News and Announcements

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Career Coaching for Students™ new website and Student Resource Central has it all for students

Success Discoveries is very pleased to announce the official opening of our new website for Career Coaching for Students™. "The program was growing quickly within the Success Discoveries site. We knew it would out grow the Success Discoveries site. This has been in the works for a couple of years now. Our planning has really paid off. We are extremely pleased with the result." stated Carl Nielson, Chief Discovery Officer of Success Discoveries and the creator of Career Coaching for Students.

If you visit the site at http://www.careercoachingforstudents.net you won't see the vast resources within the site unless you are registered and login. Students, parents, teachers who have a username and password can access Student Resource Central.

Student Resource Central™ is the premier career and educational exploration resource portal on the web that was built to support students and their parents as they go through the Career Coaching for Students™ program. Until now, only our individual and workshop clients have had access to this rich centralized repository of web resources for students.

Student Resource Central™ includes access to the career exploration resources, eduational institution exploration resources and Resource Central resources library. Site includes career video websites, interview video sites, search tools to find any and all vocational schools, colleges and univerisities by interest, major, vocation specializations, information on financial aid, scholarship information and much more.

With Student Resource Central™, the world wide web just got small enough to be useful.

A GREAT OFFER – UNLIMITED ACCESS TO STUDENT RESOURCE CENTRAL™ FOR ONLY $19.95: The Career Coaching for Students™ website has an extensive private area for career and educational research that is normally reserved for our individual and workshop clients. Each resource has been evaluated for its quality, value and ethical representation of information. We call it Student Resource Central™.

  • Quickly find high-quality, in-depth information about any career - no more chasing down Internet rabbit trails and marketing scams
  • Research and find the best colleges and universities for what you want to major in
  • Learn about Financial Aid from the right sources - not the marketing firms for the financial firms
  • Learn about and apply for scholarships
  • Get expert advice on writing a resume, interviewing and using social media sites
  • Access the Common Application Form
  • Watch exciting, informative videos on a broad range of career topics
  • All content organized for quick access
  • Hundreds of useful resources integrated with tools used in the Career Coaching for Students™ program

    Due to the new, alarming information about corrupt, overly aggressive marketing practices by "for-profit" educational institutions, we are offering the full Student Resources Central site to parents** and students for $19.95 per access license. This is a unique offer and the access has no expiration. If you are a high school administrator or teacher and would like to gain access to the site for all of your students we offer the same price to you also. This one-time purchase provides access with no expiration. Aren’t sure it is worth it? We guarantee your satisfaction* or we’ll give you a full refund and we’ll eat the credit card fees. Go here to purchase. Read More

Sunday, July 11, 2010

New Class for Small Business Execs Starts August 1, 2010

2011 is coming up FAST. Success Discoveries for 21st Century Businesses is a 6-Month Highly Tangible, Results-Oriented and High Value Leadership and Operational Achievement Program for Small Business Owners, COO and General Managers

Are you fully optimizing your organization’s human capital? Are you setting and achieving BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOALS (bhags)?

Carl Nielson, Chief Discovery Officer for Success Discoveries, LLC and The Nielson Group, a management consulting firm specialing in creating breakthrough performance, is offering a new 6-month program for Small Business Managers and Leaders that COMBINES GROUP AND INDIVIDUAL COACHING TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS
.

Executive Summary of the Program

We have created a program to engage you in a very worthwhile endeavor - to create and achieve business goals and become a better leader and manager so that you grow your business faster!

“Leaders of the future will need the traits and capabilities of leaders throughout history: an eye for change and a steadying hand to provide both vision and reassurance that change can be mastered, a voice that articulates the accountability of the group and shapes the group to constructive ends, and an ability to inspire by force of personality while making others feel empowered to increase and use their own abilities.” Rosabeth Moss Kanter, professor of management, Harvard Business School, excerpt from World Class: Thriving Locally in the Global Economy

Here is a snapshop of what you’ll accomplish:

