Preparing for a job interview is hard, and it is no wonder why so many people worry about them. Part of this is because most people don’t have a lot of experience marketing themselves to others. We are taught as kids that we are supposed to be humble and not brag about what we have done, or what we are good at. It is the opposite when you are looking for a job though, because since no one knows you, they can never know what you are good at unless you tell them. The best salespeople are the best not because of the product they are selling, but because they can sell themselves, and that translates into being able to sell the product. In the same vein you will need to sell yourself to get that perfect job.

One of the key things to sell is your leadership skills. These are the things that tell your employer that even though you are going to be coming in at a lower position, the trainings that they will give you and the time they put into you will not be wasted because you already have what it takes to climb up the success ladder.

First you will want to think about what skills are important to you and to the job you are applying for. Then think about the times in the past when you have used these skills in your job, or in school if you are applying for your first job. In one sentence explain how you used this skill to accomplish something that was beneficial to your employer.

You can choose a number of different skills, such as financial management skills where you may have raised funds, or made budget projections that allowed the company to expand, or where you have had to build a team or a program that solved a problem that ended up saving your company money. You should also include in this any Dale Carnegie Training seminars you have attended and what skills you learned there.

When you know these are on your resume, it is a good segue into bringing up these situations in your interview and discussing what the problem was and how you solved it.

This post is brought to you by Dale Carnegie Training Benelux, providers of professional development and management courses in the Netherlands. Please connect with us on Facebook!

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In the Netherlands, and across the rest of Europe and the world, there is an abundance of business listening going on in both meetings and work sites. It is interesting to note that the hardest interpersonal skill is listening. This is especially so within sales and customer service. No matter what the situation concerns, a critical decision has to be assessed and it is the voluntary willingness to eliminate distractions that transforms simple hearing to active listening. Eye contact, a smile and proactivity will usually put the client at ease and make the problem manageable enough to create possible solutions. Being consistent every single time we listen is very tough to do.

In an array of studies over the recent years, it is stated that about fifty percent of one’s income can comes from the act of listening. Background information, inferences, and understanding in both details and message must be blended together to solve an issue or problem in a business or organization.

It is important to remember that the true meaning of a message is a mix of both subject and situation. Listening can be looked as the only interpersonal skill that enables the process for problem solving and decision making.

Following the four steps below will give leaders and decision makers the best chance to effectively listen in the work environment:

• Clarity: The purpose of the message must quickly be perceived and the discussion must always be interactive to succeed.
• Assess: The issue is always the most critical component in a sale or within customer service. Evaluate what is important and target that for discussion.
• Summarize: This involves both concentration and attention. Look for the main purpose or problem and attend to it.
• Reply: Everything that is said has to focus on getting control of the situation and addressing and finding a solution.

In the normal business environment, below average listening is rather common. It usually assures  poor results, wastes time, costs sales and repeat business, and often destroys reputations. By listening for results and importance, we will always put the customer first. There is success in that strategy right here in the Netherlands, beginning with you.

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This post is brought to you by Dale Carnegie Training Benelux, providers of professional development and management development courses and information in the Netherlands. Please connect with us on Facebook.

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Als leidinggevenden zich tijdens verandertrajecten dienend opstellen en helder communiceren, neemt bij hun medewerkers de bereidheid om te veranderen toe. Dienend leiderschap vergroot de kans op succesvolle veranderingen. Dat blijkt uit onderzoek in het kader van een afstudeeropdracht door Berenschot en de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. Het werd gehouden onder klantcontactcentra van 40 gemeenten.

