Fall 2005

Fall, Katrina, and Change

Fall, for me, has always been the season of new beginnings. Having attended, taught, and sent my children to school, there is something about September and October that represents a new chance for success, an opportunity to leave behind the mistakes and failures of the previous year. For a few weeks, we have a chance to remake ourselves in other peoples’ eyes and our own, to take a new approach to learning, to reassess the way we have been behaving and try on new attitudes and actions.

This fall, as a result of the violent storms that have reminded us of the limits of our power, it seems that the United States, as a whole country, has had an opportunity to start school again—to reexamine how we deal with crises and with deeply embedded social problems. I hope we don’t put the lessons behind us too quickly and get back to business as usual... it’s a chance for us to remake ourselves as a society and as communities and families and individuals. The late Dick Beckhard of Sloane School taught us that in order for a system—or an individual—to be willing to change, there must be enough dissatisfaction with the status quo, a sufficient vision of a better alternative, and a sense of support for getting from here to there.

Katrina and Rita and our responses to them have created the dissatisfaction—now it is up to all of us to develop and communicate a vision of better possibilities and to offer one another the help and support it will take to get there, overcoming the resistance to change that comes from fear of losing power, comfort, respect, resources, and confidence. Sometimes the teachers that we saw as “mean,” we find, on later reflection, to have taught us the most.

B. Kim Barnes

In this Issue: Our Annual Influence Issue

• “Influencing Upward”, (excerpt) B. Kim Barnes
• “Keep Your Influence Goal in Mind,” (excerpt) Eric Beckman
• What’s New at Barnes & Conti
  • New Partner Company in Singapore
  • Barnes & Conti at ASTD
• Events, Trade Shows, and Happenings
• Public Programs: 2006 Schedule to be Announced
• Recipes: Pajon, Korean Scallion Pancakes
• Just for Fun
• Featured Art (web version only): “Sunrise” by Claude Monet

Influencing Upward

B. Kim Barnes

Influencing upward uses the same behavioral skill set as any other form of influence—but because executives usually have less time and a broader perspective, there are certain actions you can take that will increase the likelihood that your influence opportunity will succeed.

Do Your Homework

It’s always important—as well as respectful—to use others’ time well. When you have an important idea or proposal to put before a senior executive or leader, you will greatly increase your probability of success by careful preparation. Some or all of the following steps will be necessary in order to gain his or her support for an important proposal.

• First, be very clear about both the long-term goal for your proposal and the specific action you want the executive to take.
• Learn what the executive’s issues and decision criteria are likely to be. If you can, ask the person him or herself at a preliminary meeting. If you don’t have frequent access to the executive, find a mentor or coach who knows the person well. Use inquiring and listening behaviors to get as much information as you can before committing to an influence approach. This is especially important when you expect opposition or resistance. This process will be educational at the least, and may lead to your developing a proposal that can garner the executive’s support.
• Modify your proposal to take account of the executive’s issues and concerns. Create a better fit between your idea and his or her goals. Think about how your proposal supports the business results that are important to the leader.
• Do the necessary research to support your proposal; look for data that will be meaningful to the executive. Select reasons that are strong in support of your idea and that would be most meaningful to the executive.

To read the entire article, click here (Adobe Acrobat Reader required).

Keep Your Influence Goal in Mind

Eric Beckman

“When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.”
— Seneca

One of the most important aspects of successful influencing is developing and clarifying your influence goals. There are opportunities in every influence situation to be distracted from your real intended goal or goals. Take a little time ahead to plan, and use the following techniques.

Write down your goal(s). The act of writing helps to clarify and focus goals, and being able to review something written allows others to reflect on the content and clarity of your goals. Write your goals in complete detail. The more information you provide, the clearer the final outcome becomes, and the more likely you are to find a suitable path to achieving that outcome.

Focus on the positive. Work for what you want, not what you don’t want. What do you want the other person or persons to do? It is actually easier to get someone to do something than to not do something. If I ask you to NOT think of a pink elephant, what do you immediately think of? It works the same when trying to influence someone to stop doing something. What can we find for them to do instead of the undesirable behavior? Instead of a goal like “getting Bob to stop shooting every idea down,” we might focus on influencing Bob to agree to let everyone put forward ideas without any interruptions before discussion, analysis, or “shooting” begins. With many ideas “on the table” at once, it’s harder to shoot everything down without good reason.

Make sure your goals are not contradictory. When achieving one goal jeopardizes the success of another goal, look again at your written goals to see if there might be a way to modify them to minimize conflicts. If your goal is to get a raise or quit, how might that effect influencing your spouse to take a vacation next month? Once again, writing down your goals will help you find potential problems or conflicts before you begin trying to achieve them.

Use positive visualization to enhance the likelihood of reaching your goals. See yourself as having successfully influenced others to your stated goal or goals. Visualize what your success will look like. Positive visualization feels a bit “touchy-feely woo-woo” to some people, yet it has been and continues to be used with tremendous success in virtually every Olympic and professional athletic sport for the last thirty years. Visualize what your goals will look like after achieving them. What will be different or better after you have reached a goal? Will you be happy with the outcomes that result from your goal achievement? If you see some potential pitfalls to your goal achievement, what could you change in your goal statement to address those pitfalls?

To read the complete article, click here.

Eric Beckman Vice President of Barnes & Conti focusing on customer relationship management, training, and learning systems development. Eric has also taught Exercising Influence numerous times.

What’s New at Barnes & Conti?

New partner in Singapore: Antioch Consulting

We are pleased to announce a partnership with Antioch Consulting and Training in Singapore. Antioch Consulting and Training (ACT) is known for providing a wide range of human resource consultancy and training services to clients and organizations in Singapore and the region. ACT will be training Exercising Influence® and other Barnes & Conti programs.

