CMI Blog

"Listening is actively listening, it’s seeking to understand" 

Video Transcription
After over 25,000 surveys and years of working with organizations to transform employee engagement, here's what we've seen over and over. When you know how to listen, employees will tell you exactly what they need to bring their full selves to work. When they feel seen, heard and valued, they will do whatever it takes to help the organization be successful.

You can’t reimagine a better workplace or move forward a new project unless you recognize what's not being said inside your culture. So, how do you feel when someone listens to you, and I mean really listens to you? When they take time out of their day to listen to your thoughts, your concerns and your ideas. It feels good to be heard, doesn't it?

When we feel heard, we feel understood, we feel valued. We feel validated. So, for the last several years, I have been on a mission to help organizations understand the impact of listening, and I mean really listening.

Some years ago, I worked at an organization where I led customer experience and I loved my job. Then one day, I got the news. They were going to be merging our company with four others. Now, I'm sure you could imagine what that brought up. Mistrust, anxiety and fear.

There was a lack of communication that was going on all around and no one knew what was going on. So, I had gone to the head of HR and I said, “You know what? We have got to do something about employee engagement, something about our culture. It's going downhill fast.”
And she said, “You know, you're right. You go do that.”

I’m like, “I'm in customer experience.” So, I took her up on it and I created an employee engagement council. Inviting people who were from the other companies who I thought might be open and receptive to being around the table - trying to get to the bottom of what would make this merger a success.

But, it needed everyone. And the leadership team? They looked outside. They didn't get it. They didn't get that there were people right there. Five companies. Ready and willing to give them all they needed to know to make this merger a success. But they didn't know how to listen.

So how do we do it? How do we get there? Well, there's a process. The first thing we have to do is recognize what's not being said. How do you do that? Well, you have to be kind of aware enough to say, I know there's something I don't know. And that's because probably people aren't safe enough or don't trust me enough to tell me what I should know. And, I know that because I don't know it. There's a blind spot. That's a problem.

So, I need to acknowledge that first, before I can even move on to listening. Listening is actively listening, it’s seeking to understand - it’s digging deep and removing my own ways, removing my filter to be able to step into your shoes and understand your filter. So, we’ve got to get there first and then we seek to understand and then we actually listen.

When we’re thinking about diversity, inclusion, belonging and we're thinking about the things we can influence and control - we can control this. We can control how we seek to understand and how empathetic we are and the compassion we exhibit for people in their shoes. And we can decide to be courageous, when it's necessary.

We all agreed earlier that when we hear people's stories, we learn, we get better and we grow. It’s the action behind the act of listening that makes our voices come to life, makes us realize we matter and that action is the same thing as compassion.

You can own a part in this process and you can use it to ensure that those that are in your presence feel listened to, feel valued, feel validated.

This is the future of work. When you invest in your people, they invest back into you. They will tell you everything you need to know to be successful and to get the outcomes you're looking for. Let's get to listening.

Hall of fame speaker, Mike Rayburn asks, “How do you open up more possibilities, solutions and ideas for your clients and your customers?”

He explains that when we ask, “What If,” we open ourselves up to the world of possibilities. Your clients and customers are coming to you for newer and better ideas and they love it when you open up more possibilities for them.

WE MUST CREATE MORE CHANGE
We are reluctant to accept or create more change. But, Mike says that the only way we can manage change is to create more change. To create more success, we have to step out and be the one who defines the curve.

WE ARE GOLDMINES OF UNTAPPED POTENTIAL
“I believe that we are each capable of far more than we ever believed possible. I believe that regardless of our level of success, we are each a goldmine of unrealized potential.” 

OPPORTUNITIES ARE EVERYWHERE
“We are surrounded every moment of the day by opportunities to access that potential. You are now walking through life no longer looking for reasons you can’t. Your default is to be the one who looks for reasons you can.”

THE TIME TO START IS RIGHT NOW
“I believe the time to open yourself to more possibilities is right now – you will generate more success by starting with the question, ‘What If?”

