Rev Up Your Company’s Driving Force

What makes a company great?
According to Peter W. Schutz, former CEO of Porsche, it’s your people.
“Motivated, passionate people make the difference between ho-hum mediocrity and extraordinary performance,” says Schutz, who is now a mentor for leaders from companies of all sizes.
In Schutz’s new book The Driving Force: Extraordinary Results with Ordinary People, he shares ten ways that leaders can maximize the talent of their managers and employees, including:

Remove the glass panes between people. Schutz recalls how a customer of Cummins Engine Company was experiencing frequent engine failures. Evidence suggested that the drivers were abusing engines, and that such abuse was occurring shortly after the vehicles left the company’s home terminal. When Cummins investigated, it discovered that the dispatchers, hidden safely behind a large glass pane, were taking their own sweet time compiling the drivers’ trip tickets. Furious about this seemingly deliberate foot-dragging, the drivers would storm out of the dispatch room and vent their frustrations on the trucks. The solution? The company removed the glass pane in the dispatch room. It totally transformed the relationship between drivers and dispatchers. “Often invisible barriers between people are the root cause of performance problems in business,” writes Schutz. “The driving force is stifled.”

Four of the most powerful words in the world are “I need your help.” Leo Brewer, a friend of Schutz, bought a Cummins distributorship in St. Louis, Missouri. He needed to make significant improvements, though, and was out of money. Together with Schutz, he cooked up a plan. He went back to the filthy and neglected facility, gathered his crew in the shop area, and told them that he, his wife and his children were coming in on Saturday morning to clean, and that anyone who wanted to do so could show up and pitch in. To make a long story short, they did. Then, the next weekend, they joined together to celebrate. “The camaraderie of those two weekends resulted in more than just a clean shop,” writes Schutz. “It established the basis of a new culture, a new relationship between management and labor and the company took off to new heights of performance.”

Company icons are powerful. Don’t underestimate that power. When Schutz joined Porsche in 1981, the company was planning to discontinue the Porsche 911. Although there were practical reasons to put it on the chopping block—it had an engine that could barely meet upcoming noise and emissions regulations—the decision was harming morale. Consequently, Schutz reversed his plan. “I remember rising from my chair, taking a black marker pen and extending the 911 program bar clean off the end of the chart….The Porsche 911, the company icon, had been saved, and I believe the company was saved with it.”

Don’t give your customers what they say they want. Instead, redefine customer expectations. Schutz observes that there was no customer demand for the transducer, the airplane, the automobile, the microwave even the Internet. No one asked Steve Jobs to invent the personal computer. “You must use your imagination and vision to decide what customer expectations are likely to be after change has occurred.” Schutz cites, as a prime example, the Porsche 911 Cabriolet. “Instead of responding to the customer request for a less costly and more trouble-free car, we built a convertible with a price approximately 10 percent higher than the contemporary coupe. Dealers and customers loved it.”

Pursue excellence, not success. Managers focused on success, particularly short-term success, will frequently fail to mobilize the real driving forcet—the committed passion of people that can result in extraordinary performance. Success must come quickly and may be fleeting and fickle. Those who are obsessed with success will often compromise their values and principles. On the other hand, excellence is lasting and dependable. Managers striving for excellence and quality tend to be patient because their focus is on the longer term. They lead with a quiet confidence because they know they will win in the long run.

Build credibility. This may require that you put yourself in a vulnerable position. Law mandates that a German AG must hold meetings with all its people several times each year. Schutz describes the meetings he had with the 8,500 employees of Porsche, during which anyone could ask any question. It was a way of ensuring that the CEO and any other member of management were accountable to employees. Schutz admits that at the first such meeting he was “scared out of my mind,” but he lauds these events as a great way to achieve credibility. “One way or another, managers must put themselves into a position where they are vulnerable,” he writes. “This cannot be done with a newsletter, video communication or bulletin board announcement.”

Decide like a democracy. Implement like a dictatorship. Most managers tend to do the opposite: they make decisions and then get stuck with democratic implementation. Obviously, trying to accommodate the diverse interests of many people in a competitive operating environment can be a disaster. Implementation is a time to do, not to talk. Therefore, says Schutz, you must include all relevant people and groups in the decision-making process, even if it takes months to produce a flawed decision. The reason is simple: a flawed decision that people support can be implemented quickly, while a high-quality dictatorial decision may end up not getting implemented at all.

Implement fundamentals like Vince Lombardi: make sure Tony understands. When Vince Lombardi would gather the team in the locker room to diagram plays on the blackboard, he would always make sure Tony—a large but not overly bright player—understood. If he got a blank look from Tony, he would scrap the play. “For Lombardi and his winning team,” writes Schutz, “it was all about fundamentals and flawless execution. If you do not have ‘Tony’ on board, understanding and supporting the decision, do not pull the trigger to initiate implementation.” Make sure your people are building a temple for customers, not busting rocks for a living. It is not the activity that defines a job, but how people see their activity in the context of an organization’s culture and style that matters. If people are working together to build a temple, the hammers are not as heavy, the rocks are not as hard, and the days are not as long. It is no longer the same task. It is up to management to define the temple. If management cannot (or will not) communicate what sort of a temple the organization is building, the work ethic can easily become, “How can I bust fewer rocks for more money?”

Make sure your business culture is defined in large measure by what people must not do. Think about the Ten Commandments in the Bible. Only two of the ten actually command us to do anything. The other eight are prohibitions. Likewise, the documented culture of a business is most effective if it is about 80 percent prohibitions: Thou shalt nots. “The implications for leaders are clear: we must stop telling people what to do,” writes Schutz. “Instead make sure that they know what not to do and then allow them to proceed on that basis to apply their ingenuity and formulate solutions. It is the most effective way I have found to get people to use their ingenuity.”

http://www.amanet.org/LeadersEdge/editorial.cfm?Ed=242&BNKNAVID=60&display=1&spMailingID=511676&spUserID=ODc3NjcwMjEyS0&spJobID=14773324&spReportId=MTQ3NzMzMjQS1

Resisting the Seductions of Success
April 17, 2006

"The basic problem with the flow of success is that life can look very good when it really isn't," writes Harvard Business School's Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. His new book, Questions of Character, uses literature to look closely at issues of leadership. Here's an excerpt.
by Joseph L. Badaracco Jr.

In his novel I Come as a Thief, Louis Auchincloss introduces us to Tony Lowder, a lawyer in his early forties. Tony and his wife have two children. He works for the New York office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, but his job is just a resting spot. Tony has a promising political career ahead of him—in a recent election, he almost beat a heavily entrenched incumbent. Tony is a veteran, with a Silver Star for bravery in Korea, and an entrepreneur. With his good friend Max, another attorney, he has started a law firm and made large investments in a computer company and a restaurant chain. Tony is an up-and-coming leader with bright prospects.

Then Tony makes two extraordinary decisions. First, he commits a serious but brilliantly undetectable crime. Next, despite the advice and pleas of everyone around him, Tony goes to the authorities and confesses, which destroys his professional life, throws his family into chaos, and puts them in physical danger. Leaders aim at success, not self-destruction, but this is exactly what Tony brings on himself.
Joseph L. Badaracco Jr.

This story confronts us with one of the oldest and most perplexing themes in literature—the hazards of success. The story of Icarus, which F. Scott Fitzgerald uses to describe Monroe Stahr, may be the most famous example. We can understand that Icarus was carried away in an exuberant moment, but what about the men and women who have the time to see what they are doing and nevertheless make messes of their lives? Some are prominent figures who ruin splendidly successful lives and careers. Others have high potential for leadership, but fall far short of their early promise. And then there are others who do succeed but lead lives of quiet desperation.

These men and women all resemble Tony. They are talented, hard working, likable, and successful—but something derails them. In other words, the daunting challenge for many leaders and aspiring leaders isn't poverty or oppression or lack of skill or opportunity. It is, paradoxically, the very thing they aspire to achieve: a successful life and career and all that comes with them.

At first, Tony's crime and confession are hard to explain.
With Tony Lowder, Louis Auchincloss draws on his extraordinary dual career to give us a strikingly contemporary perspective on the hazards of success and the ways leaders can avoid them. Auchincloss was born into a large, wealthy New York family and practiced estate law in New York City. In his spare time, he wrote scores of well-regarded novels and short stories about characters who inevitably reflected the men and women—successful lawyers, bankers, and business executives—with whom Auchincloss lived and worked. Tony Lowder is a natural member of this group.

Tony's story strongly suggests that the most fundamental inner resource of leaders is a peculiar, negative skill. Leaders need the capacity to distance themselves from the pressures and seductions of success and to think and live for themselves. None of the inner resources described in earlier chapters [of my book]—having a good dream, a sound moral code, or unsettling role models—matters at all if leaders cannot resist the flow of success.

Tony's story is set in the 1960s, a time when the pressures and rewards of success were far less intense than they are now. One manager recently told me this about his life: "I wanted the promotion so badly I could taste it. The truth is that as much as I tried to quell my personal ambition, it was still a strong and sometimes overriding force in my life . . . it's not that I've been willing to sacrifice every other aspect of my life for professional achievement, but professional achievement has been at the center of my decision-making process throughout my adult life."
At first, Tony's crime and confession are hard to explain. By looking closely, however, we learn the ways in which success works as a psychological and emotional anesthetic. Its victims don't know their inner lives have shriveled and their healthy instincts have grown dull. In fact, these men and women often seem to be living exemplary, balanced lives, and they may be leaders in organizations and communities.

He often doesn't grasp what he is actually saying.