  • Goal setting and goal achievement - you’ll focus on articulating one BHAG (big hairy audacious goal), writing clear objectives and achieving those objectives. You’ll create a business scorecard that you’ll use to monitor your success in 5 key business metrics from month to month.
  • Leadership Skill Development - Leadership skills starts with knowing yourself, your strengths and your weaknesses. You’ll recieve an 80+ Leadership Talent Assessment. More valid and insightful than any other type of “assessment” you’ve ever experienced. Printed, bound report that details your leadership behavioral style ("how" you do what you do), your motivators (what drives you), and your current level of leadership soft skills (that will pinpoint where you need to focus your own development). Another part of effective leadership is clearly understanding your key accountabilities. You’ll be co-creating 4 - 7 key accountabilities and benchmarking your job’s talent demands. You’ll receive a gap analysis that shows your talent compared to your role’s talent demands. We’ll then develop a professional development plan to hone your leadership skills and eliminate any critical gaps. You’ll receive access to your own Personal Skill Development E-Learning Library to make a sustained shift quickly. Check out a sample here.You’ll also learn how to manage and motivate your employees - at the individual level.
  • Hiring “A” players - Experience goes so far. Matching a person to the job requires looking deeper. We’ll start by teaching you our techniques for hiring “A” players, discuss sourcing strategies and guide you throug the hiring tasks for the entire six months.
  • Reading assignments There are many great books we could tackle as part of this program. You’ll get to choose from a list of “thought leadeing authors” for your own reading and discussion with your business coach. For the group calls, we will be discussing some of these thought leader lessons at our monthly calls (see below)
  • Six Monthly Group Calls, all recorded in case you miss one, focused on leadership and management strategy and skill development, hiring best practices and interviewing skills, performance management, manager coaching skills, creating collaboration, business purpose, mission and culture, and business development strategy. We’ll integrate reading assignments into the discussion. Learning from Thought Leaders (authors of the books) will be discussed and integrated into your leadership competencies for tangible application.
  • Private Online MasterMind Group for the Class to post questions, share business scorecards, test ideas, discuss common topics, get advice from each other in a confidential setting.


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Thursday, September 17, 2009

Anger Management Issues or Narcissistic Tendencies? 17 Soft Skills That Help or Hurt

“Does Serena Williams, Kenye West and Rep. Wilson demonstrate the need for anger management or is it something else?”
America is exploding with public displays of person-directed anger in sports, entertainment and politics. While anger is a normal human emotion, the displays of verbal aggression and anger by West, Williams and Rep. Wilson represents unhealthy anger which destroys interpersonal relationships as well as the reputation of the perpetrator.

According to George Anderson, an anger management coach, there are six situations in which anger is unacceptable in a civil society:

  1. When it is too intense.
  2. When it occurs too frequently.
  3. When it lasts too long.
  4. When it leads to person-directed aggression or violence.
  5. When it destroys interpersonal relationships.
  6. When it has health implications.
Anderson goes on to say “Anger is one of the most misunderstood and overused of human emotions. Anger is not a planned action - it’s a reaction to an inner emotion. Anger is energy. It serves a purpose by giving people the drive and determination to cope with difficult situations we find ourselves in. Anger helps discharge tension. If handled well, anger can help resolve conflict and improve relationships with others. Anger is an easy emotion to show; everyone gets angry.”

Does anger, when poorly managed, indicate a lack of anger management as a skill, lack of respect or something more complex such as a combination of lack of respect for others and lack of a set of basic skills?

Let’s start with a lack of respect for others. Whether it be a sports referee, a panel of judges for an entertainment award or the President of the United States, there seems to be a plausible theme running through each of these public displays of anger. First, a sub-minimum level of respect for others. Second, in each of the three recent public examples, the person is coming from a position of privilege. And third, in each case, each is feeling something is being taken away from them that they thought they had a right to have. When a two-year old acts out in this manner (a temper tantrum in the store when they can’t have the toy on the shelf) most parents stop the behavior in an appropriate but clear manner that makes the temper tantrum a poor choice for the child. As a parent, I call this “the terrible two’s”. Why just the “two’s”?

As parents, we teach our children at an early age how to respect us, how to respect others and how to accept that they can not have any thing they want. I believe that is why most adults behave in a “civil manner” when faced with challenging or frustrating situations. Is anger a valid emotion? Absolutely. But to Mr. Anderson’s point above, it is unacceptable behavior when it crosses the line.

So perhaps these three public figures didn’t receive a proper upbringing. Or maybe their rise to fame created confusion for them - losing their way from the path of decency, respect for others and civility. Or perhaps it is something more. Could it be narcissism?

Unhealthy Narcissism is the extreme result of a lack of skills. The lack of development of those skills or loss of those skills might be due to the adult environment, stress levels or their childhood. It is very possible it is a combination of all of these.

