When Combustion shows up at a conference, we show up large! A few weeks ago, President and Chief Fire Starter Leslie Ehm along with the Combustion Training crew took both the exhibition floor and the training rooms by storm at the Institute for Performance &… Read More »Combustion Takes I4PL 2017 By Storm
Brainstorming sucks. It just doesn’t work. It’s a useless exercise that quickly devolves into soul crushing groupthink. At least that’s what so many people and companies think. As a result of my years of experience as a former ad agency Creative Director and now trainer,… Read More »Stop Saying Brainstorming Doesn’t Work
No need to revisit that 1996 Powerpoint for Dummies guide. And forget that helpful advice your boss once gave you about “telling them what you’re going to tell them and then telling them again”. Nope. If you really want to suck at presenting, you’ve come… Read More »Now You Too Can Suck at Presenting!
Ever left a workshop unable to recall what happened in the first half of the day? That first point you thought was so epic that you’d never have to write down to remember? The anecdote that made you laugh and nod around 11 a.m? And…what… Read More »Why your Next Workshop Deserves a Little ‘Vajayjay’
“Training without sustainment is basically malpractice.” Let me rewind for a second. Picture the scenario. As the Combustor tasked with figuring out what the company’s newly minted sustainment program should look like, I had gone to a world-renowned Learning & Development conference in search of… Read More »Confessions of a Sustainment Junkie
Every year, the Combustion team had a week long offsite retreat. We do this mostly because we really dig each others company. (There was a meatball making competition, real-life testing of a beta board game, and other stuff we can’t mention) But it also gives… Read More »Can You Put People Before Money and Still Succeed?
Before I started a training company or worked in the ad biz, I was among other things, a TV host. I got this gig by pitching some development ideas to a TV production company. Watching me do my thing, the President suddenly commented; “You know,… Read More »Presentation Skills Secrets From an Accidental TV Host
One of the first things we tell participants is that our Stand & Deliver foundational presentation skills workshop has a ‘cry factor’ of about 9. (Note: All Combustion workshops have a ‘cry factor’ rating which might tell you a lot about our weird and wonderful… Read More »Even Bankers Cry (or How Finding Your Swagger Can Blow Your Mind)
Let’s face it – even a leader with a healthy ego knows he or she can’t succeed alone. Success depends a lot (maybe even entirely) on the performance of our people. So as ‘Wise Leaders’, we’re always keeping an eye on them – it’s a… Read More »Catch Them Doing Right
I’m really lucky – working with organizations all across North America I’ve seen the awesomeness that diversity (AKA differences in people) can bring. From strategies and marketing that cross ethnic and racial boundaries to inclusion and tolerance for gender and religious differences, diversity creates a… Read More »The Leadership Recipe Myth