In other words, Tony's experiences serve as a peculiarly helpful warning. The word experience comes from the Latin words ex pericolo, which mean "from danger." By thinking through Tony's crime and confession, we find some valuable ways for leaders to resist the flow of success and safeguard a sphere of autonomy in which they can think and live for themselves.
This quest for autonomy should not be mistaken for an exercise in selfishness or a romantic rejection of society or the system. Auchincloss's strong suggestion is that leaders have a hard time meeting their responsibilities to others if they haven't first met certain responsibilities to themselves. This, in turn, requires keeping a healthy distance from the pressures and seductions surrounding successful men and women. By sticking to well-worn social paths, men and women can earn plaudits and promotions: This may look like leadership, but it is often followership in disguise. Leaders, Auchincloss suggests, must be able to turn away from powerful, beguiling messages about success and work hard to understand what really matters to them. [...]

"As if" livingThe basic problem with the flow of success is that life can look very good when it really isn't. In Tony's case, he is making money, building a business, and establishing a reputation. He also treats others with respect, sensitivity, and thoughtfulness. For example, Tony regularly visits his elderly father, who is in poor health. On one visit, Tony gently encourages his father, who is getting depressed, to try watching some different TV shows, and Tony says he will come by more often and tell his father he loves him. A few minutes later, Tony's mother comes home. She is happy to see Tony and says he seems genuinely happy to visit, unlike his sister, who seems to be checking items off a list.

To understand why Tony is impelled to commit a serious crime, we have to look beyond external signs of success and try to understand his mind and heart. Lee, his wife, senses that something is wrong, despite all of Tony's accomplishments. But when she tries to get him to talk about his life and what makes him happy, all she gets are clichés—that he likes to make her happy and still finds her the "cutest creature in the world."4

Lee ends one conversation by saying that Tony really seems to believe his clichés and telling him to shut up. What bothers Lee is that Tony is so good at following the social script: He always knows, almost effortlessly, what he is supposed to do and say. This facility earns him praise, affection, respect, and success.

There is a kind of success that is indistinguishable from panic.
—Edward Degas, artist

But Tony is living the life of a wind-up toy, going through the motions of being a good father, a loving son, a good husband, a charming politician, and a resolute friend. He can say just the right things in just the right way, but he often doesn't grasp what he is actually saying. When Tony's son, Eric, harshly criticizes the children of poor, single mothers, Tony tells him that every child has the same rights. Eric says he knows that, and Tony replies that it doesn't matter just to know it. You have to feel it, Tony says, "because to the extent you fail to feel it, you fail to be alive."5 Tony is unknowingly describing his own predicament. His ceaseless efforts to meet others' standards and succeed have deadened his emotional life and moral instincts. This happens in three ways.

First, Tony is chronically busy. In a world of smart, competitive people, success takes long hours and unremitting effort, and Tony is trying to succeed in a wide range of activities. As a result, his life resembles the vaudeville act in which a juggler has a large number of sticks standing upright on a stage and tries to keep a plate spinning on top of each. While the performer is spinning one plate, some of the others get wobbly, so the juggler has to run over and spin them again—but then other plates start wobbling. The juggler has no time to reflect on what he is doing, and neither does Tony, as he hurries from one commitment to another.

Another problem, perversely, originates in the fact that Tony's life is full of purpose and progress. His calendar is filled with meetings, and there are usually urgent phone calls to return. Tony is also accomplishing a lot, and success brings its own elation, satisfaction, and rewards. He doesn't seem to have any problems—at least, none that his very bright future couldn't take care of. But, by staying in perpetual motion, he is able to substitute a stream of successes and satisfactions for the hard work of grappling with bigger questions about his life.

Of course, Tony isn't a robot, and he senses, semiconsciously, that something is wrong, but he never has the time or impetus to find out what it is. To some degree, Tony is afraid of the answers, and his frenetic activity is a way to avoid them. He is the kind of person the painter Edward Degas had in mind when he said, "There is a kind of success that is indistinguishable from panic."6 Almost everyone has colleagues who seem to fit this description: their energy, focus, and productivity are extraordinary—they are the first in the building and the last out—but even their admirers sometimes wonder if they are running from something.

Tony's third problem is his steadily eroding autonomy. To others, he looks like an extraordinarily independent, active man, but his own experience of day-by-day life is very different. He feels he has few degrees of freedom because so many other people have a big stake in Tony being Tony and need him to fill certain roles. Tony is Max's big chance in life, the center of Lee's universe, his parents' pride, a rising star in his political party, his mistress's alternative to a dull husband and, after she is diagnosed with cancer, her dear friend and counselor. The needs of almost everyone around him help keep Tony in his world of busy, helpful, but emotionally empty achievement.

Tony has become a virtuoso performer in a role created by the people and society around him. In this respect, he resembles an increasing number of talented people today. MBA students sometimes call them resume-gods, with a mixture of admiration and scorn. But students recognize that resume-gods are merely the extreme version of themselves: In discussions of this book, a student will often tell a class that Tony is just like them, and no one disagrees. After his crime and confession, Tony describes the problem by saying, "there had always been a noisy grandstand of friends and family to applaud success, or the appearance of it, or even boo in a friendly way at failure."7

Auchincloss shows us that despite all the busy, purposeful activity, Tony feels dead inside. This is the answer to the first puzzle and the reason Tony takes the bribe. Recall that Tony is excited, not scared, when Max presents Lassatta's offer. Later that night, as he lies awake in bed, Tony thinks he will be reborn the next day. For forty-three years, he had "existed like something floating in space, subject entirely to the attraction or repulsion of other objects that happened to come within his sphere."8 Now, "a little muffled motor, deep in the recesses of his psyche, had started to revolve, to throb, to whir. Anthony Lowder was going to start his own motion in a black void, and it could hardly matter where that motion took him."9 Tony's crime is a self-administered shock treatment. It wakes him up and makes him feel alive. The prospect of living two lives—as the dutiful Tony and as a crook—thrills him.

In an odd way Tony's decision to commit a crime is his first moral act. The physicist Wolfgang Pauli once derided a colleague's idea by saying that it wasn't even wrong. Similarly, Tony's previous life was neither good nor bad. It was submoral because it was on autopilot. The bribe is wrong, of course, but by taking it Tony finally does something that has moral standing. He chooses and commits, and this gives him the sense that his life has finally begun. Most people who have just committed a serious crime would feel guilty and fearful of getting caught, but Tony is exhilarated. He had been living as if everything were just fine, but his was an "as if" life, not a genuinely or deeply satisfying one.

One test of the seriousness of an illness is the severity of the treatment it requires. For Tony, the bribe, with all its dangerous risks, is strong, self-prescribed medication. The flow of success had masked and exacerbated his illness and, to some degree, even caused it. Tony has a deep need to start acting and stop reacting, to feel he is alive, and to end his "as if" existence. The right answer, he concludes, is not more success, but risking everything.

Excerpted by permission of Harvard Business School Press from Questions of Character: Illuminating the Heart of Leadership Through Literature. Copyright 2006 Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. All rights reserved.

Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. is the John Shad Professor of Business Ethics at Harvard Business

School and the author of several books, including Leading Quietly and Defining Moments, both published by HBS Press.

The Power of Small

Routinely, I rise out of bed before the birds, and watch the sunlight flood my office every morning. See, I love this time of day! But what I don't love is being rudely rousted out of a deep sleep before my normal rise and shine time, and every day for the past few months I have been.

I sleep with the windows open, and at around 4:00 each and every morning, rain or shine, there has been this very obnoxious bird "somewhere" close by screeching his mating call at what seems like 130 decibels! Many times I've wearily peered out to be able to witness first hand what sounded like a pterodactyl-size creature on some kind of steroids. But never would this clever 'lil creature reveal himself!

I appreciate nature as much as the next person, but this large sound at this wee hour of the morning is not music to my ears! In one agitated state my fine-feathered foe put me in, I thought about locating a 'sportsman' in the neighborhood to take him out, but that was only wishful fantasizing. Besides, I don't believe in 'the sport of hunting.'

By now though, I've gotten pretty used to my tree dwelling alarm and looking on the positive side of this situation, could even thank him for the extra hour of work I am able to put in every day.

One day last week, I was pounding away on my laptop on the front porch swing, when lo and behold - THAT PIERCING SOUND AGAIN! And it was NEAR! Imagine my surprise when after peeking out from under the canopy, perched on the telephone line above was this teeny weenie finch, smaller than my prized canary, warbling away what was really a beautiful anthem, at least heard at this normal hour of the day.

Oh my, the power of small!

Now, may I ask: How many times in your life have you thought that you were "too small" to make a difference? How many times has this thought actually stopped you from doing something you knew in your heart was worthwhile? Perhaps something like changing careers, starting a new business, creating your own product or even buying that dream home. Like me, I bet plenty of times!

Think about this. Every great achievement in this world had its roots as a single thought in the mind of a single human being. There's no exception - the greatest inventions, the biggest corporations and the tallest skyscrapers were all borne of the single idea of one individual!

The difference between most of us and the Henry Ford's and Bill Gates of this world is the total self-belief and conviction in their ideas to just "build it!" No matter the size, no matter the scope, no matter the naysayers around them. And, knowing full well that the road to achieving their goal was going to be paved with major setbacks and failures.

Here's one of my favorite quotes about achievers:

"There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other." - Douglas Everett

You've heard many of the stories about the above 'icons' and people like Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison and Gandhi. Their journeys were filled with great adversity, devastating setbacks and yes, heartbreaking failures. But still, because of the sheer level of belief in themselves and what they set out to achieve, they were able to leave a legacy that today affects every one of us, every hour of every day.

