THE LEARNING FLASH

Happy 4th of July! Summer means fun, and if you’re like me, you’re looking out at a nice sunny day that seems much more fun than writing a newsletter (not that I don’t love talking to you, but…)   If you think you have the most summer fun, send a picture to info@russellmartin.com and will we feature it on Lou Russell’s Facebook. 

Like last month, this newsletter is broken into the following segments of brief articles:

• Project Management Magic - Practical PM tools, techniques and information
• Leadership In the Middle - Thoughts and ideas from the trenches
• Improving Higher Education - Grow student success in higher ed
• Training Truths - Fun, effective ways to facilitate learning
• Technology - The latest news in Information Technology
• Web Wonders - Always amazing what’s on the web – just for fun
• The Contest - Find out who won last month, play this month, win fabulous prizes!
• Come See Us - Visit our webinars, blogs, public workshops, booths and speeches

This Month's Schedule

Leadership Alchemy Webinar, Rescheduled to July 10th from 1–3 PM ET, Get more info and register

ASTD PM for Trainers Certification, Chicago, IL  July 21-22nd, Register with ASTD.

Leadership Academy Workshop, Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, August 26–28, Get more info and register.

Transforming Subject Matter Experts into Powerful Faculty Workshop, Indianapolis, August 21st,  Get more info.

Faculty Development:  Launching Student Success Webinar Series, 1st Session, August 22nd  3:30 – 5:00 PM ET. Get more info.

Grow Starts:  Jumpstart Admissions Success Webinar Series, 1st Session, August 22nd 12:00 – 1:30 PM ET. Get more info.

PLAY GAMES! If you are interested in spending two hours in Indianapolis trying out a management simulation, please contact Margie Brown at ASAP.

Project Management Magic

Thanks to PDS 08 for a wonderful conference at Tysons Corner!

I had a great time participating, meeting your attendees and speaking at your conference.  Thanks to the special attendees who wanted to learn more about dealing with their Unruly Teams!   If you’d like a speaker for your next PMI outing, please contact Margie Brown.

ASTD PM for Trainers: Student Quotes-To-Remember

Here are the quotes from our workshop at the ASTD ICE conference in beautiful San Diego:

New quote: "Life, like a pile of leaves, is less fluffy then it appears."  Thanks, Jay!

Attend one of our ASTD Project Management for Trainers Certificate 2-day workshops:

July 21-22nd - Chicago
September 8-9th - Alexandria, VA
October 23-24th - Atlanta
December 4-5th - New York City

Register now for these workshops.

Project Management for Sponsors: Manage Their Expectations

We are proud to offer a 1 day workshop (live or online) for your project sponsors and stakeholders too.  The session will help you manage their expectations before the project begins! Contact Margie Brown for more information.

Stay tuned for info about our Project Management for Sponsors Kit.  These kits are in final development and will be available by the end of the summer.  If you’d like to order one now, please contact Kelly Russell.

Are You Asking the Right Questions? Projects and Strategy

In the book Rules to Break & Laws to Follow: How Your Business Can Beat the Crisis of Short-Termism, authors Don Peppers and Martha Rogers share that three assumptions have driven businesses' efforts to grow and meet financial goals:

1. The best measure of success for your business is current sales and profit.
2. With the right sales and marketing effort, you can always get more customers.
3. Company value is created by offering differentiated products and services.

They claim that these three assumptions are false. If they are right, are we asking the right questions when we start our projects?

The authors share that your business creates or destroys value with every decision it makes, every action it takes, every customer contact or interaction it has. For instance, when a customer's complaint is not handled well, your actual value as a company declines just a bit, because the expected future cash flow from that customer declines.

Customers around the world are talking, blogging, texting, e-mailing, posting and networking more than ever before. Your customers now find it much easier to share their opinions about your firm.

