Category Archives: Dyment & Associates Blog

Introducing “Leap Year, The Course: One Week to An Extraordinary Next Year”

Welcome to 2018!

Have you entered this year with hope, excitement, and motivation?

Or, is there a part of you that knows besides your enthusiasm there is some fear too?  Maybe you suspect that this year, despite all your best intentions, may turn out much like the one that just ended-beginning full of expectation but ending with a discouraging list of unrealized dreams and goals.

If so, you are not alone.

Many of us feel both excitement AND some cynicism at the start of each new year.  Some have abandoned new year’s goal planning altogether hiding behind intellectual rationalizations, for example,  “I plan all year round, etc.” Others, simply have quietly stopped setting written goals knowing, with sadness, they would be very unlikely to achieve them so why go through it all again. The truth for all is:  There is little reason to expect a different outcome this year if you do the same things you have always done. And, many of us have made the same attempts January after January and have frankly grown tired of trying so hard.

Einstein said it well:

“We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.”

A better way…

The singular passion of my career has been observing, cataloging, and learning how people make significant changes and do so permanently.  In recent years, I have written books, assessments, resources, and now a course on how to do just that.  These techniques have transformed my business and personal life and they will yours too, if you implement them.

For the first year ever, I am releasing my Leap Year Course–One Week to An Extraordinary Next Year. The course was developed with the invaluable feedback of hundreds coaching, clinical  clients and thousands audience members from 2650 audiences over the past twenty years!

Clearly and earnestly, you have told me what you need to reboot your career and personal goals and this short course contains what you have asked for to make this year extraordinarily different.  It is not a difficult journey, but it does take focus and discipline to start. Each student will develop his or her own pathway but the foundational practices described in this course will “set the stage” to make your breakthrough happen.

The course is priced reasonably–just the cost of one face-to-face coaching session-and comes with a 100% money back guarantee.  Complete the workbook in its entirety and feel as if the course was not worth the cost and we will refund your money, no questions asked.

Is Permanent Change in Mid-Life Possible?  The Story of Three Clients…(Names and minor details have been changed to protect privacy.)

George

When he came to see me, George was a highly educated, late career professional who had been laid off for two years.  He was naturally sad about his career loss and, as the months had passed, feeling hopeless about his prospects. For twenty years he excelled in his field working with top corporations.  But times had changed and the digital world had rendered a number of his skills obsolete.  Fortunately, the principles he has learned about marketing, sales and customer service had not, but the delivery system for doing his work had totally evolved.  We worked together to identify what new skills he would need to acquire to be highly marketable again in the new economy. There was a very critical list of new skills he would need, but it is was not a long list.  He had a choice to make-add to his skill set and position himself as a seasoned but cutting-edge, digitally-savvy, professional or fade out into an early retirement.  He chose the latter and has just landed a huge consulting deal which has the potential for setting up for financial security for the rest of his life.  More importantly, his new way of working can be duplicated over and over again with new clients giving him all the financial resources he needs.

Mandy

Mandy was working in a hospitality industry when she first came for help.  She enjoyed her customers and was loved by her team but she knew she was capable of much more.  We identified that she enjoyed the medical field and, together, identified a quick career change path to a job within a hospital setting.  She went back to school for a few months, got her certification, and was picked up by a prestigious hospital where she is thriving.  She is now ready to go back for another certification (and raise.)  In addition, she shared that she had always had a love for making crafts but had no idea how to market and sell them online.  Together we put together a customized curriculum of free resources she could study to learn how to create an online presence to sell her crafts.  She has now sold many online products and is excited about what she can create and sell next.

Chris

Chris always knew he had “a book in him.”  He had a number of ideas and pages of digital notes, but did not know which direction to take to get his message out to the public.  He also suffered from the deadly disease all new would-be writers and entrepreneurs have–believing their book’s message is for everyone!  (Not so!) We worked together to sort through his options and to focus in on a realistic niche of potential readers:  Should he write an ebook, a course, a webinar, a self-published book, or work to find a traditional publisher?  We identified a customized course of study that Chris could use to answer these questions and, slowly, he began to build a group of interested followers while he worked on his first product. In this way, Chris was able to sidestep the two most deadly pitfalls for new writers–spending months writing a book that is too general and not developing an audience, beforehand, to sell to when you are finished. Instead, Jim’s new following would not only be future buyers of his book and other resources, but, equally important, also give him invaluable feedback along the way about what to include in his products and books.

