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 Diamonds to You  
       Helping you get the best out of yourself and others.                    

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Vol 9, Issue #7, July, 2014
E-mail Update
Current Activities
University Courses Taught
Books Published
Penny Update
Negotiations
Saving Money while Increasing Productivity
Professional Branding
So, How can I help you?
Publisher, Editor, Author-
 ArLyne Diamond, Ph.D.
For YouTube:   

ArLyne Diamond

 

 

 


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Hi Everyone:

 

I need a used laptop.  

 

For those of you who upgrade frequently, would you be willing to sell me your "last year's" (or earlier) good quality PC laptop with Windows 7?  

 

I don't need all the latest bells and whistles, but would like one that is easy to use and has some power behind it.  I want to be able to use it to skype and to use my Nuance Dragon voice activated program.  

 

The old Dell mini I have (and have always hated) isn't able to do either.

 

Please let me know if you have one that would work for me.

 

E-mail update

 

It took over one month of my speaking with various and sundry technical support people to finally get my e-mail problem fixed.  

 

If you recall, I was unable to send outgoing e-mails.  The reason for this taking all this time - with me wasting about 20 or more hours on the phone - was because every technical person with whom I spoke operated on his or her first assumption.  Not one of them took the time and effort to actually troubleshoot the problem. 

 

First was the blame game.  It's not our fault - it's your computer - or Microsoft - or AT&T.   Next, it was that I (or maybe my dog) changed the settings.  Than it was it works when we try it from our computer, you must be mistaken - and so on and so forth.

 

Finally, I got to someone high up in my server's corporate office.  She took responsibility for working with various technical people to actually solve the problem.  The solution was so simple.

 

They were blocking my outgoing e-mails because included in my signature line was the link to my blog.  Their software concluded this link (not just mine but anyone using the same service) was "spammy."  Honest, that's the word they used.  

 

\I eliminated the blog link from my e-mail signature an am about to do it from this newsletter (which goes out from Constant Contact) as well.

 

Problem solved!  I hope!  

  

 

 

ProMatch

I've been actively involved in creating and participating in a number of workshops for ProMatchers - who are professional people in job transition. Among the workshops I've offered (or been heavily involved with presenting):

  • Jump Start Your Job Search:      
    •   this is the how and why of what you need to do.  
  • Marketing (Branding) Yourself:    
    • Most people out of work don't know how to market their services.
    •  Also, when people think of marketing they tend to think of product marketing and service marketing is different - services are intangible and thus your image, reputation, and "free samples" become critical in how you sell yourself.   
  • Self-Assessment Seminar:
    •  Knowing your wants, needs, values, interests help you decide  
  • Strategies and Tactics for your Job Hunt
    • Lots of time, people just blindly do a bunch of chores without having an overall plan - that's what this workshop was designed to help.  
  • Who are You?  Part I & Part II  
    • Part I:  How do you describe yourself professionally in a conversational manner (rather than the stylized elevator pitch we've all been taught to use.)
    • Part II:  "What's in it for Me?" - How do you answer the unspoken question posed by the person to whom you are speaking, whether that is someone with whom you are networking, or a recruiter/HR person or hiring manager?  
  • Negotiation Skills for Women:     
    • Maybe part of why women don't earn as much as men is because they don't know how to ask for what they want. 
    • This is also one of the reasons I decided to start a new women's forum.  
  • Getting Your Mojo Back 
    • Being out of work is debilitating, depressing and frightening.  This workshop gave participants ideas for re-vitalizing themselves emotionally and psychologically as well as physically.
  • Enhancing Your Professional Image:  Your Unique Brand
    • This is about marketing services and employment - how to create a brand that takes in the perception you want to create, what you do, and what;s in it for the person to whom you are speaking.  This workshop is being repeated in August.
  • Negotiation Strategies and Tactics
    • In this workshop we will be using role-playing, fishbowl exercises, feedback and suggestions for those practicing their negotiation skills.
  •  

Campaign Consulting and Involvement

Diamond Associates' team is now fully launched supporting several candidates for office.  Our Treasurer is helping several candidates, our events consultant is speaking with a few candidates to help them with meet and greets and fundraisers - and of course I am offering my ideas about persuasion, image, and messaging with several people running for office.  

 

Consulting Clients:  Individuals and Organizations

Lest I forget:  I am still earning money by consulting and offering workshops to organizations, private, public and government and also working with some individuals wishing aid with their professional development.  Truth of the matter is, these are my major activities.  Your referrals are always appreciated - and in this slowly climbing out of the recession - needed.

