Personal & Professional Development | Transitions Intl - Part 2
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Transitions Intl / Personal & Professional Development
18 May 2016 In Change, Character, Coaching, Comfort Zone, Customer Service and Sales, Emotions, Habits, Integrity, Lead From Within, Leadership, Life, Organizational Leadership, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

Five Keys To Establishing and Building Trust in A Relationship

Last Friday, I watched The Money Monster. There is a scene where Lee Gates (George Clooney) walks out of his studio with Kyle Budwell (Jack O'Connell), a grief-stricken bankrupt viewer who lost his money after a previous tip; in front of him, a sharp contrast to moments earlier where Lee Gates was held hostage by Kyle Budwell. However, with the negotiations that followed between Lee Gates and Kyle Budwell, a certain degree of trust is established. Since Lee Gates does not want to get shot by the police, who are trying to disarm his bomb, he hides behind, Kyle, with Kyle walking in front of him. Lee  convinces Kyle that the person because of whom Kyle lost his money is there, and they can question him together. The movie is particularly not interesting but this scene somehow captured my attention because of the rapport that Lee Gates builds with Kyle Budwell who had held him hostage. There is a trust that each of them place on the other, a degree of  belief in each other and their common goal is to find this person on account of whom this grievance was caused. Trust is an essential part of any relationship be it with your partner, your

27 April 2016 In Character, Coaching, Comfort Zone, Communication, Customer Service and Sales, Emotions, Habits, Integrity, Lead From Within, Leadership, Life, Organizational Leadership, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

Four Keys To The Power Of Consistency

Recently at my yoga and gym classes at Pure Yoga and Pure Fitness, I have observed that the different instructors follow a sequence in a particular week, which is consistent throughout that week, for that particular style of class. Not every class of the same style [e.g. TRX (suspension training) or Body Combat or RPM] has every single move and flow the same across different days and instructors in a particular week. But there are some moves common across the same class on different days during any given week. This consistency brings uniformity across classes and you as a participant is able to practice it consistently and improve your way of doing it. In addition, the instructors don't play what they want but send a uniform and consistent message. Each instructor is unique and with the consistency that they follow, it becomes easier for the participants as well as for the instructors to deliver their best. Thus the brand name and franchise value is enhanced. I appreciate consistency, especially as a Dale Carnegie trainer, because as Dale Carnegie trainers, when we deliver flagship programs and other tailored in-house corporate programs, we need to maintain consistency in the overall way we facilitate and

9 March 2016 In Character, Coaching, Comfort Zone, Communication, Customer Service and Sales, Emotions, Employee Engagement, Habits, Lead From Within, Leadership, Life, Organizational Leadership, Personal & Professional Development, Sales Leadership, Talent Management By Lalita Raman

Six Ways To Be An Impactful Communicator

Yesterday whilst in my yoga class, the instructor was giving us a specific instruction. She was very clear in her instruction and it so happened that the woman next to me had her left leg in front instead of her right leg. The instructor noticed this and kept repeating her instruction to this woman and only after a good 30-40 seconds that the woman internalized the instruction and did the right thing. I was thinking about this incident on my way back to work and realized that many times at the gym, yoga or even at trainings that I facilitate for various corporates, many participants do not do what has been instructed or requested of them. This happens not because the instructions are not clear or the language not understood but the individual/s concerned are not listening. Their focus is on something else. They are not in the moment. They hear and yet they don't listen. [Tweet "#Listening to #connect happens when you #listen to understand. #communication #EI #leadership"] What does LISTEN mean ? 1.Learn Learn to recognize your shortcomings and accept yourself. Ask yourself, what can you do to bring back focus? Have an open mind and intention to listen. [Tweet "#Listening with an open

19 February 2016 In Change, Character, Coaching, Communication, Customer Service and Sales, Emotions, Employee Engagement, Habits, Integrity, Lead From Within, Leadership, Organizational Leadership, Personal & Professional Development, Sales Leadership By Lalita Raman

Four REAL Ways To Create Customer Service Excellence

√Customer Service Excellence is the single most distinguishing factor to maintain critical competitive advantage - LR√ During one of our travels, one of the airlines in China cancelled our flight and they sent us an email asking us to call them. When we did, we went back and forth for the next 3 hours, , sandwiched between the bureaucracy of two airlines. As it happened, we had booked our entire journey through one airline, and we had to use the other airline for one sector. Every customer service person of the airline that we had booked our flights through kept telling us to speak to the other airline and that they could not reissue the ticket to the new flight following the cancellation by the other airline because they had nothing to do with the cancellation. After spending over 3 hours, we finally managed to speak to the manager and get the situation resolved. This experience left us exhausted, frustrated and not wanting to return back to that place. It showed lack of care, empathy and above all, we were made to feel as if they were obliging us (the customer), when the airline had decided to cancel a flight. In

11 January 2016 In Change, Coaching, Comfort Zone, Communication, Emotions, Habits, Lead From Within, Leadership, Life, Organizational Leadership, Personal & Professional Development, Sales Leadership, Talent Management By Lalita Raman

