Aspire Journeys

Residential Community Manager Journey

  • 29 Courses | 10h 11m 46s
  • 7 Books | 1h 1m
  • 7 Audiobooks | 2h 5m 54s
The residential community manager is responsible for managing apartment buildings - including physical maintenance, profits, and lease applications. They may use negotiation skills for closing sales, and customer service skills while troubleshooting issues that arise with buildings and residents. Learn more about the skills and competencies required by the Residential Community Manager. This Journey is based on real-time market information from Burning Glass Technologies and focuses on the role of the Residential Community Manager.

Brand Management & Public Relations

People don’t buy products. They buy brands. Who creates brands? People. How do they do it? Through proper marketing research and planning.  Learn more about brand management and public relations.

  • 6 Courses | 2h 38s
  • 1 Book | 10m
  • 1 Audiobook | 19m 7s

Communication Skills

There's an art to communication, allowing your authentic self to shine through and allowing the exchange with another person to unfold naturally.  Learn more about communication.

  • 5 Courses | 1h 31m 17s
  • 1 Book | 11m
  • 1 Audiobook | 21m 46s

Customer Service

Customer needs lie at the heart of every service interaction. In order to fully support the customer, we must be able to identify both their stated and unstated needs.  Learn more about Customer Service.

  • 5 Courses | 2h 26m 45s
  • 1 Book | 10m
  • 1 Audiobook | 20m 49s

Detail-Oriented

Even if you know what's important to do, losing focus can stop your progress. No matter who you are or what job you do, focusing at work can be hard. Even with great schedule management and organizing skills, it's easy to get off track if you're not careful.  Learn more about detail orientation and focus.

  • 3 Courses | 1h 2m 2s
  • 1 Book | 4m
  • 1 Audiobook | 13m 58s

Planning

To resolve many of the threats and challenges that your organization will likely have to face, it’s essential that you develop a business strategy that incorporates a clear vision, new ideas, and innovative solutions.  Learn more about planning and strategic thinking.

  • 4 Courses | 1h 30m 6s
  • 1 Book | 6m
  • 1 Audiobook | 14m 31s

Problem Solving

Solving problems requires strategic thinking. You need to ask the right people the right questions to get to the source of the issue and find the solution.  Learn more about problem solving.

  • 4 Courses | 1h 6m 54s
  • 1 Book | 10m
  • 1 Audiobook | 15m 59s

Negotiation

Whether it’s agreeing prices with suppliers, setting deadlines with clients, or getting a raise from a manager, strong negotiation skills are a must, and are often the deciding factor between success and failure.  Learn more about negotiation.

