In this issue:

1. Leading in an Age of Learning
2. Save Time Ordering Your Lending Library Courses
3. Staff Recommendation: Michael's Review of Ask for the Sale
4. Welcome Aboard



1. Leading in an Age of Learning
By Greg Robinson and Mark Rose

Times are such that organizations can no longer survive with leaders focused on telling others what to do and the rest of the organization allowing themselves to be taken care of by a leader. If progress is to be had, something more fundamental must change. Too much time, money and energy is going into "managing" the consequences of a failed paradigm. This paradigm of fear, immaturity, mistrust and self-centeredness cripple organizations. The real problems of the day are sequestered behind the unending political skirmishes in out of the way places within organizations. Truly visionary responses cannot be had because leaders fear the masses cannot handle the truth. Consequently, most leaders assume that those they lead will never pursue anything other than self-interest.

A fundamental assumption in most of the literature on leadership is that a few will need to control the many. Looking backward over history, a subtle belief has remained through revolutions, reformations and revivals--the belief that someone must tell the masses how to live, arising from a fundamental mistrust of others and of self. This assumption leads to a search for power but with an either/or mindset: if I have power, then others cannot have as much as me or they will be a threat. Such leadership results in anxious organizations with limited ability to learn and change. However, there is an alternative, paradoxical way to understand leadership. This alternative way of leadership called "leadership by self-differentiation" has its roots in Dr. Edwin Friedman's family systems theory. This goes beyond just self-knowledge. Self-differentiated or self-defined leaders are those who can set their own direction, regulate their own anxiety and can stay connected while not responding to the anxious demands of others. It is critical for these leaders to learn to face their fears, challenge their assumptions and thus be able to change their self-perception.

Differentiated leadership no longer places its faith in holding together this failed paradigm. Differentiated leaders recognize that they must begin the path of change by addressing their own anxiety and find a way to overcome their fear. Their depth of learning, both about themselves and the challenges surrounding them, must grow. As it does, they will be able to step out in courage and offer both the truth about current conditions and ask the questions, which will allow a new vision to emerge. These new visions will take hold unlike those of the past, because they will come with a commitment to something greater than ones own comfort. They will endure because the new visions will not be the possession of a leader, which must be sold to constituency in order to obtain compliance. Differentiated leaders realize that they must not only overcome their own fear, but must also tutor those around them in overcoming theirs as well. As leaders develop in their competency of defining themselves, they pass on this ability to all those who will listen. Such leaders not only lead change but they grow the maturity of the organization in the process. Differentiation results in identities of both worker and the organization being defined from within rather than imposed from outside. This strength of character enables organizations to take on the real root issues that have always seemed out of reach in the past. The energy of the people is directed in solving problems that count rather than managing the symptoms of an anxious and immature workplace.

This type of differentiated leadership in organizations will not be welcomed with accolades in the beginning. It rocks the status quo to its foundation and threatens those who do not want to change. Yet in the end, if leaders can stay the course, the result will be creating a successful organization that works for all.

Greg Robinson, Ph.D. is currently President of Challenge Quest, LLC and concentrates in the areas of team development, leadership development, facilitation and consulting with organizational change efforts. Mark Rose is a training coordinator for Enogex, a natural gas processing company based in Oklahoma. His main focus is equipping teams with skills and tools to become more effective. For more information about differentiated leadership based on two years of research inside a Fortune 500 company, go to www.AuthorHouse.com - Bookstore and find Greg and Mark's book A Leadership Paradox: Influencing Others by Defining Yourself.

Did You Know?
According to the ASTD 2004 State of the Industry Report, the average expenditure as a percentage of payroll for top training organizations increased from 3.2 percent in 2002 to 4.16 percent in 2004.



2. Save Time Ordering Your Lending Library Courses

We are pleased to announce an upcoming enhancement for our Lending Library members. Scheduled for kick-off during the second quarter of 2005, Business Training Library will begin offering a new and convenient way for you, our Lending Library members, to manage training resources online. Utilizing our Learning Management System (LMS), similar to other popular online ordering systems, here's just a hint at what our members will be able to:

• Log into our online catalog using a unique company user name and password, which we will provide prior to kick-off.
• Based on your individual membership choice, you will be able to view course details and make selections for immediate shipping or identify courses for use at a later date. Plus, you will know whether or not a course title is in stock and available for shipping that day!
• Manage your courses better by viewing titles that have been processed for ordering, have already been ordered, or to mark course titles as "Returned and In Transit."
• Utilize a cart to view all courses selected prior to finalizing your requests and order.
• Designate courses for future consideration in an area that will be called "My Queue." This area will be great to use for your training "to do" list.
• Go to a reporting area that will provide you with information on which courses were identified as 'Returned and In Transit' and you will have the option to display your Transaction History search results.