So what can an adult who has unhealthy narcissistic behaviors do?
Usually, they are not aware of or open to feedback until their behavior becomes so outrageous that “their public image” is destroyed. In the corporate setting, I often see the narcissist anxious to have a third party mediator get involved. They are so sure they are “right” and “healthy” that the “other” person(s) who they see as “the problem” will be highlighted and dealt with appropriately. This happens in businesses too often. The result there is usually termination.

Most companies don’t have the time, confidence or see the value in investing in someone who has stepped over the line one too many times. In organizations, the critical straw that broke the back is one of many outbursts that were tolerated for too long. Unlike the good parent with the two-year old, companies tend to find the narcissistic behavior difficult to stop before it becomes dysfunctional for the organization. Once it is dysfunctional for the organization, it results in a termination. The human resources function is not equipped to handle these types of people and are usually the enemy of narcissistic managers. Placing a narcissist on a “performance plan”, while procedurally correct, has the same potential for self-correction as the Titanic did on that fateful night.

So what can people do to stop the dysfunctional behavior before it reaches a point of no return?
In my coaching, I have focused on selected skills that are connected to the dysfunctional behavior. These skill development strategies must be integrated with one-on-one coaching. To not provide the one-on-one coaching is to leave self development in the hands of a dysfunctional, narcissistic person which as a low probability of being successful.

So what skill modules have been shown to help a person become a better person, better leader, better professional? I’ve provided a list of skills that, when intentionally developed, will eliminate unhealthy narcissistic outbursts of anger.
  1. Empathy
  2. Conflict Management
  3. Personal Effectiveness
  4. Interpersonal Skills
  5. Diplomacy
  6. Flexibility
  7. Freedom from Prejudice
  8. Self Improvement
  9. Relating to Others
  10. Persuading Others
  11. Correcting Others
  12. Flexibility
  13. Evaluating What is Said
  14. Balanced Decision Making
  15. Surrendering Control
  16. Personal Accountability
  17. Sensitivity to Others
To keep a culture of narcissistic behavior out of the organization requires ongoing effective leadership development. This can include at its center, a set of core competencies established to communicate expectations as well as guide the leadership development program. One of the best books on leadership development that I’ve used is Stephen Covey’s The 8th Habit. In the book, Covey address’s two critical elements to highly successful leadership: 1) Find Your Voice and 2) Inspire Others to Find Their Voice. If, as a leader, or just as a person, you are focused on those two things, you can’t possibly have narcissistic tendencies.

Carl Nielson
Chief Discovery Officer
Success Discoveries

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Group Tele-Coaching Just Got Better!

Success Discoveries prides itself on continuously improving its offerings and supporting the coaching community. With those two objectives in mind, we felt the recent announcement from Maestro Conferencing was worthy of broadcasting. Want a quick intro to why we like Maestro so much go here: http://www.successdiscoveries.com/index.php?/about#maestro

Since MaestroConference’s promotional pricing ended on September 3, people have been calling and emailing them asking if they’d make any exceptions—to let them get the lower, discounted prices.

Until now, MaestroConference has had to say no. But for the next 60 hours, you can get MaestroConference for as low as $29.97 a month.

Why are they doing this? Two reasons:

Reason #1: During August, a LOT of people were on vacation.
They know this because of the hundreds of “Out of Office”
replies they got every time they sent an email.

They want to give you an opportunity to get the same low
rates that 370 customers took advantage of—especially if
you missed out because you were on vacation.

Reason #2: They’re now ramping up for MaestroMonth 2
starting in late September. And they want to give you one
last chance to lock-in your MaestroConference subscription
before they start rolling out on a larger scale.

Remember, this “2nd Chance” offer ends in 60 hours (at 5
p.m. Pacific on Friday, Sep. 18). Here’s the link to order.

Best regards,

Carl Nielson
Chief Discovery Officer
Success Discoveries

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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

July is Free Personal Development Month Compliments of MaestroConference

Maestro Offers FREE Personal Development Trainings with Over 60 World-Renowned Luminaries in JULY

A Breakthrough Technology Makes Teleseminars 10X More Engaging, More Productive and More Valuable to Our Clients

Is it possible? Personal development seminars by phone as dynamic as live events?


The folks at MaestroConference have just announced a unique promotion they are calling Maestro Month.

What exactly is Maestro Month?
It is a journey in personal development featuring free learning teleseminars with 60+ top teachers in the areas of health, personal growth, business, spirituality, and societal change.

Participants include Michael Port, Jack Canfield, Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, Arjuna Ardagh, Gay Hendricks, Debbie & Arielle Ford, and dozens more.