To read more about Antioch Consulting and our other global partners, click here

Welcome to new readers from ASTD in Orlando

We want to welcome our new readers who stopped by our booth this past June at ASTD in Orlando. We put together a photo journal report that showcases our booth, our conference “crew” and the seminar featuring Kim Barnes and Jack Harris, MD, Vice President of Global Medical Operations, Lilly Research Laboratories entitled “Inspirational Leadership: Involving Senior Leaders in Developing the Next Generation.”

To see the full photo journal, click here.

 

Events, Trade Shows, and Happenings

Corporate University Week 2005
Driving Business Strategy through Learning
& Training
November 1-3, 2005
Orlando, Florida
Weblink to Corporate University Week

20% Discount Available! Enter the following registration code: BC06EM when you enroll.

Corporate University Week presents a dynamic forum for the exchange of ideas and formation of new business partnerships for all those involved in creation and development of corporate universities. Attendees will have the opportunity to take an exclusive “sneak peak” at the award-winning learning environments of JetBlue University, SunTrust University, and Disney University.  General H. Norman Schwarzkopf (Ret.) will also be discussing effective leadership strategies.

Information/Registration

Forum on Leadership Featuring Kim Barnes
California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS)
November 29, 2005, San Francisco, CA, 7:00 pm
Topic: Inspirational Leadership

Training 2006 Conference
March 6-8, 2006, Orlando, FL

Kim Barnes, and Jack Harris, MD, Vice President of Global Medical Operations, Lilly Research Laboratories, will be speaking on “Inspirational Leadership: Involving Senior Leaders in Developing the Next Generation.” (The exact date and time TBD)

Upcoming Public Programs

We just set our public program schedule for 2006. Please check the dates on our website by clicking the links below.

Exercising Influence
November 9-10, Milpitas, CA

To register for one of our public programs, click here
or go to: www.barnesconti.com/ppsched.php

Featured Recipes

Pajon – Savory Scallion Pancakes
Contributed by Eric Beckman

Korean food is quite varied, spicy, and colorful. Most Korean meals consist of an array of panchan (little bowls of side dishes, namul, kimchi, pickled and salted fish and shellfish, and the like) to accompany more substantial offerings of meat, fish, fowl, and greens.*

Pajon is a popular Korean snack found readily in the city-center marketplaces and from many street vendors. There are a few variations on the traditional recipe, and I often noticed Pajon vendors making grilled cheese sandwiches alongside the pancakes. It seemed like there was always someone poised over a hot, well-greased griddle, making these delicious green onion pancakes for hungry passers-by. Pajon is also popular in Korean homes, and can be prepared with many varied ingredients.

Makes approximately three large pancakes.

Pancake Batter: (or use commercial pancake mix)
Ingredients

• 2 eggs, beaten together by hand
• 1 and 3/4 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• About 1 cup water (enough for a medium batter)

Method

Mix the eggs, flour, vegetable oil, and sufficient water together to make a medium batter. If using commercial pancake mix, use a slightly thinner batter. Allow to rest for about 15 minutes.

Making the Pancakes

Ingredients

• About 10 large scallions (green onions) or 20 small ones, split lengthwise and cut into 4-inch pieces
• 1 medium zucchini, cut into 4-inch matchsticks
• 1 large carrot, peeled, and cut into 4-inch matchsticks
• 1/4 pound pre-cooked shrimp
• A handful of fresh-snipped chives
• 4 eggs, beaten by hand
• Oil for frying (traditionally peanut or soy)

Method

1. Heat a large frying pan or griddle with just enough oil to coat the bottom.
2. Ladle enough batter to make a fairly large round or oblong pancake.
3. Immediately arrange about a third of the onions, zucchini and carrot matchsticks, shrimp, and chives in a thin layer evenly on the batter.
4. Cook for about 3-5 minutes over a medium-hot heat.
5. While the pancake is cooking, spoon beaten egg on to the onion/vegetable side to fill in the gaps between the vegetables.
6. When the pancake bottom is well browned and the egg has started to set, flip the pancake over. Don’t worry too much if it breaks up a bit, as it will be torn into small pieces before eating.
7. Cook for a further 5-7 minutes. If your pancake is thick, press down lightly with a spatula to ensure that the batter is fully cooked.
8. Remove from the frying pan, drain on paper towels or bags, and either serve whole to be torn up at the table, or else cut into small squares.
9. Use remaining batter and vegetables to make one or two more pancakes.

Pajon is traditionally served with a soy/vinegar dipping sauce, but any sauce that suits your fancy can be used. In fact, this recipe is a great starting point for making savory pancakes with just about any vegetable combinations you have lying around.

*NOTE: For more Korean recipes, including panchan and namul dishes, see our Winter/Spring newsletter.

Just for Fun

Communication Skills?

A man goes into a lumber yard and asks the salesman for lumber:
“I need some 4 by 2s.”
“Don't you mean 2 by 4s?”
“I don't know. I'll go ask my brother.”
He returns to the store and says: “You're right, I need 2 by 4s.”
The salesman asks:“How many do you need?”
“I don't know. I'll go ask my brother.”
He returns to the store and says: “A couple of hundred.”
The salesman asks: “Ok. How long do you need them?”
“I don't know. I'll go ask my brother.”
He returns to the store and says: “A really long time, we’re building a house.”

Indirect Influence? The Tomato Garden

An old man lived alone in the country. He wanted to dig his tomato garden, but it was very hard work as the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament:

Dear Vincent,
I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won’t be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me.
Love, Pop

A few days later he received a letter from his son:

Dear Pop,
Not for nothing, but don’t dig up that garden. That’s where I buried the BODIES.
Love, Vinnie

At  4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Pop,
Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That’s the best I could do under the circumstances.
Love, Vinnie

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