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Wow, so NO one here is posting their initial impressions yet? Yeah, we're all crazy busy and occupied but I figured one of the overachievers would still be on the forum. :wink:

I guess I will be the first to say that I am happily looking forward to one more 14 hour day with Mike & Mark & Michael & entourage, finishing up both elated and exhausted and bursting with new moxie to take home to 'the troops'.

Big, big thumbs up so far.

jhack's picture

Miss Tenacity, you must mean "one of the [i]other[/i] overachievers" since you are obviously still on the forum!

Yes, the conference is great, and it's been great to meet the folks who frequent the forums (tool, tom, tomw, misstenacity, etc...)

John

AManagerTool's picture

MissT....we got to meet today. Not only do we need to remember names, we need to remember screen names! Come, seek out the Tool!

By the way, have any of you figured out who US41 is....muhahhaha! Clue: He is at the conference...AND YOU ALL HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED but not by his screen name.

It's 6:15 am, I'm going to start driving to the conference soon and this is the first time I could post. I was so tired last night.

TomW's picture
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It was a really great conference, worth every dime and more. Mark is every bit as energized as we all expected, even after speaking for two days straight.

It was great to meet so many of the people from the forum.

Thanks so much to Mike and Mark for making all this happen!

tcomeau's picture
Training Badge

[quote="AManagerTool"]
By the way, have any of you figured out who US41 [/quote]

Yes, he came up an introduced himself by screen name. He already had a lot of credibility with me, but he's gone up another level with the things he shared with us over the past couple of days.

I have more to write once I'm caught up on what I left behind. For now, thanks to you, tool, to Brandon for setting up dinner, to MissTenacity, Shannon, jhack, Brian, tomw, Ari and many others for great conversations at both dinners, and for great insights into the challenges of management.

Thanks,

tc>

AManagerTool's picture

Tom,

I still think you got the coolest job....LOL

svgates's picture

I need to wax eloquent about this experience, AND, figuring out how to fully express my appreciation is not time well spent just now. So- this will have to suffice ...

FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!

Steven

AManagerTool's picture

Notes from conference:

1. Mark is the coolest guy in the room....always.
2. Please give MT a review on iTunes. They need our help with a project...
3. I now feel very much like a part of the Manager Tools family.
4. I got a good bump in my enthusiasm. We are going through layoffs and will not remain untouched. I have been more than a little bitter. The conference has given me a much needed shot in the arm (read kick in the pants)
5. Mike is probably the most genuine person to converse with. He makes you feel good.
6. I know now that it's OK to give feedback like this: "When you do X, it pisses me off!" As long as I smile....LOL
7. Marks daughter Katie is as great as Mark is! Somebody hire her quick!
8. Mark drinks GALLONS of tea and holds it in for HOURS. He is amazing.
9. Coaching is something I need to do more of. Just because my staff tells me they are retiring and they don't want to improve their skills, I cannot let them skate.
10. I hugged US41....LMAO

jhack's picture

I’m going to forego the gushing. Here’s why the conference was really effective:

1. Practice, practice practice. You get much better at feedback when you practice a lot. We practiced a lot, and got feedback on our feedback.
2. Really illustrative role playing by Mark, Michael, and selected attendees. Seeing how to handle various situations was really enlightening.
3. Q&A. Having 5 hours set aside during the conference (yes, I counted, and that doesn’t include questions asked during the sessions) just for Q&A made it possible for everyone to get into details that made a difference to them personally.
4. Unpublished thoughts and “actions you can take” on performance management.

So if you’re thinking, “Yeah, I’ve listened to the podcasts, and I don’t need to hear Mark pontificate further on O3’s, Feedback, and Coaching,” you’ll miss out. Sure, a lot of the material is from the podcasts (btw, there were plenty of folks who had never heard it before). Yet, a lot of material is new. And you can dig into finer points. And you get feedback on your own skills.

Did I mention meeting over 100 people who should be in your network?

So thanks to Mark, Mike, Michael, Rob, Katie, and Maggie. A very well run conference (logistics were invisibly smooth) with awesome content.

John

PS: Shout out to Tom Comeau, TomW, Tool, MissTenacity, US41, Brandon, svgates, Harry, Frankie, Ari, Paul, and Michelle.

US41's picture

It was humbling to be in the presence of 108 of the worlds greatest managers.

bffranklin's picture
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I'll second John's comments on the sheer effectiveness of this conference. It was an absolute privilege to meet all of you.

-B

fchalif's picture
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What was most effective for me was the sequential nature of the Trinity.
I knew from having listened to the podcasts that the O3s, Feedback, Coaching and Delegation all feed into one management system.
The Conference's Agenda introduced each in its rightful order and solidly placed O3s as the core element to build the rest on. Mark and the team recommended strongly to phase these in in that order, which sort of lit a light bulb for me.

I have been doing O3s for 3 years but have not engaged properly into Feedback. I plan to invigorate my O3s and start Feedback, only doing positive for 8-12 weeks. I love the Poker Chips idea here.

