Spend the morning with us and leave a more confident speaker

Learn to Speak Like a Pro with our Center Stage Program

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Register Now

Establish Your Presence * Extend Your Influence * Craft Your Message * Be Dynamic

Move Others to Action * Persuade with Power * Impact the Mission * Hold the Moment

* Successful Leaders are Powerful Speakers

Successful leadership demands that you create a compelling presence. We will help you find your X-factor, enabling you to eloquently communicate your message in a powerful and dynamic presentation.

This program will simplify and demystify the process of designing and delivering an effective speech. You will experience ‘the magic’ when you bring together the four essential aspects of a successful speech:

• material development
• structure
• presence
• presentation

Kendall Colman, M.H.S.A. and C.P.C.C., is the president of Colman & Company, the highly recognized organizational leadership development firm based in Denver, Colorado.  Kendall has become known for bringing a refreshing, direct and innovative approach to her work as a speaker, facilitator and premier executive coach.

Investment: $349

Contact us for more information on Center Stage.

Join us on  March 22, 2012 for Center Stage. Register Now.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

The University Club
1673 Sherman St. (map)
Denver, CO 80202
www.uclubdenver.org

If you would like to advance your speaking career please visit National Speakers Association.

Cancellation Policy:  Please understand this program fills quickly and there is a 48 hour cancellation policy. If you happen to need to cancel before this time, we can move you to another date. Within 48 hours, please remember that you will be responsible for payment.

Center Stage II

 Creating an Effective Talk With Kendall Colman & Molly Hughes

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Register Now

There’s nothing more crucial to success in business than bringing a receptive and commanding presence into every meeting, whether one-on-one or with groups. Trainers need to motivate their participants; executives need to inspire their people; employees need to influence those they interact with. Everyone in the organization must be aware of any weaknesses in how they habitually present themselves that get in the way of being fully seen, heard and responded to. And most importantly, we all need to know how to get and keep the attention we need to be fully successful.

This program will teach you how to save time by focusing on that which you have total control: your words, messages and speech.

We provide customized training for each attendee so that they are well-equipped to handle any presentation.  You will learn how to engage your audience in your first few seconds of speaking, package your key points into personal stories, rehearse more effectively, and much more. We also strive to get each attendee on camera a minimum of 3 times throughout the program – so that we can better assess and critique individual weaknesses and strengths.

We’ll teach you to:

• How to look better
• How to sound better
• How to plan, practice and prepare
• How to use body language techniques
• How to appear more confident, calm and in control
• How to demonstrate empathy
• How to incorporate motivating language
• How to engage the audience

Participants engage in videotaped interviews followed by critique.

It is a hands-on workshop with little lecturing.

Investment: $349

Contact us for more information on Center Stage.

Faculty: Kendall Colman and Molly Hughes

Do you see a gap between what your people say they know and what they do?  Are your people asking the same questions twice? Would you like to see your staff take more ownership of projects and process?

Research shows that executives, managers and HR professionals are being called on to devote an ever increasing portion of their time to coaching others. It is a trend that will only continue to expand. It is essential that you posses solid coaching skills in order to enhance your career and help your organization.

Our program can help you gain coaching skills quickly and powerfully. You will expand your personal leadership skills and learn how to use new methods to help others grow. You will learn a proven coaching process- gaining critical knowledge about your coaching style and how to apply your inherent strengths to coach others. This experience will help you create a healthy and productive coaching climate in your organization.

Coaching for Breakthrough Performance

Academy Dates: January- December 2012

The Bank Leaders Academy is exclusively designed for motivated banking professionals looking to further their career as a leader in banking.

BLA places the importance on developing all the fundamental characteristics that you find in those who continually rise to the top. Each facet of this program has been designed to help you gain immediate and lasting results.

Bank Leaders Academy – Now Offered in Denver

Great managers drive the culture of performance your bank needs to maximize results.  But demographic shifts – notably the impending retirement of baby boomers and changing business conditions have combined a perplexing challenge – how do managers lead others to drive individual as well as team performance and growth?  How do managers learn when mentors are not as easily accessible?