Berenschot en RUG-student Lynn ten Brummelhuis onderzochten de mate van dienend leiderschap bij het klantcontactcentrum (KCC) van gemeenten. Dé herkenbare ingang waar burgers, bedrijven en instellingen terecht kunnen voor vrijwel alle diensten en producten van hun gemeente. Leidinggevenden van het KCC werden beoordeeld op acht wezenlijke eigenschappen van dienend leiderschap. Gemeenten scoorden – uitgedrukt in een schaal van een tot zeven – vrij goed op de volgende eigenschappen: delegeren (5,62), stimuleren (5,53), rentmeesterschap (het algemeen belang voorop stellen, 5,31) en fouten vergeven (5,05). Op het gebied van bescheidenheid (4,88), waardering geven (4,73) en vooral ook authenticiteit (4,28) en lef tonen (4,27) zijn leidinggevenden van het KCC minder sterk ontwikkeld.

Veranderbereidheid van medewerkers
Onderzocht werd eveneens welke eigenschappen een positief effect hebben op de veranderbereidheid van medewerkers. Dat zijn: stimuleren, rentmeesterschap, lef tonen en bescheidenheid. Opvallend is overigens dat de onderzochte gemeenten gemiddeld laag scoren op de laatste twee eigenschappen. Gemma Post, namens Berenschot betrokken bij het onderzoek, meent dat gemeenten er verstandig aan doen vooral op deze twee eigenschappen slagen te maken: “Zij hebben vaak te maken met organisatieveranderingen. Die vragen veel energie van de medewerkers. En ook van leidinggevenden die als breekijzer van de organisatie hun medewerkers steeds weer moeten enthousiasmeren om mee te gaan in de verandering. Dienend leiderschap blijkt bij uitstek een stijl te zijn die dit mogelijk maakt. Een dienend leider is een voorbeeld voor de medewerkers, weet hen mee te nemen in de verandering en zo te komen tot een effectief resultaat”.

Communicatie
Uit het onderzoek blijkt ook dat er een relatie is tussen de kwaliteit van communicatie en de veranderbereidheid van medewerkers. ‘Communicare necesse est’, luidt niet voor niets een bekend Latijns gezegde. Overigens blijkt het effect van goede communicatie minder groot te zijn dan dat van dienend leiderschap. Het onderzoek toont tevens aan dat de kwaliteit van communicatie tijdens de ontwikkeling naar het KCC als ‘neutraal’ wordt beschouwd. Vooral de communicatie tussen projectleiders en medewerkers, en de helderheid en hoeveelheid informatie zijn bij gemeenten voor verbetering vatbaar.
Net als in voorgaande jaren is bij het onderzoek in beeld gebracht welke stappen gemeenten hebben gezet bij het implementeren van het KCC zoals geformuleerd in ‘Gemeente heeft Antwoord’. De publicatie over het antwoordmodel dat in vijf fasen de visie van de commissie Jorritsma uit 2005 realiseert. Het onderzoek laat zien dat gemeenten opnieuw vorderingen hebben gemaakt bij het doorlopen van de vijf fasen. Het percentage gemeenten in fase drie (frontoffice heeft antwoord) steeg van 30 procent naar 40 procent. Opvallend is echter dat de ‘hygiëne’ om aandacht vraagt. Gemeenten blijken vooral achter te lopen bij het realiseren van de diensten, producten en kanalen van het KCC. En ook rond systemen en informatie blijft de ontwikkeling van het KCC achter. Juist deze zaken zijn van belang om tot een succesvolle en kwalitatief hoogwaardig KCC implementatie te komen.

Bron: managersonline.nl

Most people are aware that proper time management can help bring about positive results. It can be the difference between being a middle manager and a top executive, and the difference between having the time to manage one project, and ten projects.

Still, however, most of us waste time daily and don’t develop effective management skills that would keep us on schedule—or even better—ahead of schedule. It is not uncommon in the workplace these days to hear someone say that they are behind on their work, or to see people arrive late to meetings.

Below are five steps from your friends at Dale Carnegie Training of Benelux that you can take to achieve effective time management:

1. Have a plan — An hour of planning can save you ten hours of doing. Don’t head into big projects without setting goals, planning how you will achieve those goals, and times by which they have to be accomplished. This will save you a lot of time trying to make decisions on the spot that will make the project take a lot longer.