"Ending Microaggressions Promotes Employee Retention" 

Creating a safe work environment is imperative if leaders want employees to stay with the organization, innovate, go above and beyond for the team, and exceed customer expectations. If employees don't feel safe, they will not feel loyal or committed to the team and seeing the organization succeed. Acknowledging microaggressions and protecting employees from attacks on who they are is a major move toward making the workplace safe for everyone.

Read Full Article (PDF) >

This article originally appeared in HR NEWS
https://www.ipma-hr.org/stay-informed/hr-news-issues/hr-news-issue/hr-news-october-2021 (members)

When you shift your regular focus to “better” you are instantly powered by progress and internally motivated to improve. Better still, when better is the focus, you soon outperform your current best. 

One thing everyone seems to agree on is that the world we once knew is most likely not going to return and instead we are faced with an altogether different reality.

One thing that is really fascinating is that whilst these are times of uncertainty, we have ALWAYS lived in uncertain times. The landscape is always ever changing, and it is your ability to navigate these changes that can deliver the edge you are looking for to keep moving forward.

As 2022 nears, it is a great time to look at 7 key factors that can refuel a reinvention and help you achieve greater success in your personal goals.

1. Do the Basics, to a High Standard, CONSISTENTLY

What is My Secret to Success?

I get asked this question a lot and have given very serious thought to any answer shared. From starting my first business at 14 years old to every commitment since, the same set of principles continually serve my forward motion. It may not be sexy, profound or even be re-tweetable – but the simplicity and inward inflection has repeatedly empowered me to find clarity in my actions. So here it is….

“Do the basics, to a high standard – consistently” 

As you read this, give thought to your own responsibilities. 

• What are your basics?
• How well do you perform them?
• Where can you improve consistency?
• Taking personal responsibility for your current circumstances soon empowers you to start to create the change you are looking for.

2. Too Many People Make the Giant Mistake of Thinking that Success is for “OTHER PEOPLE.”

The Mistake Made by the Many

Imagine being sat at a dinner table and sharing your goals and aspirations, only to be sniggered at and told that you are such a “dreamer” – like it was a bad thing. That was exactly what happened to me in my early twenties and from that day forward it was decided that “dream stealers” had no place or purpose in my life.

Too many people make the giant mistake of thinking that success is for “other people” and fail to even give thought and imagination to the possibility of achieving massive things. We are living in a time where the future is unpredictable and that also means it can be better than the past. 

Catch a breath now, dream big and decide what massive goals you are going to shoot at next.

3. Any Time You Are are in the Presence of Greatness - Don’t just say “WOW,” Instead Ask “HOW?”

How Winners Win

The most profound lesson about high performance is the fact that success leaves clues.

Being a student of success means that any time you are in the presence of greatness you don’t just say “Wow” you instead ask “How?”. Behind this question are habits, actions and mindsets that are different to the rest of the pack and unlock attributes that you can borrow to help write your own success story.

When interviewing one of the world’s greatest Olympic athletes about his performance in the 100M sprint, he shared that on race day he runs the best 110m of his life. To become the best of the best of the best, continuously move the finish line past where the rules of the game place it. 

This same metaphor can easily transpire into your daily routines. Whether it is your appetite to reach out to potential customers, your redesigning of the customer experience following an inquiry or purchase, or even how you look at your results in any of your KPI’s – what you can you do to stretch your own finish line

4. Better Beats Best.

If I ask an audience of a thousand people whether they would like to perform or be good at something, better at something or do their best at something, there is almost a unanimous response of “best”.

People want to be seen as doing their best and being the best and fail to realize that this very mindset could be stunting their progress. When the focus is on “best” it creates the belief of a gold standard or absolute way of performing and in turn suppresses the possibilities of growth by overshadowing your daily actions. In fact, it is almost impossible to deliver your best. We are evolving and developing creatures and always maintain the potential of change. 

Instead, when you shift your regular focus to “better” you are instantly powered by progress and internally motivated to improve. Better still, when better is the focus, you soon outperform your current best.

5. A Failure is Trying Something You Have Never Tried Before and it Working Out Differently Than Anticipated. A Mistake is Doing Something Wrong.

Mistake vs. Failure

A failure is trying something you have never tried before and it working out differently than anticipated.