Why are they doing this?
Because once people experience MaestroConference for themselves, they too will become advocates and ambassadors for this technology.

Whether you switch your conference calling to Maestro is up to you but the offer to hear these great speakers and experience “engaging content” is free!

To learn more and sign up for the free personal development programs in July go to http://www.maestromonth.com/ today. 



Watch the promo video.


To learn more and sign up for the free personal development programs in July go to http://www.maestromonth.com/ today. 



At Success Discoveries, we’ve adopted MaestroConference as our technology solution for teleseminars and group coaching. We are bringing the dynamics of a live seminar to conference calls. And with a simple web interface (glance.com) we dramatically increase engagement and interactivity.

Are you a coach looking for an online tool? Are you in HR and sick and tired of the conference call technology that is keeping your company from using tele-conferencing? Watch the one-minute overview.



Wanting to learn more? Go to the Maestro Conferencing website to signup for a FREE TRIAL.

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Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Flex Dates for Career Coaching for Students™ Workshop in FRISCO, TX

The Workshop for high school students is coming to FRISCO, TEXAS!

Deadline for Registering is June 15th.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER ONLINE NOW!

SUMMER SCHEDULE!
Session One: June 17TH or 20TH (select one)
Session Two: June 25TH or 28TH (select one)
Session Three: Multiple Dates offered in July for group teleconference (students will need at least two weeks to do everything between session two and session three)
Session Four: One-on-one personal tele-coaching session with Carl Nielson (any time after session two, family-convenient time of choice)


PLEASE FORWARD THESE DATES TO ALL YOUR HIGH SCHOOL PARENTS – We hope these dates allow everyone who wanted to attend to do so. if you are interested and we’ll add more dates!


Want the full story about this program?

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Friday, May 08, 2009

Client Collaboration and Group Teleconferencing just got better

First, you might need to know something about what I do to appreciate this. I am a personal development, executive, career and organizational consultant/coach. Through Success Discoveries, a professional coaching services firm that provides its independent coaches with state-of-the-art tools to conduct coaching, I provide indivdual coaching, group coaching, personal developement and career development tele-seminars and information sessions using a service called MaestroConference which has proven to be highly effective for my clients and very cost effective.

The Nielson Group is a management consulting firm where I provide strategic human capital management solutions to the largest of corporations and the smallest family owned companies. We now use MaestroConference to provide client conferencing by phone saving on our productivity, the client’s productivity and travel costs and we offer educational seminars to our clients that are highly interactive and effective, again saving our clients from traveling to attend the education.

To say the least, I am busy! So why am writing about teleconferencing? Simply put, I think the old model for running teleconference sessions is broken. And MaestroConference has just turned the teleconferencing industry upside down. I like it so much I became an affiliate which means a I receive a [very] small commission if you sign up using the link below (please reward me with the find by using the link below if you find Maestro to be exactly what you’ve been looking for).

How can I say Maestro is turning the teleconferencing industry upside down?


Because I’ve participated in a lot of teleconferences, and I’ve run a lot of them myself.

Here are the problems as I see it:

  1. All the beeps and “background noise” drives me absolutely nuts.
  2. Teleseminars are always 1-way: Me talking to everybody else. Very little engagement.
  3. Most conference call systems stink. They really do. Talk to anybody who’s been doing teleseminars for very long and you’ll hear the same thing.
My point is not to “dog” teleconferencing as a model (the model itself is very good)… but rather to share with you a new technology that makes teleseminars, group coaching and multi-location project team meetings WAY better.

It’s called MaestroConference.

Try It for Free!

COULD YOU USE FEATURES LIKE THESE IN YOUR BUSINESS?

When you use MaestroConference to conduct a teleconference, it’s no longer just a one-way affair.

What’s more, instead of getting maybe 1-5% engagement, you can literally get 100% of listeners actively engaged by using the group break-out feature.

Here are a few of the things that make MaestroConference so unique for me. You can…
  • Create Breakout Groups…
    • Organize workshop-style training by phone, complete with breakout groups that simulate a real workshop. (Deliver a virtual in-person training experience without the hassle and expense of travel.) I use Glance.com (desktop sharing for groups) for the presentation of slides or show-n-tell information.
  • Take Orders…
    • Instruct listeners to order during a teleseminar information session by pressing a button on the phone. (No longer do you have to rely solely on hard-to-remember URLs.)
  • Conduct Instant Polling…
    • Conduct live Q&A calls and “pass the mic” to people who “raise their hands”—thereby avoiding the chaos and noise pollution that happens when you “open up the lines.”
  • High Quality Recordings
      Check out this recording.