2. Use a to-do list — 70% of business and professional people use a to-do list to stay on track. It helps tremendously in defining what you need to do next, especially if items on your list aren’t connected steps or even part of the same project. Most of us are working on more than one thing at a time. Making yourself accountable to one thing—the list—will help you stay on track.

3. Challenge yourself — A project will usually spread into the time allotted for it. If you only put one thing on your to-do list, you are most likely to spread it out through the course of the day. If you add another thing to the list in the early part of the day, you will probably get them both done. If you have six or seven things on the list, chances are you’ll get them all completed in the course of a day.

4. Take a speed-reading course — The average reading speed is two hundred words per minute. Most people have to read for at least two hours a day for work. A speed reading course can double your reading speed. That gives you another hour to do more productive things.

5. Take an hour a day for self-improvement — If you spend one full hour a day on a topic you want to improve in, that is seven hours a week (almost a full work day), and 365 hours a year (more than two straight weeks without sleep).  Gradually, you can become proficient and even master any topic of your choice.

Remember that time management isn’t just about doing things faster, but also about doing the right things the first time.

This post is brought to you by Dale Carnegie Training Benelux, providers of professional development and management courses in the Netherlands. Please connect with us on Facebook!

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Improving communication skills in business and relationships are essential to the success of not only organizations but with leadership as well. Communication skills truly help leadership better understand the employees and their point of view. On any given day leaders and managers are deluged with huge numbers of interactions, messages, situations where clarity is essential. Because of the multitude of information exchanged, we are often prone to misunderstandings which often result in conflict, differences and frustration.

The Dale Carnegie Course: Effective Communication and Human Relations/ Skills for Success will be presented monthly this summer with sessions in June, July and August. This course will help you master the demands in today’s tough and challenging business environment. Attendees will learn to strengthen interpersonal relationships, manage stress, and handle fast-changing workplace conditions. After the course is over, leaders will be much better prepared to perform as persuasive and relationship- driven communicators, and they will have a much better sense of both problem solving and decision making. Best of all, leaders of all levels will walk away with a take-charge attitude initiated with confidence and enthusiasm. In short, the course will power anyone who attends to move far beyond your comfort zone as you stretch for and attain ambitious new goals.

Everyone on the team, at all levels in the business or organization, will maximize their individual performances and become even stronger decision makers who will provide even more value to the individuals they serve. Creating a “win-win” environment just makes sense in today’s world. Stay sharp in any interpersonal dealings by putting others first; now that is at the heart of Dale Carnegie Training.

Put Wednesday June 12 on your calendar. Call us today for the class being held in Amsterdam, Noord Holland. See you there!

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This post is brought to you by Dale Carnegie Training Benelux, providers of professional development and management development courses and information in the Netherlands. Please connect with us on Facebook.

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No matter the business relationship, communication is the key variable to get things done each and every day. Having a positive attitude is critical to accepting the everyday challenges that come our way.

No matter who we are in the work environment, working together means success. Negativity can affect poorly on every goal and objective. The essence of relationships is solely dependent of everyone being upbeat and focused on commonality. Paying attention to others in a positive way and involving everyone in work processes saves time and increases productivity.  Achievement is not easy; it takes a continuous focus to be truly successful. Understand and be understood in the new essence of today’s relationships. This is true for both team and client. Morale and effective communication lead to results.

This summer, Dale Carnegie Training Benelux is organizing a 5-day training experience: The Summer Bootcamp! Derived from a combination of the Dale Carnegie Course and the Leadership Training, the goal is to give leaders and managers the techniques needed as professionals to influence others and communicate effectively on a daily basis. Enabling you to start fresh, inspired and full of energy! Be who you are and radiate what you want. These are the keywords of this training. You might want to profile your expertise and insight, but you tend to pull back in groups.

After the training is over, the influence will continue to establish fresh starts, inspiration, and renewed energy! With effective expertise and insight, leaders who attend will enhance relationships through powerful interpersonal training that increases effectiveness and leadership quality.