A mistake is doing something wrong. 

When navigating change, failures are a rich and rewarding part of the journey and mistakes should be avoided. Understanding and defining the difference between these two words is how you can innovate yourself out of chaos. By alternative, grouping the two together creates a paralysis of action and you and your workforce become entangled in fear. 

Fail fast and often. Learn quickly and build processes and habits that eliminate mistakes.

6. Being Efficient is Doing the Thing Right. Being Effective is Doing the Right Thing.

Efficient vs. Effective

Being efficient is doing the thing right.

Being effective is doing the right thing.

Your future success is dependent upon the quantity of quality interactions with your customers and teams. For you and every member of your team, identify a list of HPAs (High Pay-off Activities) and ensure that the vast percentage of your time is spent doing these things.

7. You Are Worth A Percentage of What You Earn.

The Missing Ingredient

Trying to summarize my thinking around the current reality and provide reminders of some of the key lessons from our time together becomes pretty complex. If you read through these thoughts looking to find the short cut, fast track or silver bullet to accelerate your success, I apologize for failing to deliver. 

The experience I have gained through both my own career and the insights of thousands of other great leaders delivers a continuous and frustrating fact. 

“You are worth a percentage of what you earn” 

This means that great strategy, powerful tools, premium product and world class skills only work under one condition – the condition that you do the work too. The gradient of the business landscape has certainly changed to a steep accent and there will be casualties. You get to decide how your next chapter unfolds. 

In times of change, it’s time to change.

Keep your eyes on the road, your hands on the wheel and remember that you are in control of far more than you think you are. 

"There is no remote work. There is only work,' futurist Mike Walsh said during a session on the future of the industry at the Schwab Impact conference."

The pandemic has forced the working world to evolve technologically much faster than at any time in recent history, effectively rocketing it forward 10 years in 20 months.

That is here to stay, futurist Mike Walsh said Tuesday in his presentation at the Charles Schwab Impact conference. “There is going to be no return to normal,” he said. “We’re not going to get 2019 back.”

Walsh proposed three new rules for the world going forward. The first of which, is “There is no digital disruption, just digital delivery.” The second, which many now have experience with, is, “There is no remote work. There is only work.” His third rule is, “Artificial intelligence will not destroy jobs, but it will change them.”

The business models of Tesla Inc., Netflix Inc., Uber Technologies Inc., Spotify and other companies have shown a shift from products to platforms and transactions to experiences, he said.

“We are all disrupters now. If you haven’t figured out a way to embrace new technologies … are probably no longer in business today,” Walsh said.

For adults of the future who are children today, “their expectation of how the world needs to work is going to be dramatically different from that of any generation that came before,” he said.

For financial advisers, “your ability to partner with those [technology] platforms is going to be key to your success,” he said.

A big part of that is how data will be used to gain more understanding about clients’ needs in different life stages and how advice is provided, he said. By being forced to operate remotely, the world used tools that it basically had for decades, he noted. Skype, he said, has been around for 20 years, even if it is not now the go-to communication service.

“Remote work is just the beginning of a much larger revolution that is changing the nature of business itself,” he said.

Workers value the important things in life more than their jobs, and companies need to recognize that, adjusting their businesses not just for profit, but for purpose, he said.

“It’s not just about paying people well. It’s about understanding what motivates them more than anything else,” he said.

Employers should “support a culture of data, not opinions,” he noted.

With the rise of artificial intelligence, humans are becoming more important than ever in the world of financial advice, he said.

“We’ve actually seen the counterintuitive rise of the importance of human advisers and human interaction as we’ve gained greater complexity and more technology,” he said. “We’ve actually been here before.”

He referred to the industrial revolution, when many workers’ jobs changed from one manual task to another — such as from weaving textiles to maintaining the machines that took over the weaving. Cloth sales increased, and the number of people employed in that industry quadrupled, he said.

Similarly, the debut of ATMs didn’t put bank tellers out of jobs, but it did change the required skillsets for the job, he noted.

“What we’re seeing now is something much more interesting than a just a return to normal after a global pandemic,” he said. “This truly is the dawn of a new world … Now is the time for us to rethink how we engage our clients and our communities.”

