Athena Alliance Members –
A Closer Look at Claire Sookman

Since I started the Athena Alliance blogtalk radio show I have had the opportunity to share with our listeners the expertise of our diverse group of trainers, facilitators, coaches and consultants.  Each member has a profile featured on our website and for upcoming blogs I will share with our readers a more personal look at some of our partners and in no particular order.

Claire Sookman

It was almost eight years ago when I first met Claire.  I had just started Athena Training and Consulting and was actively attending many different trade shows and networking events.  It was actually really funny because every place I went there she was.  We would have a chuckle and accuse each other of following one another.  I can remember thinking to myself when I was dressing and preparing to attend the next networking event “I wonder if Claire will be there today” and sure enough there she was!

I was still learning about my new business and wasn’t sure how Claire and I could work together but I was clear we needed to explore it.  I didn’t totally understand Virtual Team building and I set up a time to meet one-on-one so she could explain how it worked.  I had never thought about what challenges a manager would encounter when they had to manage a globally dispersed team.

During our meeting Claire shared that her programs were often based on the DiSC assessment tool.  Now that I understood!  The rest is history as they say… it was clear we were aligned and have worked together ever since.  In fact only two weeks after she joined the alliance I had a client request a DiSC assessment to be performed for their management team. This client still has Claire deliver a DiSC program annually.  Claire continues to work with virtual teams and she is continually raising the bar in the level of service she provides for our customers.

To review Claire’s Profile click here: www.athenatrainingandconsulting.com/alliance-partners/claire-sookman

One Stop Convenience Helps Mom to Be

Several months ago I met with a potential new client.  When I got to the appointment I met with a lovely young lady who was very pregnant.   She was expecting her first child and was anxious to make sure she had all of her training needs handled before she went on mat leave.

When I first spoke with her, she was unclear about our offerings at Athena Training and Consulting as she had never heard of a company like ours before.  I quickly explained to her on the telephone that we are a one-stop shop for all her training, coaching and HR consulting needs and she agreed to meet with me right away.

After the initial meeting I left fully understanding her need for public workshops to provide both communication skills and supervisory skills for several of their managers.  I immediately connected her with Joe and he registered her employees for the next upcoming classes.

A few days later she called and said she wanted to run an Excel and PowerPoint training session for a number of her employees from different departments.  She was thrilled at how easy it was to have these resources readily available to her.  I had Lee connect with her, clarify a few final points and schedule the training.  During my confirmation call with her I asked her if there were any other needs that she had and she didn’t think so and that she will call me if she did.

Later that day she called to inquire if I had anyone who could support some of their human resources functions while she was off and I immediately introduced her to Tammy and presto she had her solution!  In fact they are still working with this client.

A week later I received an email asking me if I had anyone who could do some one-on-one personal coaching for personal branding.  They had several high potential employees and wanted to provide them with training to enhance their confidence and brand presence.  I was delighted to introduce her to Dorothy and she was again thrilled at how easy it was to be connected with a professional coach.

During all the interactions and referrals she commented many times to my alliance partners what a fabulous service we offered.  I spoke with her the day before she was leaving for maternity leave and she thanked me for how easy we made it for her to provide the company with the solutions they needed.  She loved that it was so stress free.  I shared with her that is why I love what I do!

By Cindy Stradling CPC, CSP

Leadership Training

I have conducted many assessments since the start of Athena Training and Consulting in 2005 and there are some common outcomes that are desired from Leadership training.  Here are 7 areas where I have found organizations want training and coaching for their leaders so they can build powerful teams.

Organizations and Employees want the following attributes/attitudes in their Leaders:

  1) Leaders who are consistently approachable – people want to trust their leaders and know they can always come to them when they need their support.  Leaders that deal with difficult situations in a timely and fair manner.

  2) Leaders who listen and understand the employee’s perspective (this does not mean agree with them, it means the employ has the experience of being heard.

  3) Leaders who are positive, focused, yet flexible (open to new ideas)

  4) Leaders who support their employees to being their best.  Delegating and coaching to give employees an opportunity to grow.

  5) Leaders who set a clear direction and walk their talk.  Leaders who live with integrity to what they say they will do and what they actually do.

  6) Leaders who communicate when things go well and celebrate employee’s successes – recognition.

  7) Leaders who set challenging yet achievable goals that are aligned with the Company mission and support the success of the employees with a high level of accountability.