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Bill Brooks

As chief operating officer of The Brooks Group, Will draws on his leadership, marketing, sales, sales management, and operational experience to help develop and execute the company’s overall growth strategy. Drawing from over 15 years of experience in the training and development industry, Will combines his deep institutional knowledge and client experience to optimize operations at The Brooks Group.  Will has co-authored the book, Playing Bigger than You Are, with his late father Bill Brooks, and has been featured in a number of industry publications. He has received awards for service to the HR profession and also is actively involved with ISA, The Association of Learning Providers.

Will Brooks

Focuses on approaches to tap on creativity to achieve business results. Aims of private and group brainstorming sessions; Derivation of the effectiveness of brain-writing; Steps in creativity-building.

Create Yourself

1) More activity does not equal better activity. Quality always beats out quantity. - John Golden, HuthwaiteWhen times are tough, you'll always feel better if you're burying yourself in work. What you need to be sure of though, is that the work you're doing is productive and not just a good way to "look busy." In terms of lead generation, making 500 cold calls instead of 100 doesn't mean that you'll instantly do more business. Put your energy towards calling referrals if you can, or use that energy for something else besides generating a higher phone bill.2) Make sure you give some attention to your high performers; now is not the time that you want to lose them. - Richard Dickerson, The Brooks GroupYour high performers are what propel your business forward and, whether you want to admit it or not, help keep you afloat in rough economic waters. However, High performers know that they're high performers; they also know that if they wanted to, they could probably perform just as well somewhere else. To keep their minds (and bodies) from wandering right out of your company, be sure to give them plenty of attention and incentives for staying with your business.3) Don't try to turn everyone into a high performer; work on weeding out your weakest sales reps instead. - Howard Stevens, HR ChallyOn the other hand, high performers are a rare commodity. While it may someday be possible to turn every single one of yours salespeople into a high performing superstar, the amount of time, effort, and funds to do this simply isn't worthwhile in this economy. In contrast, it's relatively quick and easy to identify your weakest performers and act accordingly. By removing your low performers and replacing them with "just average" salespeople, you'll generate more business than you would with a small team of superstars.4) Two of the most important qualities for sales reps in this new economy are achievement orientation and understanding of impact and influence. - Jean Mackintosh, Thomas International USAYour sales reps need to be able to see how their actions affect the big picture. Not only that, but they need to see their client's big picture and align their pitch to accommodate those needs. If you can make sure that your sales reps know how to align your company's vision with your client's vision, then they'll not only be successful, but they'll be geared towards achievement now that they know how to do it.5) Not only does everyone need to be in the right job, but everyone needs to be communicating and collaborating to create the best sales strategies. - Paula Cushing. IBMThe days of the "lone gunman" salesperson are over. Everyone needs to be communicating with each other to make sure that all of your clients are having their needs met. People that were not traditionally involved with sales are now being brought along on sales calls, and don't expect that trend to stop any time soon. By working together, your team can guarantee that they'll be able to marginalize their weaknesses and maximize their strengths.Would you add anything to this list? What are you changing (if anything) to shape up your sales teams and survive tightening budgets? Tell us in the comments and check out our online, on-demand conference available only until July 28th for more lessons from industry experts.

5 Lessons on How to Sell in This New Economy

We've focused on the content of The ASTD Leadership Handbook: how to select topics, how to ensure its usefulness, and how to guarantee quality. Let's turn our attention toward the authors of The Handbook.This Special OpportunityWhat's it like to work with the gurus of our profession? Gosh, what can I say? Heady? Exhilarating? Humbling? Daunting? It is for sure all of these.To discuss change with John Kotter in his office at Harvard Square; to question Dave Ulrich about "getting results"; to write a note to Jim Collins; to receive a phone call from Frances Hesselbein; to have Ken Blanchard say "yes" to writing a chapter about ethics and integrity; to catch Bill George between books; to receive the first chapter from Len Goodstein; or to have Jack Zenger respond to an email in less than 12 hours. All of these are electrifying moments of this project-and in my life!I've started reviewing the work of these famous authors, and to say reading their chapters is stimulating is an understatement. Wait until you have an opportunity to read the final product!Working With GurusHow do you manage folks with more important things to do than write a chapter for your book? Jim Kouzes, Bev Kaye, Bill Byham, Cindy McCauley, VADM Lockard, and the other authors-these are busy people with others constantly tugging at them. You need to make it easy for them to give you what you need. Clear guidelines helps. Ensure that they are writing about their specialty. Make the job as easy as falling off a log. Don't ask them to do mundane tasks that publishing requires. Work with their administrative assistants whenever possible for something like turning color figures to black and white. When you receive a booklist with just the books' names, do the research yourself. Don't bother them with the details. Create and maintain a communication plan. Touch base regularly and provide information to them as they need it--not in lengthy guidance at the beginning.How do you appeal to a guru's willingness to work on a project? Build pride in the project. You can do this by ensuring they know how much you want them to be a part of the handbook. For example, I can't imagine having a chapter about change without John Kotter being the author. Can you? I told him just that-and sincerely meant it.In the end, how do you work with a guru group? I think three things are important:Make it easy and fun.Do the mundane for them.Ensure that they are proud to be a part of the project.In the end, editing this handbook is exciting. It is the best job anyone could have! I am honored and delighted to have such an exhilarating opportunity in my career.Next Up: A Sneak Preview of the Table of Contents

