Danny M. Goldberg - People-Centric Skills

Chapter 1: The People-Centric Journey Begins Anew: This chapter re-establishes our characters and sets up our storylines for the duration of the novel.

Chapter 2: Reading Through People: Dalton arrives at his client (Sojo Technologies) in San Francisco to assist the CFO in interviewing a suspected harasser and fraudster, Julianne Cranson. Julianne is a high-level sales executive who has always been one of the company's top producers but is suspected of numerous violations, including kickbacks, undocumented discounts to customers, fraudulent reporting of travel expense, and threatening employees. Dalton advises and assists Kelli Jackson on how to approach Julianne and how to read her. Dalton has also coached Kelli on presenting to the audit committee and board and is planning a return visit for hands-on instruction for her team.

Chapter 3: Emotional Intelligence: Dalton drives into San Jose to meet with Stanton Electronics Chief Financial Officer Brad Lester, a long-term friend and client. Dalton has his kids fly up and spend the weekend with Brad and his kids. Dalton takes in Dax's (Brad's eight-year old) soccer game, where Brad is an outspoken fan and parent. Brad is very demanding and vocal. After the game, Dalton and Brad talk about his impact on his son and how, in certain situations, Brad is intimidating without realizing it. The conversation dovetails into the importance of empathy and how to use it effectively to build relationships and relate to people.

Chapter 4: Different Points of View: Using Self-Awareness and Empathy Effectively: The next day, after Dalton's deep-dive conversation with Brad on emotional intelligence and how to apply it in the workplace and at home, Brad applies these key learnings in an important conversation with his son, Dax.

Chapter 5: Wrong Mode = Wrong Mood: Determining the Optimal Mode of Communication: Dalton's ex-wife is Caleb's newly appointed soccer team manager and wants to make sure the communication issues that the team has suffered from in the past do not continue to occur. Over dinner, Leslie and Dalton discuss some situations that have occurred and how they should have been communicated.

Chapter 6: Influencing Change Throughout Any Business: Dalton delivers one of his signature courses on how to look for deficiencies and continually improve any business process. Dalton starts the presentation with the importance of communication throughout any organization, highlighting the foundational keys to a successful corporate culture transparent, continuous communication.

Chapter 7: Projecting the Real You: Public Speaking: Dalton meets another visit to the Bay Area to see Kelli and her team and discuss presentation skills and leading practices on how to deliver a compelling message.

Chapter 8: Coaching and Mentoring: Dalton meets with Austin, head of Information Technology at Sojo Technologies, to determine the right path and approach to deliver feedback to one of his directors, David Allison. Austin is struggling with David because he was recently promoted to vice president, a role David believes should have been his.

Chapter 9: Presentation Skills and Body Language: Dalton reviews the videos completed by Kelli's team and delivers feedback to the team on presentation skills and body language and other topics that assist in delivering a top-notch presentation.

Chapter 10: Thinking Quickly on Your Feet: Dalton discusses leading practices in listening techniques and how to recall a person's name. He also discusses how the senior team might handle people who display aggressive techniques. He introduces the STARS method for thinking quickly on your feet, and how anyone can use it effectively.

Chapter 11: Coaching and Mentoring, Revisited: Dalton previously coached Austin and assists him in delivering feedback to David Allison, a direct report he has struggled with since Austin's promotion to vice president. Dalton helps Austin deliver delicate feedback to make sure he and David are aligned moving forward.

Chapter 12: Crisis Management: Prior to catching a flight, Dalton discusses the pros and cons of various ways to handle crisis management with Sojo CEO Brandon and CFO Kelli.

Epilogue: We wrap up some of our storylines and find out what happens to Dalton, Lauren, Julianne, and others.

1 1 https://hrexecutive.com/are-soft-skills-more-important-than-the-right-qualifications/

2 2 https://www.fenews.co.uk/featured-article/17062-are-soft-skills-more-important-than-education

3 3 https://www.forbes.com/sites/nazbeheshti/2018/09/24/are-hard-skills-or-soft-skills-more-important-to-be-an-effective-leader/#5e1f9a512eb3

I WANT TO THANK Tali Ploetz for her contributions to this book. With her vast experience in audit and risk, Tali wrote Chapter 2, which was critical to setting up our storylines.

I also want to thank the many people I have met throughout the years that have unknowingly inspired the stories in this book. Without you, the stories would only be fictional tales.

Dalton finally settles into his seat on American Airlines flight 330, now delayed for three hours due to … who knows what the excuse is today. As a too-frequent traveler (and someone who loves control), he has given up on attempting to comprehend many things he cannot control. Happy to get an upgraded seat, he prepares for takeoff by gulping down a Tito's and soda, not taking the time to savor the flavor (or lack thereof). Regardless of the fact that he travels close to 200,000 miles a year, he never seems to get used to being on a plane—and out of a position of control. He very rarely sleeps in transit, so he plans to use his plane time wisely and goes through his running (and never-ending) task list.

At times, Dalton has overextended himself, even if he controls his own schedule. He fights a constant battle between having quality time and earning the money that enables him to have quality time. Tonight, he is heading from Sacramento to Orlando, but due to delays, he is routing through Miami and not directly to Walt Disney World. Instead of landing at the originally scheduled time of 5:00 am, this gets him in at 10:30 am—definitely a challenge to speaking coherently to an audience of 450 risk professionals at 1:00 pm. He has always viewed problems like these as self-imposed challenges and had fun with the circumstances.

One of the reasons Dalton took on this ambitious schedule is that it will give him the opportunity to meet his kids, Caleb and Liora, in Orlando and take them on a late summer trip to Disney World. The kids flew in with his ex; after a few years of getting a feel for their after-marriage relationship, he and his ex have achieved a very good rapport. In fact, it is reminiscent of the relationship he fell in love with. Revisionist historian—no regrets. Move forward.

Both Caleb and Liora have been accepted into a great middle school after suffering from constant bullying over the previous year. Fingers crossed, but everyone agrees this is the place both can thrive. This trip is a reward for all they have been through over the previous year.

Loving his job/company/profession Is key to Dalton's continued self-motivation. Keeping clients happy, making a difference, giving other like-minded individuals opportunities to be successful—this is what he lives for! Regardless of not sleeping for 32 hours, he known that when it Is his time to own the stage, he will always be successful, but maybe the time has come to avoid these kinds of scenarios! Over the past five years, Dalton's business has grown exponentially. His biggest hurdle—leveraging a business dependent upon one person/one personality—has been overcome by finding like-minded people and on selling clients not on a replacement for Dalton but on a different approach. All the other life coaches/trainers working with Dalton bring exceptional diversity in background and experience to the table. It works, but finding like-minded people was not a simple task.