If Safety is #1, What Comes Next? In my talks as a Negotiating Safety Motivational Speaker, I often ask my audiences the following question: “So if safety is number one, what comes next?” The question is often met with blank stares, shrugs and sometimes humor, with answers including “Lunch,” “Going home,” or “Winning the lottery!” What Does Come Next? Truth is, I would argue that negotiating safety is the...
Don’t Let Your Debits Take Away from Your Credits When I deliver motivational speeches as a negotiation skills speaker for accountants, I talk about the two sides of presenting to existing and potential clients. In making presentations, accounting firms must remember that negotiation skills with a current or potential client break down into content and techniques. They are distinctly different skills. Accounting Negotiation Skills: Content Most accounting firms presenting...
As a motivational speaker for safety and construction, I often start my safety keynote talks with the simple but important question of “What’s in Your Safety Gangbox?” It catches a lot of people off-guard, but it may be the most important question of all. From 2017 to 2018, OSHA reported that one out of every five workplace fatalities were in construction. In that period, almost 1,000 construction workers lost...
It’s Not the What, But the Why In my keynote and breakout sessions I talk as a negotiation skills speaker on workplace communication, I often say that above all, successful negotiation skills are about successful communication skills, where parties need to get to the “why” and not worry about the what. If I am negotiating with you, I can try to give you what you want if I know...
This is the fourth part in our series on managing change, with motivational change management speaker Mike Hourigan on change and employee fears of changes of direction. Where Do I Go from Here? As a keynote speaker and breakout speaker I often give sessions on change management and helping employees overcome the fears of facing new directions in their jobs, I often hear stories of valued employees, employees with...
This is the third part in our series on managing change, with motivational change management speaker Mike Hourigan on change and employee security fears. It is About Trust As a change management speaker who delivers keynote addresses on helping employees avoid job security fears, I emphasize that change is not the problem, rather dreading the changes before they occur is the problem. The fear of change translates into resistance,...
In this, the second part of our series on managing change, inspirational change management speaker on change and employee relationships Mike Hourigan discusses how change affects employee relations. In today’s organization, relationships with co-workers are dynamic. Certainly, remote and contract workers come and go, and those we may work with for years may move away, retire or change positions. Even those changes are anticipated; for example, “Marge,” the CFO,...
One of my roles as a change management speaker for companies and organizations in transition is to relay to executives that change almost always brings fears of competence. Managing change isn’t about explaining to employees “not to be afraid,” but helping them to get over the fear of what change is going to do to them. As a change management inspirational keynote speaker, I hear many moving stories of...
In my work as a change management speaker for industry meetings, I as a change management speaker generally find that change management processes take one direction. The usual change management direction is that management advises, even dictates change, and all of the good soldiers are expected to quickly conform and cope. Easier Said than Done Though the article is dated, the prestigious Harvard Business Review talked of The Hard...
In my work as a motivational safety speaker and communication speaker, I know that everything contributes to safety. The safety negotiation as I call it demands that safety and communication go hand-in-hand. However, safety communication is an art as well as a skill. It must be practiced in every meeting and situation. Not long ago, I witnessed an interaction in a company that illustrates the good, bad and ugly...
As a motivational safety speaker who speaks about hazardous and non-hazardous work environments, I always get strange looks when I say the factory floor is usually safer than the marketing department. In fact, and most safety speakers won’t tell you this, we’re usually safer working in warehouses, construction sites, mixing huge batches or wiring an office building than we are in our own basements. Statistics Don’t Lie My motivational...
I know it may sound strange, but whenever I deliver a motivational keynote speech on managing change, I easily recall my youth and the days we spent on the beach. Managing change is a great deal like negotiating the ocean. The tides change, in or out, if you’re not careful strong waves can knock you down, and sometimes the best strategy is to negotiate with the ocean; giving in...
It will surprise no one reading this post that negotiation skills training is needed so that you and the other party can ultimately arrive at an equitable solution. Negotiating Skills is something you’ve probably tried since grade school. Remember when you were trading baseball or Pokémon cards in school? It is possible, you may still be mad at yourself for trading a Pikachu or A-Rod card for two or three...
In speaking and teaching on negotiation skills for association executives, I am all too familiar with the pressures on association meeting planners these days. Whether you are a professional meeting planner, work for a professional planner or your boss has thrown a meeting project in your lap, nothing about learning the negotiation skills for an annual meeting, quarterly meeting or regional training sessions is easy. In fact, it’s become...
Don’t Just Build Your Team, Negotiate It In my view, the best way to go about team building is to understand that building great teams is an ongoing negotiation. Team building should never be a random process but an intentional progression where dissimilar staff members are brought together to achieve a common purpose. Team building can be a dream or a nightmare; the difference is negotiation. Stop with the...
Sheldon and Leonard Are Millionaires, So Why Aren’t They Happy? My greatest field of interest as an inspirational keynote speaker on team building and teamwork often leads to me explaining that putting a great team together is alot more than mugs, hats and T-shirts. Team building isn’t clever posters, inspirational quotes or funny GIFS and memes. I was recently reminded of that team building lesson while watching the...
Mike Hourigan, Inspirational Speaker on Negotiation Skills and Team Building Using Negotiation Skills to Eliminate Silo Thinking When I present keynotes and breakout session talks on negotiation skills to eliminate silo thinking, in the Q&A session I am often asked what the relationship is between negotiation skills and team building. The short answer is “Everything!” Negotiation skills are the ultimate team building exercise because developing negotiation skills eliminates the...
You’re a Professional Manufacturer’s Rep, but Who’s Representing You? My negotiation skills keynote speaking for manufacturers’ reps and manufacturers’ reps workshops are based on real-life experience. I started my career as a manufacturer’s rep, then I successfully managed teams of manufacturers’ reps for a major corporation. As a negotiation skills speaker, my background as a manufacturer’s rep was invaluable and also eye-opening. One serious observation I made is...
How Much is Not Enough? In my work as a negotiation skills speaker for independent contractors and co-workers, whenever I deliver a keynote speech at an industry association, I am typically asked: “Why do we always feel we’re never getting enough for our work?” The question is increasing in frequency as the number of independent workers has skyrocketed. In 2018, The Brookings Institute estimated that there are 15.5 million...
Mike Hourigan, Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Speaker As a national keynote speaker and breakout speaker helping people with their negotiation and conflict resolution skills, I am well aware of how words such as “negotiation” and “conflict resolution” are interchanged, even misused. When I present to corporate and association audiences on negotiation skills, I talk of two broad classifications. There is “hard negotiation,” for example, when customers walk into a...