  • 2 Courses | 34m 4s
  • 1 Book | 10m
  • 1 Audiobook | 19m 44s

COURSES INCLUDED

Creating Brands through People and Planning
People don't buy products. They buy brands. Who creates brands? People. How do they do it? Through proper marketing research and planning. The traditional marketing mix emphasizes the four P's: product, price, place, and promotion. However, this fails to address two other important aspects of marketing: planning and people. Planning and people are vital to any marketing effort. Marketing planning guides how marketing is carried out, so it's imperative that it is informed and comprehensive. And because employees impact the marketing mix so strongly, it's equally important to ensure they understand and support the company's marketing actions. In this course, you'll learn about the types of people needed to create and support strong brands. You'll become familiar with internal branding and the importance of engaging employees as brand ambassadors. You'll also learn about how strategic and tactical planning are employed for conducting effective and cohesive marketing research that will inform digital marketing efforts. Finally, you'll learn about the factors that contribute to an integrated marketing communication plan.
7 videos | 28m has Assessment available Badge
Administrative Support: A Positive Professional Image
Mastering administrator essentials requires working on your communication skills. Whether you're an office administrator, an office assistant, a personal assistant, or an administrative assistant, you'll need to navigate the world of office politics while trying to remain true to who you are. In this course, you'll explore best practices for making a good impression as an administrative professional. You'll learn about projecting a professional image by building credibility, communicating honestly, respecting others, and practicing positive office politics.
6 videos | 16m has Assessment available Badge
Managing Your Corporate Reputation Online
Social media pages, user review sites, and online communities are some common digital marketing tools used to connect with your target market. These tools, however, can also be used by customers to rate - and complain about - a company's products or services. Without proper online reputation management, your relationship with your customers may be irrevocably damaged. In this course, you'll learn how to build and maintain relationships with your online customers to protect your corporate reputation. You'll also learn how to use digital PR, blogs, and online user communities to drive your brand.
7 videos | 18m has Assessment available Badge
Strategies for the Modern Public Relations Professional
Public relations (PR) has always been a balance of persuasion, information, and communication - but these terms imply a one-sided relationship. The rise of social media and lightning-fast news cycles requires that modern public relation professionals engage more with their audiences and build and maintain relationships. In this course, you'll learn the fundamentals of modern PR, including new research and marketing methods, how to create and maintain relationships with your influencers, and how to react to negative news stories. You'll also learn how to build and monitor a successful PR campaign.
7 videos | 18m has Assessment available Badge
Writing Skills for Public Relations
The ability to write well is an essential skill and responsibility for all public relations (PR) professionals. Good writing is often time consuming and doesn't always come easy, but it's vital for connecting with your target audience and conveying your key brand messages in a clear and engaging manner. In this course, you'll learn how to develop written messages for your public relation initiative. You'll explore how to create and distribute attention-grabbing press and social media releases. You'll also learn techniques for managing an effective social media marketing campaign.
6 videos | 16m has Assessment available Badge
Conquering the Challenges of Public Speaking
Most people find the task of public speaking daunting. But with enough practice and preparation, anyone can be effective at delivering a speech. Being a competent public speaker allows you to showcase your work and deliver an effective presentation. However, you won't convey your message if you fail to engage your audience, handle audience challenges that arise, and tackle your nerves and anxiety. In this course, you'll learn about the basics of good speech delivery and dealing with some of the most common challenges of public speaking, such as handling difficult questions or hecklers in your audience. You'll also find out methods of overcoming public speaking anxiety.
8 videos | 22m has Assessment available Badge

COURSES INCLUDED

The Art and Science of Communication
There is a science behind communication, including how we react neuro-physiologically to others - through verbal communication such as their words and tone, as well as the non-verbal communication of their actions and body language. There's also an art to communication, allowing your authentic self to shine through and allowing the exchange with another person to unfold naturally. In this course, you'll learn about the art and science of communication. You'll explore techniques for connecting with your audience and building trust with them so that your communication intention is clear and understood. You'll also learn the basic principles of assertive communication that is positive and not aggressive.
6 videos | 15m has Assessment available Badge Certification PMI PDU
Trust Building through Effective Communication
Building relationships with the people you want to communicate with is key to making communication effective. And building trust is essential to forging meaningful working relationships. In this course, you'll explore the necessity of clearly presenting your information and intentions as the basis of effective communication. You'll see how understanding your audience ensures that your message is delivered in such a way so to maximize its impact and how managing your emotions allows you to adapt to the emotional needs of others to build trust. Finally, you'll learn how verbal communication combines with body language and vocal tone to better convey your message effectively.
7 videos | 18m has Assessment available Badge Certification PMI PDU
Choosing the Right Interpersonal Communication Method to Make Your Point
Do you ever feel that a lack of email productivity is frustrating the effectiveness of your written communication? Are poor verbal communication skills holding you back? Choosing the right communication method for the situation has a huge impact on how your message is received. This course explores the importance of choosing the right communication method to best convey your message. You'll learn how to select the proper methods for building trust, conveying your ideas, and targeting your method to your intended audience. The right communication method improves the odds of getting your point across and communicating effectively, leaving your audience informed, enlightened, and engaged.
8 videos | 21m has Assessment available Badge Certification PMI PDU
Do We Have A Failure to Communicate?
Communicating effectively can be challenging when having difficult conversations. Because these challenges typically involve emotions such as hurt, anger, or confusion, it's not uncommon for people to avoid one another or shut down, preventing what could be a productive exchange at many levels. In this course, you'll examine some common communication challenges and how you can successfully navigate them. By showing patience, perseverance, and accountability, you can effectively deal with tough conversations, communicate your message, and reach mutual understanding and agreement.
6 videos | 16m has Assessment available Badge Certification PMI PDU
Communicating with Confidence
Communicating with confidence is critical to your message being successfully received. Feeling confident in a high stakes situation is not always easy but with effort, confidence can be cultivated and improved. In this course, you'll learn about being an effective speaker. You'll discover ways to prepare, techniques to avoid being nervous and how to use your voice and body language to communicate with self-confidence.
7 videos | 19m has Assessment available Badge Certification PMI PDU

COURSES INCLUDED

Customer Service: Adapting to Your Customers' Cues
The ability to support a customer is keenly enhanced by a greater understanding of the customer's mood, communication style, and knowledge of the product or service in question. From the first moments of interaction, the customer will be giving cues in each of these areas. Interaction with customers requires planning, active listening, and a conscious effort to adjust your communication and support approach based on your customer's cues. In this course, you'll learn how to recognize and read customer cues, and how to use them to adapt your support strategy to each individual customer. You'll also explore how to overcome common pitfalls customer service agents face in assessing their customer's cues. This course was developed with subject matter provided by NueBridge (www.nuebridge.com) which has extensive expertise in customer experience and management across multiple industries around the world.
7 videos | 33m has Assessment available Badge
Customer Service: Interpreting Customers' Service Priorities
CSRs who can identify their customers' priorities are able to make the best decisions on how to serve the customer. A customer's priorities may be both explicit (stated clearly or obvious) and implicit (unsaid or unexpected). Understanding the scope and interdependence of these priorities allows you to better address each customer's implicit needs and help you deliver a higher level of service. In this course, you'll learn to distinguish customer priorities as either explicit or implicit, and to describe how speed influences customer perception. You'll also learn strategies to decrease the amount of effort the customer has to expend in getting issues resolved, methods to demonstrate your presence for customers in service interactions, and strategies to help you balance priorities during a customer service interaction. This course was developed with subject matter provided by NueBridge (www.nuebridge.com) which has extensive expertise in customer experience and management across multiple industries around the world.
7 videos | 26m has Assessment available Badge
Customer Service: Discovering Customer Needs
Customer needs lie at the heart of every service interaction. In order to fully support the customer, we must be able to identify both their stated and unstated needs. Customer support professionals use a combination of skills to analyze beyond the stated requirements to uncover the full spectrum of customer needs. In this course, you'll learn the service advantages of being able to identify your customers' needs. You'll learn best practices for discerning both stated and unstated needs in a service interaction and how to avoid problems and pitfalls in needs exploration. You'll also learn techniques to help you exceed your customers' needs and you'll explore scenarios that put these practices into action. This course was developed with subject matter provided by NueBridge (www.nuebridge.com) which has extensive expertise in customer experience and management across multiple industries around the world.
8 videos | 31m has Assessment available Badge
Customer Service: Engaging with Customers
Customer service is customer engagement. And as a customer service representative, you don't often get to see happy, smiling customers, excited by their new service, new device, new outfit, or new opportunity. You get to see them when the new thing isn't working. Or isn't the right color. Or may not be billed correctly. And then you get to try to make them happy again. In this course, you'll learn proven techniques customer service professionals can use to boost their self-confidence, better engage with their customers, and demonstrate flexibility and efficiency in the problem-solving process. This course was developed with subject matter provided by NueBridge (www.nuebridge.com) which has extensive expertise in customer experience and management across multiple industries around the world.
7 videos | 27m has Assessment available Badge
Customer Service: Strengthening Your Service Skills
Customer service continues to become a strategic imperative for most organizations today. Experienced CSRs have valuable experience with both hard and soft skills, making this role an ideal launchpad for a career in the business or private sector. This course enables you to determine the most effective means for self-improvement, teaching you the skills to find and practice growth and development opportunities in customer service, in your company and industry, and that give you a deeper sense of personal achievement and satisfaction. In this course, you'll learn how to leverage your interests to boost your skillset. You'll also learn to find and use learning resources that support professional growth, strategies that promote lifelong learning, and how to use that knowledge to build a career development plan. This course was developed with subject matter provided by NueBridge (www.nuebridge.com) which has extensive expertise in customer experience and management across multiple industries around the world.
7 videos | 28m has Assessment available Badge

