Training Provider Blog 

Last year, I had the privilege of moderating a Council of Europe Hackathon on democracy: Outsmart Disinformation, Protect Free Speech. The event sat within the wider New Democratic Pact for Europe, a project concerned with revitalising democracy at a time of rising polarisation, declining trust, digital manipulation and democratic backsliding.

AI is rapidly changing the work of negotiation. Zoom reports that 54% of employees want post-meeting summaries and action items, while only 39% receive them. The point is not that every negotiator is using automated transcripts yet; it is that AI is rapidly normalising the capture, compression and redistribution of commercial conversation. That makes cross-cultural judgement even more important, because what gets transcribed is not always what was meant, and what gets summarised is not always what mattered.

Why are some people in sales and business development more successful than others?   In most industries, being successful in B2B sales has shifted from selling a great product or service to much more complex solutions. What matters, is not only WHAT YOU SELL, increasingly important is HOW YOU SELL. Selling is not an art, nor a talent, it is competence. Assessments have revealed that top performing salespeople share 6 characteristics and skills, independent of the industry they serve and the kind of product or service they sell.  

What does it take to be recognized by customers as TRUSTED ADVISOR?  Interpersonal and soft skills determine whether we succeed in our role as Sales Representative or Key Account Manager. In the past, knowledge was a USP and differentiator. AI has eroded and will further diminish the value of specific knowledge. In this VUCA world, salespeople make the difference rather than the products or services sold. Selling is increasingly about influencing, encouraging, helping, challenging, consulting, and accompanying the customer along the entire selling cycle and beyond.  

How can essential soft skills be trained effectively for employees who are facing a continuously high workload and time constraints?  “Sorry, I’m too busy, there is no time left in my diary for training!” Does this resonate and sound familiar? In more and more companies across different industries employees need to be constantly available, on the job and even on-call ready. The high workload and performance pressure does not allow much off-the-job time. Therefore lots of companies have started to  significantly squeeze the time budget that is allocated to employees’ training and continuous education. 

Menopause is too often treated as something that only happens later in life. That’s a dangerous myth. Perimenopause, early menopause, surgical menopause, medically induced menopause and premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) can begin in your 20s, 30s or 40s, and transgender men and non‑binary people who have ovaries can also experience these transitions. If employers don’t normalise conversations now, younger, transgender and non‑binary colleagues suffer in silence, careers stall, and organisations lose talent and productivity.