There are millions everyday people who will never become household names who have made magnificent differences in their lives and the lives of those around them.

Take for instance, the single mother who was reluctantly forced onto the welfare rolls due to a deadbeat dad, and pounds the pavement until she lands a job, determined to excel, and works her way up the ladder until she ends up with a wonderful career to the benefit of herself and her family.

Or, the foreign medical student whose family sacrificed their entire lives in order to send their child to a 'free country' to get an education, who, through sheer determination graduates at the top of his class but decides not to chase the almighty big bucks that await him in the 'land of promise' and instead returns to his homeland so that he may help alleviate the dire suffering of the people in his native land.

Or, how about the countless entrepreneurs who have taken a single idea and no matter what obstacles they faced, and the many sacrifices they had to make, created successful businesses with products that impacted thousands or even millions of people?

I am privileged to know so many individuals who have accomplished great things only because of the great belief they had in themselves and their ideas. As such, I firmly believe that every human being, no matter where they believe they are at on this roller coaster ride we call life, CAN accomplish great things.

As strange as this may seem at this time, I can tell you with all the sincerity I possess, that this great universe of ours awaits your simple and sincere decision, so that it can begin to fill you with all the power you need to make your dream a reality. It's a matter of truly making that decision and then opening yourself up to receiving that invisible assistance.

"The Creator has not given you a longing to do that which you have no ability to do." - Orison Swett Marden

Now back to my miniscule, winged friend. On cue, and still prior to daylight, he shakes me out of my peaceful slumber. He knows nothing else. No other way. He just cranks it up at enormous volume at nature's call, oblivious to the fact he is impacting me on a major scale by doing the only thing he was designed to do. How we all should be, don't you agree?

The Power of Small!

Rick Beneteau is a long-time popular author, Internet entrepreneur and co-creator of a number of highly successful programs, including the revolutionary 'Quit or Don't Pay' Quit Smoking Right Now Program and the highly acclaimed Make Every Day a Great Day program.

Become An “Architect of Change”
By Richard Hadden
December 2005

While driving from my in-laws' home near Glasgow, Scotland, to their neighborhood supermarket, my attention was arrested by a large, bright red traffic sign that read, in bold white capital letters - CHANGED PRIORITIES AHEAD. Fortunately, my wife, a local, was able to translate the sign (priority = right of way) and help me through the altered traffic pattern of the construction zone at the next intersection.

Sometimes I think that bright red sign should be posted at the entrance to most places of business today, as fair warning to customers, employees, and suppliers that important things are changing - indeed they always have - and as a reminder that those who embrace the change, and adapt, reap the benefits, and avoid the pitfalls, that change always promises.

OK. Change is tough. Change is unfamiliar (that's why it's called "change"). But change is also a critical, vital, necessary part of the development of any healthy organization.
As philosopher Herbert Spencer observed, "A living thing is distinguished from a dead thing by the multiplicity of the changes at any moment taking place in it." Any organization that is alive - such as yours, I presume - will be characterized by the vitality of change that keeps it moving toward its goals.

And yet, as the writer James Baldwin said, "Most of us are about as eager to be changed as we were to be born, and go through our changes in a similar state of shock."

Sometimes change is driven by customers, or the market - hard to argue with that kind of change. Sometimes it's driven by government regulations - impossible to argue with that. And sometimes it's driven by our own success. And that's the best kind of change.

We all make choices about how we respond to change. And it is a choice. We choose from among these three options:

1. Resist. Despite the fact that there are few examples throughout history of successful resistance to change, we're all tempted to think our resistance might be an exception. America won its independence, women got the vote, and mp3's will soon overtake CD's as the standard for car audio, despite formidable resistance to each of these progressions.

2. Relent. In some cases, we grudgingly resign ourselves to the change, and trudge toward the new status quo, lacking the energy, will, or power to put up much of a fight. Parents often make this choice when they discover that their once-needy child has developed into a capable and independent young adult. I guess this is an example of change driven by our own success.

3. Rethink. This is what members of organizations are called to do when presented with the challenge of change. When this works, and there are lots of examples of when it does, it is because people have chosen to become the "architects" of the change that is inevitable in dynamic entities. These people reason, "The change is coming. Now...what can I do to capitalize on it...to 'design' the change so that I, and the rest of us, become the beneficiaries of the change, not the victims of it?"

What do Walgreen's, McDonald's, Continental Airlines, Dunkin Donuts, and Paul McCartney all have in common? All have nimbly and astutely redesigned - not reinvented - themselves to not only survive, but thrive in the midst of turbulent and unprecedented changes in their respective industries and markets.

Walgreen's has appealed to customers who crave convenience, by pioneering drive-thru prescriptions, and developing technology that allows customers to pick up prescriptions at Walgreen's stores all over the country, not just the one where the prescription was first filled.

McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts have expanded their menus drastically, each coming back from the brink in the face of low-fat and low-carb eating habits, and, in the case of Dunkin Donuts, to give Starbucks a run for its money.

Continental Airlines, having gone broke twice, is one of the nation's only full-service airlines not currently in Chapter 11. They've done it by courageously facing the new realities of the post-9/11 airline business.

And as for Sir Paul, his endurance is surpassed only by his adaptability - a quality that has made his star shine for more than 40 years as a member of two highly successful bands, a solo artist, performer, songwriter, businessperson, and now, knight.

The corporations mentioned above are nothing more than a collection of people. What has distinguished these organizations from their less successful competitors is that, by and large, they have been populated by people who were willing to be "architects of change" - people who design their response to change to work in their collective favor.

* They recognize that change means opportunity for some; problems for others. They choose to be on the "opportunity" side of the situation.

* They don't wait to be shown the path. Once the destination is clear, they take responsibility to chart the path of change in the way that brings success.

* Recognizing the challenges that come with change, they ask, "What can I control? What is beyond my control?"

While others whine about how hard change is, these architects of change get busy controlling what they can. For that which is beyond their control, they ask, "What can I do to mitigate or lessen the impact of that challenge? And what can I do to capitalize on the change?"

As you look out on the horizon, and see the natural and healthy change of your industry, your market, and your organization, follow this acronym, and make change work for you.

C hart your path.

How will you design your specific response to the change?

H ead confidently in the direction you've charted.

A lign your response with the organization's goals for successful change.

N avigate carefully the uncertainties you encounter along the way.

G enerate creative ideas for capitalizing on the benefits of change.

E valuate the effectiveness of your response. Make necessary adjustments. Continue in the positive direction of change.

As we approach the changing of the year, we'd like to express our heartfelt thanks to every person who subscribes to Fresh Milk; has encouraged others to do the same; has bought our books; our CD, and our downloadable articles, article collection, and white paper; hired us to speak for their group, consult with their organization, conduct an employee survey; or interacted with us in any way. We appreciate your business, your encouragement, and your interest in improving your organization's results by having a focused, fired-up, and capably led workforce.

We wish you the very best in the coming year, and look forward to the opportunity to be of service to you.



