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October 20, 2013
Mentor Me?
Asking, Answering and Amplifying When The Question is Popped
Not to be confused with the great Bruno Mars’ song Marry Me, we do have an engagement of sorts when we ask for someone’s hand in helping to develop our career. Whether it be an informal or formal relationship, there are great ways of asking for -- and making the most of -- a mentor’s assistance.
For the mentee, how do you approach a potential mentor? How do you maximize the value of this burgeoning relationship? How do you best communicate your challenges without sounding...Continue reading
By Sherri PetroPosted in Professional Development on October 20, 2013
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September 22, 2013
React or Respond? For Goodness Sake, Choose Respond!
Four Components of "Whole Communication"
Instructions to create messages that destroy value: Open mouth, insert foot. Instructions to create positive messages that create value: Open mind, open mouth.
I know the former sounds familiar to you. Have you ever thought about the latter? That’s the difference between REACTING and RESPONDING. Responding takes a little time to plan and process, reacting takes no time at all. Just feel free to pop off! I’d be realistic and reduce my...Continue reading
By Sherri PetroPosted in Communication Skills on September 22, 2013
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September 4, 2013
Get ‘Em Onboard: Engage Employees by Being Real
Creating a Communication Strategy that Engages Employees
Much is being bandied about on how to best engage employees. We have employers who want engaged employees and employees who want to be engaged. From the employer side, research shows us engaged employees lead to better results. Kenexa reports that engaged companies have five times higher shareholder returns over five years. From the employee side, one of the many insights in a Towers Perrin 2009 report is that employees want to give more.
Okay, then. We have both sides wanting the same...Continue reading
By Sherri PetroPosted in Communication Skills on September 4, 2013
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July 21, 2013
Gadgetry SOS? Two Rules in Response
Communication Etiquette-The receiver reigns as we try to connect.
By Sherri Petro, President of VPI Strategies & California Miramar University (CMU) Professor
Hey Dick Tracy, Maxwell Smart and Inspector Gadget, I have a beef with you. I thought all this gadgetry was supposed to help us communicate better and solve problems. Why are we still having communication issues? User error, you say? It’s not the gadget itself, it’s how we use it?
Here’s the tip of our very large communication iceberg. We leverage...Continue reading
By Sherri PetroPosted in Communication Skills on July 21, 2013
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July 21, 2013
Sherri Petro
President, VPI Strategies & CMU Professor
Sherri Petro
President
VPI Strategies
California Miramar University (CMU) Professor
Biography
Engaging. Encouraging. Experienced.
Solutions are clearer from unusual and creative places. Sometimes you need a guide to get there. Meet Sherri Petro, positive provocateur, who has a distinctively different way of looking at the world. Years of experience has taught her that we are missing some fundamental and critical communication elements as we seek...Continue reading
By Sherri PetroPosted in Communication Skills on July 21, 2013
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June 23, 2013
Gen X-PECTATIONS: 3 Lessons for Communication Turbulence
Understanding the expectations of those born between 1965-1980.
By Sherri Petro, President of VPI Strategies & California Miramar University (CMU) Professor
We’ve got turbulence brewing. Please take your seat and fasten your seat belts. Make sure your seat back and folding trays are in their full upright position. Generation X (born 1965-80), the first generation of latch-key kids, is taking over the leadership reins. And it’s going to be different kind of ride. We can navigate well if we understand their expectations of communication and...Continue reading
By Sherri PetroPosted in Communication Skills on June 23, 2013
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May 20, 2013
4 Communication Tips to Open Your Mind & Strengthen Your Vocabulary
Do your communication skills run deeper than the dictionary?
By Sherri Petro, President of VPI Strategies & California Miramar University (CMU) Professor
Blah, blah, blah. We speak the same language and yet so many times it’s like we are talking in tongues! How come? Admittedly, according to any dictionary, we have multiple meanings for the same words. But what I am alluding to goes deeper than the dictionary -- we assign meaning based upon many different influences. Why is communication so hard? Most of the time,...Continue reading
By Sherri PetroPosted in Communication Skills on May 20, 2013
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April 26, 2013
OMG, We Need to Establish Work Text-iquette
4 Tips To Ensure We Are Using This Viable Business Communication Channel Well
By Sherri Petro, President of VPI Strategies & California Miramar University (CMU) Professor
We all know texting and driving is a monumentally bad combination. What about texting and working? This is not in reference to texting personally while at work, it’s about using texting as a viable communication channel in our organizations. How do we use it well? While HR departments have been modifying their e-policies for use of personal texting, we don’t see much on how...Continue reading
By Sherri PetroPosted in Communication Skills on April 26, 2013
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