Any one of these new features would make teleseminars and teleconferences much more effective.


By putting all three features together, this is bound to make virtual phone events more engaging, more persuasive, and more profitable.

Try It for Free!

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MAESTRO’S “EARLIEST BIRD” SPECIAL

Right now, when you sign up to MaestroConference’s Notification List, you’ll qualify for a free trial.

All you have to do is click the link below and sign up with your name and email.

If you’d like to start using MaestroConference right away, then pay close attention to the page you’ll see after you sign up. I’ve managed to get a few “Earliest Bird” specials just for you. Basically, you’ll get twice the service for half the regular price. This Earliest Bird offer is limited to only 750 people, and Maestro is marketing this heavily so expect these to go fast. Complete details will appear after you sign up for a free trial account.

Try It for Free!

FINAL NOTE:

If you grab one of these now, you’ll be one of the “early adopters” who gets to test-drive the technology for a fraction of what other people will pay.

Not enough for you to jump onboard?
To incent you to use my affiliate link and sign up for Maestro, if you that you signed up, I’ll provide you with a “bonus reward” just for following up with me. Choose one of the following complimentary assessment packages and I’ll personally email you back with instructions for receiving your bonus reward. Use the bonus reward for yourself or someone else. Either way, the bonus reward has real value. 

BONUS REWARD FOR USING MY AFFILIATE LINK - CHOOSE ONE

  • Success Discoveries Personal Mission and Effectiveness Package
  • Success Discoveries Relationship Insights Package
By signing up now, you’ll get “First Mover’s Advantage” in your niche—offering virtual trainings and project meetings that are far superior to what you are doing now.

This gets my strongest endorsement!

Try It for Free!

Best wishes for continued success discoveries,

Carl Nielson
Chief Discovery Officer
Success Discoveries
Are you a coach looking for a home? Check us out at http://www.successdiscoveries.com/about
and
Managing Principal
The Nielson Group
http://www.nielsongroup.com

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Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Know Someone Who is Unemployed? A Job Search Work Group May be Just What They Need

Being unemployed can be one of the most lonely feelings a person can experience. Some companies provide a severance package and outplacement services that allow the person to “continue” a routine of sorts. For most, even those lucky enough to have an outplacement service, there is a signficant risk of lost productivity, lack of energy, lack of focus and low self-esteem throughout the job search period. This emotional energy rises and falls constantly throughout the unemployed period resulting in a slower pace and longer time line to finding a job.

To reduce the emotional impact, Success Discoveries’ Carl Nielson has started a low-cost support group for unemployed people. Using state-of-the-art tele-conferencing tools, Carl holds group tele-sessions much like a live, in-person workshop setting. He breaks the group into pairs or triads for more one-on-one brainstorming or focused discussions and brings the group back together for group discussions and sharing. Referring to these support groups with a unique name, Job Search Work Groups, Carl also uses the tele-conferencing technology to vote on agenda items and allows participants to raise their hand if they want to ask a question or take the floor. According to Carl, the traditional tele-conferencing solutions don’t provide enough control over the call environment. This new telephony solution is incredible and highly effective.

Participants, upon registering and paying a nominal monthly fee (two month initial commitment is required, paid all at once or in two monthly easy-pay installments), receive the telephone number and pin to call in at the group’s scheduled time. On the first introductory call, the group decides what day and time is best for all. Particpants are matched in some ways but a very diverse group is found to be valuable for getting many different perspectives and perhaps networking suggestions. There are no long-term commitments or contracts to join a JSWG.

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Saturday, May 02, 2009

High School guidance counselors spend less than 30% of time helping students plan for college

This post is inspired by a posting from The Plain Dealer Metro on cleveland.com (see link to article at end of this post)

Ask Lori Gill Hughes about what she does as the lone guidance counselor at Cardinal High School, and she will barely take time for a breath as she runs through the list:

  • Get out the word about scholarships and make sure applicants meet the deadlines.
  • Send out transcripts and recommendations for college applications.
  • Look into tutoring and summer school for failing students.
  • Schedule students for next year’s classes.
  • Oversee state testing.
  • Coordinate orientation at the beginning of the year and an awards ceremony at the end.
  • Deal with any problems kids bring to her office . . .
”I just jump from one thing to another all day long,” Hughes said. “I’m the only counselor for 440 students and I don’t even have secretarial help.”