You know the most time consuming part of any manager is finding and keeping good employees.  By enrolling your Mangers in the Bank Leaders Academy, imagine how good it would feel to have your managers know what to do, by using the right tools, at the right time.

Leading Others (March 14-15) includes assessments and materials $1050 (2 days)

Getting Referrals Now (April 25) includes assessment and materials $525 (1 day)

Coaching For Performance June 26 & 27, includes assessments and materials $1050 (2 days)

Managing Your Career November 8^th includes assessment and materials $525 (1 day)

These programs are best for those who want a comprehensive learning and development curriculum that encompasses the core building blocks for bank managers and their specific needs.

Colman & Company is the preferred vendor for Colorado Bankers Association and is the facilitator of the Bank Leaders of Tomorrow program.

www.colmancoaching.com

Corporate Performance, Sales Coaching & Executive Development

Location: Downtown Denver, Colorado, University Club of Denver

For more information, and to discover if the program is right for you, contact Kendall Colman.

Rediscover, Reinvent, Redirect Your Leadership Potential

*Program cost covers all expenses except meals and travel. All materials, space fees, assessments, handouts, books, training costs are included.

by Kendall Colman, Columnist for Colorado Bankers Journal, www.colmancoaching.com.

Old business school skeptics, start your engines. If there was ever a time to be paying attention to keeping your best employees, it is now.

As you might have heard, the street has spoken, and the challenging outlook for banks is not in your imagination. However, a different view is in sight at Wells Fargo.

While serving one in three households in America, Wells Fargo is known for its well-defined and rigorous approach to recruiting, developing and retaining its best and the brightest team members.

The difference at Wells Fargo boils down to one thing: the view held at the top that managing talent is a leadership issue, and HR is seen as the partner to deliver.

Public banks face unrelenting pressure from the capital markets to grow as fast as possible. If you combine that with a media environment that is intensively focused on banks, and the fact that families are indeed struggling, you can see how the need to keep team members engaged, informed and proud to be bankers is critical.

Company stories and symbols can save the day during times like these, as employees and customers seek legacy, tradition, and companies where they can put their faith.

The symbol for Wells Fargo that leaves us optimistic that ethics and capitalism can work in tandem, is the iconic image of the Wells Fargo stagecoach.

Just walking through the lobby in downtown Denver at 17th and Broadway, surrounded by pioneering memorabilia, you can’t help but become immersed in the fearlessness required to face life during the Wild West. You may even find yourself unabashedly singing, “o-ho the Wells Fargo Wagon is a-comin’ down the street, oh please let it be for me…”

Today, it’s easy to see why team members here in Colorado continue to get on board quickly at Wells Fargo.  Under the leadership of Tom Honig, regional president for the Mountain Midwest Region since 2000, Wells Fargo has continued to grow deposit market share in the state, remained the top lender to small business, and annually donates more than $4 million to Colorado nonprofits.

Tom, an avid reader of history, realized early in his career at Norwest (a Wells Fargo predecessor), that the best leaders have a solid allegiance with the person assisting, advising, and developing employees.

Tom believes when you choose your team wisely the benefits to the environment are clear: a diverse group combining all the best qualities: intellectual, analytical, open-minded, and fun.

One person in particular stood out to Tom many years ago, Connie Kehmeier. She talked about HR in a way that went way beyond hiring and firing.

Connie learned early about the importance of values and performance in her first job as a first grade school teacher in Iowa. “I loved teaching but struggled with the “system”, so I left education and went into HR”. She started at Empire Savings, went onto United Bank which then became Norwest, where she began working with Tom.

Sitting in a top floor office of the Cash Register Building it is obvious the two of them together have significantly influenced HR’s role in maximizing performance and profitability at Wells Fargo.

According to Tom, “Connie stayed one step ahead of me on the people side of our business and I couldn’t be nearly effective enough without her thought partnership. If you don’t have that in your HR partner you simply can’t succeed.”

