Neil Thornton’s Blog

World famous Dale Carnegie Project as strong now as ever.  Preview Meeting booked for October 8 in Niagara Falls.  All welcome to attend.

Working through Earl Nightingale’s 30 Day Test from ‘The Strangest Secret’ (1955).  This classic tool is amazing when applied on purpose.

Check this video out — Social Media Revolution http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8.  A nice Dale Carnegie reference.

Hello Everyone

Well here it is….hot off the press.  I made a commitment this year to provide hands-on business tools.  It is good to start with understanding the people you work with and setting clear expectations of each other.  I look forward to talking with you about this.

Neil

  The Most Valuable Thing You Can Do Right Now In Your Business If you are like most progressive companies, you are looking for ideas to strengthen your team and produce some solid results. You see that your continued success in the next few years will be determined by your people and how they support your strategy and each other.   In the absence of truly understanding and knowing the people you work with, you will each be driven by your own agendas, schedules and priorities.  This misalignment can cost you valuable time, resources and productivity.  Each person you work with is unique in how they think and consider themselves a contributor to the team.  As companies continue to develop an engaged and aligned group, they are seeing the need to develop clear expectations, goals and work habits.  Please NEVER assume you know how people operate and what is important to them.  When you ‘think’ you know, you will always be wrong.   I wanted to get this tool to you right away.  If you are serious, and I mean SERIOUS about aligning your team, you will need to really understanding what makes your group operate in a cooperative and supportive way.  There are no excuses allowed here.  Being ‘busy’ does not count.  (Who isn’t busy?!)  Please have every person on your team complete the following questions……today!  This exercise should be the most valuable thing you do all year.    SURVEY:  How I Choose To Work and Value My Contribution 

• This is how I would describe my work style:
• My most effective and productive work environment would look like:
• This is how I best communicate with others:  (In certain situations.)
• This is how I like to be communicated with:
• My most productive time of day is:  This is how I best work at this time:
• I feel this is how you can help me the most right now:
• I wish to contribute in the following ways:
• This is how I wish to be held accountable:
• Our meetings would be more productive if we:
• This is how I like to receive feedback from my colleagues and manager:
• This is how I like to be recognized:
• This is what is most important to me, as it relates to my career:
• What I value most is:
• My real strengths would include:
• I feel my input matters when I receive the following feedback:
• This is how I would describe my character and attitude:
• This is how I choose to better my skills and attitude:
• I am most comfortable at work when:
• My top 3 professional goals include:
• The critical factors (3 main goals) of my work right now are:
• This is how I prefer to be taught:
• This is how I manage my time:
• This is how I like to re-charge and re-focus:
• I feel that I am the most creative when:
• My next steps in learning new skills include:
• This is how I wish to review my performance:
• What I see getting in the way of my progress includes:
• I prefer to handle stress by:
• This is how I tend to handle difficult situations:
• This is how I tend to handle difficult conversations:
• Our greatest strengths as a company are:
• Our customer service makes us distinct because:
• Our biggest challenges in the next year will be:
• Our clients do business with us because:
• What is going to allow us to compete in the future will include:

 And finally…..I feel what is expected of me includes:(Please feel free to adjust based on your work environment.) I think you get the picture here.  I have included a good variety of questions that will allow any team to understand its players at a deeper level.   For most of us this is our only competitive edge left….our team and our people.   Please let me know how this works for you.  If you would like a copy of this, please contact me below. Neil Thornton is the President of the Thornton Group and Managing Partner with the Dale Carnegie Business Group, Canada.  Neil can be reached at 905.894.8857 or neil@thorntongroup.ca.  www.dalecarnegie.ca or www.thorntongroup.ca  

Back from vacation. Just re-read ‘How To Win Friends and Influence People’ by Dale Carnegie.  I get more from it every time I read it!

I have been working on my new bio.  I wanted something more thought provoking when being introduced.  Please let me know your thoughts and feedback at neil@thorntongroup.ca. 

Neil Thornton Biography Ø      The biggest thing limiting you, is YOU?  When will you be willing to get yourself out of the way? Ø      What boundaries have you placed on yourself that now limit your growth?Ø      What is one thing you have invented today to be more competitive?  What makes you distinct?Ø      Do you know how you are showing up on stage?  Really?!Ø      What would be possible if you made new choices without fear?  Would you agree these questions challenge the way you typically see your world, your business and your results.   Welcome to the world of coaching.  Neil Thornton is the Leader of the Thornton Group of Niagara, and a Managing with the Dale Carnegie Business Group of Canada.   As a true business coach, Neil challenges you to improve your game and promises business results that will translate into sustainable, measurable, bottom line outcomes.  Neil is passionate about building business and people.  He chooses to lead change. 

May 14th, 6-9 pm ‘How To Stop Worry Workshop’, $40 Investment, all proceeds going to Big Brothers Big Sisters, hosted by Vintage Hotels.

This year’s IdeaWar Corporate Paintball Challenge was an amazing success and everyone had such a great time.  A few photos have come in and are worth sharing.  More to come.

This article will be a no-holds-barred rant, nothing less. I am going to write the way I think and talk.  Our clients expect this approach and nothing less from us; especially in today’s market.  Welcome to the conversation.  PS. No crybabies, whiners or cynics are allowed to read on.   Full article attached…

Coaching can align your goals and rapidly grow you business etc etc. Test Posting