Continued Learning

A professional athlete or a famous actor can spend their entire lives sharpening and refining their skills.  They know that continually learning is a very crucial part of their success.  If they do not dedicate themselves, someone who is dedicated will take their place.  To be the best at anything, a person must be willing to commit themselves to a lifetime of learning and practice.  This also applies to your business or professional knowledge. 

 

 

 Committing yourself to learning new things directly relates to your success.  You want to remain an expert in your industry and keep the edge you have over your competition.  If you lose your edge, you risk losing profit.  There are many ways that you can continue learning.  The variety of resources available range from greatly detailed programs to quick and simple approached such as webinars. Some suppliers, including Maple Ridge Farms, offer free webinars to educate distributors on their products and selling points.  Many webinars are free and most are recorded so that you can view them at any time.  Suppliers, and the industry as a whole, offer webinars on a wide range of topics.  In our industry, ASI and PPAI offer webinars.  Taking a moment to explore what is available could prove beneficial.

http://www.mapleridge.com/distributors/education/webinar.cfm

At Maple Ridge Farms, we have been participating in a program that we call “Building Ridgers”.  Every other week, a speaker comes to our office and teaches our group different leadership skills.  We have learned many things, including identifying different styles of communication, how to effectively manage conflict, and goal setting. 

Here are some of the points from our last education session that could be beneficial in a variety of situations:

“Communication is not a competition. Effective communication is more about being CLEAR than about being RIGHT.”

Speaking Skills for Clear Communication:

• Use “I” statements to take responsibility for your own opinions




• Use courteous language – Your mother was right! Little courtesies go a long way in  building partnerships.




• Avoid Slang or colloquialisms – when speaking in multicultural groups where some people may be confused or feel deliberately excluded.




• Avoid blaming others. Focus on how to correct problems, rather than whose fault it is




• Keep calm – particularly when the other person is emotional, it will help defuse the situation!




• Make clear, direct requests-to avoid misunderstanding and to avoid judgmental language that might turn the other person off.

Questioning Skills:

• Use Engaging (open-ended) questions when you want to get information, understand the problem better, or help your partner clarify the thought .




• Use Limiting (closed-ended) questions when you want to check assumptions or verify information, or when you want to focus your partner’s attention or direct the conversation.




• Avoid Leading questions, which beg the answer you have already decided on. (Can be heard as manipulative).




• Avoid Multiple questions, which may confuse listeners or feel like an attack. Multiple questions may also give receivers the option of answering the one(s) they want and ignoring others.

(Taken from the “Building Ridgers: Management Essentials for Leaders”, Premier Consulting Group, LLC)

We enjoy the opportunity to try to improve our skills at every opportunity. What steps have you taken to remain on the cutting edge of the ever-changing promotional products industry?