I used to work in an organization where toxic behavior was not only tolerated…it was rewarded.  Examples include:

• A manager getting up on a conference room table and yelling at everyone.
• A top salesperson assaulting another employee verbally and physically because he didn’t like being asked to cooperate at a photo shoot.
• Top leader who routinely missed deadlines, and successfully blamed others, taking himself off the “hot seat.”

Each of these people was promoted and is still working in the organization.  Although many complaints were lodged – the people were experts in their field.  We called them SME’s (subject matter experts) – and because of their professional expertise, they were off the hook.

We at Vital Skills International are excited to, once again, be among the first in the country to participate in launching a new book by the authors at VitalSmarts.  This time, it’s an application of Influencer principles to individual change: Change Anything – The New Science of Personal Success.  Here’s the premise:

So often, we know what we should do to improve our personal, financial, or career health.  We just can’t get ourselves to do it.

A friend sent me a Wall Street Journal article today entitled “Are Heroes Born, or Can They Be Made?”  Without realizing it, he hit on a terrific example of a question that Influencer has already answered definitively, and an effort where it would be indispensible for success.

In March of 2007, I had to re-up for my company’s health insurance and was informed that, due to being what I thought of as “slightly” overweight and having a combined cholesterol of just above 200, I would no longer be at the “preferred” rate, but merely “standard”.

I was incensed – how dare they?  I’d show them!