Four Mindful Ways To Be More Effective

One of my friends is into mindfulness and has engaged in it for past several years. In almost every conversation with him, I have observed that he gets irritated with something that has happened or something that is about to happen. Yet, he is quick to clarify that mindfulness has helped him and he swears by it. I am not sure why he offers this clarification every time. Mindfulness and courses on mindfulness has grown in geometric progression in the past two years. Anything with a mindfulness angle surely gets noticed. ⇒Are all those who talk about mindfulness and those who promote mindfulness, always mindful ? ⇒How can we be mindful in the time driven world of ours? Does it necessarily involve hours of practice, silent retreats and meditation?⇐ I read an interesting article on HBR that piqued my interest The title of that article was Mindfulness -Search Inside Yourself It talks about "just six seconds of mindfulness" can make you more effective. The crux of this article which caught my attention is that you can do away with the mental baggage, during your day, when you approach each new situation with a present, focused mind. You achieve a calm and agitation free mind by consciously taking one

30 November 2015 In Change, Character, Coaching, Comfort Zone, Communication, Emotions, Habits, Integrity, Lead From Within, Leadership, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

Four Easy Ways To Let Go Of Judgement

Two weeks back on Friday, when I was walking down to a meeting, I suddenly noticed an old man struggling to balance himself on the four or five stairs down the hill. I immediately stopped and asked him if I could help him and he readily consented. I made sure he was okay and asked him if he needs me to help him further down which he politely refused. He indicated that he will hold the railing down the footpath. I continued to be worried because of the steep slope and occasionally kept turning behind. I noticed he was slowly making his way down. I immediately wondered why would a man at his age risk, going on his own, down such a steep slope. Why can someone not accompany him or why can he not take a different path? He is putting himself at a huge risk of falling by going down such a steep slope, especially when he seemed to be challenged with his balance. Then I stopped in my thoughts and asked myself who am I to pass judgment? I don't know him or his circumstances. →How many times do we judge others and their situation, based on what we see?  My

26 October 2015 In Change, Coaching, Comfort Zone, Communication, Conflict Leadership, Customer Service and Sales, Employee Engagement, Integrity, Lead From Within, Leadership, Organizational Leadership, Personal & Professional Development, Talent Management By Lalita Raman

How To Avoid Wasting Money and Time on Training ?

Billions of dollars are spent annually on Training and development within organizations, without commensurate Return On Investment. (Tens of billions of dollars are spent on it annually, but companies often squander these investments because the training is not geared to drive business results, say experts at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG)). Organizations invest in soft skills training and development to manage talent, to enhance leadership, communication and other soft skills amongst their employees. Transitions occurs in taking on new roles, new challenges, managing a new team, new responsibilities, new countries or even with a different team or boss. This often results in many employees feeling challenged with their leadership, communication and influential skills. Coaching and training can help in enhancement or a shift in these soft skills. There is a clear need for training and coaching within organizations. Yet, what are some of the reasons for the gap between the need for training and development and the resultant ROI? 1.Training is often not geared to drive results, based on which those who receive training are being evaluated. 2.Training is often a “band aid” solution to fix a deeper problem or challenge that may exist within an organization. 3.Training is conducted in those areas which are not

23 February 2014 In Change, Character, Communication, Emotions, Habits, Lead From Within, Leadership, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

Don’t Take LIFE For Granted

  Don't Condemn Criticize or Complain This is one of the Human Relation Principles of Dale Carnegie. The simplicity of this statement is complex in itself. It is one of the most difficult to practice especially when things go wrong, you are experiencing a down and out day, and many moments in your life is filled with chaos, suffering and adversities. Take for instance, when a customer service doesn't take action and keeps saying sorry for the inconvenience caused and yet doesn't show any signs of resolving the issue, most of our reaction is to criticize and get angry. There are many such similar events in our life when our patience is tested and we either complain or criticize. If you observe, we criticize, condemn or complain not only about others but also ourselves. How many times have you chided yourself ? It is good to vent out, to seek improvement but we need to be thankful in life. Three years back, after finishing my boot camp, whilst getting down some stairs on my way home, I fell down and fractured my ankle. I realized, how much I missed walking normally, how much I used and needed my ankle. I have had many injuries and accidents and each

22 February 2014 In Character, Communication, Emotions, Habits, Lead From Within, Leadership, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

Responsibility Is A Choice

I was at a lobby of a hotel last week waiting for a business meeting and I happened to hear an interesting conversation between a young lady and the guest relations manager of the hotel. As the lady was getting up to see something that the guest relations manager was showing, she collected her belongings at which point the manager mentioned to her,"Ma'am don't worry about your belongings. They are safe." The lady smiled, thanked him and said "I understand sir, but I'd rather be responsible for my belongings and what happens to it instead of entrusting them to someone else." Responsibility, I thought, was well-defined by this lady. Responsibility

20 February 2014 In Character, Coaching, Integrity, Lead From Within, Leadership, Life, Personal & Professional Development By Lalita Raman

How Close Are You To Your Ideal Self?

Photo Credits : Lalita Raman We have our ideal self, the self we want out of life; the motivational core that focuses our hopes, aspirations, dreams, purpose, and calling. It is our source of positive affect that helps the drive for intentional change. This is the self we want to be. How many of us are close to our ideal self? We have our actual self or real self and there is our ought self. Our ought self is our understanding of what others want us to be and do. Actual self is who we are and what we do. The actual self over time, right from childhood, changes. What happens when our actual self doesn't match the ideal self? That is when the process of reflection and retrospection begins. New Year is a formal step to grow, develop and continue the path of learning and an improvement on our-self versus where we were.Yes, this should be a continuous process but I think New Year is a good time to take stock. A time to ask ourselves how close are we to our ideal self. No, this is not about New Year Resolutions. So how do we get there? 5 key questions to ask - For Full POST REFER