This article originally appeared in Investment News.

"When you make the commitment to becoming great at what you do, and becoming so good that they can't ignore you, that in itself builds confidence."

Master of magic and communications, Vinh Giang shares 7 Tips on how to increase confidence. Vinh combines humor, misdirection (one of his “magic” tricks) and years of experience working with audiences and teams to bring thought leadership to his methodology of becoming more confident. Watch the video and learn more! Don’t forget to watch to see how many fingers he’s holding up!

Tip # 1:
BE PHILMATIC.
Definition: When you take something philosophical and also make it pragmatic. With this first point, this is the point of wisdom. You see, people don't see you through their eyes, they see you through your eyes. As you improve the way you see yourself, it improves the way that I see you.

Can you see how this is a little bit philosophical but at the same time, it can be extremely pragmatic? We often think that, “if I want to change the way other people see me, I'm going to have to change things about them.” Whereas, in actual reality, to change the way people see you, you have to change the way you see yourself. There are many ways in which you can do this – read the next tips and learn more.

Tip # 2:
MAKE THE COMMITMENT TO BECOME GREAT AT WHAT YOU DO.
There's a great quote by Steve Martin who says, “Be So Good They Can't Ignore You.” I love this quote so much, because when you make the commitment to becoming great at what you do, and becoming so good that they can't ignore you, that in itself builds confidence.

Let me explain why. When you become exceptional at what you do, ultimately what that means is that you have more impact – in your family, your work life, your community and in the world. And as you have more impact, you will begin to feel more confident within yourself. And, you know what else? You're going to feel an incredible amount of joy, fulfillment and purpose. These are such important ingredients when you're putting together the cocktail of confidence.

Tip # 3:
MAKE THE COMMITMENT TO IMPROVE YOUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS
The reason why communication skills are so important is because you are able to:

• articulate your thoughts with clarity and precision
• bring your vision to life
• inspire an influence with the way you communicate

These things allow you to feel heard, seen and to no longer feel invisible.

When people experience feelings like, “what I say doesn't matter and what I do doesn't matter” – you feel really insignificant and, even worse, invisible.

Tip # 4:
START FACING YOUR FEARS
One of the reasons why this is so important is because, as we face our fears, we build a bank of evidence to prove to ourselves that we are becoming more courageous.

One of the things that scared me more than anything in this world – even though I'm a keynote speaker and do public speaking for a living – is stand-up comedy. Nothing scares me more than a room filled with less than 10 people who are sitting there with the expectation that you're going to make them laugh. Gives me the heebie jeebies!

So, a couple of years ago I made the decision to face this fear. And I jumped on stage for a five-minute set – this was one of the scariest things I've done in my life. But the moment I did it, and the moment I faced that fear, I started to add to the bank of evidence that I am a courageous person.

And just by doing this, I now fear stand-up comedy even more. JUST KIDDING! I'm no longer scared of it – it doesn't frighten me as much. Before I was 10 out of 10 fearful. Now I'm about a six out of 10. It's just not as scary anymore.

The more you start to do things like this, the more you start to build that bank of evidence that you are someone that's courageous, and as you start to get those badges and put them on yourself, you will start to feel more confident.

Tip # 5:
Just how many fingers was he holding up, anyway? 🤔

Tip # 6:
DO SOMETHING NICE FOR SOMEBODY ELSE
Be kind, be compassionate, do something for somebody else. The act of contribution is amazing. It does amazing things for your self-esteem, it does amazing things for your level of happiness, and I know self-esteem and happiness definitely contribute to self-confidence.

I'll give you an example. The other day I was walking through the city in South Australia, and I saw a Japanese band playing. Watching them play, they were smiling, having a good time and just seemed to be living life to the fullest in that moment. I remembered when I used to do close-up magic, busking in the city for some money. When somebody contributed a little bit of money to me, it made me feel amazing.

I took this opportunity to do an act of kindness – I wanted to contribute to their passion and encourage them to continue their passion, so I gave them a tip. Next, I jumped onto Instagram and left them a comment to inspire them to continue and pursue what they love. They commented back with gratitude, which filled me with joy – it made me feel good about myself. And guess what? All of these things lead to me feeling more confident in who I am as a person.

