January 11, 2010

June 2009

The Cliff Valley School located in Atlanta, Georgia, has announced that Dr. Luis F. Valdes has been appointed to the Board of Trustees.  In 1966, Cliff Valley School was established as a progressive, cooperative preschool and kindergarten with the goal of nurturing children to become confident, independent learners and responsible, caring members of the community.  Cliff Valley School teaches students to think critically, preparing them to be responsible decision-makers and to manage their lives successfully in a complex and diverse world.

October 3, 2008

Navigating Turbulence TRAINING

Stabilize Your Company

A good economy can hide organizational problems.  A good economy will allow many companies to tolerate a lack of teamwork, poor leadership, sloppy management practices, underproductive performers, undisciplined sales people, product defects, poor customer service, ineffective product research and development can be tolerated when revenue comes it. 

You can’t ignore or avoid problems in a bad economy.  Every decision and action, good or bad, is magnified and scrutinized.  The effects can be widespread.  As a result, in a bad economy, there is the temptation to pull back and slow or shut down parts of the business. 

The Real Problem

As when driving a car in snow or ice, the temptation is to swerve by turning away from the skid.  In water skiing, when you sense danger, there is a temptation to pull you arms in.  In snow skiing there is temptation to lean backwards.  In all three instances, you lose control, swerve, and crash and/or fall down.  When skidding on the highway, the counterintuitive thing to do is to turn into the skid.  In skiing, the right thing to do is to lean forward, rather than leaning back.   Leaning in will keep you upright or afloat.  Pulling back or away is a panic reaction and will invite failure.

In tennis, when you encounter a hard-hitting opponent, the natural thing to do is to back up to the baseline; or, if you are at the net, to move back to the service line.  However, what coaches teach is to move up to the net to defend a hard hitter. 

A good economy will allow you to get away with much sloppiness, lack of preparation and discipline, and lack of accountability.  A bad economy will force or highlight errors.  In a bad economy, there is the temptation to swerve and get out of your lane.  Make sure your company stays in its lane and avoids the swerve and skid.  Before you swerve, anticipate and get prepared.  Make sure that your organization understands, plans and acts with the knowledge about what we know about panic and overreacting.         

What to Do?

Do the counterintuitive for your organization and learn to overcome your basic instincts to pull away from danger.

You may not be able to pay your employees more right now and you may not be able to promise year-end bonuses, but you can keep your employees focused and productive and maintain high morale during these uncertain times by developing their skills in a meaningful manner.

The economy will turn around, but bad times will be here for a while (economists are now saying 2010). Be ahead of the curve and invest in the future of your company.  Demonstrate your commitment to your employees and the organization by systematically preparing for the future.

Performance Vertical understands the pressure, the demands, and the stress of weathering the economic storm and the uncertainty that it brings.  We are ready to assist your company to deal with this new landscape.  Our training and consulting services can get your organization ready for the turbulence. 

Training Objective:  Turbulence Inoculation

Our Navigating Turbulence Training is based on the Peak Performance System.  This system uses what we know about peak performance and peak performers.  The system provides tools to help your organization focus and perform under pressure.  It is also designed to help business to utilize their talent effectively, survive the economic downturn, and prepare for the future.  The goal is to keep things moving forward and be ready to thrive as soon as possible, regardless of the overall condition of the economy.    Is your organization ready to meet the challenges facing it?

Peak Performance eCoach is here!  Are you ready for the challenge of peak performance?        

 The great thing about eCoach is that you are in the driver's seat.  You use the tools to maximize performance rather than conforming yourself to the tools.  Also, the eCoach does just not meet HR needs for documentation, it meets business needs:  performance and results.  If improving the ability of you and your team to focus and deliver is essential, then eCoach is for you.

September 23, 2008

Dr. Luis Valdes will be discussing Performance Psychology at the monthly meeting of the Atlanta Junior Chamber of Commerce at the Park Tavern.   

July 30, 2008

Dr. Valdes will be presenting his Peak Performance System for the Brookhaven Rotary Club in Atlanta, Georgia.  

June 8, 2008

Check out the blog article from Creative Growth Group's Andrew Dietz.  His blog highlights the "thinking/doing" dilemma with some notable quotes from yours truly.  Here is the link for the Creative Growth Group blog:  http://andrewdietz.blogspot.com/

Friday, May 30, 2008

 Dr. Luis Valdes, CEO, PerformanceVertical consulting CEO, presented his highly rated talk on his Peak Performance System at the 2008 GPA Annual Conference at Jekyll Island, Georgia.  The presentation focused on the discipline of performance psychology, including the past, present and future of performance psychology.