Hughes is hardly alone in her frustration, according to a report released today by the Michigan-based Joyce Ivy Foundation. After surveying almost a third of Ohio’s 1,500-plus high school counselors, the report concluded they handle so many duties and so many students that they can’t focus on guiding their charges toward college or career training after graduation. [see link to full article at end of this post]

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Monday, April 27, 2009

Success Discoveries and The Nielson Group Partner to Provide Unique Outplacement Services

The use of outplacement services by companies forced to layoff workers is growing according to Lee Hecht Harrison. The Nielson Group, parent company to Success Discoveries and provider of organizational development, hiring and leadership effectiveness programs, combines its tools and strategies with the personal touch and professional coaching competencies of Success Discoveries coaches to provide high quality, client-focused job search coaching services to its clients.

Carl Nielson, Managing Principal of The Nielson Group and Chief Discovery Officer of Success Discoveries, states, “We see the current downturn in the economy differently. While some industries are facing a significant slump, our corporate clients tend to be in growth industries. Hiring might be a bit slower but you still have 90+% employment rate in most areas of the country. Finding and talking with key decision makers that have jobs available is not a difficult task when you take an intentional approach to the job search and everything that goes into preparing for that job search. We don’t see a company’s employment site with automated resume capturing to be a very effective strategy for getting your resume in front of the right person. We also don’t see employment agencies and search firms providing the answer either.”

Success Discvoeries and The Nielson Group are combining best practices to help individuals move quickly from unemployed to passionately employed. Our goal isn’t just to help a person find the next job. We see it as our goal to help a person find the next passionate thing to do. To find out more go to our Career Coaching for Adults offering page.

We are now offering, in addition to our career coaching and resume polishing services, a cost-effective new strategy called “Job Search Work Groups” or JSWG (pronounced J-swig). A JSWG is a group of 3 to 10 individuals who meet by tele-conferencing on a frequent, regular basis and facilitated by a Success Discoveries career coach. The entire concept of a JSWG is relatively new and it has proven to be highly effective for participants. In addition, Success Discoveries supports each JSWG with its entire team of coaches. The JSWG Facilitator is a Success Discoveries coach. Any time a client has an issue or question outside the expertise of the Facilitator, the Facilitator will call on the entire Success Discoveries team to help out. “We are very excited about this new offering, especially during this time of need for many people.” states Carl Nielson, Managing Principal of The Nielson Group and Chief Discovery Officer of Success Discoveries. To learn more go to our Career Coaching for Aduls offerings page.

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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Carl Nielson Featured Presenter at ICF North Texas July Meeting

image


Carl Nielson, Chief Discovery Officer of Success Discoveries and Managing Principal of The Nielson Group will be the featured speaker at the July meeting of the North Texas chapter of the International Coach Federation. His topic is The Business of Coaching: Changing to Succeed.

Participants will experience a “personalized” brainstorming session using “wisdom circles” to co-create a better understanding around their greatest challenges as identified by a personal ChangeWorks! ChangeGrid®. “My goal is to have every participant walk out with a specific solution or action they will be implementing to help them in one or more of the ten components related to the business of coaching.” stated Carl Nielson.  The star of the program will be the participants. The more open and willing each coach is to share their success stories and solutions around the business of coaching the greater the value for everyone. But rather than have everyone try to address ten “big” components to the business of coaching, we will use the ChangeGrid® results to assign each participant to a specific wisdom circle. Participants will be invited to share their learnings back to the entire group as a wrap-up segment.

For more information, visit the ICF North Texas website calendar event.

The ChangeWorks! ChangeGrid is a registered trademark of T. Falcon Napier and Associates, Inc.

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Sunday, April 05, 2009

Career Coaching for Students™ Version 3.0 Now Available

Success Discoveries has just announced the release of version 3.0 of Career Coaching for Students™. The new version eliminates the need for the Student Resources CD (all resources are online now) and has enhanced the guidebook to be easier to use, more attractive and motivational for students. Exercises have been enhanced as well.

One of the most exciting additions for Version 3.0 is the availability of Life Skills for Students™ self-study modules. These are downloadable modules including audio and printable workbooks on key skills needed to be successful in college and in life. Any student who listens to the modules and completes the simple exercises in the workbooks will excel.