Tip # 7:
FOCUS ON THE THINGS YOU CAN CONTROL
The final one is a simple, yet brilliant one by a man named Coach John Wooden, who says, “If you focus on the things you can't control. You soon lose control of the things you can control.” This is great wisdom.
If you want to be more confident, focus just on the things you can control and let go of the things you can't control.

Is it important to become more confident? The answer is yes – when you are more confident you become a better parent, son or daughter to your parents, a better partner, a better leader and a can be a better teammate to your colleagues. Increasing confidence transforms how we relate to everyone in our life and how we relate in our world.

Who is Clint Pulver? Watch video to learn more about his incredible and inspiring keynote experience that he brings to every company, every audience with irresistible style.

Maybe this has happened to you: your business is unexpectedly short-staffed, so you put out a hasty job posting. It gets shared around online and the résumés flood in. But—catch 22—because you’re overworked, you don’t have time to truly assess those candidates. So, you go through them quickly and settle on the one who seems like the best of the bunch.

It might feel like a relief to check that box, but what you’ve actually done is create a bigger problem down the road. Why? You’ve put the vacancy first, not the hire. The pressure of needing a warm body has led you to get your recruitment priorities backwards, and now you have people on your team who may not fit, may not thrive, and may even be undermining your workforce.

Hey, I get it! Being understaffed can feel like an emergency—everyone is rushed, details are getting missed, no one is happy, and customers might even be walking out the door. But if you skip the work of choosing the right person, you could be taking that temporary state of emergency and turning it into your business as usual.

So here are three words to remember if you don’t want your short-term staffing demands to dictate your long-term success: Always. Be. Recruiting.

4 Strategies Great Companies Use to Actively Recruit

In all of our workplace analysis, the most innovative organizations we’ve come across are proactive. What does that mean? It means they are always looking for good employees. Always! They never let a deadline or vacancy take control of who joins their team—and they don’t let a crisis define who they become.

Remember: recruiting is not hiring. You don’t have to end up managing a team of 1,000 with a payroll for 100. Recruiting is about keeping an eye out for the best people, whether or not you plan to hire anyone in the immediate horizon.

What does that look like in practice? Here are the top four strategies we’ve seen great companies use to identify and attract the workforce they want.

1. Keep a standing invitation on your careers page

Job postings are by nature reactive. Yes, they are a necessary outreach tool, but they aren’t your only tool. Proactive companies keep a permanent notice on their careers page that invites people to get in touch or send in a résumé—and they keep it there whether or not there is an active opening. If a promising person approaches them who looks like they’d be a great fit, they keep in touch, start a conversation, invite them in for a coffee meeting or a tour. And, when a job opening does come up, they take the initiative to reach out and invite them to apply.

2. Build relationships with talented people

The more connected and active you are in your industry, the better the chances that you’ll cross paths with amazing people. Go to industry conferences and events, go to job fairs, look for opportunities to speak about your industry at schools and training institutions. And when you meet someone who could be a good fit for your team someday—whether that’s a young student starting out, an intern, a great contractor, or even a colleague from a different company—don’t let that opportunity pass you by! Keep in touch, make yourself of service, and build a relationship so that you’re top of mind when they’re looking for something new.

3. Maintain a welcoming company culture

If I was a young person interested in your industry and I visited your business, what would I see? How welcoming is your company—your website, your culture, your branding, even your physical space? A welcoming company culture is about more than friendliness: it’s openness, where outsiders feel invited, and can see who you are and how you work. It’s accessibility (in all senses of the word). It’s both diversity and unity. And it’s visibility, through social media, LinkedIn posts, outreach, and online and real-world events.

4. Have an employee referral program

Successful managers understand that their existing employees are their best pipeline for reaching more talent. Like is attracted to like, and people who are smart, talented, educated, curious, empathetic, driven, friendly, or even simply experienced in a given field tend to hang out with others with the same qualities. An in-house referral program that encourages and rewards employees who recommend potential hires will help you tap into the social and professional networks of the employees you already have. And the more great people you bring on, the more great people you’ll have access to.