COURSES INCLUDED

The Art of Staying Focused
Even if you know what's important to do, losing focus can stop your progress. No matter who you are or what job you do, focusing at work can be hard. Even with great schedule management and organizing skills, it's easy to get off track if you're not careful. In this course, you'll learn how to stay focused and stay on top of your schedule. You'll learn strategies for dealing with focus challenges and distractions at work. You'll also find out how to beat fatigue, manage your time, and decline work-related requests. And you'll explore how to adjust your focus to deal with change, and how to regain focus when you've lost it.
7 videos | 19m has Assessment available Badge Certification PMI PDU
Sharpening Your Focus to Stay on Track
Even when you know your priorities and have an organized time management routine, you'll still be challenged every day by distractions, temptations, interruptions, and procrastination. To avoid causing internal time management detours, you have to develop ways to stay focused, and this often means using personal and interpersonal skills in very specific ways. In this course, you'll learn strategies to manage challenges to your personal focus, techniques to help you shut out distractions and manage time conflicts, and ways to regain focus and develop mental resilience when faced with change.
6 videos | 21m has Assessment available Badge
Getting the Details Right: Spelling Basics
Spelling errors are all too common, and are one of the main culprits behind poor business writing. A wrong letter here, an extra letter there, and your reader may lose confidence in your communication skills and overall competence as a professional. That's why writing well doesn't just mean writing persuasively - it also means knowing the rules, as well as the exceptions, of spelling. In this course, you'll learn how to spell words with prefixes and suffixes, and how to form the plural and possessive forms of words. You'll also learn general rules on how to spell correctly, as well as some handy tips for better writing in general.
7 videos | 20m has Assessment available Badge

COURSES INCLUDED

Thinking Strategically as a Manager
To resolve many of the threats and challenges that your organization will likely have to face, it's essential that you develop a business strategy that incorporates a clear vision, new ideas, and innovative solutions. This course explores the characteristics of strategic thinking, as well as the traits you need to plan and implement an effective strategy. It also covers how to develop your capacity for thinking strategically through creative thinking, being prepared to deal with complexity, and being aware of what's going on inside and outside your organization.
7 videos | 22m has Assessment available Badge Certification PMI PDU
Preparing and Implementing a Business Plan
Creating a business plan helps you clearly see the opportunities and obstacles you'll inevitably face as you pursue your business idea. By implementing a business plan, you stand a better chance of getting the support you need to succeed. In this course, you'll learn about what a business plan is, the business planning process, and the steps you need to take when creating a business case. You'll also learn how to carry out an internal analysis and about the key elements examined in any external and SWOT analyses. Finally, you'll learn about activities that can help you when implementing a business case, including developing action plans and determining how the implementation should be measured, monitored, and assessed.
8 videos | 23m has Assessment available Badge Certification PMI PDU
Knowing When to Take Strategic Risks
Risk taking can revolutionize business, but you need to know when and how to take a strategic risk when the opportunity arises. Managing risk means effectively assessing a threat by recognizing the probability of that risk occurring and evaluating the impact of the risk should it occur. In this course, you'll learn to define strategic risk taking, what holds individuals back, and how to make calculated leaps of faith.
6 videos | 22m has Assessment available Badge Certification PMI PDU
Using Strategic Thinking to Consider the Big Picture
Big-picture thinking stretches beyond the short term and considers how an organization can succeed in the long term. By thinking strategically about a problem using the bigger picture, you can elevate your perspective and get a better idea of the forces at play within your organization. This course describes how systems thinking can help you become skillful at making sense out of opposites and contradictions and better understand cause and effect while managing your department according to the business strategy. It explains actions you can take to encourage creative thinking and come up with solutions that take into account the bigger picture. You'll also learn how understanding your organizational value chain can help you connect to the organization's strategy and implement it more effectively.
7 videos | 22m has Assessment available Badge Certification PMI PDU