Creating a Leadership Handbook: Part 5

Two ASTD books have recently been featured as "Top Picks." The New Social Learning by ASTD CEO Tony Bingham and Marcia Conner was featured on the Washington Post's leadership blog as a Top 5 Pick in leadership books. It was also featured on Livemint.com as a Top Pick as well.I also heard from Bill Keenan, the editor of the Customer Service Newsletter, who said they've selected ASTD author Maxine Kamin's book 10 Steps to Successful Customer Service as one of the best customer service books for 2010! Bill tells me they'll be featuring the book in the February issue. I'm really looking forward to seeing that!

ASTD Books on Social Learning, Customer Service Are Top Picks

Bill Treasurer is founder of Giant Leap Consulting, Inc., a courage-building consulting firm that designs, develops, and delivers comprehensive leadership programs. Bill is the author of six books, including Courage Goes to Work and Leadership Two Words at a Time. For nearly three decades Bill has worked with thousands of leaders across the globe, from such renowned organizations as NASA, UBS Bank, Saks Fifth Avenue, eBay, Lenovo, the Social Security Administration, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs. He currently serves on the board of ISA, an association of learning providers and recently received their Outstanding Contribution award. Learn more at CourageBuilding.com.

Bill Treasurer

How important is it to you that the people around you at work—or the people you’re responsible for training—are happy? Does happiness make a difference in productivity?  How much does your CEO care about having a happy workplace?  According to Dr. Steve Gladis and Dr. Elizabeth Cabrera, people who experience more positive emotions are more successful. Positive employees make better decisions, have better interpersonal skills, and are more creative, productive, and resilient. Companies can, therefore, gain a competitive advantage by creating positive work environments. I asked Dr. Gladis and Dr. Cabrera to write a blog series on this topic and they replied… wait for it… positively! You will find their blogs in the “Happiness” tile on the Human Capital Community of Practice page.Speaking of productivity, did you know that ASTD has a new Human Performance Improvement (HPI) Certificate program? Human performance improvement (HPI) equips organizations and professionals with the knowledge and skills to maximize results. We are excited to announce that the ASTD HPI Certificate program has recently been streamlined and strengthened to improve the learning experience. This three-workshop series enables you to identify and analyze human performance gaps, design and develop cost-effective and justifiable solutions to close performance gaps, implement impactful solutions, and evaluate financial and nonfinancial results. Learn more by clicking on the “Improve Performance” tile on the Human Capital Community of Practice page.Also, have you ever wondered how the most successful people in any profession became so successful? I’d be willing to bet they had great mentors. What if you could stop and ask people like Warren Buffet, Jim Collins, Dave Thomas, or Condoleezza Rice who they had as mentors? If you register for our free webinar, Meaningful Mentoring, on February 26th 2013 with Bill Treasurer, author of the internationally bestselling books, Courage Goes to Work and Courageous Leadership: Using Courage to Transform the Workplace, you’ll not only find out, but also come away with practical strategies for structuring mentor/mentee relationships at all levels. .  Anthony QuinteroCommunity of Practice Manager, Human Capital

Human Capital February Newsletter

Jennifer Homer, VP, Communications & Career Development, recommends: Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter, by Liz Wiseman.Nancy Olson, Community of Practice Manager, recommends: The ASTD Leadership Handbook, and Infoline: Critical Competencies for the 21st Century Leaders by Lou RussellPat Galagan, Community of Practice Manager, recommends:Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls, by Noel Tichy and Warren Bennis and True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership, by Bill George. For the Federal leader, The People Factor: Strengthening America By Investing in Public Service, by Linda J. Bilmes and W. Scott Gould.  Ann Pace recommends: Gary Hamel’s What Matters Now. It’s especially focused on leaders in the 21st century and “management 2.0.”Ryann Ellis, Learning Circuits editor, recommends:Peter Drucker. He's still the best. Check out the Peter Drucker Institute Blog if you don’t have time to read all of Drucker’s 30+ books. http://thedx.druckerinstitute.com/Marcus Buckingham’s books on leading by focusing on people’s strengths. E.g. First Break All the Rules: What World’s Greatest Managers Do DifferentlyHBR Blog Network. As a guest, you get limited access; with a subscription, you can see a great selection of what other people are thinking, reading, following. I also like HBR's 10 Must Reads series that are compilations of favorite articles from people like Kaplan, Kotter, and others.  They have 10 Must Reads for Strategy, 10 Must Reads for Managing People, and so on.Lisa Bodell’s book, Kill the Company. She argues that complacency can be as bad for organizations as taking too many risks. Her book has lots of small, practical things leaders can do to make big changes. She calls these "Little Bigs." Read my book brief on the ASTD Human Capital blog.

Best Leadership Books

Reviews the book \`Cracking the Corporate Closet: The 200 Best (and Worst) Companies to Work For, Buy From, and Invest In If You're a Gay or Lesbian--and Even If You Aren't,' by Daniel B. Baker, Sean O'Brien Strub and Bill Henning.

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