Challenge: Conduct a Recruiting Audit of Your Company

So how ready is your business to welcome the people you want working for you? This week, take some time to look at your company with the eyes of an outsider, and to consider questions like these:

• What does our website and careers page look like? Does it read like a “sorry no vacancy” sign, or is it a welcome mat and a window into our culture? If a talented person came across our site when we didn’t have an active opening, how likely would they be to consider us as a potential career option?
• How visible and open is our culture? When someone comes onto our sales floor or into our workspace, what kind of image do we present as a team? Who would feel like they belong here—and who might we be excluding?
• How many of our employees would recommend us to their friends—and what motivation do they have to do so? What have I done in the past when I met someone who could be a future asset to our company? Did I call it a missed opportunity because the timing wasn’t right for one of us? Or did I follow up and start building a relationship? What will I do next time?
• What is my organization doing to tap into the social and professional networks of our best employees?

Your answers to these questions can reveal what you need to improve to set yourself up to hire right the next time you need someone. Look at what you’re doing, analyze the results, and think about what you can change to be more proactive.

And when you do have a job opening, I can’t say it enough: if you want a team that works, do not settle. It may not be first, or the third, or even the fiftieth candidate who applies, but if you’re attuned to what you want, the right person will come along. And the more you protect your culture by careful hiring, the more attractive you’ll become to the kind of person who wants to work in that culture. And, soon enough, the right people will be coming to you.

"Nonetheless, I must recommit to seeking to understand those around me before taking any action. The caring leader does this and then reflects on what he or she hears."

Listening and Leadership

The mark of a good leader is one who is caring. I define caring leadership as “taking daily actions in ways that show concern and kindness to those we lead”. At the core of being a good, caring leader, lies the crucial skill of listening. Leaders in any walk of life, whether extensively trained, or called on to lead in a passing moment, all seek to possess a deep understanding of the people they lead or the problem they seek to resolve. The best path to gain this understanding is via listening. Listening is the express lane that takes you straight to your desired destination while avoiding the obstacles and roadblocks that delay the flow of traffic.

Listening and Employee Engagement

If leaders focus on staying in the listening express lane, they will coincidentally build up a culture of listening within their organizations. I want to include an excerpt from my latest book, The Art of Caring Leadership, to reveal my own personal testimony on the effects of listening in my leadership role.

“Personally, I move very fast in and out of projects and even in and out of thoughts. Sometimes, this makes those around me feel that they are not a part of the process. Often, I feel myself going into hyperdrive. Then I slow myself down and begin to see the others who are with me on this journey. I know that I need to include their voices and their input.

I am not always great at executing on that. I continue to work on this, and because it is so important to me, I make it a priority. Nonetheless, I must recommit to seeking to understand those around me before taking any action. The caring leader does this and then reflects on what he or she hears (92).”

I have listened to tens of thousands of employee survey comments, and worked with countless organizations to build cultures of listening. Once a sturdy culture of listening takes root within an organization, every time without fail, their employee engagement numbers soar. Loyalty and buy-in reach peaks, and consequently, happy employees mean successful business.

An article entitled, “The Power of Listening” by Forbes, states:

Effective active listening within an organizational setting has been shown to produce a wide range of positive benefits for companies, leaders and individuals, such as: (1) building stronger relationships, (2) developing greater trust, (3) more effective team collaborations, (4) enhanced individual and group decision-making, (5) greater productivity and (6) enhanced creativity and innovation.

Clearly, the list of positive effects of listening is extensive within an organization. But, the simple yet powerful strategy of active listening extends far beyond the reaches of your workplace.

Let me tell you a story.

Listening in Customer Engagement

I once served as a leader in client development, which meant I worked in our sales department. One day, I heard that one of our biggest clients was significantly unhappy with the process we were using which had been established by our leadership team. This was a two-million-dollar client on the verge of leaving because they were dissatisfied with one of our systems and processes. Were we going to cling to our rule book and run the risk of losing this valuable client? Not on my watch. I took my understanding of the client’s needs to my leadership. I knew there was the chance they wouldn’t listen to me or take the situation seriously, but I owed the client at least a shot at positive change.