With her internal stakeholders, Connie is highly regarded and known as forward –looking, analytical, one who thinks strategically and knows exactly what’s happening on the ground day to day.

Having been fortunate to work with Connie over the years, I can attest that she is no intellectual slouch, reminding us all of the management process, the need for well thought out strategy, communication and messaging.

While sharing an irreverent humor, Connie and Tom are known for a welcoming exchange and banter that even makes topics such as succession planning inviting.

Something else you notice about these two, which comes from years working together, is that they trust each other. Tom said of Connie, “when I am not in the room, the conversation is going to end up the same way as if I was having the conversation.”

Tom knows the bottom line benefit to having HR at the table all too well -  banks with the greatest application of HR practices that reinforce performance had the highest market value per employee, and are critical in determining the market value of corporations.

The top three ideas a small bank can implement immediately for the greatest return:

“On recruitment, Connie helps me know which candidates have an interest, making sure people have open minds, a depth to the talent pool, and acting behind the scenes.”

“On interpersonal needs on the team, Tom said, “stuff happens when you are dealing with people.  Team members get sick, get angry, and have life changing events. I am frequently asking Connie about upcoming organizational changes, and then we have a lot of discussion.”

Tom went on to say, “One change management initiative Connie brought to me a few years ago was related to having stronger visibility within the company by launching a Town Hall teleconference.”

“We called it Live Talk! and it is a perfect example of HR right there connecting me to team members. Connie reminds me of the important question on everyone’s mind. What’s the message now? So, we do this quarterly. It was hard for me to change at first, but Connie got me around the idea.”

Tom said, “as you grow, you need a strategic HR presence beyond recruitment and employee law. Connie has developed a process that supports those initiatives. You have to become much more strategic, and understand what your people are thinking. Decisions can be complicated.  You can see great resistance to change.  There were certain times that Connie had to tell me the hard truth.”

So, what do you do if you are a CEO and find yourself stuck in the current soup of pessimism and are suffering from a surplus of Wall Street doom and dread?  According to Tom and Connie, it’s time to completely reset your vision, retool and recruit HR as a stronger internal ally.

Tom reflected on the importance of having an ally with strong intellectual capacity, competence, and exceptional judgment. Connie seconded this with, “if you don’t have that partnership, and you don’t have someone who is willing to have ideas both ways, it won’t work.  The HR leader also has to know the data, know the numbers, and always be asking, who is key for us? What are the management processes needed, how will we communicate and send messages, and how can we leverage the many different venues to reach employees. You also put it back to the CEO, with an openness to hear what he or she is going to say, and be willing to talk about it.

She went on, “So many human resources leaders are still not confident about their value they bring to the company. You have to have the courage to be honest with your CEO, whether he/she is going to like it or not, so having candid frank conversations are so important, and humor helps.”

When I asked them both about bankers who are perpetuating the long-held, status-quo viewpoint against using HR in this way, they both looked at me blankly, and after a minute couldn’t recall when it was any other way, it had been so long.

However they knew exactly what they would do first if they were starting from scratch:

1). Define the Process:  Before you do anything else define the process, and ensure everyone involved has role clarity. Then, define what, as a CEO, you need to know: What do my customers think? What do my team –members think? In running my business, what do I want to be known for as a company?

2). Incorporate Talent Management: This will allow you to prepare, plan, and prepare some more. Understand that some of your leaders will be resistant at first because they think HR is going to make decisions for them, which is not true. Having them know that HR is their partner, and in time folks will come to see the value. Not everyone grasps the idea that two heads are better than one.

3). Monitor Performance Management and Role Clarity: Be clear about who can play different roles, and have performance management processes that include accountability. Realize that some employees will be race horses, a group in the middle and then those that lag behind so have a compensation management process too.

In this market climate you can start with the fundamentals of mapping the end-to-end employee experience, improving even slightly, no matter what your size bank.