University Courses I've Recently Taught



DeVry University, Keller Graduate School of Management
 
Career DecisionsConsumer Behavior

 

Leadership & Organizational Behavior

 

Quality and Performance Excellence  

 

International Business

 

Business Planning (Capstone MBA class) 

 

Psychology 110

Employment Law  (Compliance Issues )

 

The Legal, Political and Ethical Dimensions of Business

 

Change Management

 

Human Resource Planning (Capstone MBA class)

 

Negotiation Skills

 

HR Staffing

Lincoln Law School:  The Psychology of Practicing Law
  

Stanford University, Continuing Education: Conflict in the Workplace

 Books - Published  

Leading and Managing in a Global Economy -                   Super Star Press 

Conflict in the Workplace:  Causes and Cures      Robertson Publishing Co.

 

The following books can be ordered directly: www.ProductivePublications.com  


Training Your Board of Directors:  A Manual for the CEOs, Board Members, Administrators and Executives of Corporations, Associations, Non-Profit and Religious Organizations.  

 

The "Please" and "Thank You" of  Fundraising for Non-Profits:  Fifteen Essential Ingredients for Success.

 

Penny update

 

Penny was 14 in February.  Although she is holding her own, I am so worried about her.  One day last week I found her asleep and couldn't see her breathing and when I touched her she didn't immediately wake up.  I panicked.

 

Another day, also last week, she was resting on the patio - which is tiled - and couldn't get up by herself.  I had to lift her from under her belly to help her get traction.  She has arthritis in the hips - much worse apparently than mine in the knees.

 

So, my project this week has been to learn what to do when she goes.  I've contacted U.C. Davis Veterinary Teaching Hospital and they would be happy to take her body - if I can get her to them shortly after she dies.  I'm working on that project now.  Any suggestions?

 

For those of you who know her and love her - you might want to come and visit.

 

Negotiations

 

Although styles differ, there are basically only a few primary goals in negotiation:  Win/win, win/lose or lose/lose. 

 

Of course the best of them is to create a win/win situation.  If both parties are satisfied with the results of their negotiation they will work positively to meet the agreed to terms.  They will also be able to have continued relationships with each other.  This of course requires an attitude of goodwill and cooperation.  The parties to the negotiation must be willing to really listen to and respect the needs and concerns of the other parties.  They must play fair.

 

In win/lose negotiation, one of the parties uses their position of power to intimidate and bully the other party.  There is no courtesy - indeed they are often condescending, accusing and intimidating.  They gloat over their positions of power.

 

In a lose/lose situation neither party gets what they want and need because one or both sides are intransigent.  They stick to their guns no matter what the other group is trying to say.  It is more important to them not to give ground than it is to negotiate a winning conclusion.

 

So what are some of the techniques that enable you to reach a win/win agreement? 

In the following two examples, the strategies differed Among them are the ability to step into the other parties shoes and really understand what he or she is saying they need - and why.  

 

Another strategy is to help them by making suggestions as to what they can do to meet your needs.  In the first example below, I figured out what I could do to help the other person give me what I wanted.  Make it easy for them.  In the second, long time loyalty and relationship enabled me to negotiate more effectively.

 

Let me give you one example each of thes methods.

 

In salary negotiations the applicant and the hiring manager eventually get to sit down to talk terms.  Each has a range that they are comfortable with - and each hides that basic information from the other.  They haggle back and forth and eventually it is important for the applicant to find a way to increase the offer.   In a role-play the other day, I was playing the applicant.  The hiring manager offered me an amount that was at the top of her available range.  I continued to be positive, to explain that I really wanted the job and liked the company, and wondered what else she could possibly do.  She finally offered me a $5,000.00 signing bonus.  I thanked and asked if it were possible to make that annual.  She agreed, thus I had increased my salary by $5,000.00 a year - now well into my desirable range.

 

I did it by giving her a way to give me what I wanted.  In other words, you have to make it easy for the other side.

 

Of course that's not the only way to create a win/win situation.  Let me give you another example.

 

When negotiating for a car a few years ago, I knew my limit.  I told the salesman that I would buy the car (which I loved - and had already ooohed and ahhheed about) my bottom line and stuck to it.  It was five thousand dollars less than they were asking.  I knew they wanted to sell the car (it was used) and so stuck to my limit.  The salesman played the usual games of going back and forth from "the back room" each time lowering his offer by $500.00.  I stood firm, but polite.  