COURSES INCLUDED

Getting to the Root of a Problem
Solving problems requires strategic thinking. You need to ask the right people the right questions to get to the source of the issue and find the solution. In this course, you'll learn about identifying stakeholders, gaining their input and trust, and using analysis techniques to get to the root cause of a problem.
7 videos | 17m has Assessment available Badge Certification PMI PDU
Defining Alternative Solutions to a Problem
Before you start looking for solutions to a problem, it's helpful to know what people want in an ideal world. This will give you some direction and aid in the strategic thinking needed to create alternative solutions. In this course, you'll learn how to define ideal states and generate and evaluate problem solutions. You'll also learn how to recognize and avoid common pitfalls when solving problems.
6 videos | 14m has Assessment available Badge Certification PMI PDU
Choosing and Using the Best Solution
When the time comes to make a final, critical decision, you need to be able to understand the reasons for making that decision, as well as its possible consequences. You must also assess the effectiveness of your decisive action in solving a particular organizational problem. In this course, you'll learn techniques for making decisions based on key criteria, such as costs, time constraints, and organizational goals. You'll explore different decision-making styles, and how each can help in problem solving. You'll also learn how to plan, manage, evaluate, and celebrate solution implementation.
6 videos | 15m has Assessment available Badge Certification PMI PDU
Solve Problems Using Systems Thinking in the Workplace
Systems thinking allows you to understand how systems work, as well as your role in them. Systems thinking affords you the ability to see the interrelationships among all events, putting you in a better position to address problems.
6 videos | 19m has Assessment available Badge Certification PMI PDU

COURSES INCLUDED

The First Steps in Negotiating
In the business environment, one of the most prized skills is the art of negotiation. Whether it's agreeing prices with suppliers, setting deadlines with clients, or getting a raise from a manager, strong negotiation skills are a must, and are often the deciding factor between success and failure. In this course, you'll learn how to sharpen your negotiating skills through effective preparation and by focusing on the important issues at hand. You'll explore the tools that will help you communicate for success. You'll also learn common best practices for countering ineffective negotiation techniques, and for overcoming negotiation challenges.
6 videos | 15m has Assessment available Badge Certification PMI PDU
Negotiating the Best Solution
Negotiation is not a game where the "winner takes it all" - it's a relationship-building process where those involved try to understand each other's needs and think creatively about solutions. Central to this process are effective negotiating skills. In this course, you'll learn how to build and maintain trust so you can find common ground with the other party. You'll hone your negotiation skills by exploring how people with different personality types may react during negotiations. You'll also learn how to manage emotions and interests, facilitate agreements, and overcome continued resistance. Finally, you'll learn how to close a negotiation so that all parties involved are satisfied.
7 videos | 18m has Assessment available Badge Certification PMI PDU

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BOOKS INCLUDED

BOOK SUMMARY

Legacy in the Making: Building a Long-Term Brand to Stand Out in a Short-Term World
What do you want your legacy to be? In Legacy in the Making, authors Miller and Conley discuss how to think about building your legacy. In this Summary, we discuss the salient points of the book based on our interpretation of its contents.
book Duration 10m book Authors By Lucas Conley, Mark Miller

BOOKS INCLUDED

BOOK SUMMARY

Think on Your Feet: Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Impromptu Communication Skills on the Job
In Think on Your Feet, Brown demonstrates how to enhance the skills and capacities that are central to improv- including active listening, emotional intelligence, charisma, and confidence. In this Summary, we discuss the salient points of the book based on our interpretation of its contents.
book Duration 11m book Authors By Jen Oleniczak Brown

BOOKS INCLUDED

BOOK SUMMARY

Customer Service Training 101: Quick and Easy Techniques That Get Great Results, Second Edition
Customer Service Training 101 explores what it means to provide outstanding customer service, and why it's so important to an organization. In this Summary, we discuss the salient points of the book based on our interpretation of its contents.
book Duration 10m book Authors By Renee Evenson

BOOKS INCLUDED

BOOK SUMMARY

Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence
In Focus, author Daniel Goleman takes us through an understanding of our selves, others, and the world around us to improve our focus skills and equip us with the tools to make us better leaders. In this Review, we discuss the salient points of the book based on our interpretation of its contents.
book Duration 4m book Authors By Daniel Goleman