http://contentedcows.com/200512fr.html

Small Business Notes
- Business Possibilities

When choosing a what business you want to pursue, there are not only many different kinds of businesses you can run, but there are also a wide variety of business models that you should consider when deciding what is the right business for you.
A good overview of all the kinds of businesses you could start can be found by looking at how the federal government classifies businesses. All federal data are now collected using the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) of Businesses. This system identifies 1170 industries each of which include a number of specific types of businesses. The 1170 industries are grouped into general categories: construction, education and health services, financial activities, government, information, leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, natural resources and mining, other services, professional and business services, transportaion and utilities, and wholesale and retail trade.
Click on the industry links to find out more about the economic outlook of each of the industries. Highlighted businesses describe more about running that particular business. This list is also available with the businesses listed in Alphabetical Order.
Construction
Commercial Building ConstructionDrywall ContractorsElectrical ContractorsFlooring ContractorsFraming ContractorsGlass and Glazing ContractorsHighway, Street, and Bridge ConstructionLand Subdivision ConstructionMasonry ContractorsNew Housing Construction
Oil and Gas Pipeline ConstructionPainting ContractorsPlumbing ContractorsPoured Concrete FoundationPower and Communication Line ConstructionResidential RemodelersRoofing ContractorsSiding ContractorsStructural Steel ContractorsWater and Sewer Line Construction
Education and Health Services
Ambulance ServicesAmbulatory Surgical and Emergency CentersApprenticeship TrainingAudiologist OfficesAutomobile Driving SchoolsBlood and Organ BanksBusiness SchoolsChild and Youth ServicesChiropractor OfficesCollegesCommunity Food ServicesComputer TrainingCosmetology and Barber SchoolsDay Care ServicesDentist OfficesDiagnostic Imaging CentersEducational Support ServicesElementary SchoolsEmergency and Other Relief ServicesExam PreparationFamily Planning CentersFine Arts SchoolsFlight TrainingHMO Medical CentersHome Health Care ServicesHomes for the Elderly
HospitalsJunior CollegesKidney Dialysis CentersLanguage SchoolsManagement Development TrainingMedical LaboratoriesMental Health Practitioner OfficesNursing Care FacilitiesOccupational Therapist OfficesOptometrist OfficesOutpatient Mental Health CentersPhysical Therapist OfficesPhysician OfficesPodiatrist OfficesProfessional SchoolsResidential Mental Health FacilitiesResidential Mental Retardation FacilitiesSecondary SchoolsSecretarial SchoolsSpeech Therapist OfficesSports and Recreation InstructionTutoringSubstance Abuse FacilitiesTemporary SheltersUniversitiesVocational Rehabilitation Services
Financial Activities
Appliances RentalClaims AdjustingCommercial BankingConsumer Electronics RentalConsumer LendingCredit Card IssuingCredit UnionsDirect Health and Medical InsuranceDirect Life InsuranceDirect Property and Casualty InsuranceDirect Title Insurance CarriersEquipment Rental and LeasingFinancial PlannersFormal Wear and Costume RentalInsurance Agencies and BrokeragesInvestment AdviceGeneral Rental CentersHome Health Equipment Rental
Investment BankingLessors of Real Estate PropertyMortgage Loan BrokersNonmortgage Loan BrokersOffices of Real Estate Agents and BrokersPension FundsPortfolio ManagementProperty ManagersReal Estate AppraisersReal Estate Investment TrustsSales FinancingSavings InstitutionsSecurities and Commodity ExchangesSecurities DealingTrust, Fiduciary, and Custody ActivitiesVehicle Rental and LeasingVideo Tape and Disc Rental
Government
Administration of Public ProgramsAmerican Indian and Alaska Native Tribal GovernmentsCorrectional InstitutionsCourtsElectric, Gas, and Other UtilitiesExecutive OfficesFire ProtectionInternational Affairs
Counsel and ProsecutionLegislative BodiesNational SecurityParole Offices and Probation OfficesPolice ProtectionPublic Finance ActivitiesRegulation of Agricultural Marketing and CommoditiesSpace Research and Technology
Information
ArchivesBook PublishersCable and Other Program DistributionCable ProgrammingCellular TelecommunicationsData ProcessingDirectory PublishersGreeting Card PublishersInternet PublishingInternet Service ProvidersLibrariesMailing List PublishersMotion Picture Production and DistributionMotion Picture TheatersMusic PublishersNews Syndicates
Newspaper PublishersPagingPeriodical PublishersRadio NetworksRadio StationsRecord Production and DistributionSatellite TelecommunicationsSoftware PublishersSound Recording StudiosTeleproduction ServicesTelevision BroadcastingVideo Production and DistributionWeb HostingWeb Search PortalsWired Telecommunications Carriers
Leisure and Hospitality
Agents and ManagersAmusement and Theme ParksBarsBed-and-Breakfast InnsBotanical GardensBowling CentersCampgroundsCasinosCaterersCountry ClubsDance CompaniesDinner TheatersFitness CentersGolf CoursesHistorical SitesHotelsIndependent Artists
Independent PerformersMarinasMuseumsMusical Groups and ArtistsNature ParksPromotersRacetracksRecreational Sports CentersRestaurantsRV ParksSkiing FacilitiesSports Recreation GuidesSports Teams and ClubsSports TrainersTheater CompaniesWritersZoos
Manufacturing
Aircraft ManufacturingApparel ManufacturingArts and CraftsBanner-MakingBreweriesCanvas WorkCement ManufacturingChemical ManufacturingClay Product ManufacturingCommercial BakeriesCommercial PrintingComputer Equipment ManufacturingCrochetingCross StitchDistilleriesElectronic ManufacturingEmbroideryFabricated Metal Product ManufacturingFood ManufacturingFoundriesFurniture ManufacturingGlass Product ManufacturingIron and Steel MillsJewelry ManufacturingKnittingLace MakingLucet
Machine ShopsMachinery and Equipment ManufacturingMacrameMetal ManufacturingMetalworkingMineral Product ManufacturingMotor Vehicle ManufacturingNeedlepointPaper Product ManufacturingPatchworkPetroleum RefineriesPlastics Product ManufacturingQuiltingRetail BakeriesRubber Product ManufacturingRug MakingSawmillsSculptureSpinningTapestryTextile Product MillingTobacco Product ManufacturingTradebindingWeavingWineriesWood PreservationWood Product Manufacturing
Natural Resources and Mining
Coal MiningFarmingFishingLoggingMetal Mining
Nonmetallic Mineral MiningOil and Gas OperationsRanchingSupport Activities for MiningTimber Tract Operations
Other Services
Automotive RepairBarber ShopsBeauty SalonsBusiness AssociationsCar WashesCemeteries and CrematoriesCivic and Social OrganizationsConservation OrganizationsDiet and Weight Reducing CentersElectronics Repair and MaintenanceEnvironment OrganizationsEquipment Repair and MaintenanceFuneral HomesGrantmaking FoundationsHousehold Goods Repair and MaintenanceHuman Rights Organizations
Labor Unions and OrganizationsLaundries and DrycleanersLinen SupplyMachinery Repair and MaintenanceParking Lots and GaragesPersonal Goods Repair and MaintenancePet Care (except Veterinary) ServicesPhotofinishing LaboratoriesPolitical OrganizationsPrivate HouseholdsProfessional OrganizationsReligious OrganizationsSocial Advocacy OrganizationsVoluntary Health OrganizationsWildlife Organizations
Professional and Business Services
Advertising AgenciesArchitectural ServicesArmored Car ServicesBuilding Inspection ServicesCarpet and Upholstery Cleaning ServicesCertified Public AccountantsCleaning ServiceCollection AgenciesComputer Related ServicesConvention and Trade Show OrganizersConvention and Visitors BureausCopy ShopsCorporate, Subsidiary, and Regional Managing OfficesCourt ReportingCredit BureausDrafting ServicesEmployment AgenciesEngineering ServicesEnvironmental Consulting ServicesExterminating and Pest Control ServicesGeophysical Surveying and Mapping ServicesGraphic Design ServicesHazardous Waste CollectionHuman Resources Consulting ServicesIndustrial Design ServicesInterior Design ServicesInvestigation ServicesJanitorial ServicesLandscape ArchitectsLandscaping ServicesLawyers
LocksmithsMarketing Consulting ServicesMarketing ResearchNotariesOffice Administration ServicesPackaging and Labeling ServicesPayroll ServicesPhotography StudiosPrivate Mail CentersPublic Opinion PollingPublic Relations AgenciesRepossession ServicesResearch and Development AgenciesSecurity GuardsSecurity Systems ServicesSeptic TankServicesSolid Waste CollectionSports Tour OperatorsStenotype ServicesSurveying and Mapping ServicesTax Preparation ServicesTelemarketing BureausTelephone Answering ServicesTemporary ServicesTesting LaboratoriesTitle Abstract and Settlement OfficesTravel Tour OperatorsTranslation and Interpretation ServicesTravel AgenciesVeterinary ServicesWeb Design
Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities
Air Traffic ControlAir TransportationBus Transit SystemsCharter Bus IndustryCouriersEmployee Bus TransportationFreight Transportation ArrangementLimousine ServiceLocal DeliveryLocal MessengersMarine Cargo HandlingMotor Vehicle TowingNatural Gas DistributionPacking and CratingPipeline Transportation
Port and Harbor OperationsPostal ServicePower GenerationRailroadsScenic and Sightseeing TransportationSchool Bus TransportationSewage Treatment FacilitiesSpecial Needs TransportationSteam and Air-Conditioning SupplyTaxi ServiceTruckingWarehousing and StorageWater Supply and Irrigation SystemsWater Transportation
Wholesale and Retail Trade
Art DealersAutomotive Parts and Accessories StoresBoat DealersBook StoresBuilding Material DealersBusiness to Business Electronic MarketsClothing StoresCommercial Equipment WholesalersConstruction Material WholesalersCrafts StoresDepartment StoresDurable Goods WholesalersElectronic AuctionsElectronic Parts WholesalersElectronic ShoppingElectronics StoresEquipment WholesalersFarm Product WholesalersFarm Supply StoresFloristsFuel DealersGarden CentersGasoline StationsGift, Novelty, and Souvenir StoresGrocery WholesalersHardware WholesalersHealth and Personal Care StoresHobby, Toy, and Game StoresHome CentersHome Furnishing StoresHome Furnishing Wholesalers
Household Appliance StoresIndustrial WholesalersInternet AuctionsJewelry StoresLiquor StoresLuggage and Leather Goods StoresMail-Order HousesManufactured (Mobile) Home DealersMotor Vehicle DealersMotor Vehicle WholesalersMusical Instrument and Supplies StoresNew Parts WholesalersNews Dealers and NewsstandsNurseriesOffice Supplies and Stationery StoresOutdoor Power Equipment StoresPersonal Service WholesalersPet and Pet Supplies StoresPharmacies and Drug StoresPrerecorded Tape, Compact Disc, and Record StoresProfessional Equipment WholesalersSewing, Needlework, and Piece Goods StoresSporting Goods StoresSupermarketsSupplies WholesalersTobacco StoresUsed Merchandise StoresVending Machine OperatorsWarehouse Clubs and SupercentersWholesale Trade Agents and Brokers
If you are interested in finding out what industry a business is in so you can learn more about the industry as a whole, you can search the NAICS database with a word from the business name and it will give you a variety of possibilities for businesses and where they fit in the industry classifications.

Small Business Notes
- Marketing Brochures and Flyers

Marketing collateral is a term used for printed materials used to present information about your business and its capabilities, products or services. It can include brochures, flyers, fact sheets, direct mail pieces, and other communications pieces that are produced directly by the company. All of your company's printed pieces should be in tune with your overall marketing message and company image.