Sociologists have proven that a group of people organized toward a common goal (like a company's employees) are capable of making decisions better than any single group member could have made—better even than the sum of all the members' individual efforts. Employees electronically networked together can leverage this decision-making advantage and can come up with smarter decisions than all the executives. But it's tricky, because while networked employees may be capable of making better decisions, it's still the managers at the top of the hierarchy who have all the authority. 

This is where I see project management coming in. By creating fluid strategy, aligning projects to this strategy, and tracking this project portfolio, companies can learn to adapt to the changing needs of the marketplace faster than their competitors.  Without great project management, companies will chase after ‘shiny objects’ and stumble.

Contact Margie Brown for more information on these workshops.

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Leadership In the Middle

Let Your Boss Have the First Say

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out. The Genie says, 'I'll give each of you just one wish.' 'Me first! Me first!' says the admin clerk. 'I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.' Puff! She's gone. 'Me next! Me next!' says the sales rep. 'I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.'

Puff! He's gone.

'OK, you're up,' the Genie says to the manager.

The manager says, 'I want those two back in the office after lunch.'

Leaders: Trustworthiness Through Words

“CEOs are less trusted today than at any time since they first started measuring this in the 1960s,” said Frank Luntz, of Luntz, Maslansky Strategic Research. The low trust rate stems from corporate leaders’ inability to connect using clear, concise and compassionate language.  No surprise - for CEOs to be trusted, he said, they must: back up what they claim, follow through on what they promise, and honor their commitments.   Why does it matter? Customer and employee retention are paramount to many companies’ survival and more difficult. Luntz has come up with these words that tend to build trust.

Luntz is the author of Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear.

Want insight into how you are perceived? Contact Margie Brown.  Through assessments, coaching and discussion, the Leadership Academy in August can provide you with a clear picture of your perceived trustworthiness. (see below)

The Leadership Academy: All Leadership Training is Not the Same

There are many good options for growing leaders, but RMA’s Leadership Academy is different because our attendees say it is.  Listen to what they say they have learned to do from our sessions:

• Do the Hard Stuff (don’t avoid it)
• Learn to adapt to staff, peers, customers and executives as needed.
• Work on the business, not at the business.
• Ask, ask, ask, then check for understanding.
• If you stumble make it part of your dance.

Join our facilitators in August at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. Sign up now. Contact Margie Brown for more info.

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Improving Higher Education

CCA 08 in Vegas: Welcome New Friends

Thanks for attending our sessions (Learning with Games, What Employers Want Students to Know) and playing PLINKO in our booth last week.  Thank You to all the vendors who donated supplies for the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, including the very generous donation of two bookcases and two tables. 

Congratulations to Rich Horwitz at Eagle Gate College who will receive a free Project Management High School Presentation Kit worth $ 895.  Until the end of July, if you enter CCA in the discount code at our website, you can purchase this kit for $695 and receive free shipping. 

In different presentations, employers shared what competencies were of most value to hiring employers.  For example, Darryl Hood from Schlumberger looks for people who can communicate, network, work in a team, be professional and multitask. Health South looks for medical staff that are customer centric, exhibit teamwork, adapt to diversity, and focus on patient satisfaction.  Dr. Joe Pace from Pacific Institute shared a pie chart showing Dependability 35%, Honesty 27%, Good attitude, 19%, Competence 19%.

It’s clear that to build marketable graduates it is not enough to teach technical and basic education skills.  Students need to learn to learn.  This changes what and how faculty teach.  Faculty must play the role of learning facilitator AND leader / coach.

By now you are back at the school, and some of your hopes of implementing new teaching techniques have been difficult because of workload and other start pressures.    I’d like to continue to help you by inviting you to join me for two new opportunities in August:

A 1-day retreat for leaders of faculty in career colleges titled Transforming Subject Matter Experts into Powerful Faculty. Get More Info…

A 4 session live webinar for your faculty in career colleges titled Faculty Development: Launching Student Success. Get More Info…

Would you like to improve your faculty’s ability to grow students that employers want? 

