BOO & Happy Halloween from Chicago, America! (A brief salute to Fiddler fans). I’m working in The City of Broad Shoulders this week and guess what—it’s windy and getting colder — every cliché fulfilled.
Chicago is my all-time fave major metro; it sits right next to my rural roots, (On Wisconsin!) Buddy Guy & Second City live here; it’s got a Great Lake, and it’s more than alive…NYC w/o the hype — I love it.
This is an extra-short monthly newsletter…a client project, training and travel schedules are “robust” right now. But I hope that you’ll appreciate the following few stories, and as usual, thanks for coming along.
Godec
This Story Really Isn’t As Superficial As It First Seems
The title of the article sounds like it might have come out of Teen Beat or Cosmo. Keep in mind that there’s a book being hawked here, but the basic principles are very sound, albeit brief:
Email or Fail-Mail?
Like you, I’m bombarded with email and I do, indeed, get the irony of you reading this email about email. Obviously it’s a fact of work & life and we’d better learn to make the most (and best) of it…
In the S&%t
I’ve been working recently with a public-sector client that has been under serious public and political fire at the national level. As my military buddies like to characterize it, this client is largely “in the s&%t.”
As a result, my client’s people are terrified, traumatized and many have shut down. It’s absolutely normal, understandable, forgivable…and unacceptable.
My client needs to engage these people more skillfully and compassionately so that they’re able to do their jobs. Here are some suggestions on how to do that:
What They Didn’t Teach You in Grad School
Godec, Randall & Associates (GRA) and The Participation Company (TPC) train, coach and work with government, corporate and non-profit organizations on authentic public involvement; in managing tough issues and opposition, and moving decisions and projects forward.
We train and facilitate customized, hands-on workshops and courses related to conflict resolution, public participation, facilitation, anger & opposition management as well as risk, crisis and technical communication, presentations and collaborative decision making. We’ll help you connect with the people and stakeholders that you serve.
– “John was the best speaker of the workshop. He kept the audience engaged and really thinking about the message we needed to discover for back home.”
– “…after the great job you did with our class last week. Thanks again for the hard work you invested in making sure we had a valuable learning experience!”
– “John, your participation in the conference was invaluable and absolutely added to the success of the event! I sincerely thank you for all of the preparation that you did prior to the conference and the excellent job you did at the conference – we knew we picked the best!!”
GRA and TPC customize exclusive, in-house one-to-five day workshops for a variety of public and private sector clients. Contact us for more information.
The Participation Company LLC is a strategic partner of the Center for Management Strategies (CMS), the provider of International City/County Management Association (ICMA) leading practices for local government.
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