Currently, we are working on re-barcoding our entire training resource inventory, so that we can use a scanner to process shipments and returns. Our ultimate goal is to streamline our shipping process, increase quality and accuracy, while allowing our members the convenience of online ordering and returning 24 hours a day and 7 days per week!

We will keep you advised as new developments arise. As we get closer to rolling out the new system, we'll be scheduling Webinars and various other communications so that our members may learn more about the system and how it will improve your Library experience. In the meantime, feel free to discuss this enhanced benefit with your Account Manager or Training Consultant. Visit www.companycollege.com to learn more about how our Learning Management System works.

Did You Know?
According to the ASTD 2004 State of the Industry Report, the expenditure for external services has risen steadily since 2002, with the average now being 27 percent in top training organizations.



3. Staff Recommendation: Michael's Review of Ask for the Order

Course Title and Code
Ask for the Order: #38078 (VHS) and #38079 (DVD)

Course Group
Business Skills Library

Course Overview
Do you remember the old parable: "Give them a fish and they'll eat for a day, teach them how to fish and they'll eat for a lifetime?" Well, closing the sale is the same thing. Teach them (your salespeople) the skill of how to improve their closing of sales and you give them and your organization a gift for a lifetime - consistently much higher sales. That's the gift that keeps on giving to everyone.

With 11 realistic vignettes in diverse business settings using 43 different actors, the video brings its message to everyone in sales. Expert commentary by Art Bauer supplements the demonstrations of right way/wrong way closing techniques and the illustrations of selling skills for objections, buying signals, and closing questions.

Target Audience
Ask for the Order is a training course that can be used in any sales atmosphere and would be best suited to the sales professionals that find themselves in Inside Sales, Outside Sales, Account Management, Customer Service, and Sales Management.

Duration
26 minutes

Michael's Rating


Michael's Review
Who Asks For the Sale?

We ask all the right questions, we know what the potential client needs, we know what they want and we know we have it, so why don't we ask? The most common answer is fear of rejection. This training course, Ask for the Order, explains why asking is so important and helps us to overcome the irrational fear of rejection we all face. It explains the key principles to asking for the sale in a very easy to understand and noteworthy lay out. Some of the key principles include:

• How to pick up on different buying signals and how to react.
• The three D's (Dedication, Discipline, Determination).
• Different styles of closing questions for the direct and indirect approaches.
• The right time to ask for the order.

Who asks for the order?

According to this, well-researched, training course, the "strong-minded salesperson" does and in this fast-paced world of consultative selling, it is crucial that we remember to ask for the sale and at the right moment.

Statistically, only 1 out of every 5 customers who want to buy will do so without being asked and with odds like this what would we lose by asking for the sale? No more than what we already are by not asking?

I would give this course 5 stars, based on the content, delivery style, length, and overall message. LearnCom really spells this one out. I also think that the available meeting kit is a great way to help drive home this message.

For additional details regarding this course, please contact Michael. Lending Library members can check out this title today by contacting their Account Manager. Prospective members can view select titles at no-charge by signing up for a free Trial Membership.

Michael Manning is the newest member to the Business Training Library Account Management Team. When he is not working, he enjoys reading fact-based novels, mysteries, and listening to many different types of music. But he is at his happiest when he is spending time in the country with his border collie, Caleb and yellow lab, Campbell.



4. Welcome Aboard

Business Training Library would like to welcome its newest Lending Library clients! Your BTL team stands ready to support you throughout this new endeavor.

• Allied Refrigeration Inc., Signal Hill, CA
• Consumer Auto Refinance Services, St. Peters, MO
• Crossett Papermills Employees FCU, Crossett, AR
• Delta Dental, Denver, CO
• Forney Corporation, Carrollton, TX
• Freedom Village, Bradenton, FL
• G2 Financial Group, Salt lake City, UT
• Hackbarth Delivery Service, Mobile, AL
• Highlands Ranch Metro Districts, Highlands Ranch, CO
• Hope Services, Santa Clara, CA
• Ironwood Plastics Inc., Ironwood, MI
• Lansing Automakers Federal Credit Union, Lansing, MI
• Manco Abbott, Inc., Fresno, CA
• Perry Office Plus, Temple, TX
• Reynolds Plantation, Greensboro, GA
• West Central Technical College, Waco, GA

Business Training Library
285 Chesterfield Business Pkwy
Chesterfield, MO 63005
(888) 432-3077
(636) 534-1001 (fax)
www.bizlibrary.com