During this training week, individuals will increase professional success.  Relationship building is the foundation through positive and strategic interaction.

The Boot Camp is being held in Amsterdam starting on Monday August 12th. Register here.

Sign up today!

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This post is brought to you by Dale Carnegie Training Benelux, providers of professional development and management development courses and information in the Netherlands. Please connect with us on Facebook.

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A normal function of doing business is to listen to presenters provide information ranging from status reports, to procedural guidelines, to policy changes. And for those of us who give presentations, it’s likely that the majority of the presentations that we give fall into this category, in one way or another.

Some individuals are very competent in giving clear presentations to inform. Audience members leave the presentation with a clear understanding of the message, the desired end result, and key points that they need to remember. On the other hand, many presentations to inform are disorganized and hard to follow, leaving the audience with only a vague idea of the point of the presentation.

Successful presentations should have a clear message, an engaged audience, and all relevant points should be covered. Here are some tips for accomplishing that from your friends at Dale Carnegie Training Benelux:

Opening: Statement of Topic

The opening statement should be brief and clear, leaving no question in the listeners’ minds as to the topic of the presentation. This is especially true when the presentation is part of a longer series of presentations, such as a staff meeting or full-day training.

State Key Message: Desired End Result

This statement should give the audience a clear picture of the main message of your presentation. It is simple, direct, and tells the audience where you are going with this information. It should answer the question in your audience’s mind: “Why should I listen to this presentation?”

Key Points and Results

These points should be stated in straightforward language and clearly express the result of taking the recommended action. In general, the fewer words, the better when stating key points and results.

Closing: Restate Key Message and Desired End Result

To emphasize the key message of your presentation to inform, summarize by restating the key message or the desired end result of your presentation. This leaves your listeners with a message that they will remember long after the presentation.

For more tips for giving effective presentations, join us for our upcoming “High-Impact Presentations” program being held in Amsterdam on May 16, June 27, September 19, and December 19.

This post is brought to you by Dale Carnegie Training Benelux, providers of professional development and management courses in the Netherlands. Please connect with us on Facebook!

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No matter the relationship, the common bonds we have with each other have a great impact within every aspect of our lives. As thousands of fellow countrymen stood outside the royal palace recently, we all stood as one when Willem-Alexander became our first King in 123 years! His message of respect and unity is central to every business here in the Netherlands.

With this in mind, working together in success is at the heart of both goals and productivity. The essence of every single relationship is clear and focused communication. Effective communication skills are vital in every activity we are involved in. Yet communication skills are often taken for granted. To be truly successful,  we need to first understand ourselves as we build and maintain effective relationships with our employees and our clients.

Effective communication always leads to greater gains in productivity and results. This summer, Dale Carnegie Training Benelux is organizing a full week of training with these strategies in mind: The Summer Boot Camp! This camp features a blend of the Dale Carnegie Course and the Leadership for Managers Training. The goal is to give our attendees the techniques they need as professionals to influence others and communicate effectively in the workplace.

After the training is over the experience will continue enabling fresh starts, inspiration, and renewed energy! Be who you are and radiate what you want. These are the keywords of this training.

With effective expertise and insight, leaders who attend will enhance relationships through powerful interpersonal qualities and they will do it with more confidence while remaining in control in any situation.

During this training, individuals will develop additional techniques involving personal effectiveness and leadership quality. Clarity in communication indeed radiates positivity. In short, learning to maintain control in difficult and stressful situations will increase professional success.  The key is being mentally, physically and emotionally in touch with every one regardless of relationships.

The Boot Camp is being held in Amsterdam in early August. Here are the details:

http://netherlands.dalecarnegie.com/events/summer_bootcamp2013/

Sign up today!

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This post is brought to you by Dale Carnegie Training Benelux, providers of professional development and management development courses and information in the Netherlands. Please connect with us on Facebook.

