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Here is Cydcor's Review of Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard:
About Switch:
Switch is a story-driven narrative of why making changes to our everyday lives is difficult, but worth the trouble. This can be applied to companies, communities, and our own personal lives. Switch demonstrates that a successful change can be completed, and the steps you take to make that change can be applied to any other change you’d like to make as well. All it takes is creating a game plan that aligns well with changes that can result in the success we’ve always wanted to achieve.
Why Cydcor recommends this to future leaders:
The business world is tough, especially these days. Although it may be difficult, a few small changes can make a world of difference. The authors do a great job of explaining why change is important, and that it’s achievable. The motivation to want to change comes from one half of our mind; the other half wants to stay the same. By having a balance, any positive change can be achieved. It’s up to leaders today to realize this, and make these kinds of changes a reality.
Our favorite part:
Switch uses great examples of every day people that mastered balancing the two minds – and achieved excellent results. One of these stories regards a manager who took his customer-support team to the next level. Without spoiling anything, the manager removed a tool that most customer service teams use regularly. This resulted in a positive change for the company, creating the customer support team that customers have always wanted. By providing these examples, the authors showcase that anything is possible, if we’re willing to make the changes necessary for success.
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“To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.” – Douglas Adams, author
When you look to offer a service or product for consumption or use, you want to offer your clientele something that you believe in, and that has been created with authenticity. A well-treated customer who has been approached with care and earnestness is a customer who feels appreciated—and it is these customers that are much more likely to purchase a product from someone they feel has their best interests in mind.
Know your product and service inside and out. Understand what goes into it, how it’s crafted or how it will be executed so that you can explain easily and without stress how your product is worthier than the competition’s product. It’s imperative you believe in what you are looking to sell. Showing a competent knowledge will not only make it easier to describe and illustrate how it can benefit your potential customer, but it will also allow the customer to feel that you are confidence in what you are offering.
A huge portion of job satisfaction comes from how we feel about ourselves at the end of the day. This can be attributed to how we treat our customers, and whether we are authentic in ourselves and our services. Being authentic to one’s self drives the beliefs necessary to make a huge difference in our lives, and the lives of customers.
As Bruce Barton, an American author once said, “The essential element in personal magnetism is a consuming sincerity - an overwhelming faith in the importance of the work one has to do.”
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Those who identify as “left-brain” thinkers tend to be more on the analytic and logical side of the spectrum of thought. Law, finance, engineering and the sciences are some of the many industries that those analytical types tend to fall into. But in an age of innovation, those more systematic thinkers might need a kick-start for creativity to keep up. While there are distinct verbal and analytic styles of thinking associated with different hemispheres of the brain, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t able to delve into more creative areas.
Unfortunately, a large portion of the population believes left-brain thinkers struggle with creativity or aren’t able to generate new ideas. While one might become set in a pattern, it is still possible to break out of this limited method of thinking.
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Author Daniel Coyle’s book The Talent Code describes in detail what physically happens to the brain when someone develops a new skill. In order to properly build up your brain to receive and keep new thought processes, knowledge and skills, Coyle calls for a need of what he names deep practice, which is exactly what it sounds like: practice. Learning and performing a new action involves firing an electrical signal through a neural pathway. Every time this happens, it thickens the myelin sheath that surrounds nerve fibers. The thicker the myelin sheath around the neural pathway, the more easily and effectively we use it.
What are ways we can “hack” our right-side brain and begin to let it out of the box? Some tips to start thinking creatively are simple:
Sign your name in the way you’ve developed, then re-sign it—backwards. Just the mere motion of attempting to break out of what you would normally do fires the right brain hemisphere. Try signing your name in different writing styles. Upside down. In a spiral. In loops. Repeat this until you are able to sign in all different designs and directions.
The right hemisphere aids in your ability to move in an unfamiliar way—such as dance. Just as we must take steps to learn new moves—a yoga position, a straighter posture, or running style—our brains must use a similar process to learn how to think differently.
Begin the art of deep practice by conquering any unaccustomed task, attempting challenges and feeding stray information into your right brain's database. Before you know it, you will see new ideas begin to emerge.
Cydcor review by: Gail Michalak, Chief Marketing Officer at Cydcor
Book: Talent Masters by Bill Conaty and Ram Charan
Description: This book is a description of how to judge exceptional talent within organizations and how to leverage that talent into success for the business. Bill Conaty has worked closely with legendary CEO Jack Welsh of General Electric and Ram Charan is a consultant that has worked for large corporations all over the world. Both authors contend that smart leaders put their people first, which leads to better revenue and company culture. Much like Talent Wars, the previous Cydcor Review, Talent Masters details an effective system for managing talented team members and getting the best results.
Why people should read Talent Masters: Leaders should read this book to learn ways to move talent from the lower rungs up the corporate ladder. This is the best way to assure teams perform at their top level. Entry-level employees should read this to take notice of what traits to embody and how to prepare for success at a higher level. Any professional can benefit from this book by learning how to think about running a team or an organization more effectively. The book is also a good reminder that top performers at one level won’t necessarily perform the best at all levels.
My favorite part: Differentiation breeds meritocracy, sameness breeds mediocrity. This is a good way to summarize the idea of celebrating the individual talents of employees and how to capitalize on their strengths. It is also important to remember that recruiting people from other companies is often a good way of bring fresh ideas and more energy to a position, as long as the new person can assimilate into company culture.
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Title: The War for Talent
Author: Ed Michaels, Helen Handfield-Jones, and Beth Axelrod
Review by: Suzzanne Fleet
Description of this book: This book uses information from thousands of executives from dozens of companies on how to keep a high level of talent and performance from employees. Acquiring, retaining and developing talented individuals is essential for companies to succeed. It is important to pinpoint high performers and low performers, reward high performers, and move low performers out of the organization. The book talks about keeping a "talent mindset" that keeps recruiters and managers focused on developing talented employees. It is also important to bring in talent from other companies at multiple management levels. The book details how to design performance reviews for team members, as well as a recognition system. Authors also discuss how create incentives to make your company attractive to top level jobseekers. Cydcor works to develop our talented team of sales professionals, which is why we are frequently chosen as on of L.A. County's Best Place to Work
Why read this: Managers and recruiters alike will benefit from this book by refreshing the priorities of developing people within their organization. In an age where many employees bounce around in their career, fostering talent is an easy and important aspect of both retention and productivity.
My favorite part: There are some great case studies in the book that provide real life stories and philosophies. For example, Dee Hock, founder of Visa, tells the authors, “Without integrity, motivation is dangerous; without motivation, capacity is impotent; without capacity, understanding is limited; without understanding, knowledge is meaningless; without knowledge, experience is blind.”
About the reviewer: Suzzanne Fleet is the director of human resources at Cydcor, so managing talent is her area of expertise.
This is our sixth installment of our book reviews project designed to introduce you to books that Cydcor team members find especially valuable. This review is by Kelli, Cydcor Field Solutions Manager, and is the first review that Kelli has done for us.
Title: The Leader Within
Author: Ken Blanchard, Drea Zigarmi, Micheal O’Connor, Carl Edeburn
Description of the book: Knowing who you truly are is the first step towards becoming an outstanding leader. This book will help you understand yourself as a leader and after reading, you will have the tools to change and grow to become the most effective version of yourself.
Why should you read this? This book challenges you to become introspective and discover who you truly are.
My favorite part: The idea that we have a "shadow self" that is the person we truly are and a "persona", which is the person we show to the world was fascinating to me. It caused me to look at who I am and what I show to the world and determine if those 2 were congruent.