The new binder includes 11 tabs for students to hold additional content. “I always had plans to make Career Coaching for Students™ a comprehensive “success strategy” for students”, stated Carl Nielson, developer of the program and founder of Success Discoveries. “We were very pleased with the acceptance of earlier versions of the program. The program structure hasn’t really changed because of that positive feedback. The program has become much richer because of the binder design changes, enhanced online resources, guidebook enhancements and the addition of the Life Skills for Students™ modules.”

For more information about Career Coaching for Students™ go to http://www.successdiscoveries.com/products/ccfs. To have a representative contact you, or you can call us at 972.346.2892. 

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ICF North Texas TeleClasses for Coaches

ICF North Texas TeleClass Hope Page

Journey to Excellence

Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere. ~ Chinese Proverb

The International Coach Federation North Texas Chapter has initiated a continuing education teleclass series for coaches. These offerings qualify for CE credit and are open to any coach. Not a member of the North Texas Chapter? No problem! A nonmember price is offered that is very cost-effective. Become a member and save on all teleclasses.

Learn more or Register for this FIRST Teleclass!


Powerful Listening and Powerful Questioning: Keys to Coaching Excellence

Presented by Christine Martin, MA, MBA, MCC

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Saturday, March 07, 2009

Success Discoveries for Social Networking

Even with unemployment on the rise, you may be thinking you are in a good position. No risk of you losing your job, right?. So networking is probably way down on your priority list. If you are recently unemployed, you may be in shock, perhaps wondering just how you are going to rebound in this bad economy.

Regardless of your personal situation, may I suggest you raise networking on your priority list. If you are in a strong, secure situation, then you are in a position to help others. Why do that if everything is good? Because I haven’t met anyone who made it through their entire life/career without at some point needing their network. So if there were ever a good time in the last century to decide to help others, this is it. One of the best ways to be effective at helping others is to network - make yourself accessable to others by interacting with others. 

For some, especially those in professional sales, networking is second nature. But for most, Networking (with a capital N) is one of those tasks that never seems to take center stage until we are desparate. Then, when you actually do some networking, it tastes bad. It doesn’t feel right.

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Tuesday, March 03, 2009

The Bachelor TV show - What has Jason learned? What has America learned

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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Success Discoveries for Effective Networking™ Brings Results

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Sunday, February 15, 2009

Career Coaching for Students™ Receives Community Service Recognition

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Sunday, February 08, 2009

Top Personality and Career Tests on the Web: You Get What You Pay For

by Carl Nielson
Any business that fails to take a regular inventory of its assets and deficiencies is doomed to failure. The same can be said for individuals who are committed to using their innate strengths in choosing a career path and improving their lives. Americans are often stuck in the pursuit of “finding themselves”. As a result…

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Thursday, February 05, 2009

Success Discoveries for Couples™ Special Offer for Valentine’s Day

Would a User Manual for your spouse be a good thing?
Want to relate better to your spouse?
Want to show your signficant other how much love you have to give?
Need brownie points for Valentine’s Day?
What if you knew what your spouse really wants?
Want something that lasts longer than roses?

Roses - $50
Dinner - $100
Movie - $25
Theatre tickets - $100
A User Manual for your Spouse - PRICELESS!

A great Valentine’s Day gift for any couple!

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Success Discoveries for Couples Valentine’s Special

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Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Michele Wahlder appears on WFAA TV’s Good Morning Texas

Success Discoveries’ Michele Wahlder was invited to talk with the hosts of WFAA’s Good Morning Texas in Dallas, TX. Her topic was “Mental Spring Cleaning: Is your Self Talk Toxic?”

To watch the clip and download her Mental Spring Cleaning workbook, click here.

Michele’s coaching practice, Life Possibilities, focuses on life, career and relationships.

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Reading on the Rise for Adults

According to a new study by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), for the first time in history, American adults are reading more literature. The study, called “Reading on the Rise” documents a convincing increase in rates and numbers of American adults who read literature, with the biggest increases among young adults, ages 18 to 24. This growth reverses more than two decades of downward trends cited in previous NEA surveys.

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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Inspiring Students

Success Discoveries provides a wide range of coaching services, mostly for adults and organizations. One area we are very proud of is our Career Coaching for Students™ program. That one program has connected us with 1,000’s of students at the high school and college level. Just when you start getting a little cocky about your impact, along comes something that keeps you humble. Read More to see the story and watch two short videos that are sure to touch your heart.

