In This Issue

News from Joan (right)

Rules for Cooperation and Support (below)

Quotes for the Month

Job Seeking Tips: Resumes That Sell YOU

Quick Links

News from Joan!

Art Walk and Sale Nov. 7 - 14, sponsored by Sugar Land Area Artists
An 8-day art excursion in two retail spaces, featuring 80 artists and 265 pieces of artwork in all mediums and sizes including jewelry and sculpture.

It showcases some of the best artists in Texas. There are daily featured artists at work from noon to 8 p.m.

I will be doing a watercolor painting on Wed., Nov. 11 from 4 to 8 p.m.

Location: Sugar Land Town Center, 16160 City Walk (across from Sharper Image) and 16029 City Walk (across from Fish City Grill and Baker’s St. Pub). Come join the fun and find unique gifts for your Christmas list.

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White House Comment Line – Open 9 to 5 E.T. weekdays
Volunteers will relay your comments to the president. Call (202) 456-1111 or (202) 456-1414.
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Please check out my NEW AND IMPROVED Website

Upcoming Presentations November 14, 2009 Houston
Half-Day Seminar for IAAP,
"Proving YOUR Value to Your Boss and Stakeholders"

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Need a Breakout Speaker for Your Local, Regional, or National Professional Association or Business Networking Group?
As a professional speaker and former trainer, Joan will give your organization great ideas and practical tips they can implement immediately. View a list of topics and in-depth descriptions

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR REFERRALS. They are the greatest compliment you could give me. Schedule a FREE, no-obligation consultation TODAY! Call 832-458-0455 or email me: joan@bolmer.com
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A spam-free newsletter written and published by Joan Bolmer, Executive, Business, Career and Personal Coach. For more helpful ideas, visit my web site

*Notice: If you want to make sure I read your email please put “coaching request” in the subject line, so I will not accidentally discard it as spam. Thanks.

Tiger Woods has a coach.
So do many successful executives.
How about you?

Schedule a FREE no-obligation consultation TODAY! Call 281 293-8864 or email me.

Click here to learn more about Joan’s services!

1. Rules for Cooperation and Support

No matter how technically brilliant you may be, you need cooperation and support to implement changes and improvements or even to get your budget passed. In working with many clients, I have found that there are a few rules one needs to remember and use to get the job done. No doubt you have heard them before and you may have forgotten how important they are for your success.

Rule 1. People Resist What They Do Not Help to Create.

Management may decide that there is going to be a major change in the way some work is to be accomplished. In reality, the change is not negotiable. What is negotiable is allowing individual work groups to discuss, suggest, voice concerns/fears, and brainstorm about the best way for them to implement the change in their department.

Some of you will remember the agonies of converting to the interprise software SAP several years ago. The trick to getting cooperation was educating and working empathically with the individuals who had to make the work process changes.

Rule 2. Management/People Have to Perceive and Articulate a Need Before They Will Listen to Your Brilliant Solution.

In working with a client recently, he was disappointed when two of his managers took his plan for an improvement strategy with cool reserve and not much interest.

I suggested that he do a Needs Analysis with these managers to see what they thought was working and what was not working. By asking for their ideas about what was not going well and how it could be fixed, most importantly, how they would know if the solution created the desired results.

Often the perceived problems, like morale, attitude, or lack of leadership skills are not easily measured statistically. You have to ask what specific behaviors the manager will be able to observe if improvement is occurring.

Then you have to get them to articulate the changes they have observed, write them down, fix what has not worked well, and give them and other stakeholders a written report of the results. If there is no report (in the client’s words), you will get no credit for the positive changes.

Rule 3. No One Cooperates with Someone They Feel Is Against Them.

Understanding personality styles (both your style and other’s) is invaluable for communicating effectively. Fully LISTENING, without interrupting, and then repeating back to the person your understanding of their concerns is critical in getting them to listen to any of your ideas or suggestions.

Our human tendency is to start mentally formulating our rebuttal before we have really listened to everything the other person has to say. The result is that the other person feels unheard. Then you are seen as an adversary rather than someone who is trustworthy, helpful and can be worked with easily and pleasantly.

Find out your personality style and more about your behavioral tendencies with the Personal Style Indicator.

Rule 4. Commend In Public — Correct In Private.
Everyone appreciates being recognized in public for their good ideas and contribution to the whole. When each member of a team feels recognized appropriately they all want to pull together to succeed.

On the other hand, when a member of the work group is publicly criticized or is the focus of sarcastic or snide remarks, other employees think, “Ouch! I wonder when I am going to be the butt of his or her nasty remarks.” Individuals then pull into their shells and stop contributing good ideas. More importantly, the whole team’s resilience, energy, and productivity go downhill dramatically.

To learn more about how to apply these four rules to your unique situation, e-mail me to set up a FREE, 45-minute coaching session.


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What Clients Say about Joan

"Dear Joan,
I want to thank you for your insight this morning. It has made a huge difference for me. I am confident and now taking charge of my 'new' responsibilities. I needed to do an about face! Thank you so much for telling me the truth!"

J.S., Director of Corporate Accounting

Quotes for the Month

“Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee and just as hard to sleep after.”
—Anne Morrow Lindbergh, “Gift from the Sea"

“Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment.”
—Baltasar Gracian

“The dog was created especially for children. He is the god of frolic.”
—Henry Ward Beecher, US abolitionist & clergyman (1813 - 1887)

“Exercise alone provides psychological and physical benefits. However, if you also adopt a strategy that engages your mind while you exercise, you can get a whole host of psychological benefits fairly quickly.”
—James Rippe, M.D.

Job Seeking Tips: Resumes That Sell YOU!

Your resume does not have to tell everything. It is an appetizer which makes the prospective employer say, "Wow, I have to talk to this person and see how he/she did that!”

Start your resume with a Summary Statement. The Summary Statement goes directly under your name and address and is the first thing the person will read. Most resumes only get 11 to 20 seconds of attention before they are selected or discarded. It is critical, therefore, to grab the reader’s attention with powerful statements or it is unlikely that your job history and accomplishments will even be read. Your Summary Statement defines your overall skills, experience, and personal characteristics.

The first sentence of the summary must state the job title you want! This sets the recruiter’s mind and expectations. If you want to be a sales person, start your summary with something like: "An energetic Business Development Professional with 6 years of experience in chemical sales. Established track record for doubling regional sales in first year." This tells the reader your search objective and a major accomplishment.

Dynamically express personal characteristics. These are the attributes which will distinguish you from someone with similar training and experience such as: "a creative problem-solver, team player, and leader, known for ability to create trust and loyalty with customers."

Key talents. Below the Summary Statement, you can have several columns of key talents, skills, and … click to read more


If you want to power up your resume, job search, and interview skills, give me a call at 832-458-0455 or email me at joan@bolmer.com for a free consultation.

Quick Links

Building Employee Confidence and Self-Esteem


"How to Handle Sticky Employee Discussions with Ease and Success"


Intuition, Your Secret Source For Everything


Favorite Resource Links

Check out Joan's paintings
and notecards.

Fall Trees