When leaving meetings with Tom and Connie, one is motivated by the experience, reminded of the saying, ”banking will be made better, not one by one, but two by two.”

________________

Colman & Company is the endorsed vendor for CBA- for Corporate Performance, Strategic Human Resources, Leadership Development and Executive Coaching. Kendall Colman is the facilitator of the Bank Leaders of Tomorrow Program.

http://coloradobankers.org/index.php/affiliates/details/colman-company-llc/

One request came in for a conference that was a big deal for us. I was asked to do it, and when I was waffling on whether to say yes or not, I remembered my earliest mentor had told me there are two times to speak and be of service to people– when I wanted to and when I didn’t want to.

I said yes with intrpedation knowing that the audience would include distinguished colleagues and peers.  I convinced myself I’d be fine because I had spoken to youth groups throughout my high school and college days, with no problem.

I found as the time got closer to deliver the presentation, I became increasingly nervous and an unfamilar anxiety began to grip me, and by the time of the presentation I was beset by it all – muscles slighty trembling, sweaty palms, increasingly distracted, talking to my slides, quickening the pace of the material, you may know the drill.

It was not my best presentation and while I did manage through it, I knew I had a decision to make leaving that day– either commit to improving my skills at speaking or accept my career would be forever limited to my current role.

I realized speaking is really just like developing a muscle at the gym – and so years ago I commited to just that- working out as a speaker. Then years ago I created a program called Center Stage- for leaders and professionals like me who wanted to maximize their effectiveness and never be average again.

Some of the best practices you learn in the program is the importance of learning how to communicate one person at a time, having a plan for preparation, knowing how to modulate your breath and voice, being planful about technology, increasing your Xfactor and leadership presence, and refining your content (that moves people to remember and repeat your information).  All of these topics are covered and more in the Center Stage program, so please join us next time. www.colmancoaching.com

What we do – we deliver next generation consumer insight through online advisory communities.

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How we do it – Colman & Company has formed a strategic alliance with My-Take, LLC, a Boston based company that helps organizations create smart connections with their consumers.

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What is an online advisory community – one of the fastest growing segments in market research. Communities allow brands/clients to instantly attain feedback and ideas from hundreds of consumers. A typical community has the following elements:

• Leverages crowdsouricng
• Custom brand/company specific website
• Private & confidential
• 300+ members (typically end consumers)
• On-going (3 month to 1 year cycles)

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Benefits – communities offer a competitive advantage and are likely to become the standard for consumer facing companies. Communities offer the following benefits:

• Better decisions – virtually unlimited consumer insight
• Faster decisions – resolve, integration and alignment
• Innovation – depth and multi direction communication
• Cost effective – fraction of the cost of traditional research

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Services included – a comprehensive solution that includes:

• Discovery: establish goals and community definition
• Recruitment: screen and deliver community members
• Content: creation of activities; surveys; polls; etc…
• Moderation and facilitation: daily interaction online
• Analysis and reporting: weekly delivery of reports/insight

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Our approach – we believe consumer insight is about helping leaders make better decisions. We also believe that technology and consumer trends create an opportunity for the insight to be delivered faster and at a lower cost than traditional research. Our community platform is in its 3rd generation and now features a client dashboard, mobile access and user friendly member tools. Our partner team members have served in executive level marketing, product development and sales positions at some of the leading companies (Emerson, Black & Decker, Danaher, Sony, Polaroid, Raymarine and Jarden). We understand the power of incorporating the voice of the consumer in daily decision making.

Contact:

Kendall Colman, MHSA, CPCC

Kendall@colmancoaching.com

303 589.5749

Rich Armstrong

rich@my-take.com

508 733 7797

More to come, but in the meantime please read about my family members – especially my brother, David Colman, the writer for the NY TIMES Style.

Read about other members of the Colman family »

Also my Mentors, especially Dr. Larry Donnithorne. To see the entire Colman & Company team, click here.

p.s. Let me know if you want to take the MBTi.