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Monday, January 12, 2009

Free Internet Resources for High School Students researching careers

Success Discoveries offers extensive Internet content for career exploration and education option research for high school students. The Resources pages are open to the public, no password required. All content has been reviewed for value and appropriateness before being posted. ”We realized the content we provide on Career Coaching for Students™ career exploration Resources pages is perhaps the best on the web. We could keep it a secret or open it and promote it to career counselors and career exploration curriculum directors as well as to parents. We feel it is a win-win strategy to leave it open. The more people who visit the Career Coaching for Students site, the more that learn about this very effective program for high school students. We hope schools and students (with their parents involvement) are able to leverage the research tools to find passion.” stated Carl Nielson, developer of Career Coaching for Students.
Career Coaching for Students™ free research resources
Career Coaching for Students™ - the program, the guidebook, the testimonials

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Friday, January 09, 2009

Umberger Development Recognizes Success Discoveries in Video

Jo Umberger, President of Umberger Development has utilized the expertise, competencies and assessment tools of Success Discoveries in her organization development consulting practice. In her promotion video, hear Jo mention Success Discoveries as one of her strategic affiliations. One of Jo’s competencies is her eye for effective marketing strategies. As part of the value of being a Success Discoveries coach, each coach is provided marketing consulting support that includes working one-on-one with Jo to develop and implement highly effective marketing strategies.

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Saturday, December 06, 2008

Students Explore Career Paths Early

by Ann Marie Shambaugh, Frisco Enterprise, Staff Writer
The Career Coaching for Students™ workshop was presented in Frisco, TX at the Music Conservatory of Texas on November 25th to a group of high school students from the area. Staff Writer for the Frisco Enterprise Star Community paper, Ann Marie Shambaugh, was there to learn and report on the workshop and the reaction from students. To read her article go here or click on the Read More link for a copy of the article. 

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Saturday, June 28, 2008

A Calling to Give Back

by Carl Nielson
One of the things I find most rewarding about my abilities is the ability to give back. To that end, I don’t want to talk about myself. I want to share with you four people who are giving back. Laurie Wilson, Terry Trace, Joel Boggess and Marcie Swift are working with our youth (leaders of tomorrow) to develop career paths that excite the passion within. All four are using the Career Coaching for Students™ program to provide high school and college students with…

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Coaches Offered a Better Way to Build Their Business

As of July 1, 2008, Success Discoveries is offering coaches the opportunity to re-brand themselves, enhance their marketability, expand their tool set and gain more satisfaction from coaching by becoming a Success Discoveries licensed coach. To learn more go to the About page.

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Monday, January 14, 2008

Celina High School sponsors Career Coaching for Students workshop

Celina, Texas
Celina High School principal Jeff Oldham announced today the sponsoring of Career Coaching for Students(tm) for a second consecutive year. “Last year’s success with one workshop has justified offering two dates this year”, stated Oldham. Celina high school students are being offered the opportunity to register and attend the one day workshop on either Saturday, February 16 or Saturday, March 22, 2008. Both days will be facilitated by Carl Nielson, the developer of the program and include assessments, research tools, a personal career exploration binder and an interesting and fun time. 

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Sunday, December 02, 2007

American Heritage Academy holds Career Coaching for Students classes

Carrollton, Texas
Jeanne Spradling, Academic Dean at American Heritage Academy announced plans today to offer freshman, sophomore, junior and senior students the opportunity to participate in an in-school nine hour program called Career Coaching for Students. The program idea was presented to parents at a recent evening presentation. Carl Nielson, developer of the program, gave the parents a brief overview of the program and answered their questions. “I have grown kids now that didn’t have anything like this available.” Mrs. Spradling stated to the parents. “I’ve looked at many career planning/career exploration offerings for students. Career Coaching for Students(tm) is by far the best program I have reviewed.” American Heritage Academy students will attend three 3-hour classes held in the computer lab. Class dates will be two weeks apart. Regular class time will be used for the workshop. Students will use the computer lab for completing the talent assessments and performing online research. Guests from diverse career areas will be visiting during the second class date to allow the students the opportunity to practice interviewing people in careers. 

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Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Career Coaching for Students returns to Richardson high schools for Second Year

Richardson, Texas
Richardson Independent School District has contracted with Success Discoveries to provide Career Coaching for Students(tm) to all 11th grade AVID students at Richardson High School, Berkner High School, Pearce High School and Lake Highlands High School, “This is the second consecutive year for the program, stated Carmen Steward, AVID Director for RIchardson ISD. “We received great feedback from students and teachers last year and felt the program was an excellent fit.”

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