Most people who fail at work do not fail because of a lack of technical ability. Rather, it is the inability to relate well to others. People can be the modern organization's greatest strength or its greatest weakness, depending on how effectively they work together.

While every interaction is unique, the basic skills to handle them do not change. Businesses don't do business with businesses. People do business with people and people agree to solutions for their reasons, not for our reasons. As we interact with others, we need to remember that we must not only worry about what we are trying to achieve, but also seek to understand what the other person's interests are. If we just stick to our position, we risk arriving at a solution that not only does not satisfy either person's needs, but also results in hurt feelings and mistrust.

Healthy relationships enjoy a balance between the degree that the needs of both parties are met. The strongest professional relationships are those ones that consistently are characterized by collaborative behaviors that result in mutually beneficial outcomes. One does not have to look far in organizations to discover that collaboration is not the norm. Rather, most individuals resort to one of the following common, but less than ideal, behaviors when relating to others:

Aggression - an exclusive focus on self jeopardizes trust and results in I win/you lose outcome.

Accommodation - too heavy a focus on the needs of others risks you win/I lose outcomes.

Avoidance - ignoring needs, especially in times of conflict, leads to outcomes where nobody wins.

Compromise - this most common approach to relationships produces less than optimum results.

Tero's Professionalism Series is based on the premise that between aggression and accommodation and beyond compromise lies a balance of collaboration that leads to win/win outcomes in relationships. During their training, participants discover their own natural strengths and build the skills to relate assertively and collaboratively with others.

Experts have long suggested that the beginning of emotional intelligence and relationship savvy is to know oneself. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. It is often hard to take an objective look at oneself. That's where the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) can help. The MBTI is founded on the work of Swiss psychiatrist, Carl Jung. Jung suggested that differences in behavior are the result of the way each of us prefers to gather information, make decisions, reenergize, and order our lifestyle.

Can you think of any area of life in which it wouldn't be a tremendous advantage to know yourself and understand others better.

Participants in this comprehensive series will: