Vicious Circles in Business

Which group of people is more numerous: Those who know what to do or those who do it?

Why is change so difficult? After we decide to improve our life, work, or the life and work of others, why does it take so long to start implementing the positive changes?

It is because our environment hardly ever makes change easy. When you decide to choose what you eat more carefully, you get dinner invitations. When you decide to improve your work-life balance, you are given more responsibility. You have to start working harder when you are already out of energy.

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“Are you a good listener?” If you are, it is not only an accidental characteristic that makes people around you happier. It is essential for business as well. White-collar workers spend 30-50% of their time listening to others. Well, sometimes they spend that time pretending to listen…

If you are a good listener, you find out about opportunities sooner, you find it easier to convince, influence and motivate people and it is even easier to sell. After all, you know what people’s hopes and worries are. And that is all you know to motivate them, lead them or sell to them.

but what keeps you away from being a good listener? Here are three common challenges:

LISTENING VS CONVINCING

Too many professionals are focused on what they want to say rather than what they want to achieve. You have met them, and you have even been them! A telephone salesperson who doesn’t ask questions, just reads her script. A business presenter who doesn’t interact with the audience. A boss who lectures employees and calls it “feedback”. These habits all make you a bad listener, often without noticing it.

LISTENING VS DISAGREEING Nobody likes to hear things they do not agree with. You don’t either, even if you are a very broad-minded person open to the world. When you hear something with, you experience it as mild stress, and the natural reaction is to ‘fight back’. You start convincing the other side, point out weaknesses in your argument or even become a bit offensive. In fact, when you hear opinions that are different from yours are the best times to start listening.

LISTENING VS RECORDING

Okay, so you decide to be a good listener, and make notes at meeting or during phone calls. You start writing, then you miss a few sentences. Then you start listening carefully, but then how will you remember? So you start writing again, and miss a few more sentences. And so forth, ad infinitum. Making elaborate notes interferes with listening rather then helping it. Of course you can make notes, you just have to know how.

If you want to find out more about how you can improve your listening skills, join us for a 3-hour learning event entitled “Listening Skills for HR Professionals” on 21 May in Shanghai. The details:

Time: 21 May, 2-5 pm

Place: Crowne Plaza Shanghai, 400 Panyu Road

Charge: RMB 200

To make this a more conducive discussion, we are expecting a small group of about 20 people only. Please e-mail your registrations to participate@sh-cbc.com.

LEADERSHIP QUALITIES: INSPIRATIONAL  LEADERSHIP

Most people would agree that INSPIRATION is only essential for writers, musicians and artists.

Not so Harry Starren, CEO of one of Europe’s most established corporate training institutions, De Baak (Holland). With his thought-provoking style and out-of-the-box method as a corporate leader, entrepreneur, trainer and coach, he has helped hundreds of professionals to lead in a creative and inspired way.

“Organizations that lack inspiration radiate sadness”, Harry Starren says. “Companies where fun is limited to lunch-breaks and after-work hours become a workplace where people feel locked-up in a psychiatric institute. People in places like this are disconnected from their own dreams and personality.”

Increasingly, leaders work together for professional teams who do not need to be told how to do a better job. They are in their companies and positions because they want to be there. They do not need instructions, they need energy and inspiration. Future leaders have to take the back seat and become comfortable with a coaching role.

Join  De Baak CEO Harry Starren for a challenging day of interactive experience, and discover the essence of INSPIRATIONAL LEADERSHIP.

At a first-time appearance with this programme in China, Harry will share with 20 leaders how to make INSPIRATION the essence of leadership. Among others, you will discover:

· Why leaders need to be comfortable with to show their inner strength and weaknesses

· Why and how to make trust the core value of your leadership

· How to awaken the inspiration already in your team

· Why you need inspiration to inspire others, and where to find it

· How to make the famous concept of “Flow” a daily reality at work

“LEADERSHIP QUALITIES” IS A ONE-DAY DE BAAK-EXPERIENCE

09:00-12:00 Part One

12:00-14:00 Lunch

14:00-18:00 Part Two

18:30 Dinner

WHEN, WHERE, HOW MUCH:

Date and Time: Wednesday 12 May 2010, 9:00-18:30

Venue: Location in central Shanghai, to be announced

Participation: Early bird price, registration before 1^st of May: RMB 3,000

Full price, for one-day workshop : RMB 4,000

Registration: Contact us for enquiries and registration at participate@sh-cbc.com or +86 21 5459 1006

FACILITATORS:

Harry Starren, CEO, Coach, De Baak

Harry G. Starren, M.A. / M.Sc., has held positions as academic researcher, professor, manager at a research/consulting firm, and manager of the postgraduate course Business and Public Administration in Utrecht. In addition to his current management position, he works as a trainer, teacher and consultant, in particular in the area of professional organization management. Harry Starren is on a number of specialist juries and the supervisory boards of a number of companies. He also holds management positions in a number of civil-society organizations. He wrote ‘Masters in Management, and a second book, ‘The 21 Commandments of Modern Leadership’, together with Twan van de Kerkhof.

Gabor Holch, General Manager, Campanile Consulting/ASI China

Gabor Holch has spent 15 years linking opportunities across cultural boundaries. He started his career in international development programmes (United Nations and OSCE) before coming to China in 2002. With his team of consultants, he provides leadership, cross-cultural and communication consulting services. Gabor is the only non-Chinese member of the China Association of Certified Management Consultants. He has published academic journalistic articles in China and several European countries, and recently a volume on Asia-Europe relations.

More about De Baak at www.debaak.com

There are many reasons why BenCham China is a great place to discuss Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
One is the impact of China on the globe due to its sheer size. With more than 150 cities over 1 million inhabitants and most of the Fortune 500 companies at full swing here, whether the economy is managed in a responsible manner here has a huge impact on the globe and everyone on it.
Another is that with the World Expo scheduled in Shanghai under the motto "Better City, Better Life", increasing attention is being paid to CSR in China.
Finally, because this part of the world has a lot to learn from Benelux countries and how they approach corporate responsibility. I for one have learned a lot from my Dutch clients.

  The breakfast seminar “Making CSR Communication part of your business strategy” in Swissotel Shanghai on 5 March gathered great audience who were the to do just that: exchange ideas about corporate responsibility in a Chinese context. Indeed, in the environment of modern China, where companies and people have been typically focused on making money much more than how it is made, the issue of CSR is picking up. Representatives of several companies already ahead of the market were also present and contributed a great deal to the discussion.

Question: How can we deal with the problem of “greenwashing”, in other words when companies publicize CSR goals or activities just to look greener?

Answer: This is inevitable as a more responsible corporate behaviour becomes a prerequisite for connecting to quality clients. Responsible companies, for instance, will require their providers (e.g. raw materials or energy) to meet responsibility standards as well. There will always be companies that try to “cheat the system” and report responsible behaviour that in reality they do not display. In my opinion, such efforts are a waste of resources. While they may mislead the occasional visitor of their website or corporate venue, the actual situation will turn out even under the scrutiny of the most basic due diligence research.

A great comment by Jan Devens from DSM was that China is bound to become one of the leaders of CSR know-how simply for the money to be made this way.

This is a shrewd observation in a number of ways. First, Mr. Devens shared with us that the companies who take CSR seriously are often the ones who have gone through the trauma of being blamed for industrial accidents, chemical spills or similar incidents in the past. If such eventualities spur companies to take CSR more seriously, there is certainly no shortage of mishaps in China, including low work safety, collapsing mines and food safety scandals. Moreover, if China manages to attract as much R&D in the field of corporate awareness, prevention and cleanup as it did in hi-tech, the benefits are considerable.

On Thursday, March 4th, CBC GM Gabor Holch will share a few thoughts about communicating CSR to employees, clients and partners. The event will be hosted by BenCham, the Benelux Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.