When planning the production of marketing collateral, special consideration should be given to the following elements:

Design and Layout
Is the material visually attractive and appealing?
Does it invite the reader to open it or read further?
Do the design and layout components complement the message?
Formatting components of design and layout include:
balance
white (or empty) space
font types
colors
paper stock
paper size
graphics
illustrations
photos
charts
You may use product photos or illustrations in marketing collateral. Graphs, charts or other graphics also help to visually communicate messages.
Message and Written Text
Is the information accurate?
Is the collateral piece easy to read?
Are the sentences simple and clearly written?
Is the text grammatically correct?
Does it spark the reader's curiosity?
What is the implied tone of the message? Is the tone appropriate for the audience and does it reflect well on your company?
Does it communicate the benefits of doing business with your company?
Does the message ask the reader to respond?
Does it tell the reader how to contact you?
Management Issues
What is the specific marketing goal for the collateral piece?
Who is the intended audience?
Does the production cost fit within your budget?
What is the production schedule?
Is the timing appropriate?
Does it complement your other marketing materials?
How and when will you distribute collateral pieces?
If you're planning to mail collateral, does it comply with post office mailing requirements?
When preparing your written communications, think creatively. Use key terminology (words and phrases that catch your prospect's eye) and catchy slogans. What distinguishes your business from your competitors? Highlight the benefits your company offers. You might want to make a special pitch and offer an incentive for readers to respond. You might also include testimonials, sample listings of clients, awards and honors you have received.
Types of Marketing Collateral:
Brochures
Usually printed on 8 1/2 x 11 paper folded in thirds or 8 1/2 x 14 paper folded in quarters. Brochure contents range from information about your company to specific product features and benefits. It may be appropriate to place all of this information in one brochure or to create a family of brochures for individual products. Individual businesses and budgets guide this decision.
Business Cards
Usually printed on 2 x 3 1/2 card stock, contain all necessary contact information, including email addresses and URLs.
Flyers
Usually single sheets printed front and back, and used for inexpensive distribution. Flyers are frequently used to announce a sale, open house or other limited-time event.
Slip sheets
Mini-flyers typically designed as a mailing insert or to leave as a take-one counter display. Slips sheets may be inexpensively produced three up or three slips on single sheets of 8 1/2 x 11 paper. (Each slip, when the paper is cut, is then about 3 1/2 x 8 1/2)
Direct mail
Advertising pieces that vary in shapes and sizes but usually conform with standard mailing requirements. A direct mail package may include a marketing letter and/or brochure. Typical recipients of direct mail are customers, individuals on purchased mailing lists or individuals on mailing lists the business itself has developed.
Marketing letters
Usually included with direct mail pieces, may be used as a written introduction or follow-up to a sales call.
Catalogs
Vary in length from just a few pages to hundreds of pages. They typically showcase products through photographs or illustrations and provide product descriptions and prices.

How to Listen Effectively1Keri Perocchi and Allen Wysocki2

IntroductionSales is a very challenging and important aspect of business. Essential skills and techniques are constantly evolving that allow salespersons to be more effective. This leads to higher sales and higher customer satisfaction. This document will attempt to teach the art of effective listening and give pointers that will make the next sales call more successful for both the customer and salesperson.
Salespeople today have a harder time trying to prove themselves to customers because most customers view salespeople as underhanded and tricky, only out to make a sale and to make themselves more prosperous. Salespeople are often seen as pushy and unconcerned with the needs of customers and are often accused of not listening. This is a problem that also plagues other professions besides sales.

The Importance of ListeningMost salespeople have the bad habit of "doing the product dump". This is when they tell you everything there is to know about the product, barely taking a breath; it is often caused by inexperience or nervousness. However, one of the key factors to being an effective salesperson is the use of effective listening. Research has shown time and again that the ability to listen is the most necessary skill for a successful, productive, one-on-one sales call (Brooks, 2001).
The challenge in listening effectively is to know how to listen. Often, a customer only wants a salesperson to listen when frustrated or enthusiastic about a product. When there is a problem, sometimes there is little that can really be done, but effective listening can help a salesperson stand apart from the others. If more salespeople would simply learn this obvious truth, they would certainly sell better, easier, and at a greater margin (Brooks, 2001).

Asking QuestionsMany salespeople find that customers love to talk about themselves. The first time a salesperson speaks with a customer it should be solely for learning about the customer. This is a chance for a salesperson to use his listening skills to develop rapport with the customer and to gain useful knowledge for future sales calls, such as the customer's history, objectives, and current and future business plans (Bonura, 2001). It is all part of building a long-term sales relationship.

Answering QuestionsQuestions should be answered carefully. It is important for the salesperson to be knowledgeable about his product's strengths and weaknesses, but he should avoid stating an answer until the entire question is heard. Do not listen with the intent of answering, but with the intent of understanding (Parker, 2001).
Once the question has been heard, use reflective listening, or mirroring, to repeat the question. This will ensure that you and the customer understand the question in the same way (Bonura, 2001). Then, take a moment to think before answering. This will show the customer that you are interested in finding an answer that addresses his question (Parker, 2001). Joe Bonura suggests that, "if you use body language, verbal signals, and reflective listening, your customers will tell you everything you want to know." (2001).

Positive Effective ListeningBill Brooks has identified 10 hints that improve your ability to listen effectively: listen for answers to intelligent, probing questions; listen "between-the-lines"; never interrupt the customer; focus on what the customer is saying; record what the customer is saying; paraphrase what you believe you heard the customer say; ask for clarification; offer feedback; listen with your eyes, heart, and ears; and summarize what you heard the customer say (Brooks, 2001).

Listen for Answers to Intelligent, Probing QuestionsThe salesperson needs to know how to phrase and ask questions in a manner that helps the customer define how the salesperson can help him. Use structured questions to listen more effectively.

Listen "Between-the-Lines"The salesperson should listen both to what the customer is saying and what he is not saying. Many customers are afraid to say what they really think for fear of being embarrassed or hurting the salesperson's feelings. For example, a customer may respond to the following question: "How was your last order?" by saying that "the quality of the product was fine." However, the customer may not have been totally satisfied with the time that the delivery arrived. Unless the salesperson "reads between-the-lines", he may never discover the customer's true feelings about the delivery times. Listening "between-the-lines" can help the salesperson find the true objective and correct it, thus resulting in a sale.

Never Interrupt the CustomerThe salesperson may miss vital information if he has a habit of interrupting the customer. The customer may lose his train of thought or be offended at being interrupted. If something the customer says needs further clarification, the salesperson should jot it down until the customer has finished speaking.

Focus on What the Customer Is SayingListen intently to what the customer is actually saying, not what you think the customer may be saying (Brooks, 2001). This could be vital information that will help gain a sale. All customers are different and have different needs, so predicting their next word is a waste of focus and time. Also, the salesperson should not focus on what he will say next (Brooks 2001). This breaks concentration and focus and is a sure sign that the salesperson is not effectively listening to the customer.

Record What the Customer Is SayingAfter gaining permission, the salesperson should record or write down the customer's responses to the salesperson's questions. A record of the customer's response may be helpful in solving the problem at the time or later, and it shows the customer how serious the salesperson is about identifying needs and solving problems. It will also help in the future if the salesperson needs to refer back to the problem when planning the next sales call or for any other reason that may arise (Brooks, 2001).

Paraphrase QuestionsParaphrasing or restating the customer's question is important. It will ensure that the salesperson truly understands the question, and it will help avoid wasting time answering the wrong question.

Ask for ClarificationIf the salesperson does not fully understand the customer's question or concerns, he should ask the customer to explain further. This will avoid the question from being answered incorrectly, which could make the salesperson look foolish in the long run.

Offer FeedbackOffering feedback will let the customer know that you correctly understand what his question (Brooks, 2000). For example, explain how you have addressed similar problems or concerns in the past. Be sure that the feedback is useful to the current customer.

Listen with Your Eyes, Heart, and EarsListening "with your eyes, heart, and ears" means that the salesperson should look for both nonverbal and verbal cues. Many times customers will say a lot more with their body language and gestures than in what they verbally say. For example, if the customer has his arms crossed, this is a signal that he is resisting what is being said because he may not believe the sales presentation is credible or he may be feeling defensive. Listening carefully will help the salesperson clear up doubts or questions. The salesperson also may pick up that the customer is signaling to close.

SummarizeThe salesperson should briefly summarize the dialogue that has taken place between himself and the customer. This will avoid any confusion and prevent wasting the customer's time. Summarizing also gives the salesperson an opportunity to highlight the areas of agreement and disagreement, which is vital for moving along the sales process. While paraphrasing and summarizing both involve repeating what was heard, summarizing should lay out common areas of agreement and disagreement between the customer and the salesperson.

ConclusionListening is a very important aspect of communication that is not used enough. A salesperson can boost sales and his relationship with his customers if he learns to listen more carefully. Effective listening takes lots of effort, but it pays off in the end.

ReferencesBonura, Joe CSP. "Reflective listening--or how to speak German in a day." http://www.justsell.com/content/sales/gs0028.htm . Date visited: November 20, 2001.
Bonura, Joe CSP. "Stop vomiting on your customers!" http://www.justsell.com/content/sales/gs0023.htm . Date visited: November 25, 2001.
Brooks, Bill. "How to listen your way to more sales." http://www.justsell.com/content/sales/gs0045.htm . Date visited: November 27, 2001.
Parker, Sam. "Shhhhhhh: listen, really listen." http://www.justsell.com/content/sales/gs0001.htm . Date visited: November 27, 2001.