Contact Leah Colville to learn more about our faculty, course, curriculum and course development services.

What if it’s the COURSE not the STUDENT?

All career colleges track retention, but many miss the key data driving retention problems.  Which of your courses have the highest drop-out rate?  By increasing the effectiveness of a course, you can significantly increase student success and retention. Contact Leah Colville to learn more about our Learning Audit service. 

Lou’s Articles in LINK and Career Central

If you’ve missed these articles, please drop Leah Colville an email and we would be happy to send you an electronic version:

• High School Heroes: 10 Tips to Grow High School Recruitment
• Get Organized: Now that we’re organized what do we do?

Admissions: Women as Customers

What do you know about your customers? Consider these stats:

• 90% of women control the family finances
• 80% of women initiate all consumer purchases
• Women directly purchase or influence the purchase of 91% of all new homes
• 57% of the nations' undergrads are women
• 58% of master's degrees are being awarded to women
• 92% of women use the Internet to shop for homes, making them the most powerful online audience of home buyers
• Women represent half of all investors with $100,000 or more in investable assets
• Women influence 80% of all purchases and have 95% veto power regarding automotive purchases

Are your admissions reps recruiting enough women?

Contact Leah Colville to learn more about our admissions training solutions.

Five Questions to Ask During an Admissions Contact

• Who will make the decision about whether you attend this school or not?
• What have you heard about this school from others?
• Even though you want to attend our school, what reasons prevent you from signing up right now?
• After you say yes, what has to happen?
• What question did I forget to ask you?

A new 4 session live webinar for your Admissions Reps is starting in August titled Grow starts:  Jumpstart Admissions Success. Get More Info…

For more information about live or web-based workshops on creating and asking great admissions questions, contact Leah Colville.

High School Presentation

Did you know we have a new High School Recruitment Presentation packaged for your high school reps to teach potential students project management.  It’s not too late to get their attention for a summer or fall start. 

For a free 30-day trial, contact Leah Colville.

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Training Truths

Five Things Not To Do in Front of an Audience

From Lou’s book The Accelerated Learning Fieldbook:

1. Start with talking about yourself, bathrooms and breaks

Make a poster instead, and display it as learners come in

2. Start with an apology

Keep your lack of sleep to yourself; start UP no matter what

3. Match your apparel to the audience

Always dress one step higher in formality than your audience as a guest

4. Be the Sage on the Stage

Facilitate learning, don’t dump. Lecture as a last resort

5. Resist asking Questions

Questions teach. “What” and “how” questions trigger self-discovery

6. Forgetting that it’s not about YOU

Learning is about the LEARNER. Everything else should be as well

To order Lou’s books, check out the Book's section on her web site.  If you enter the discount code FLASH, you will receive free shipping and a signed book.

Make Learning Sticky

Chip and Dan Heath, in their book, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die offer six principles for capturing attention and moving learners to behavioral action:

• Simplicity – Strip the idea down to its core. Forget what you want to teach, teach what they want to remember.
• Unexpectedness – Do it differently. Use surprise to grab attention. Do things that get them to pay attention.
• Concreteness – Give them real examples – visuals, examples, testimonials - they can latch on to. Sticky ideas are full of concrete images.
• Credibility – Allow your key points to emerge through their eyes. Make your ideas so obviously true through their eyes that they have instant credibility.
• Emotions – Tug at their heart strings by making the learning relevant to their lives, not from a corporate standpoint but rather, in the context of how the learning will enrich their lives in ways that matter to them.
• Stories – Place the learning in a context of a story. Theme your event, give it an overarching metaphorical theme.

Used with permission from Lenn Millbower, BM, MA, The Learnertainment® Trainer and Offbeat Training®.

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Technology

Five Ways CIOs Can Impress Their CEOs: Today and in the Future

CEOs will increasingly demand that IT leaders excel in leadership, strategic thinking, marketing IT, business and communication. Read the Article.