BOOKS INCLUDED

BOOK SUMMARY

Guide to Business Planning
Guide to Business Planning supplies you with practical tools, based on established methods, to create and present a detailed and persuasive business plan. In this Review, we discuss the salient points of the book based on our interpretation of its contents.
book Duration 6m book Authors By Graham Friend, Stefan Zehle

BOOKS INCLUDED

BOOK SUMMARY

Problem Solved: A Powerful System for Making Complex Decisions with Confidence and Conviction
Problem Solved provides you with a consistent decision-making process based on research principles. In this Summary, we discuss the salient points of the book based on our interpretation of its contents.
book Duration 10m book Authors By Cheryl Strauss Einhorn

BOOKS INCLUDED

BOOK SUMMARY

How to Win Any Negotiation: Without Raising Your Voice, Losing Your Cool, or Coming to Blows
How to Win Any Negotiation will teach you the essential skills required to stay calm and get what you want from any negotiation. In this Summary, we discuss the salient points of the book based on our interpretation of its contents.
book Duration 10m book Authors By Robert Mayer

AUDIOBOOKS INCLUDED

AUDIOBOOK SUMMARY

Hello, My Name Is Awesome: How to Create Brand Names That Stick
Hello, My Name is Awesome discusses ways that you can create a brand name in a practical and purposeful manner that is still attractive and interesting. In this Summary, we discuss the salient points of the book based on our interpretation of its contents.
audiobook Duration 19m 7s audiobook Authors By Alexandra Watkins

AUDIOBOOKS INCLUDED

AUDIOBOOK SUMMARY

Simply Said: Communicating Better at Work and Beyond
With the premise that any interaction can be improved by better communication, Simply Said helps you learn the skills to communicate successfully, in the workplace and beyond. In this Summary, we discuss the salient points of the book based on our interpretation of its contents.
audiobook Duration 21m 46s audiobook Authors By Jay Sullivan

AUDIOBOOKS INCLUDED

AUDIOBOOK SUMMARY

Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit: The Secrets of Building a Five-Star Customer Service Organization
Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit provides a roadmap to achieving the highest standards of customer satisfaction, and building a loyal customer base that will stick with your business through thick and thin. In this Summary, we discuss the salient points of the book based on our interpretation of its contents.
audiobook Duration 20m 49s audiobook Authors By Leonardo Inghilleri, Micah Solomon

AUDIOBOOKS INCLUDED

AUDIOBOOK SUMMARY

Radical Focus: Achieving Your Most Important Goals with Objectives and Key Results
Written as a business fable, Radical Focus provides insights into the practical implementation of a highly-valued performance management system. In this Review, we discuss the salient points of the book based on our interpretation of its contents.
audiobook Duration 13m 58s audiobook Authors By Christina Wodtke

AUDIOBOOKS INCLUDED

AUDIOBOOK SUMMARY

Making Strategy Work: Leading Effective Execution and Change
Making Strategy Work is ideal for today's goal-oriented managers who wish to accomplish organizational change. In this Review, we discuss the salient points of the book based on our interpretation of its contents.
audiobook Duration 14m 31s audiobook Authors By Lawrence G. Hrebiniak

AUDIOBOOKS INCLUDED

AUDIOBOOK SUMMARY

Secrets of Power Problem Solving
Secrets of Power Problem Solving provides the framework and skills that businesspeople need to create a more effective workspace, free of both money- and people-related problems. In this Summary, we discuss the salient points of the book based on our interpretation of its contents.
audiobook Duration 15m 59s audiobook Authors By Roger Dawson

AUDIOBOOKS INCLUDED

AUDIOBOOK SUMMARY

Advanced Negotiation Techniques
The authors of Advanced Negotiation Techniques explore strategies for ethical and principled negotiation that helps maximize value for both parties. In this Summary, we discuss the salient points of the book based on our interpretation of its contents.
audiobook Duration 19m 44s audiobook Authors By Alan McCarthy, Steve Hay