Hansburg Freda - Working PeopleSmart: 6 Strategies for Success

Working PeopleSmart belongs in every workplace. Not only should it be required reading, it should be required doing. Work life would be a whole lot more fun, fulfilling, and fruitful if wed all implement the six strategies that Mel Silberman and Freda Hansburg so masterfully present in this wonderfully useful book. I assure you that when you put in practice even one of their coaching tips, youll immediately notice results. And Working PeopleSmart should also come with a warning label that reads: Try this at home. Your family will love you for it.

Jim Kouzes, coauthor of The Leadership Challenge and Encouraging the Heart, and Chairman Emeritus, Tom Peters Company

Working PeopleSmart is a must-read for individuals who deal with a variety of challenging interpersonal interactions every day! Applying practical, real-world approaches, Mel and Freda provide an insightful and practical look at how to improve your personal impact and effectiveness in the workplace.

Richard Chang, CEO, Richard Chang Associates, Inc., and author of The Passion Plan and The Passion Plan at Work

Time and time again, business success comes back to how people relate to each other. Thats why BMW has been conducting Working PeopleSmart seminars for the past two years and using the book PeopleSmart to improve the interpersonal intelligence of its employees. With the publication of Working PeopleSmart, we now have the field manual for making the concepts of PeopleSmart work. Its real-world advice and business-related scenarios offer an exceptionally clear pathway to put these strategies into action.

Viki Macdonald, BMW Group University, BMW of North America, LLC

Working PeopleSmart could well be called a guidebook for everyday living in the workplace, providing strategies, practice scenarios, and tips for handling virtually all of the interpersonal issues that occur daily in corporate America. This book is a must-have for new professionals entering the workforce for the first time, for the new supervisor, and for seasoned leaders who desire to continuously increase and broaden their influence, trust, and communication skills.

Doris M. Sims, SPHR, Leadership Development Director, AdvancePCS, and author of Creative New Employee Orientation Programs

If common sense were common, we wouldnt need Silberman and Hansburgs wonderfully clear, cogent and imaginative guidelines to interpersonal communication. Their six basic strategies for managing workplace communicationwith bosses, coworkers, customersare aptly designed to make ones job not only more effective but ones life more pleasant, as well.

George David Smith, Academic Director, Executive Programs, NYU Stern School of Business

BERRETT-KOEHLER PUBLISHERS
San Francisco

Working PeopleSmart

Copyright 2004 by Mel Silberman and Freda Hansburg
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

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First Edition
Paperback print edition ISBN 978-1-57675-208-1
PDF e-book ISBN 978-1-60509-851-7
IDPF ISBN 978-1-60994-409-4

2010-1

Editing, interior design, layout, and project management by Publication Services, Inc.
Cover design by Richard Adelson.

Preface

Interpersonal tensions have business consequences! The purpose of this book is to lessen these tensions so that you and the organization in which you are employed can be more successfulregardless of what business you are in.

What you will discover in Working PeopleSmart is your own personal coaching guide to improving your relationship with everyone with whom you work. That includes your colleagues and customers, the employees you may supervise, and even your boss! Its a book you can pull down from your shelf to obtain instant advice whenever you want.

Since the publication of our book PeopleSmart, we have been conducting Working PeopleSmart seminars with a wide variety of businesses and organizations. They have included major corporations, small companies, nonprofits, and educational institutions. Weve also trained at every levelsenior and mid-level managers, front-line supervisors, and support personnel. In each case, we are there to develop the organizations capacity to build positive, productive relationships within its workforce.

Six strategies for success have emerged from these three years of consulting and training. This book will explain how to leverage each strategy for your own professional success.

And there is more.

As we take participants through the principles and practices of working people-smart, we invite them to tell us the people problems they experience. As a result of this process, we have been privy to a bumper crop of challenging situations. In Working PeopleSmart, we have captured the most vexing questions posed to us and provided our people-smart advice. We hope that you, the reader, will gain a greater awareness of the options you have for handling tough situations and will be inspired to try some of them.

Reading advice is never enough. You must try out the advice and see if it works for you. Granted, it takes some courage to do something different, to think and act outside the box. If you are willing, you will be rewarded with greater confidence and the ability to bring out the best in even the worst of circumstances.

ix

There are tangible rewards for you as well. If you have the skills to bring out the best in others, you will be an invaluable resource in your organization. As a result, your people talents will be recognized and you will be more likely to succeed in your career.