Eventually, most employees at any given company are going to need to deliver a presentation, or will be compelled to deliver a presentation to introduce a new idea or initiative. If you have a presentation in mind or one assigned to you, follow the six tips below from your friends at Dale Carnegie Benelux. They will put you on the right track to delivering a stellar presentation that leaves a lasting impression.

1. Prepare Accordingly — The foundation of any presentation is the amount of preparation the speaker puts in behind the scenes. Develop a topic, flesh it out into concise, relevant and specific bullet points that tie back to the central theme and develop a narrative arc to follow. Then perform a handful of dry runs in front of the mirror, a friend or colleague, or your family.

2. Open With Something Strong And Unforgettable — There is a saying in the writing community that you need to capture your readers within the first 100 pages. You can apply this idea to your presentation as well through telling a story, sharing a compelling incident or through an anecdote. Whatever method you choose, the first 2 to 3 minutes of your presentation can make or break your audience’s interest in what you have to say, so make it count.

3. Keep Your Presentation Short — If you want to avoid being a bore that makes the audience snore, you should pare down your presentation to its slimmest, trimmest, most refined form. Each bullet point should pack a meaningful punch that, once delivered, leaves the audience in anticipation for the next verbal blow you have to deliver.    

4. Maximize Visual Aids — Including a visual aid with your presentation is a must these days. PowerPoint is the most common means through which people add a visual (and audio) element to their presentations, but scale-back the glitz and glam, the crazy transitions and the musical accompaniment. Keep your visuals aesthetically noteworthy, but not so outlandish as to steal focus from you.

5. Avoid The Statue Routine — Don’t stand behind a podium, relax and be casual. Move around, wander about and most importantly, make eye contact with a handful of audience members. Locking eye contact with someone will not only hold their attention, but others nearby will also pick up on the subtle action and find themselves drawn in to your presentation.

6. Never Apologize During The Presentation — Never apologize for mispronouncing a word or losing your place, confusing the order of your presentation or having difficulty with technology. Doing so will only compromise your command of the room and break the flow of your presentation. This will in turn cost you the audience’s full attention. If you trip up, just move along.

These components need to come together seamlessly and flow naturally in order to captivate your audience and make your presentation memorable, and one that leaves a strong impression. For more information on effective presentations join us for an upcoming program on “High Impact Presentations.”

This post is brought to you by Dale Carnegie Training Benelux, providers of professional development and management courses in the Netherlands. Please connect with us on Facebook!

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Organizational change is as constant as it is disconcerting. Here and across the Netherlands and our part of the globe, we are always adapting and changing to improve all aspects of the organization. It is never easy as we assess virtually every corner of the business to increase profit and job satisfaction. No matter the speed or reason for change, adapting to it can challenge even the most progressive leadership and cultures.

Here are nine ingredients to utilize when change occurs:

• Creating strategy: Look at the history of the business and the current situation first. Decide areas of improvement and focus on alternatives that will channel success.
• Building trust: Ethics and honesty must be integral to anything new and untried.
• Involving everyone:   All the departments are on board, and every single employee contributes. The key variable is collective employee involvement.
• Facilitating problems: nothing works in perfect unison. Staying ahead of concerns and minimizing challenges are critical.
• Agreement: Getting people on the same page and having everyone say yes can mean everything.
• Working together:  Regardless of position or rank, equality means success and solution.
• Communication: All change components Are shared and discussed until everyone know the direction.
• Creating understanding: Confusion will often lead to the wrong kind of change. Keep things clear and simple.
• Managing resistance: Transformation can always be managed and lead. Revolution just creates a multitude of issues and they all involve conflict.

Doing all nine of these elements will indeed minimize negative commentary. The end result of change is the collective benefit of the company and its culture and climate. Because everyone is in it together, winning friends and influencing people are at the heart of the success everyone wants and needs.

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This post is brought to you by Dale Carnegie Training Benelux, providers of professional development and management development courses and information in the Netherlands. Please connect with us on Facebook.

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