“Kim Barnes is an energetic facilitator and an exceptional mentor. Relating to people across the organizational spectrum and across cultures is fluid, as if second nature to her. Her practical approach and products are well thought out, directly relevant to the workplace, and about the most performance-based I've seen in a classroom context. Participants' knowledge and competencies in the target skills improve notably by the conclusion of the program.”

-Senior Executive, Consulting Firm

Exercising Influence: A Guide for Making Things Happen at Work, at Home, and in Your Community

Change minds, guide opinions, and shape emotions with the power of effective influence

Exercising Influence is your guide to accomplishing more with less effort. Demystifying the process of influencing others, this book shows you how to develop effective influence behaviors, plan an influence approach, set goals, resolve problems, and build better relationships. Revised and expanded to provide more actionable advice across industries and sectors, this third edition has updated examples and resources and features all-new chapters on influencing through social media, influencing your team, and applying research findings of neuroscience, and behavioral economics.. You'll create work, family, and community relationships that are more mutually rewarding as you apply a practical, real-world model for developing this seldom-taught skill.

Influence is a skillset that everyone needs, yet the necessary techniques and fundamentals are rarely made explicit and shared. This book is a vital resource for anyone who wants to achieve better outcomes at work, at home, or in the world at large, helping you make important things happen and create relationships that matter.

Building Better Ideas: How Constructive Debate Inspires Courage, Collaboration and Breakthrough Solutions

Why do teams settle for bad ideas or kill good ones? Popular consultant B. Kim Barnes's unique process of constructive debate shows how teams can create better ideas and outcomes by eliminating obstacles to honest discussion, creativity, and collaboration.
In too many organizations, great ideas and unusual solutions can be suppressed, ignored, or attacked. Departments defend their turf, and people choose what is safe over what is better. Bad ideas move forward and good ideas die, which can lead to disastrous results—financial or otherwise. 

Luckily, there is a workable path out of this dysfunction. Kim Barnes's process of constructive debate shows how to establish conditions that encourage the free exchange, discussion, and development of ideas and eliminate conditions that prevent potentially useful ideas from getting heard. By using this tested model, any company or team can improve outcomes and bring out everyone's best ideas. 

A constructive debate is one in which a diverse group of individuals can express their ideas, engage others in building on and improving them, explore ideas deeply, and challenge one another's positions in a fair and productive way. In this book, you'll learn a set of behaviors you can model and encourage and a process you can facilitate, lead, or support your client in leading. In this time, where opinions can be tribal and differences can lead to unconstructive conflict, it's important to find ways to build robust ideas through a thoughtful, fair, and inclusive approach.

Consulting on the Inside, 2nd ed.: A Practical Guide for Internal Consultants

Are you an internal consultant—a staff member who serves in a consultative role within your organization? Then you need this hands-on guidebook to help you better understand your role and improve your performance.

Whether you're a change agent, trusted advisor, or someone who serves in varying capacities, it's important to design your job, develop a formal agreement, and build your practice.

You'll find a thorough examination of the eight phases of the consulting process, a comprehensive analysis of the differences between internal and external consultants, and success stories demonstrating the personal qualities you need to build trust and relationships. Consulting on the Insidealso provides a complete toolbox for getting the job done, including tips and techniques, checklists, forms, a sample hiring agreement, and ready-to-use agendas...