Would you like the RMA staff to help your IT organizations with strategic planning using techniques like appreciative inquiry, scenario planning, trend analysis, and systems thinking? Schedule your time now with Margie Brown.

CEO Survey: Confidence Down, Stress Up

The Q2 2008 Vistage CEO Confidence Index sank to an all-time low this quarter, continuing a downward trend that began more than a year ago. The Index dropped to 69.6, down 2.4 points from Q1 2008.  More than 40 percent of the CEOs surveyed believe the U.S. economy will continue to worsen during the next 12 months, and chief executives of small- and mid-sized businesses say because of the economy they are experiencing higher stress levels and slowing down hiring and investment plans.

Do you have a skeleton crew stressed to the max?  Contact Margie Brown to talk about some half-day options for in-service team building and alignment sessions.

Half of Your IT Staff Just Quit

If half the men in science, engineering, and technology roles quit mid-career, the trend would be considered a national crisis, yet more than half of the women in science and engineering leave the field mid-career. Sylvia Ann Hewlett, founding president of the Center for Work-Life Policy, recently discussed the research that went into the Athena Factor, a research project examining the career trajectories of women in technology. The research found that there are more women in lower areas of science and technology than most people realize, and Hewlett says that women are excelling in science, engineering, and technology despite the fact that schools are not very good at encouraging them. She says that between the ages of 25 and 30, 41 percent of professionals with credentials in science and technology are female. However, later in their careers, 52 percent of the women drop out, with the rates among women jumping between the ages of 35 and 40.

Are you an IT woman frustrated with your job, consider attending RMA’s Leadership Academy in August.  Create a strategy to improve your career.  Contact Margie Brown to enroll. 

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Web Wonders

Money Origami

Many of you have been victims of my happy/sad leader dollar bill origami trick. Here are a few more for you to practice.  If you take a picture and send it to me, you’ll get fabulous merchandise AND you’ll be on my Facebook for bragging rights.

GIANT Apologies: I Screwed Up

Many of your responded to our cell phone ‘non’ facts last month. So sorry – I normally check these out but thought it had been done.  Here’s a sample wonderful response:

“This month’s article, “Cell Phone Tricks,” specifically caught my eye. I remembered looking up the content on Snopes for corroboration and the items are untrue or marginally useful. Everything else you write continues to fascinate me. It’s a bright spot in my workday!  Rich Goldberg, Unisys Corp.”  Thanks to Rich and all!

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The Contest

July’s CONTEST Summer Beach Reads

No one sent in any recipes for summer cook-outs, so let’s see if anyone is reading!  Send us your fave summer book, and we’ll feature them next month.  Of course, you will win lovely summer fabulous merchandise for playing our game.  Send book suggestions to info@russellmartin.com. 

Clutter For A Cause

Frustrated by clutter and don’t want to add to your area landfill. Try donating your clutter.  Here are some ideas from www.trainingsys.com:

• computer equipment to www.theonitfoundation.org
• sneakers to www.letmeplay.com
• cell phones to www.collectivegood.com
• musical instruments to www.operationhappynote.com
• books to www.booksfirst.org
• furniture to www.help1up.org
• random knickknacks to www.excessaccess.com

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Come See Us

Recent Articles

• Project Management Strategy and Plinko

Free Webinars

• Growing Resiliency
• Accelerated Learning for Both the Online and Classroom Faculty
• Faculty and Staff: Can’t Live with ‘em, Can’t Work without ‘em
• Make More Money:  10 Steps for Successful College Management

Lou’s Blogs

• It's the People
• IT Leadership Alchemy
• LplusEarn
• 10 Steps to Successful Project Management

Where the RMA Staff Will Be in July

Lou Russell:

• July 16, Urbana, IL

Margie Brown:

• July 21, Chicago, IL

Deirdre Gengenbach:

• July 15, Indianapolis, IN

Nadine Martin:

• July 29-30, Hartford, CT

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