While CSR has become a buuz word for business, a clear  and consistent approach to CSR communication is more  the exception than the rule. It is easy to bounce into either extreme. On one hand, many companies spend a disproportionate amount of time and resources on flashy CSR websites and brochures, rather than on being responsible corporate citizens. On the other, several businesses silently toil on in a responsible manner, but are too busy to publicise their achievements.

Gabor Holch will share the communication professional’s perspective, while fellow presenter Bart Berende (Mattmo) will contribute the marketing and visual angle. Both presenters will support their message with live examples from companies whose representatives will be present at the event.

To see the details and register, please click over to BenCham.

When CBC and ASI found each other in 2007, we had little idea that a simple facilitation agreement would blossom into a cooperation between leadership consultants and trainers in Holland, China and number of other Asian and European countries. Fortunately for us and our clients, it did. On 29 March, we are proud to facilitate the China debut of De Baak, the largest business training organization in Holland.

De Baak headquarters in Holland

The Dutch are in a privileged position, with 100 years of history in management consulting (the association of Dutch management consultants celebrated its 100th anniversary last year) and more than 300 years of trade with East Asia. They are also known for their keen business sense and direct approach. In my experience, training and consulting programmes developed in Holland have a sharp focus, are practical and refreshingly upbeat. Companies like DSM and Tebodin, where we delivered such products, will agree with me.

De Baak, a leadership consultancy with 60 years of history and affiliated with the Confederation of the Nehterlands Industry and Employers, will show us how all this and more can be applied to leadership in a Chinese context. After delivering a number of successful in-house programmes, this upcoming open course will be an excellent opportunity to become familiar with De Baak’s unique, thought-provoking and action-packed style.

Click on this  link to download the detailed PDF description of Leadership Qualities: Look Inside to Find the Leader.

For enquiries and to register, contact us at participate@sh-cbc.com or call Lisa at +86 21 5459 1006.

A Learning Event with CBC

Have you or your team ever run into these problems?

• Your team spends hours at meetings, and yet they do not get tangible results.
• You receive hundreds of e-mails from your team, yet you miss important information.
• Everybody wants better communication but nobody takes charge of it.
• There seems to be an agreement about what to do, but there is no follow-up.

If you have, it is time to think about how people share information and responsibility. It is time to discuss internal communication with professional communicators and fellow HR professionals.

Share an early afternoon with CBC GM Gabor Holch and fellow managers discussing how to make life easier for you and your team by improving internal communication. Learn and share practical methods to:

> Decide what results you want from communicating
> Choose the best communication method for a task or message
> Share the task of effective communication with your team
> Follow up and get and measure results

Event Facilitator: Gabor Holch

Gabor Holch, Management Consultant and GM of CBC, has helped multinationals, small and medium-size enterprises, public organizations and academic institutions in Europe and Asia communicate with clients, staff and partners for 15 years. Starting as a junior consultant for merger & acquisition training strategies in Eastern Europe in 1995, he later worked with various levels of European, Asian and international development, conflict management, management consulting and training projects. Since 2002 he has advised companies and public institutions in China, Southeast Asia and Europe.

EVENT DETAILS:

When: Thursday, 18 June, 2:00 – 5:00 pm

Where: Bankers Club, 52F, Bank of China Tower, 200 Yin Cheng Zhong Road (Lu Jia Zui Station on subway line number 2) －银城中路200号中银大厦52楼（地铁2号线陆家嘴站）

2-2:30 pm: Networking and refreshments
2:30-3:30: Interactive workshop on Internal Communication
3:30-4:00: Q&A and discussion
4:00-5:00: More networking and refreshments

Attendance and refreshment are free of charge for registered invitees.

For registration and information

Please contact Penny at 5459 1006 ext. 116 or penny@sh-cbc.com.

The end of the financial year is approaching, and many of our clients ask how they can deliver quality training from budgets that have suffered an average cut of 40-50%. Reactions to budget cuts are varied, and some of them are not really wise. Some companies freeze training altogether. Others try to deliver everything internally, often dumping the job on HR personnel who are already under a heavy workload, often unwilling, and sometimes unqualified to deliver real value in the training room.