Footnotes1. This is EDIS document SN 003, a publication of the Department of Food and Resource Economics, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Published January 2002. Please visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.
2. Keri Perocchi, graduate student in the Master of Agribusiness program, and Allen Wysocki, assistant professor, Department of Food and Resource Economics, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.

Bulletproof Communication for the Unexpected...

Every day, in dozens of different ways, you're sending a message out to the world... a message that determines whether or not people are going to like you, help you, work with you, respect you, hire you, promote you, and more. Now, discover the simple secrets to making that message exactly the one you want to be sending - so that you can use it to achieve exactly the outcomes you're looking for: at home, at work and in every other area of your life.

Here is a special message from our friend, Tony Jeary, "Coach to the World's Top CEOs".

On a scale of 1 to 10, how much of a role does communication play in your everyday happiness, peace of mind, and success? Most people I put that question to in my seminars and coaching sessions put the number somewhere between zero and 5.

So let me ask you what I ask them:
Do you ever talk to your spouse or kids?
Do you ever attend a meeting at work?
Do you ever send an email?
Do you ever need the help of a sales clerk or repair person?
Do you ever eat out at a restaurant?
Do you ever leave voice-mail messages?
Do you have a website?
Do you ever go shopping?
Do you ever have to make a decision about what to wear?
Do you ever have to deal with a customer service rep on the phone?
Do you ever need somebody else to do something for you?
Do you ever need someone to agree with you, or see things your way?

If you answered yes to any of these questions - and I'll bet you answered yes to just about all of them - then you, my friend, are a communicator.

The fact is, you're involved in dozens of communications each day. Hundreds each week!

Communication factors HUGELY into your everyday life.
On that 1-to-10 scale I just asked you about? Easily a 15.

When you get right down to it, your whole life is a series of communications. And as you're about to discover, every one of them is a critical factor in your success equation. If you've never thought about it that way, then I can guarantee that a communication breakdown is happening. Somewhere along the line - probably in many places - people aren't getting the message you want to be sending. And I'll tell you something else. Something of vital, vital importance: All the people you communicate with are getting a message of some kind - whether it's the one you'd like them to get or not.

My name is Tony Jeary, and I've spent the past 20 years helping some of today's biggest CEOs and corporations to communicate their messages to the world in the most powerful, inspiring, and effective ways possible. I teach these big shots - I'm talking Ford, Wal-Mart, and Texaco "big," to name just a few, things like: How to bulletproof communications from the unexpected.

Ever been thrown off course by an unanticipated question, an unforeseen comment, a "what if" that you hadn't prepared for? There's an easy way for you to make sure that never happens again.The secret to looking prepared. It's half the battle in any communication -- maybe more.
And it's so simple, I'm always amazed more people don't do it.

The surprising thing people really want out of your communications. Most people aren't giving it to them. If you can give it to them, they'll give you what you want every time.

The amazing power of the "So What" factor. Capitalizing on it is the key to instantly gaining a person's undivided attention - from bored employees to unruly kids.

My clients pay me tens and hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of dollars, for this kind of information - and they're happy to do it! Why? Because the bottom-line results my strategies and technique deliver - quadrupled profits, supercharged productivity, overnight brand recognition, and more - make my bill look like a drop in the bucket.

But what about you? You're not personally a giant corporate entity. You don't have the same needs they do, right?

Well, answer me this:

Would your life be different and better if:

your colleagues, clients, customers, and employees always responded to you with respect, admiration, and an eager willingness to help you achieve your goals?


If you were always confident that no matter what you had to talk to them about - even tough, touchy stuff - conversations with your spouse and kids would go smoothly and result in exactly the outcomes you wanted?

If you could cut the number of meetings and conferences you had to go to in half (maybe more!) but accomplish twice as much in those meetings (again, maybe more) as you do now - no wasted time at all?

If you always did and said exactly the right things to persuade clients and customers to work with you - and you did it automatically, without even having to think about it?

If you floated though life hassle free, with all the people you deal with on a daily basis wanting to help you out and make things as easy and pleasant for you as possible: sales clerks, waiters, customer service reps, bank tellers, repair people, other drivers - everyone?

If so, then please read on.

What I'm about to share is going to impact your life in a way you can't even begin to imagine. I know you're familiar with the principle that every action causes a reaction. Well, in the same way, every communication, even the smallest, seemingly insignificant ones, results in a perception.

You communicate - through an email, through a conversation, through the way you're standing, through what you're wearing, through any of a hundred different ways - and the person on the receiving end of that communication decides something about you as a direct result.

If you aren't in control of the message you're sending, that can be a very scary proposition.It's like jumping on the back of a horse without taking the reins: You're definitely going to go somewhere, but you might not like where you end up, and getting there could be very uncomfortable.
On the other hand, if you can control the message you're sending out to the world - if you know exactly what impression every one of your communications is making on people - then you can make just about every situation work to your advantage and turn out the way YOU want it to.

That's going to translate into:

-- More opportunities to advance your career and increase your income
-- More time to spend doing the things you love with the people you love
-- Less tension, anxiety, and stress across the board
-- Fewer (if any!) negative confrontations
-- Fewer misunderstandings, miscommunications, and missed opportunities for positive, mutually beneficial relationships
-- Greater enjoyment in just about every situation you can think of

You may not have a global business empire. And you may not have ten thousand spare dollars to spend. But I hope you're beginning to realize that being a powerful, masterful communicator is going to help you just as much as it helps any corporate big boy.

And as you'll find out in just a minute, you DON'T need their big bucks to become a masterful communicator (more about that in a moment).

But first, let me ask you:
What kind of messages are your communications sending right now?

That's the first question I ask my corporate clients when they come to my Success Acceleration Studio here in Dallas.
And it's the first one I'll ask you in my new program Communication Mastery:
How to Present Your Best Self Every Time.

To get to the answer, you and I are going to go through a Communication Universe Assessment.

By the end of it, you'll have a very clear picture of when, where, and how you communicate during the course of, say, an average week. Even more important, you'll start to get a picture of how those communications are received, and where the gaps exist between how the people in your universe actually see you, versus how you want them to see you. From there, you'll be ready to begin crafting what I call your Perfect Message - the "you" that you want the world to see and respond to. That's where the real fun starts. I've taken the very best, most effective communication techniques from my 30 books, top rated seminars, and personal coaching sessions with some of the world's most successful CEOs, and combined them into a simple, straightforward, totally practical and instantly applicable system I lay out for you in step-by-step detail in Communication Mastery.

Communication Mastery is going to equip you with a massive communication arsenal - tools, tactics, secrets, and strategies that you are going to be able to use to cascade your Perfect Message out in virtually every situation in your life: at work, at home, on the phone, on the Web, out and about, everywhere you come into contact with other people and need them to help you achieve your goals.In these 8 sessions I'm going to personally coach you, just as I've coached top-level CEOs from the best organizations in the world. You're going to discover: The elements that make up your unique "communication universe." Who are you communicating with every day, how are you doing it, and what are the outcomes? You don't have the whole picture now, but you will once you take my Communication Universe Assessment.

The critical first step on your path to the Perfect Message, and a fascinating eye-opener. Prepare to be shocked by all the ways you communicate in just a single day (and by how some of those communications have been received, without your ever realizing it!). How to perfect your personal brand. I say "perfect," not "create," because you've already got a brand out there. What? I'm not a business! I don't have a brand. Wrong!

But don't worry - I'll show you how to get on top of it and pull it together into something consistent, compelling, and incredibly impactful.

How to use voice mail as the time-saving, life-changing tool that it is.
Stop just leaving messages, and start using my simple techniques to actually get things done through voice mail.

Maybe THE single biggest time saver in the whole arsenal. It will absolutely change your day. My private clients' #1 favorite technique. They're just crazy for it. One after another, they say that nothing has had as major an impact on their communications. Grab a cocktail napkin and 10 spare minutes, and find out what all the fuss is about.

The one little thing you must take with you to every meeting. You're not doing it now, and it's costing you big time.How to be incredibly, irresistibly persuasive. Getting the people in your life to do what you want them to do is really quite easy. I'll tell you how to win over every "audience," every time.

Works equally well for groups of 1,000 and an audience of one.

What to do at the beginning, middle, and end of every phone conversation and what to do the minute you hang up. Want to immediately and exponentially accelerate your success? This one strategy is the way to do it.

A tactic to deal with Q&A sessions that you've never seen before. It works like a charm and keeps YOU in control of the conversation, no matter what. How to avoid bombing in any communication situation. There are four ways to bomb - they're really easy and really common. I'll tell you what these communication-killers are so that you can make sure they never make a victim out of you. How to cut meeting times in half, even eliminate the need for them altogether. But when you do meet, you'll get more accomplished than you ever thought possible. If you're "meeting-ed" to death, you need to implement this strategy ASAP.

How to make people really listen to what you're saying and really care about it. There's a very simple secret to doing it Why "winging it" is never a good idea. As a matter of fact, it's a myth.

Anyone you've seen or heard deliver an amazing "off the cuff" message is actually a Level 3 communicator who has mastered the art of planned spontaneity. By the end of Communication Mastery, you'll be there too. I guarantee it. How to establish instant credibility and authority.

