“Our executive committee has been struggling for years. Originally, we brought Eric in to improve communication among members and focus the committee on what to work on. His help has made a tremendous difference. The executive committee now has a clear, shared sense of direction and has been incredibly successful in its work. Committee members appreciate his directness, expertise, humor and pragmatic approach. We've found his help so useful that we've had him back twice since and plan to work with him regularly going forward.” “After years of difficulties between labor and management, Eric helped us to create a new labor-management relationship at Lifelong. He talked with the players, identified issues, and designed and facilitated positive, productive meetings that have put us on the right track.”

Workshops

Leading without Authority™

Most people don't feel that they have enough influence in their work, influence with their boss, their peers, and, in many cases, even with their direct reports. To be effective in your job, to help the organization avoid mistakes and to achieve business results, you must comfortable and skilled in using influence with other people, regardless of your formal position in the organization.

Influence is essential. You have an obligation to be influential. Customers, constituents, shareholders, and peers depend upon you. Behind every debacle and scandal is someone who wasn't as influential as they should have been.

How do you become more influential? How can you lead without authority? The foundational concept of our workshop is "requisite variety." The law of requisite variety states that in order to change a system, you must be capable of a greater variety of actions that the system you are affecting. This means that you must have enough ideas, strategies and tactics at your disposal that you cannot be "outmaneuvered" by the people or systems you are hoping to influence. Leading without Authority provides practical tools to dramatically improve your "requisite variety."

Here are a few of the principles we cover in the workshop:

• Know your objective. Be clear about what you are trying to achieve. What does success look like? How can you tell you're making progress?
• Keep an eye on the prize. There are many ways to achieve your objective ("equifinality"); shop around. Adopt an experimental mindset ("try and try again"), and load experiments for success. Light many fires; don't bet the ranch on any one idea or strategy. Always have a back-up plan.
• Nurture relationships. Grow relationships and networks before you need them. You cannot influence someone you do not have a relationship with. Share influence with others; let yourself be influenced. Collect resources and goodwill before your start to use them.
• Understand reality. Develop a fine-grained view of what's happening. Successful influence requires careful homework. What is the lay of the land? What are the most important drivers and restraints? Who needs to be involved? What actions are most likely to succeed? Research narrows and refines your choices.
• Influence happens in the other person. It's about what influences them, not what you think should. Discover the story they are telling themselves, that is leading to their reactions and behavior. Ask people how they like to be influenced; they'll tell you. Everyone has a preferred style of working; learn and accommodate them.
• Influence ethically. Be aware of the boundary between ethical influence and unethical manipulation. If you're influencing ethically, you can disclose your goals and motives. If you can't afford to do that, you may be manipulating.

Hundreds of managers, knowledge workers, and project managers from business, government and non-profits have increased their requisite variety in our workshops.

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Dangerous decisions™

Every day, directors, managers and supervisors are pulled in two directions—they need to make decisions and get the work done while also making sure that they get people's input. Involving people is risky—you can get stuck in endless discussion. On the other hand, employees, peer managers, regulators—sometimes even your own boss—expect to participate in the decision. If you don't include them, you will be rewarded with resistance and resentment.

What is a "dangerous decision"?

Dangerous decisions are ones that people care strongly about. They care about what decision is made, and they expect to be involved in the decision process. They're "dangerous" because if you leave people out, they'll revolt—either actively or passively. Yet, if you involve them, you could face endless discussion, whining, and even outright rejection of your proposal.

Examples include reorganizations, budget or resource cuts or reallocations, hiring for high visibility position, layoffs or changes in pay and benefits, changing people's jobs, and shifting workload.

Managers in all sectors—companies, non-profits, and government—regularly face dangerous decisions. They need to make important, timely decisions while involving the people who are affected.

Do I have to choose between expedient decisions and involving people? Do I have to give up my authority to get a decision people will accept? The simple answer to both questions is "No."

The solution: Effective Engagement™

Effective Engagement shows you how to run decision making so that you can make decisions on-time, reduce resistance, and eliminate resentment.

Effective Engagement involves five distinct steps:

1. Share background information and the current problem
2. Gather ideas and weigh input with people affected
3. Decide
4. Communicate your decision and the rationale
5. Describe new expectations you have for people and effects of decision

Corporations, universities, health care, state agencies, utilities, and municipalities are using Effective Engagement to get better results from decision making. The Effective Engagement workshop includes skill building, real life cases, practice exercises, a 40-page training manual, and a wealth of real-world tips and techniques.

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Crucial Conversations™

Based on the bestselling book, Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High, this workshop provides high-leverage skills for individuals, teams, and organizations that undercommunicate, withhold information, or fail to act with unity and conviction.

Participants learn to:

• Catch problems early and resolve disagreements candidly and respectfully—even in the face of arguments and misunderstandings.
• Maximize input from people closest to the work (even those who have difficulty sharing information).
• Express the best ideas in a way that builds acceptance rather than resistance—including challenging the way things are currently being done.
• Make better decisions and then take more committed action.

This award-winning course is an indispensable component of many corporate universities and a driving force behind culture-change initiatives worldwide. Crucial Conversations Training outpaces traditional communications and interpersonal skills courses in getting you to sustainable results.

Eric Svaren is a certified trainer for VitalSmarts™, the originator of the Crucial Conversations Mastery Course. Crucial Conversations is a trademark of VitalSmarts, LLC.

Sound intriguing? For more information on our training programs and consulting services, contact Eric Svaren at 206-352-2400 or .

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