Jim Bearden

Unleashing the Heroes in Your Midst

What We Know:
In light of the seemingly-never-ending stream of “bad” economic and political news, many organizations are struggling to “just get by”. Yet others are “looking for ways to win” regardless of the hands they’re dealt. According to Jim Bearden, the quality of leadership determines which of those two approaches organizations take.

The Problem:
Too many leaders seem convinced that the choices their employees make are determined exclusively by their “genetic makeup” or their “generational demographic”, e.g., “Boomers”, “Gen X’s” or the “Echo-Boomers in Gen Y”. They believe that some employees will step up in difficult situations, while others will step back, and that there’s nothing they can do to alter the choices those employees make.

The Truth:
The choices people make are influenced by the types of personalities they have and by the conditioning influences to which they’ve been exposed. Those choices are also influenced—and can be influenced dramatically—by the behavior of their leaders. In an economic landscape characterized by ambiguity and in organizational situations that are complex and ever-changing, success requires people who will aggressively execute high-stakes initiatives. We need more heroes.

Jim Bearden Understands:
As a former Marine rifle company commander, Jim knows the impact adversity can have on morale and performance. In the ultimate military “classroom”: combat, Jim learned first-hand how leadership behavior either compounds or mitigates that impact.

What to Expect From Jim’s Session:
Going well beyond simplistic platitudes and leadership theories, Jim will describe the specific things leaders can do to transform adversity into opportunity, and opportunity into success. As a result of this session, and with the benefit of Jim’s aggressive follow-up process, participants will learn:

• How to use setbacks as leadership opportunities for modeling accountability as a compelling alternative to victimhood, and
• Six specific steps they can take to consciously create cultures that reinforce & support behavior essential to their department or organization’s success

The good news is, most people want to make a difference; they truly want to succeed and to be parts of winning teams. There are “sleeping heroes” inside every organization. And in his sessions, Jim shows participants the things they can DO as leaders to Unleash the Heroes in Your Midst. 

Selling vs Hoping To Get Bought

Jim Bearden, CSP, draws on his years of experience in sales, sales management and sales consulting to develop and deliver customized Sales Keynote Presentations, Sales Training Workshops and Sales Consulting Projects. Jim’s real-world anecdotes, lively sense of humor and interactive style make his sales presentations and sales training workshops relevant and memorable.  His after-the-event follow-up process helps salespeople and their sales managers translate his Sales Training into action in the arena that matters most, the marketplace.

A Process Perspective
Contrary to what most of us have seen from many of the “salespeople” who call on us, selling is a process, not an event. While there are many significant events or phases in the selling process, none of them will prove effective as a stand-alone, not even the ever-popular—and grossly overemphasized—close.  When selling is viewed and practiced as a process, the quality of the selling experience (for salespeople and their customers) will improve dramatically.  So will the sales results.

Influence versus Illusion
Selling is a process for positively and supportively influencing the choices others (prospects and customers) make. Influence is not the same as control; one is a realistic objective, the other an illusion.  Where customers’ choices are concerned, the very best we can do is influence, and any attempts to exert control will actually reduce whatever influence we might have had. A key step toward enhancing your influence (sales success) is letting go of the illusion of control.

Value Consciousness
The notion of value is at the heart of any effective selling process, so effective salespeople work to understand their prospects’ and customers’ Definitions of Value.  In their approach to selling, inquiry precedes advocacy.  This approach to selling (we’ll call it “Ask and Listen”) will yield far better sales results than the widely practiced but ineffective alternative, “Pitch and Hope”.  It’s the classic difference between Selling and Hoping to Get Bought.

Happily Ever Afters Don’t Just Happen

Jim Bearden, CSP, delivers keynote presentations, Leadership Development Seminars and Sales Training Programs that elicit audience participation, provoke introspection and leave lasting impressions.  One of the topics that audience members have found most memorable is Jim’s treatment of “Happily Ever After(s)”.  When used in his Leadership Development Seminars, Sales Training Programs or as one of his keynote presentations, “Happily Ever After(s) Don’t Just Happen” sets the stage for laughter—and learning.

The Search for Better Ways—Two Paths
A defining characteristic of successful individuals is their willingness to consider and try alternatives to the status quo. When these people function in organizational leadership positions—formal or informal—they influence others to follow them down one of two paths in their pursuit of success. One of those paths, The Relentless Search for Better Ways, will lead to progressive improvements in processes and results, the better ways they were seeking.  The other path, The Frantic but Futile Search for “Happily Ever After(s)”, will lead to … nowhere.

Wrong Path
As the name implies, the “Happily Ever After” Path is based on the premise that legitimate quick fixes or shortcuts to success actually exist.  In reality, there are no such “abbreviated routes” that work.  Success requires effort and takes time; people expecting overnight results need not apply.

Getting Back on Track
Acknowledging and abandoning illusions about “Happily Ever After(s)” is a prerequisite to winning. The hope (delusion) that they actually exist will cause us to squander time and energy on these frantic but futile searches for “Happily Ever After” alternatives to the hard work and perseverance we know is required.  By enlisting audience participation in working through his “Happily Ever After” Cycle, Jim offers practical, real-world suggestions and helps audience members get comfortable with the truth…Happily Ever After(s) Don’t Just Happen.

Creating Better Days, Regardless of the Hands You're Dealt

In this uncertain economy, individuals can learn to shift from perceiving happiness as a ‘situational phenomenon’ to being happy with no specific reason at all, and they can do this by bringing principle-based living to center stage. In this upbeat presentation, Jim Bearden will offer alternative perspectives on the quality of our days. Using plenty of humor and his own experiences, Jim offers down-to-earth answers for Creating Better Days.

A Tale of Two Perspectives                                                                                                       
"Some days are diamonds; some days are stones." John Denver sang it, and most of us live it. What determines the quality of your days? We'll find some answers to that question. More importantly, we'll come up with an even better question and a liberating answer.

One 'Peeve' at a Time
How many "bad" days have we suffered through, victims of the "if only(s)..."? Or "If only I'd done (fill in the blank), it would have been a better day." We'll look behind the "if only(s)" and find the true source of their power over the quality of our days. Bring a mirror!

What You Really Believe
Wayne Dyer's book "You'll See It When You Believe It" is more than a play on an old saying. It's the truth. And it's the truth whether your beliefs are valid or mistaken. Discover that What you see reflects what you believe. Can you believe it?

Better Beliefs and Better Days
If you want to correct a recurring problem, you'll need to do more than treat the symptoms; you'll have to treat the cause. Having better days is...and always has been...an option for all of us. Finally, you'll develop a process for Creating Better Days, Regardless of the Hands You're Dealt