Each of these three individual came to us knowing that they could do and be more, but knew they needed help.  They also knew that time was passing by and they could easily spend another three or four years trying to discover what they could to change their lives to get their message or craft out into the world.  Instead, they significantly shortened the time needed to thrive and had their leap year!

What about you?  Can you relate?

If so, let’s talk.

Here are three options for jump-starting your 2018:

  1. Give yourself an almost unfair advantage this year by signing up for the Leap Year (self-study) Course ($197, with a 100% money-back guarantee!)

2. Sign up for a one-hour Mastermind Session iwhat you need to start the year off quickly? (Note: These sessions can be held in our Huntington Beach offices, by phone or by video, just call or email for details.)

3; Invest in a comprehensive, five-session, Career Transition Coaching Package with five assessments.

To learn more, email us at:

drbill@drbillspeaks.com

or

Call me direct at:

949.683.4997

Best wishes for an extraordinary 2018!

Dr. Bill Dyment

 

 

 

 

Make This Year Your Leap Year: 5 Simple but Disruptive Ways to Grow Your Career

 

Welcome to the new year! Will it be any different for your career? If you do the same things as last year, we know the answer. You will experience incremental growth at best, not the quantum leap you may hope. Desire a different outcome? Here are five simple but powerfully divergent things you can do to grow your career and/or organization in the new year. Which one(s) will you implement?

1     Codify what You Observe in Your Field

Years ago, Jim Collins in Good to Great wrote about the “hedgehog principle” –the importance of being the one who not only worked hard, but looked around and made critical observations about trends, principles and dangers. His advice is still as true today as ever.

Application Example: My wife is a director at a prep school. As part of her job she reads hundreds of college admission essays each fall and winter. She observes that these letters fall into several categories ranging from being an immediate “turn-off” to “highly engaging” (and likely to get the attention of a college admissions department.) One particularly noxious essay style is what she calls the “Superman/Superwoman essay” in which students write about how “no one else would step up” to meet a social need but they did. Unfortunately, this type of essay comes across as self-serving and narcissistic. Over breakfast today, we began to explore several other essays types, good and bad, that could be codified and used as examples in student trainings, and in one-on-one student college counseling. This approach would not only help improve her department but could also be shared with a far wider audience of counseling colleagues, teachers, students and parents.

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The Magic Response that will Make You Great at Receiving Criticism-Once and For All!

Are you great at receiving “constructive” criticism? Yeah, I thought so too. After all, I get paid to be a precise communicator as speaker, consultant and coach. Unfortunately, as I would soon learn, I needed a second opinion.

A quick poll of my business colleagues and family yielded the general consensus: “You are not terrible at receiving criticism, but you often have a comeback, explanation or a rebuttal. Especially, if you disagree with the feedback given you. You are smart, but you can be defensive.” To that, I responded: “Yes, but what if the feedback isn’t remotely accurate?” “Bingo, there you go!” was their quick return. Touche!

What about you? Chances are, you are not as good at receiving criticism as you think either. Most of us are not- even those, ironically, with advanced degrees in communication-related fields.

Can you radically improve in a short amount of time. Yes!

Marshall Goldsmith, noted business coach, offers a transformative response to criticism you can put to immediate use. It is simple to execute but it will mean holding your tongue and treating all feedback you receive, one-on-one, similarly-something that is emotionally challenging to do, especially if you are used to being right or having the answers! But, if you learn to faithfully apply Goldsmith’s technique, it will change your business and personal life as it has mine. Why is it so powerful? Because some of the most valuable feedback we will ever need to hear will, sadly, remain unsaid. Others will quietly determine it is not worth the cost of offering it to us.