The people you're communicating with need to identify you as a credible authority before they'll buy what you're saying. Use my technique, and they'll feel as if they've known and trusted you for years, even if they've never met you before in their lives!The first thing Communication Masters do when they wake up in the morning. This will make a huge difference in what happens to you during the rest of your day.How to convince 93 percent of your customers, co-workers, family, and friends. One single word will do it, and I'll tell you what that word is. 10 things you can do to take your emails to a whole new level. Think you've got a lot of email now? It's only going to get worse as time goes on. If you want the emails you send to get read, be correctly interpreted, and be quickly acted on, you've GOT to start doing these 10 things. Added bonus: People will actually enjoy getting messages from you! How to get anyone to "buy in" to your message. From getting your spouse to agree to vacation plans you know he or she is not keen on, to getting your department to get on board with a new venture that's going to take a lot of extra work, I'll give you 12 tactics that are guaranteed to get you a big happy yes from everyone, every time. And a whole lot more! And remember - everything you're going to hear, discover, and learn in Communication Mastery has been utilized with phenomenal results by some of the wealthiest, most successful individuals and corporations in the world. They've paid me thousands for this very same information! I'm giving it to you for just a tiny fraction of that.To make all of this information have an even deeper and more lasting impact, I've also included a jam-packed workbook along with the audio program. The Communication Mastery workbook contains lots of quizzes, checklists, questions, and exercises. The workbook is the place where it's all going to come together for you. You'll have your whole Communication Universe right there in front of your eyes. You'll be able to see where you started out, where you want to go, and exactly how to get there. Within minutes of listening to this audio program, you are going to be on your way to identifying and honing your own unique Perfect Message. And once you do that, everything else in your life will just fall into place.

Communicating masterfully will become unconscious and automatic for you. It will simply be who you are - all the time, in every situation. Define your Perfect Message and put it to work for you - I've done my best to show you why and how being a masterful communicator is going to make your life infinitely easier, happier, and just plain better. But what I really want is for you to experience the value of my techniques for yourself. I want you to see what an amazing difference having a Perfect Message will make in each and every area of your life, each and every day.Sincerely,Tony Jeary - Author, speaker, and creator of Communication MasteryP.S. My goal with each and every person and corporation I work with is to move them into the third level of communication - the mastery level - not in a matter of weeks or days, but within hours. And that's the exact promise I make to you in Communication Mastery. Within minutes of listening to this audio program, you are going to be on your way to identifying, crafting, and honing your own Perfect Message - the "you" you want the world to see and respond to. And I promise, you will be AMAZED by the changes you experience as a result. P.P.S. Once you receive the program and get a look at the sessions, you might be tempted to jump ahead and start somewhere in the middle. Go for it! I've structured Communication Mastery so that no matter how you proceed through it, you'll be able to crystallize and leverage your Perfect Message as rapidly as possible.

Good Communication Can Help Solve Problems
Mary Holz-Clause

Revised, December 2005 Co-Director, Ag Marketing Resource Center Iowa State University Extension mclause@iastate.edu

When organizing and operating a value-added business, disagreements can arise among committee members or project managers over how to solve problems facing the project or business. Using good communication skills can help the group find solutions. Practice the suggestions below to improve your communication skills during problem solving discussions.The following communication rules can improve problem solving:

State your problem and interests. Speak with “I” statements. Acknowledge the other’s problem and interests. Avoid name calling and answering a complaint with another complaint.
Listen to the other parties and know their interests. Ask “why,” “why not” and “what if” questions to better understand. Use silence to demonstrate you are willing to listen or to help move the other side into a position to listen more effectively to you.

Offer an apology when appropriate.

Stay in the present and the future. The past has already been lived.

Stick to the present topic.
Look for areas of agreement.

Set the time for the next discussion and take a time out if the discussion deteriorates.

Use mutual restating until a party who continues to feel misunderstood feels understood appropriately.

State requests for change in behavioral terms. Don’t ask for changes in attitude or feeling just to be different.

Consistently express verbal and body messages. If negative feelings must be expressed, only use words. Show confidence in the process, relax, use good eye contact and show interest.

Nonverbal communication is important.
According to research by Alfred Mehraian, the persuasiveness of a message depends on:

Nonverbal communication - includes facial expression, movement and gestures.

Voice communication - includes the tone with which the message is conveyed such as confidence, desperation, anger or condescension.

Data communication - includes the actual meaning of words and any supporting information.
You can listen to each other and still have differences. These characteristics apply:

Listen to understand.
Accept that what the other person is saying is true for him/her. Respect the others’ feelings.

Repeat for clarification.

Find a point of agreement.

State or restate your own opinion.

Acknowledge another’s statements and state, “I will give it serious consideration before I take further action.”

When you receive feedback:

Listen carefully and repeat what you heard.

Ask to fully understand.

Say thank you and state that you will consider their comments before taking further action.

Seriously reflect on what you heard before taking further action.

When you give feedback:

Separate the behavior from the person. Be specific and factual about behaviors. Avoid value judgments and demands for a change in attitude or emotion.

Describe how you feel.

Describe how this affected you.

Be sensitive and respectful. Present this feedback as a gift, then leave it behind.

http://www.agmrc.org/agmrc/business/gettingstarted/goodcommunication.htm

Improving Value-added Business Communication Skills
Don Hofstrand

Revised, February 2006Co-director, Ag Marketing Resource CenterIowa State University Extensionwww.smallbusinessbc.ca\agmrc.org\agmrc\business\gettingstarted\comm skills\Improving Value-added Business Communication Skills.htm

Developing Effective Communications
Dick LeeExtension and Agricultural Information

Most Americans probably do not appreciate the importance of communication in their personal and work-day lives. Hopefully, those of us in extension work recognize the importance of good, effective communications.

