President's Message

Colin Powell (US Secretary of State), in a speech as part of his Outreach to America program at the SEARS Corporate Headquarters in Chicago, Illinois last year stated that:

"Organization doesn't really accomplish anything. Plans don't accomplish anything, either. Theories of management don't much matter. Endeavors succeed or fail because of the people involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds. In a brain-based economy, your best assets are people.”

David T. Kearns, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Xerox Corporation, and former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Education, in a forethought to a paper by Quinn Spitzer, Jr. Entitled “The PeopleWise Organization: MANAGING THE HUMAN SIDE OF CHANGE” stated that “Organizations must become more nimble and versatile. The window of opportunity is getting progressively smaller. Those who wait are left wanting, as more fleetfooted competitors seize the moment- and the customers. The key is to develop the organization's human resources and to design systems, structures and processes that are enablers, not blockers, of the highest levels of achievement.”

W. Edwards Deming enunciated “The Deming System of Profound Knowledge” in this excerpt from Chapter 4 of “The New Economics”, second edition, as follows:

“The first step is transformation of the individual. This transformation is discontinuous. It comes from understanding of the system of profound knowledge. The individual, transformed, will perceive new meaning to his life, to events, to numbers, to interactions between people. Once the individual understands the system of profound knowledge, he will apply its principles in every kind of relationship with other people. He will have a basis for judgment of his own decisions and for transformation of the organizations that he belongs to. The individual, once transformed, will:

-Set an example
-Be a good listener, but will not compromise
-Continually teach other people
-Help people to pull away from their current practice and beliefs and move into the new philosophy without a feeling of guilt about the past.”
What General Powell, David Kearns, and W. Edwards Deming were saying without saying it is:
PERSONAL COMPETENCY AND CREDIBILITY ARE EVERYTHING IN ORGANIZATIONS TODAY. WE SHOULD ALL NOTE THAT THIS IS PARTICULARLY TRUE IN A WTO ENVIRONMENT!!

Competency Defined
G.P. Bunk, in La transmisión de las competencias en la formación y perfeccionamiento profesionales en la RFA. CEDEFOP Magazine No. 1. 1994. defined competency as follows: “The person who possesses professional competence has at his or her availability knowledge, skills and aptitudes needed to exercise a profession, can solve professional problems in an autonomous and flexible way, is able to collaborate in his or her professional environment --------.”
Credibility Defined

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Online Dictionary defines credibility as “the quality or power of inspiring belief. “

This definition causes me to reflect on two quotations from two famous Americans. The first of these is by an author whose works I have loved since a child. Samuel Clements (Mark Twain) said to "Always do right- this will gratify some and astonish the rest. "

One of our more famous presidents said that “Character is like a tree and REPUTATION is its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” This quote is attributed to Abraham Lincoln

Bringing Terms to a Focus

What we are concerned about at the Global Negotiation Institute is finding ways to increase both individual and organizational competency and credibility. I firmly believe that individual employee professional and business competency builds individual credibility and reputation, and further that this individual employee credibility and reputation can contribute significantly to organizational credibility and quality. In short, quality employees make a quality organization!!!

How Can Professional Certification Support Competency, Reputation, Credibility, and Quality?

Benefits of Professional Certification
Professional certification offers individuals a wide range of important benefits. The certification designation demonstrates to current and potential employers that the employee possesses a solid foundation of experience and education in a field of endeavor that can have a positive impact on bottom-line results. Certification symbolizes knowledge and accomplishment and is highly regarded by colleagues and employers. As a certified professional, the employee can proudly join a successful group of professionals who are enriching and advancing their careers and their chosen professions. Specific benefits include the following:

Professionalism -- Certification indicates a high level of professionalism to both coworkers and customers, increasing one’s value in the market place.
Leadership -- Certification signifies an employee as dedicated to continuous improvement of himself/herself..
Recognition -- Only a small fraction of professionals ever achieve certification, indicating that they are a leading professional in their fields.
Knowledge -- Certification will improve one’s understanding of the most current processes and trends in one’s profession.
Ethical Behavior—Individuals who become certified must subscribe to a rigorous code of ethics appropriate to the specific profession.
Manager Interviews Support Certification
Interviews with American managers from a wide variety of organizations suggest the following:
Certification helps professionals improve their job skills.
Certification can provide the basis for a continuing program of professional development.
Certification can contribute to increased departmental performance.
Certification can increase the credibility of the department.
The time, money, and effort spent on a program of professional certification is a good use of the organization's resources.
A certification program can be developed in an organization that has limited resources.
Does Certification Impact Salary Levels?
Research data has shown that employers typically reward certified employees with salaries that are 25 to 40% higher than those who are not certified. A high correlation between certification and salary exists for virtually all professions and all industries sampled.
Certification Furthers and Promotes Business Ethics
An often overlooked aspect of the professional certification process is that part relating to ethical standards. All individuals who become members of American professional associations and seek the professional certifications of those organizations must subscribe to a rigorous code of ethics. These codes serve as a “self-policing” system of business ethics, thus contributing to the credibility and reputation of the individual who becomes professionally certified, as well as the credibility and reputation of the organization to which they belong.
Global Negotiation Institute Professional Certification Training and Education
The Global Negotiation Institute has recognized the need and desire for increased professionalism, credibility, reputation, and quality through certification of business professionals. The organization was created in order to promote professional certification in a broad range of disciplines, including the following:

CERTIFIED INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONAL NEGOTIATOR (CIPN)
CERTIFIED BASIC ENGLISH COMMUNICATOR (CBEC)
CERTIFIED BUSINESS ENGLISH PRACTITIONER (CBEP)
CERTIFIED INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ENGLISH PROFESSIONAL (CIBEP)
CERTIFED INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MANAGER (CIBM)
CERTIFIED INTERNATIONAL BANK MANAGER (CIBM)
CERTIFIED INTERNATIONAL MARKETING EXECUTIVE (CIME)
CERTIFIED INTERNATIONAL SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGER (CISCM)

The Institute offers certification-related training, testing, and professional certification in the above disciplines primarily at alliance partner locations or off-campus locations (including the client's place of business). Customers are offered a wide variety of "packaging" options. After the training is completed, the Institute tests the candidate and, if successful in the examination, confers the appropriate certification to the candidate.

Harvey Mackay, in a speech entitled “Who Do You Want to be When You Grow Up?” said the following:
“Grow. Stretch. Transform yourself. A simple bar of iron is worth about $5. Made into horseshoes, the value rises to about $50. Transform it into needles, and now you're talking $500. But if you take that bar of iron and make it into springs for a Swiss watch, it could be worth a half million bucks. You started with the same raw material; the value grew as the material was formed and developed. It's the same with people. My friend Zig Ziglar challenges his audiences: "Go as far as you can see and when you get there, you will always be able to see farther." Christopher Columbus took his advice and didn't even know it!”
A somewhat more profound reference provides a useful closing quotation. The Western bible at Galatians 6:7 says that “for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” We at GNI and other organizations and associations focusing on professional certification believe that we are sowing the seeds of future quality in human resources and that this quality will be of great benefit not only to the individuals concerned, but also to the organizations they work for as well as society and the nation as a whole.

LeRoy H. Graw
EdD, DBA, C.P.M., CPCM, CPP, CPPM, CISCM
PRESIDENT