Dianna Booher

Book Selection

Some people have it, and some people don’t… yet. Author Dianna Booher skillfully offers tested tips and strategies for creating personal presence. She focuses on the importance of visual appearance, speech, actions, and communication skills.

Creating Personal Presence

Look, Talk, Think, and Act Like a Leader

Interview with Dianna Booher

Many living in the modern era think that presence can't yet be that influential, but they can't be more wrong. Personal presence is important, and will determine how those around you view you and your capabilities.

twsm You advocate viewing personal presence in 4 parts: How you look, talk, think, and act. What are some top tips for each category?

db Some people seem surprised to discover how much clothing counts toward the assessment of their personal competence. But think of your reaction to service repair people—those who come to your door in uniform versus those who show up in their scruffies to work on your plumbing. Anyone who has traveled extensively on an airline or stayed at a quality hotel can tell you the difference in the service they receive when they travel in expensive-looking attire versus casual clothes. In addition to vocal energy, watch your word choices, diction, and grammar. Avoid stumbling off into jargon-filled descriptions of past jobs and responsibilities. Don’t let careless diction drag you down and create stereotypical thinking about your capabilities. Stay with standard word usage rather than coin your own words. Be careful about commonly mispronounced and misused words. As you practice interviewing, give a friend or colleague permission to point out such without hurting your feelings. To speak clearly and fluidly, practice answers to the most common questions that every interviewer asks—and particularly those that will be unique to your situation. The perception of presence is not only about the company you keep but the words you speak. People with presence rarely rush to judgment—of people, situations, data. They make it a practice to listen first, to observe, to collect and assess information. People with a strong presence stay alert, take in information, and think before they speak. Those who lack presence are short on the intake, quick to speak their mind, and often regret their output. The tagline “mover and shaker” comes from a metaphor—a very visual component of a personality trait or habit. Not only do these people move through many networks, work a lot of relationships, and shake their share of hands, they literally take the lead in approaching people. When newcomers enter a room, people with presence approach them confidently, introduce themselves, act as host, make introductions, and connect them to others in the group. They approach and give attention to others.•

David Sibbet

Visual Teams: Graphic Tools for Commitment, Innovation, and High Performance [Wiley, pp 312, $29.95] Author Sibbet builds on Visual Teams by showing users how to knit together best practices described in his first bestselling book, Visual Meetings, and turn them into strategies that work across the whole arc of a team's work life.

Marcus Buckingham

StandOut: The Groundbreaking New Strengths Assessment from the Leader of the Strengths Revolution [Thomas Nelson, pp 240, $22.99] StandOut is more than affirming; it’s prescriptive. In today’s world, people are demanding customization and total individualization of content delivery on virtually everything. Most strengths assessments pull you apart and describe your style; they make you feel good about yourself. However, just like product customization is among the most critical means for achieving true value, StandOut provides you the information to take your work to the next level based on the algorithm of you.

Eric Chester

Reviving Work Ethic: A Leader's Guide to Ending Entitlement and Restoring Pride in the Emerging Workforce [Greenleaf Book Group Press, pp 224, $24.95] Chester offers five strategies for doing just that: find your style, develop trust, value, tact and timing, tell stories, and cast a vision. He also identifies the seven Work Ethic Markers that are most important in a successful employee. Drawing parallels from lessons taught universally to children (smile and play nice, be prompt, look your best, do your best, obey the rules, tell the truth, say "please" and "thank you"), the markers are: positive attitude, reliability, professionalism, initiative, respect, integrity, and gratitude.

Look at our online book selection: theworkstylemagazine.com

Paul Batz and Tim Schmidt What Really Works

[Beaver’s Pond Press, pp 184 , $20.00] Batz and Schmidt identify the seven

areas that employers and employees need to recognize and devote time to in order to be successful and satisfied in business and at home. What Really Works is a collection of contemporary wisdom that will help readers blend the Seven Fs in order to lead rewarding and satisfying lives with their families, coworkers, bosses, and employees.

Catherine Sandler

Executive Coaching: A Psychodynamic Approach [Open University Press, pp 168, $45.00] Catherine Sandler explains our resistance to change: the defensive tactics we have developed to protect ourselves against anxiety. She also offers advice to coaches on how to help their clients work through anxiety and embrace change. Sandler’s insights are illustrated by lively examples drawn from her practice, typifying the kinds of difficulties she commonly finds among her clients.

Yael Zofi A Manager’s Guide to Virtual Teams

[Amacom, pp 272, $27.95] Virtual teams are reshaping the way we do business. Among the many benefits are many challenges. Zofi offers concrete answers and proven best practices. Drawing on her 20-plus years experience in teamwork and extensive interviews with virtual team leaders and members, she provides a virtual roadmap for every team manager struggling to navigate this complex new business fixture and force.

talking

Visit our online store: workstyleshop.com Order the book Talking

5 illustrators, 5 photographers, 5 filmmakers and 5 storytellers from all over the world to tell the business world. 135 people to define the identity of the workplace of the future, discussing on: identity, emotions, architecture, environment and organization.

WorkStyle “Talking” is a book that reveals how work changes. It is the outcome of discussions on 5 topics: identity, emotions, architecture, environment and organization.

The main subject of the book is a look at the

future identity of work. The general theme has been developed by 135 professionals coming from different sectors (psychology, architecture, identity and privacy, organization and environment) who have actively contributed to it. The result has been divided into four sections: photography (5 photographers’ interpretations), the drafts (of the participants and of the 5 illustrators), the texts (of 5 storytellers and of the Talk moderators) and 5 filmmakers’ interpretations included in the related DVD. In the book you will find also the description of the locations that hosted the various workshops, a presentation of our partners, the illustration of the T-shirt project as well as some statistical data. The collaborators and the people who took part in the event come from 23 countries throughout the US, Europe and Asia. The staff made of the best international professionals, the easy-to-read journalistic style and the clear straightforward topics make this book a very good way to get some clues on how the business world is going to change.

Attached to the book you will find a DVD (trailer of the pre-Talk works, trailer of the authorial videos, 5 authorial videos, 5 Talks backstage, 5 Talks soundtracks). See above for some images included in the book. Below two screenshots from the video of Esam Al-Dabagh. Above, an illustration by Goñi Montes.