 

Guess what!  I walked out with the car at my bottom line price.  Now, I wasn't asking for anything outrageously lower than reasonable, but it was lower than they wanted.  I knew what was reasonable - and had a prior good relationship with the dealer.  

 

The reason they eventually yielded was because the owner of the dealership came in just as we were going back and forth and I said "Hi - tell your team to be good to me."  He did.  They did.   Relationship trumped money.  I still deal with them and the next time I buy a car, it will probably be from them.

 

 

Saving Money while Increasing Productivity

 

When I look over the shoulders (metaphorically speaking) of the employees of my clients, I often see them doing unnecessary work and making things harder for themselves.  In part it is because no one taught them the simplest most effective system to do their tasks - instead in the mis-use of the concept of empowerment they were told to figure it out themselves.  In my opinion that is management abrogating responsibility.

 

 

Another reason is because people invent these elaborate systems to prevent embezzlement or fraud - often the solution is far more costly than the real risk involved. 

Yes, 

we need checks and balances - but sometimes we go way too far. It's a challenge for me to help these people realize that some of what they are doing isn't worthwhile.

 

Sometimes getting outside expertise to work WITH your team enables everyone to look at things differently and to find more effective and less-costly solutions to solving problems.

 

We don't all know all the answers. 

 

I don't do my own taxes - because to do so would require extensive new learning annually for just me.  It doesn't pay.  On the other hand, my accountant learns all the new laws because he or she is applying them to hundreds of cases.

 

I don't service my own car.  I don't know how.  I don't want to know how.  I use people I trust who are reliable and ethical.  They do a far better job than I ever could, even if I learned how.

 

So, why do we trust people to design systems for us when they are not expert in those fields?
 

 

Professional Branding for Consultant

 

I will be speaking to the Monterey Bay Management Consultant Group on Monday, July 28th and the blurb for the speech is as follows:

Successful Professional Branding:  How to Sell Yourself Effectively
By
ArLyne Diamond, Ph.D.

 

As consultants we spend an inordinate amount of time networking, socializing, marketing and trying to sell others on the value we potentially bring to them and to their contacts.

 

Do you want people to WANT to give you those introductions, the meetings with the decision makers and ultimately the consulting contract of your dreams?

Do you want people to see and experience you in all your professional glory and realize that you are of great value to them?

 

If so, this workshop on how to enhance your Professional Brand and Sell Yourself Effectively is for you!

 

Have you received conflicting advice about how to describe your brand?  Are you told it's only about what you do - or have you learned that it is about who you are as well as what you do?

 

Come to this workshop and develop a powerful answer to:  "Tell me About Yourself." 

 

Marketing and sales tips will include your image, your style of presentation, your marketing/sales materials and most importantly the answer to the usually unasked question:  "What's in it for Me?"

 

So, How Can I help you?

 

Testimonial

 

 

  • The information you provided was concise and easy to understand for all levels of employees.  The training you conducted with our supervisors, managers and executive staff was upbeat and well received.  Dave Spencer, Director Human Resources, Black Mountain Spring Water.
  • I have sat through, or endured many more consultants than the average person.  I'm always skeptical ... bout spending precious hours and only getting minutes worth of value.  The four hours I spent with you were highly valuable.  The information was practical and immediately applicable to my work, as it would be to any manager who interviews, hires, tracks performance and sometimes, unfortunately, fires.  ... Your presentation of the material was interesting, the pace was right, your examples were relevant and reflected your experience.  I truly enjoyed the entire workshop as well as finding it practical. Jeanne Howard, Advertising Director.  Metro Newspapers.

 

  • ... I have been working regularly with the Management Consultant, ArLyne Diamond, Ph.D.  I have seen a wonderful change in my business since ArLyne has been working with my office.  We now have a complete and very through office procedure manual.  The manual is a huge asset to my office.  It has allowed me to train and allow th4e staff to have a handy resource for questions when I am not available.  ... Also, ArLyne provided a complete area list of supplies, vendors and the strike point to order additional supplies.  ... she also lay out the office furniture and work areas.  ... We continue to meet to develop additional marketing, staff hiring, and general management of my personal income tax preparation practice.  Janice Driscoll, E.A.

 


 

 

  Let me be your Aufin-your advisor to Kings. 

ArLyne Diamond, Ph.D  [email protected]   

Diamond Associates     3567 Benton St., #315, Santa Clara, CA 95051    

408-554-0110