Loved to meet many of you also, plan to follow with with a few for sure. Here are the names I remember(there's a podcast on that now, I need it)
Marc, Paul, Adele, Michelle, John, Rob, Bobby, Ari,

Thanks for a great conference.

jcm13's picture

Mark, Mike and the MT Team,

Thank you for a brilliant conference. The energy and enthusiasm that you put out is contagious. As a manager of managers, I will certainly be sending more of my team to your future conferences. It is inspiring to be welcomed into a group of people (the MT team & attendees) that are so passionate and excited about what they do.

-----------------
John Myrick
(7-6-1-2)

fchalif's picture
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Mark mentioned very fast that there are 5 "things" that you see and hear regarding behaviour.
I noted:

Words they say
How they say them
Body Language
Work Output or Product
???

What is the last one.

Thanks in advance.

tcomeau's picture
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Words they say
How they say them
Body Language
--> Facial Expression
Work Output or Product

msyoder's picture
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In several casts Mark articulates "Choices" as behaviour. That was an eye opener for me and I keep that in mind with the other five.

It was great to meet all! I really enjoyed the conference and the renewed energy to tackle management challenges at the office.

Thanks Mark, Katie, Mike, Rob, Maggie, and Michael for an exceptional experience.

-Mike Yoder

fchalif's picture
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Tom and Mike,

Thank you for completing the list. I have to admit that I love the word Choices. Although I do not recall Mark referring to choices at the conference, I do remember that he has mention of that in podcasts.

Thanks again, I have started applying it already.

svgates's picture

The NY conference was so good that I've found myself making a lot more referrals. I decided to save a template of my typical Outlook email so I could send it soon after the conversation was done. Please feel free to suggest alternatives - this 'voice' won't be right for everyone, but everyone should be ready to point people to the podcasts.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear ____-

In follow-up to our conversation earlier ...

Having listened to these podcasts for quite a while, I've become something of a fan of these guys and the very practical recommendations they make. You and I have different styles, so you may find it's not your cup of tea ... but I think you'll find it worthwhile to sample at least through the four parts of 'The Management Trinity'.

The podcast feed for iTunes (follow this link from the computer you run iTunes on): itpc://www.manager-tools.com/podcasts/basics-rss.xml

The webpage for this podcast series: http://www.manager-tools.com/manager-tools-basics/

I look forward to hearing what you think!

Warm regards,

Steven
------------------------------------------------------------------------

mukamal's picture
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At the Newark Conference, Mark askled conference participants to send emails about three follow-ups items. They were:

[list]
Recommended book(s) on overcoming objections in sales - related to delegation
Your CFO client's list of phrases he used for "being nice"
Your recommendations on how to set up a meeting room depending on the number of people attending[/list:u]

Answers (from Mark) below:

Books:
[list]
Spin Selling – John Rackham
Winning Em Over – Jay Conger
Communicating at Work – Allesandra
Dealing with People You Can’t Stand – Brinkman
The Sales Bible - Gitomer[/list:u]

All good, all different.

CFO phrases:
[list]
I’m proud you’re on my team.
We’re better because of you.
Thanks for your hard work this week. (Friday)
I get a lot of credit for work you’ve done – thanks for your help.
You make me better.
I’m glad you’re on this team.
I like telling others that you’re part of this team/group.
The fact that others know you work for me makes me feel good.
You do high quality work.
You work fast – I appreciate that.
I know you worked hard on this – thank you.
Others respect your judgment.
I need to hear from you – you have good ideas.
I trust you.
I trust you to do what you think is best.
I believe in you.
Go home.
Thanks for being on time.[/list:u]

Setting up a meeting room. I am ASSUMING that one person is going to be presenting, using slides. Different usages call for different layouts.
[list]
For 5 people, no projection of slides, everyone around a round table with printed versions.
For 10 people, same – no projection – but long table with you on one end.
For 20 people and above, classroom style, like at the conference.
Almost NEVER the classic (and stupid) hollow U or hollow square/rectangle. Too much dead space, too much energy drained down the center.[/list:u]

US101's picture
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Can you please give the context for the "Your CFO client's list of phrases he used for "being nice"??

I don't understand. How did this come up at the conference? Is the point that CFO's are not good at describing behaviors?

mukamal's picture
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US 101,

Mark mentioned that he had a CFO client who had a gard time "being nice." These are some of the phrases Mark and he came up with to help him "be nice" to his directs.

--Ari
5-5-4-3

US101's picture
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mukamal - thanks, that makes sense.

fchalif's picture
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Hi to All Newark Conference Attendees,

Did Mike ever send the list of attendees with contact information?
Were the presentations also sent?

Let me know if I have missed something.

bffranklin's picture
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Frankie,

I haven't received anything yet. Just sent mike a PM about it last eve. I'll let you know if I hear anything.

-B

mauzenne's picture
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Not on your end, folks ... I'm just behind. :-(

Sorry.

Mike