However, it did go well. I got leadership’s attention and we began the process of changing our strategy. We even included the client in our roundtables and redesign project. Their voices guided us to our solution. Because we brought in the client and welcomed them to our table and acted on their word, they felt valued and decided to rely on us even more heavily. They became an even bigger client of ours. This all began with the listening process.

Listening and Relationships

Listening is not only the crux of caring leadership, it must be the foundation of any relationship. For example, active listening is singlehandedly the most powerful tactic a salesperson can wield. When we tune into the needs and desires of those we serve, whether they be our superiors, peers, direct reports clients, or people in our personal lives, we will see a direct return on our relationships.

This story illustrates how I felt confident enough that I would be listened to within my organization to bring forward a crucial piece of information from our client. I caused disruption and change, but I also caused us to increase our revenue and build a stronger relationship with our client. I knew my organization would listen to its employees. I listened to our client, and our sales process was transformed to always involve a listening step to better work with each client’s specific needs.

I encourage anyone reading this to take listening to the next level, whether that be in their personal relationships, with their employees or with their customers. There are no negative side effects when it comes to listening. Merge into that express lane and steer your organization towards listening and towards greatness.

Buy Heather's book today, "The Art of Caring Leadership: How Leading with Heart Uplifts Teams and Organizations" 

cmi clients are asking for speaking topics that address changes in the workplace, leadership and employees.

cmi clients are also concerned about thinking out of the box for innovative technology, sales motivation and communicating differently. Our speakers are offering both virtual and in-person events that are engaging, innovative, motivating and tailored to each company’s unique requirements. 2021 has been record-breaking for cmi.

We are coming up on our 20th year this December and are thinking forward to 2022 and beyond. We have some new ideas and talent coming our way and are excited to continue to serve our clients, consistently providing the most relevant and groundbreaking topics, delivered by world-class speakers with incredible presentations.

What are the most requested topics businesses are asking for?

• Mental Health
• Technology Innovation
• Collaboration and Teamwork
• Leadership Change
• Workplace Reimagination
• Employee Wellbeing (Intersectionality, contentment, DEI)
• 2022: Sales Motivation and Strategies

Explore 5 of cmi’s speakers and their current topics.

Vinh Giang



Vinh is an entrepreneur who knows what it takes to lead and sell ideas. As a “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” and award-winning magician, Vinh has found success in sharing three key business ideas and demonstrates them using the art of magic with on-stage audience participation. Vinh's mesmerizing messages spark electrified engagement with your audience.

TOPICS

• The Psychology of Illusion
• The Leader's Instrument
• Vinh's Stage Masterclass 

WATCH VINH'S VIDEOS >


Dan Thurmon



Best-selling author of ‘Off Balance on Purpose’, Dan Thurmon is a Hall of Fame Speaker, a bestselling author, and a recognized expert on peak performance and work-life integration.
He’s also “TikTok Famous,” having grown a social media platform, along with his daughter Maggie, encompassing over five million followers around the world! Their videos have been viewed hundreds of millions of times, and together they also host the popular podcast, “Wholesome Chaos.”

TOPICS

• Positive CHAOS
• Off Balance On Purpose

• Creating Opportunities Amid Chaos
• Mentorship vs Management
• Help Your Sales Soar
• United We Stand

TOPICS

• The “What If…?” Experience
• Become A Virtuoso - Elite Performance Mastery

Ty Bennett



Ty is the founder of Leadership Inc., a speaking and training company with a mission to empower individuals and organizations to challenge their status quo, cultivate exceptional relationships, and compete in extraordinary ways. He’s changing lives – one leader at a time. The bestselling author of "Partnership is the New Leadership," Ty is also an entrepreneur, having started a business with his brother, Scott, that they built to over $20 million in annual revenue while still in their twenties. Since that time, he has developed over 500 sales managers globally with sales and leadership in 37 countries.

TOPICS

• Relevant Leadership
• Partnership is the New Leadership
• The Power of Storytelling

"The first source of positive tension is a compelling goal that pulls you because of its desirability and magnitude."