By Sunday Tollefson, MBA, PMP® 

This week's microlearning subject is the final in a nine-part series from the book "How to be a Star at Work: 9 Breakthrough Strategies You Need to Succeed" by Robert E Kelley.

The ninth strategy is SHOW-AND-TELL.

Even if you are technically proficient, conveying your ideas is imperative to avoid the dismissal of  your ideas. You must influence your audience to trust you and your expertise. 

Star performers master the ability to deliver a message to a specific audience, to persuade listeners to accept the message, and are proactive in deflecting criticism. Stars also contact audience members ahead of presentations to evaluate expectations.

Rather than organizing the material meticulously, stars organize presentations around the audience. Stars use storytelling, rather than data sharing, because they know that good stories engage the listener. They use plots with turns, tension, resolved conflict, humor, and images to create...

By Sunday Tollefson, MBA, PMP® 

Is there a disagreement at work that is blocking project or initiative that matters to you? How can you facilitate a solution?

Conflict Resolution is a skill that not only solves problems; it also builds trust. This precious trust gives you a significant ability to influence others. When you can influence others, you can lead. All effective leaders are effective influencers. Let's get you leading by demonstrating your ability to influence!

Here are a few points you don't want to miss when resolving a conflict at work. 

• Have you missed any impacted or relevant stakeholders? 
• Have you built the parties' trust in your ability to help prior to agreeing to the resolution process? 
• Do the parties desire a resolution?
• Do the parties have a common goal?
• Have you set expectations for the resolution seeking process?
• Have you listened without judgement and restated positions to test for understanding?
• Have the parties brainstormed...

By Sunday Tollefson, MBA, PMP® 

[Wanna skip straight to the freebie? Grab your Promotion Potential Estimator here.]

Does it ever feel like there is no end to the amount of information you’re expected to know?

Do you feel like you have to continually prove your competence “growth” to gain respect?  

Are you ready for a higher challenge but you’re passed over for promotions – while you watch lesser qualified candidates get promoted?

You’re not doing anything wrong. You’ve done what you needed to do. When you started this job, you needed to on-board yourself and demonstrate your value by becoming a super expert on your subject matter. In doing so, you became a trusted resource for your colleagues. You proved that you belonged and the hire decision that got you there was a good one. Great! You did the right thing.

You continued to demonstrate this same ability to rapidly consume and manipulate information. Maybe you did this...