Our answer to most of the clients is that they can deliver almost the same value from a significantly reduced budget. Why? Because at times when budgets were more generous, so much of the money spent on training  has been wasted. Here are a few ways that companies burn cash allocated to training, based on a presentation delivered by CBC GM Gabor Holch, and the following discussion at the Shanghai Chapter of the European Chamber of Commerce today. It helps to discover some of the pitfalls that you have fallen into in 2008. It helps even more to learn how to avoid them.

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Our CORPORATE TRAINING PLANS: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICAL TIPS workshop gave all those who attended very valuable insight into how corporate training really works.

Our attnedance was far lower than ususal due to the pouring rain outside, but those who attended shared great ideas. The programme went through the following points:

• How to set corporate training objectives?
• How to decide who will attend which course?
• Which training methods work best for whom?
• How to choose reliable and professional training providers?
• Can we measure the success of corporate training, and how?
• What are the best ways to report training activities?

Perhaps the most valuable part of this active workshop was the discussion about two crucial topics: how to choose participants and how to choose training providers. In the discussion, a few great ideas came up form the facilitator as well as from participants. Here a few:

Q:  What are the advantages and disadvantages of providing training to different levels of staff in the company?

A: Staff on lower levels experience training as important for motivation, while top managers often attend too much training and get excited only about top-level courses. Training top managers may save money for the company when they pass down their knowledge. On the other hand, they are often too busy to attend. Front-line staff are eager to attend training and have more time. However, staff turnover on lower levels is usually a bigger problem, which may be a challenge for the HR when they choose participants.

Q:  How do you choose a suitable provider out of the thousands of companies in Shanghai alone?

A: In reality, you don’t have to choose from thousands of companies. Most providers will not suit your needs: they will not provide the course you want, they are too expensive, too low quality or you will never meet them. Usually you choose from 10-20 providers.

Q: How do you narrow them down, to choose the best one? Our discussion came up with this:

• Never go for the cheapest option. Go as high in quality as you can afford.
• Forget about companies who seem to copy each other’s content.
• Think of training as investment: discuss with the provider how you will get your money back in better sales results, better time management, efficiency, etc.
• Become familiar with the logic of the course offered to you.
• Ask how the provider can help you to follow up to the training and consolidate the content in daily work.

Thank you for all participants for your insight. Those who didn’t make it this time, see you at our future events!

Event Facilitator: Gabor Holch

Gabor Holch, Management Consultant and GM of CBC, has helped create and work training plans for multinationals, small and medium-size enterprises, public organizations and academic institutions in Europe and Asia for 15 years. Starting as a junior consultant for merger & acquisition training strategies in Eastern Europe in 1995, he later worked with training plans on various levels of European, Asian and international teams. Since 2002 he has advised companies and public institutions in China, Southeast Asia and Europe.

EVENT DETAILS:

When: Thursday, 26 February, 3:00 – 6:00 pm

Where: Bankers Club, 52F, Bank of China Tower, 200 Yin Cheng Zhong Road (Lu Jia Zui Station on subway line number 2) －银城中路200号中银大厦52楼（地铁2号线陆家嘴站）

For information on future events:

Please contact Penny at 5459 1006 ext. 116 or penny@sh-cbc.com.

We all face changes.

When you finish school, you face change.

When you leave home, you face change.

When you start work with a new company, you face change.

And when your child is born, you face a lot of change!

Dealing with change is a universal human experience. The quality and effectiveness of our response to change varies. Sometimes we cope well - it’s like we flow with whatever is happening and move on. Sometimes we get stuck. Coping with change is a skill - something that you can learn.

In our Leadership Skills training, you can learn to better cope with the changes that you face and how you can help others move through the changing times of today.

CBC Corporate Trainer Daniel Smith has an extensive background in psychology and NLP - just the thing for such an important and relevant topic today.