, not just to the needs of their unit or team.
When influencing up, focus on the impact of the decision on the overall corporation. In most cases, the needs of the unit and the needs of the corporation are directly connected. In some cases, this connection isn't so obvious. Don't assume that executives will automatically make the connection between the benefit to your unit and significant, positive impact for the larger corporation.
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EXCERPT: 'THE TROUBLE WITH THINKING' by Lauren Powers Comments (0) Here is an excerpt from Lauren's new book "The Trouble with Thinking: The Dangerous Trip from In the Head to Out the Mouth"
"Finally a communication expert who explains the deep reason that we don't understand each other." ~ Randi Voss, PhD, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin
Opening the Doors of Communication by Jane Weddle Comments (0) Who is not interested in knowing more about themselves and about others on their team in order to work more effectively together? Let’s take a snap shot of Joe’s team, whom he desperately wants to improve his interactions with!
“Try Feedforward Instead of Feedback” By Marshall Goldsmith
Quality communication—between and among people at all levels and every department and division—is the glue that holds organizations together. free
“Quote” - George Bernard Shaw
"The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished."
free
“The Elephant in the Room: Organizational Silence ” by Alicia Rodriguez
Imagine that you walk into the Boardroom for a meeting with your senior staff. In the middle of the room sits a large, angry looking elephant. free
“Beware the Man Who Knows” By ROBERT W. GUNN and BETSY RASKIN GULLICKSON
Leaders become more effective as they become more comfortable saying, I don't know. free
Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth
BOOK: How to identify your own money blueprint and "revise" it to not only create success, but more importantly, to keep and continually grow it.*Barnes&Noble Bestsellers of 2007 *
Delivered from Distraction: Getting the Most out of Life with ADD
BOOK: "This is a *must read* for those with ADD - especially ADULTS! I found it tremendously helpful!" ~ Mimi Testen
Every Day Matters: How You Can Improve Your Life in 7 Weeks or Less
*NEW* "This book intelligently, yet simply, describes how our habit of constantly putting ourselves down and how this bad human habit is a detriment to reaching the goals we want most in our lives." -- Kelly Kennedy
The Art 
EXCERPT: 
Opening the Doors of Communication by Jane Weddle 