Goldsmith’s technique is challenging to use consistently but is straightforward. In response to any feedback or criticism you receive simply respond:

“Thank you for pointing that out. I will give what you said careful consideration.”

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Dr. Bill’s Business Book of the Month: “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There” by Marshall Goldsmith

You have been a leader for years, you know your industry inside and out. What is one of the biggest challenges you will face in this phase of your career?  For many, it is no longer having the same level of feedback about your job behavior or performance you once received.

In the beginning our work life, feedback can be nearly constant, but as we grow in responsibility, the valuable mentorship and coaching we had early in our career can difficult to find, or we can suppose that we have less to learn. While most top organizations continue to provide feedback in some form even to their leaders, the lack of feedback can be particularly perilous in smaller organizations or in ones in which leaders are running their own businesses.

The marketplace has changed tremendously over the past two decades and it is easy to dismiss new realities and skill sets as just a fad, especially when they require a tectonic shift in the way we have always managed or led. Two realities are at play: First, there are ways of operating that worked well for years that are suddenly irrelevant today. Second, just because you have excelled so far does not mean those same skills will take you were you need to go in the future.

It is the rare top leader that actively seeks out challenging ongoing feedback about his or her performance, blind spots emotional intelligence, and social skills.  In his classic book, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, author Marshall Goldsmith, challenges career professionals to do just that and shows you exactly how. For this reason, it is mandatory reading for all my executive coaching clients, and this month’s Business Read of the Month.

 

 

Calculating the True Cost of Workplace Conflict

If your organization or team is involved in an ongoing conflict, it is crucial to calculate its true financial and marketplace costs. Beyond the obvious losses of productivity and morale, conflict can also steal the valuable time and attention of leadership, damage market reputation, and repulse top job seekers and clients.

A Case Study:

XYZ corporation has been dealing with a conflict within one of their work groups for the past three months. There are 10 people on the team and their salaries average $45,000/year, a very modest income by today’s standards. Their conflict is “medium” in severity- everyone on the team feels the conflict, but just half seem to be directly affected by it.

Trust between some team members has been lost. No one has quit or been fired just yet, but there are rumors that a few team members are beginning to put out their resumes. There are no legal issues or claims to date, but H.R. and leadership have been involved and aware of the problem for some time.

In unresolved conflict, tangible and intangible costs accrue monthly. We will consider both. Below is a breakdown of the standard costs associated with our modest conflict case study along with some explanation as to how we arrived at these numbers:

Cost #1: Wasted Time— based on the specific factors above, this cost is $9540/month. This accounts for the loss in which XYZ Company paid employees for time worked and got nothing.

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Helping, Healing and Hope: Common Reactions to Mass Casualty Events

 

This week our nation mourns the tragic aftermath of the Las Vegas massacre, the worse mass shooting in U.S. history. As of this writing, 59 concertgoers lost their lives, and more than 500 were injured. In total, 22,000 attendees left the venue in terror or risked themselves to assist others. Just one step removed, their grief will be shared in the coming days by hundreds of thousands who will know someone personally who was there. Beyond this group, are the millions of us who were glued to our televisions when the news broke and wept with those who shared their eyewitness accounts and stories of personal loss. Many felt a degree of their anxiety and sadness, even though we may have been thousands of miles away, or knew no one present.

These growing incidents of mass domestic violence frighten, sadden and shock us. As psychologists explain, they shatter our sense of a “just world,” the belief that if we are careful, good and kind, we will be safe. And, we can easily relate to at least one or more of the victims—a teacher, a Disney employee, a policeman, a nurse, and we think, “I could have been at that concert too.”

Can there be a “normal reaction” to such a horrendous event?

Mass shooting research and response informs us that at least a third of those who attended the Las Vegas concert will need counseling. Some may benefit from psychiatric help as well. A testimony to the resiliency of the human spirit, others will experience a short period of acute distress over a few days, but will not exhibit ongoing, debilitating stress symptoms or PTSD that would signal the need for ongoing mental health treatment.

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