It's been estimated that many Americans spend 70 to 80 percent of their time in communication -- writing, reading, talking, listening. This is certainly true of extension faculty. This suggests that communication may well be the key to success for an extension worker.
It seems that almost everyone talks about the need for communication -- good, effective communication. University faculty often complain of poor communication between administrators and the faculty; students complain about lack of communication between the faculty and themselves. Parents bemoan the lack of communication between themselves and their children. Young people voice the same thought although from a different viewpoint. Farmers say the farm story needs to be told. Labor union members feel they aren't understood. And, ironic as it may seem, public relations experts fret over the feeling that the public misunderstands the objectives of their profession.
What is communication?
What is communication? It's an interesting exercise to ask members of a group to write, in a short paragraph, their meanings for the term. Two things become apparent: most individuals have difficulty writing out their actual meaning for the term communication, and there is a great variation in meanings.
We can look up the origin of the word. Communication comes from the Latin communis, "common." When we communicate, we are trying to establish a "commonness" with someone. That is, we are trying to share information, an idea or an attitude.
Looking further, you can find this type of definition: "Communications is the mechanism through which human relations exist and develop." This broad definition, found in a book written by a sociologist, takes in about everything.
In contrast, some people limit their definitions of communication rather narrowly, saying "communication is the process whereby one person tells another something through the written or spoken word." This definition, from a book written by a journalist, seems reasonable for those in that field.
Some definitions fall in between these two extremes. Carl Hovland, a well-known psychologist of a few years ago, said communication is "the process by which an individual (the communicator) transmits stimuli (usually verbal symbols) to modify the behavior of the other individuals (communicates)."
This definition describes what many extension workers hope to achieve. You'll be trying to change behavior.
Some object to this definition. Their objections center on the phrase "modify the behavior." They say there are numerous occasions when they communicate, in their family and social lives for example, with no intention of attempting to modify behavior. But, we most likely do modify others' behavior even though that may not be our intention.
We could find many other definitions of communication. However, "meanings are in people and not words" and it's not likely that we could get a group of any size to agree exactly on one meaning. Besides, an exact definition of the word isn't necessary. My goal is to illustrate that it's difficult for many to formulate their own definition and that there is a wide range in meanings.
The communication process
To communicate effectively, we need to be familiar with the factors involved in the communication process. If we are aware of them, these factors will help us plan, analyze situations, solve problems, and in general do better in our work no matter what our job might be.
This leads to a discussion of the communication process. Let's look at it part by part as viewed by several communication theorists. Communication is a concern to many people. So a lot of thought, work and discussion has gone into different communication situations. Today, such people as psychologists, educators, medical doctors, sociologists, engineers and journalists represent only a few of the professional groups whose members have developed ways of looking at and talking about the communication process in their specialized fields.
Several theorists have discussed the communication process in ways that have important implications for those involved in informal education programs such as extension work. Each of the "models" that we review has a point of vital interest.
Communication models come in a variety of forms, ranging from catchy summations to diagrams to mathematical formulas. One model of the communication process reviewed is also one of the oldest.
Aristotle's model
Aristotle, writing 300 years before the birth of Christ, provided an explanation of oral communication that is still worthy of attention. He called the study of communication "rhetoric" and spoke of three elements within the process. He provided us with this insight:
Rhetoric falls into three divisions, determined by the three classes of listeners to speeches. For of the three elements in speech-making -- speaker, subject, and person addressed -- it is the last one, the hearer, that determines the speech's end and object.1
Here, Aristotle speaks of a communication process composed of a speaker, a message and a listener. Note, he points out that the person at the end of the communication process holds the key to whether or not communication takes place.
Our failure to recognize what Aristotle grasped thousands of years ago is a primary cause, if not the primary one, for communication failure. We fail to recognize the importance of the audience at the end of the communication chain.
We tend to be more concerned about ourselves as the communications source, about our message, and even the channel we are going to use. Too often, the listener, viewer, reader fails to get any consideration at all.
Aristotle's words underscore the long interest in communication. They also indicate that man has had a good grasp of what is involved in communication for a long while. So we might even wonder: If we know so much about the communication process, and if we've known it for so long, why do we still have communications problems?
It's unlikely we will ever achieve perfect communication. The best we can hope for is to provide improved communication. Hopefully, we'll be more aware of the process and work harder to minimize problems with communications.
Lasswell's model
Harold Lasswell, a political scientist, developed a much quoted formulation of the main elements of communication: "Who says what in which channel to whom with what effect."2 This summation of the communications process has been widely quoted since the 1940s.
The point in Lasswell's comment is that there must be an "effect" if communication takes place. If we have communicated, we've "motivated" or produced an effect.
It's also interesting to note that Lasswell's version of the communication process mentions four parts -- who, what, channel, whom. Three of the four parallel parts mentioned by Aristotle -- speaker (who), subject (what), person addressed (whom). Only channel has been added. Most modern-day theorists discuss the four parts of the communication process, but use different terms to designate them.
The Shannon and Weaver model
Figure 1Shannon and Weaver model
Back in 1949 Claude Shannon, an electrical engineer with Bell Telephone, and Warren Weaver, of the Rockefeller Foundation, (Figure 1) published their book, The Mathematical Theory of Communication 3.
Shannon and Weaver attempted to do two things:
Reduce the communication process to a set of mathematical formulas
Discuss problems that could be handled with the model.
Shannon and Weaver were not particularly interested in the sociological or psychological aspects of communication. Instead, they wanted to devise a communications system with as close to 100 percent efficiency as possible.
You'll note that the Shannon and Weaver diagram has essentially the same parts as the one formulated by Aristotle. It's true the parts have different names, and a fourth component -- in this case the transmitter -- is included.
However, this model has an interesting additional element. Shannon and Weaver were concerned with noise in the communications process. Noise, Weaver said, "may be distortions of sound (in telephony, for example) or static (in radio), or distortions in shape or shading of picture (television), or errors in transmission (telegraph or facsimile), etc."
The "noise" concept introduced by Shannon and Weaver can be used to illustrate "semantic noise" that interferes with communication. Semantic noise is the problem connected with differences in meaning that people assign to words, to voice inflections in speech, to gestures and expressions and to other similar "noise" in writing.
Semantic noise is a more serious problem or barrier to developing effective communications than most realize. It is hard to detect that semantic noise has interfered with communication. Too often the person sending a message chooses to use words and phrases that have a certain meaning to him or her. However, they may have an altogether different meaning to individuals receiving the message. In the interest of good communication, we need to work to hold semantic noise to the lowest level possible.
We should be aware that there is a semantic noise in face-to-face verbal communication just as there is static noise, for example, in radio communication.
There are other kinds of noises involved in communication as well. Keep the noise concept in mind.
Schramm's model
Figure 2Schramm's model
Wilbur Schramm, a well-known communications theorist, developed a straightforward communications model (Figure 2) in his book The Process and Effects of Mass Communications4.
In Schramm's model he notes, as did Aristotle, that communication always requires three elements -- the source, the message and the destination. Ideally, the source encodes a message and transmits it to its destination via some channel, where the message is received and decoded.
However, taking the sociological aspects involved in communication into consideration, Schramm points out that for understanding to take place between the source and the destination, they must have something in common.
If the source's and destination's fields of experience overlap, communication can take placeIf there is no overlap, or only a small area in common, communication is difficult. if not impossible.
For many years cooperative extension service agents developed considerable skill in communicating with the large American middle class. That success is understandable. A large number of extension workers came from this middle class, and there was a large overlap between the extension communicator and the middle-class audience.
However, in the 1960s, a period of growing social awareness, many extension workers were challenged -- even mandated -- to work with a "disadvantaged" audience. Many of the middle-class extension workers found it difficult to communicate with a disadvantaged audience. In many cases, there was only a small overlap in the fields of experience of the source and the disadvantaged receiver.
Extension met this communications challenge to a degree by employing individuals from the target disadvantaged audience, training them, and in turn allowing them to provide the important communications linkage. Those employees are given such titles as leader aides, nutrition assistants, paraprofessionals and other like names.
The Rileys' model
Figure 3The Riley's model
John W. and Matilda White Riley, a husband and wife team of sociologists, point out the importance of the sociological view in communication in another way. The two sociologists say such a view would fit together the many messages and individual reactions to them within an integrated social structure and process. The Rileys developed a model (Figure 3) to illustrate these sociological implications in communication.5
The model indicates the communicator (C) emerges as part of a larger pattern, sending messages in accordance with the expectations and actions of other persons and groups within the same social structure. This also is true of the receiver (R) in the communications process.
In addition, both the communicator and receiver are part of an overall social system. Within such an all-embracing system, the communication process is seen as a part of a larger social process, both affecting it and being in turn affected by it. The model clearly illustrates that communication is a two-way proposition.
The important point the Rileys' model makes for us is that we send messages as members of certain primary groups and that our receivers receive our messages as members of primary groups. As you likely can visualize, group references may be a positive reinforcement of our messages; at other times they may create a negative force.
Berlo's model
The final communications model that we will consider is the SMCR model, developed by David K. Berlo, a communications theorist and consultant. In his book The Process of Communication,6 Berlo points out the importance of the psychological view in his communications model. The four parts of Berlo's SMCR model are -- no surprises here -- source, message, channel, receiver.
The first part of this communication model is the source. All communication must come from some source. The source might be one person, a group of people, or a company, organization, or institution such as the University of Missouri.
Several things determine how a source will operate in the communication process. They include the source's communication skills -- abilities to think, write, draw, speak. They also include attitudes toward audience, the subject matter, yourself, or toward any other factor pertinent to the situation. Knowledge of the subject, the audience, the situation and other background also influences the way the source operates. So will social background, education, friends, salary, culture -- all sometimes called the sociocultural context in which the source lives.
Message has to do with the package to be sent by the source. The code or language must be chosen. In general, we think of code in terms of the natural languages -- English, Spanish, German, Chinese and others. Sometimes we use other languages -- music, art, gestures. In all cases, look at the code in terms of ease or difficulty for audience understanding.
Within the message, select content and organize it to meet acceptable treatment for the given audience or specific channel. If the source makes a poor choice, the message will likely fail.
Channel can be thought of as a sense -- smelling, tasting, feeling, hearing, seeing. Sometimes it is preferable to think of the channel as the method over which the message will be transmitted: telegraph, newspaper, radio, letter, poster or other media.
Kind and number of channels to use may depend largely on purpose. In general, the more you can use and the more you tailor your message to the people "receiving" each channel, the more effective your message.
Receiver becomes the final link in the communication process. The receiver is the person or persons who make up the audience of your message. All of the factors that determine how a source will operate apply to the receiver. Think of communication skills in terms of how well a receiver can hear, read, or use his or her other senses. Attitudes relate to how a receiver thinks of the source, of himself or herself, of the message, and so on. The receiver may have more or less knowledge than the source. Sociocultural context could be different in many ways from that of the source, but social background, education, friends, salary, culture would still be involved. Each will affect the receiver's understanding of the message.
Messages sometimes fail to accomplish their purpose for many reasons. Frequently the source is unaware of receivers and how they view things. Certain channels may not be as effective under certain circumstances. Treatment of a message may not fit a certain channel. Or some receivers simply may not be aware of, interested in, or capable of using certain available messages.
Summary
Here is a summary of the important thoughts illustrated by each model:
Aristotle: The receiver holds the key to success.
Lasswell: An effect must be achieved if communication takes place.
Shannon and Weaver: Semantic noise can be a major communication barrier.
Schramm: Overlapping experiences makes it easier to communicate successfully.
The Rileys: Membership in primary groups affects how messages are sent and received.
Berlo: Several important factors must be considered relating to source, message, channel, receiver.
These are just a few of the many views of the communication process that have been developed. There are many other communication theorists -- McLuhan, MacLean, Westley, Stephenson, Gerbner, Rothstein, Osgood, Johnson, Cherry and others. Those briefly described here are pertinent to many everyday communication situations.
For an ending thought, let's return again to the idea that successful communication depends upon the receiver. As a communications source, we can spend a lot of time preparing messages and in selecting channels, but if the receiver doesn't get the message, we haven't communicated.
It's as Aristotle said 300 years before the birth of Christ: "For of the three elements in speech-making -- speaker, subject, and person addressed -- it is the last one, the hearer, that determines the speech's end and object."
References
W. Rhys Roberts, "Rhetorica," The Works of Aristotle, Vol. XI, ed. W.D. Ross (London: Oxford University Press, 1924) p. 1358.
Harold D. Lasswell., "The Structure and Function of Communication in Society," The Communication of Ideas, ed. Lyman Bryson (New York: Institute for Religious and Social Studies, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1948) p. 37.
Claude F. Shannon and Warren Weaver, The Mathematical Theory of Communication, (Urbana, Ill.: The University of Illinois Press, 1964) p. 7.
Wilbur Schramm, "How Communication Works," The Process and Effects of Mass Communication, ed. Wilbur Schramm (Urbana, Ill.: The University of Illinois Press, 1961) pp. 5-6.
John W. Riley. Jr., and Matilda White Riley, "Mass Communication and the Social System." Sociology Today, Volume II, eds. Robert K. Merton, Leonard Brown and Leonard D. Cottrell, Jr. (New York: Harper and Row, 1965) pp. 537-578.
David K. Berlo, The Process of Communication, (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1960).
Material in this paper is drawn primarily from a chapter in the author's doctoral dissertation: Lee, Richard L. "The Flow of Information to Disadvantaged Farmers." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Iowa, 1967. However, the author has drawn from several sources. Contents also are used in an expanded oral presentation prepared primarily for extension workers and adapted for other groups.
http://muextension.missouri.edu/explore/comm/cm0109.htm