Podcasts

General

Podcasts are radio shows or other audio programs available for download over the Internet and can be transferred to your portable media player or smartphone. The maker of a podcast, called a podcaster, often updates their podcast with a series of episodes that you can subscribe to and receive automatically without any additional effort.

The easiest way to get our free podcasts is to download our app. You can get an android version here and an iOS version here.

There are many other podcast "catchers" available, and you can simply search for Manager Tools and Career Tools. If you need the RSS feeds, you can find those here.

You can listen our podcasts in multiple ways.

  • You can listen directly from our website. Choose a podcast from the Map of the Universe or any podcast webpage, and once you click on the podcast title, you'll be taken to a page with a player. Just click play.
  • The easiest way to get our podcasts on your mobile device is to download our app. You can get an android version here and an iOS version here.
  • There are many other podcast "catchers" available - you'll find them on the app store for your device - and you can simply search for Manager Tools and Career Tools. If you need the RSS feeds, you can find those here .

The audio and shownotes for Executive Tools™ are only available to Manager Tools Licensees. To find out more about the benefits and to become a Licensee, click here.

If you are a Licensee, you can find your personal feed for Executive Tools on your user profile.

The easiest way to get our podcasts is to download our app. You can get an android version here and an iOS version here.

There are many other podcast "catchers" available, and you can simply search for Manager Tools and Career Tools. If you need the RSS feeds, you can find those here.

Our normal podcast feed only contains the most recent podcasts. If you are a registered member (sign up for free), you can add the Archive Feed, which contains ALL the Manager Tools podcasts. At this time, the standard Careers Tools feed contains all the Career Tools podcasts. You can also find all the podcasts on this page.

You can find all our podcasts on the Map of the Universe or all podcasts pages.

Subscribe to the Manager Tools Archive Feed in iTunes

Subscribe to the Career Tools Feed in iTunes

No. We recommend it for easiest use, but you may also play any of our podcasts on that cast's webpage on our website.

The Manager Tools feeds in the podcast format are provided free of charge for use by individuals for personal, non-commercial use.
 
Use of all Manager Tools podcasts are subject to our Terms of Use.

If you're looking for information about a particular topic, use the Get Answers page.  If you're more of a visual thinker, use the Map of the Universe - there's a link at the top of each page.

If you're still struggling to find the answers you need, ask on the forums.  There's always someone around to point you in the right direction.

If you need answers about our products or training, and the answer isn't on this page, email us at [email protected].

We created collections of podcasts around particular topics so that you can get all our guidance at once. You can find them here.

Personal License

A Personal License gives you access to the written materials which accompany each free Manager Tools and Career Tools podcast, as well as the audio and written materials for Executive Tools, which is exclusive to Licensees. It also includes access to many of our other products: The Interview Series, Resume Workbook and First Job Fundamentals products; Roadmap, our app to help you learn, roll out and track your progress though the steps of the Manager Tools Trinity™; and weekly emails, Things We Think We Think and Three Random Things. For more details, and to purchase, click here.

Once you’ve purchased your Personal License, you’ll have access to the all the benefits through “my account”.  There’s a link at the top right of every page, and you’ll see your new benefits in the left-hand menu that appears when you click.

Executive Tools™

Executive Tools™ is a biweekly/fornightly podcast, in the Manager Tools style, focused on how to be an Effective Executive.

Topics to be discussed in the next two years: Executive Reset, Session C, Talent Supply Chain Management, Executive Culture Matrix, Organization Tools, Mission & Role of an Executive, Executive Relationships, Compromise and Politics.

 

Many Manager Tools listeners over the last 16 years have been promoted to the executive ranks, and have been asking for this help.  We're launching in response to requests from our community.

There is not a simple answer to this question, because the definitions of manager and executives vary.

Executives are responsible for the long term continuation of the organization (whatever organization they're in).  Managers are responsible for the short term continuation (operations) of the organization.  As such, executives deal much more with the chaos of factors external to the organization: customers, competition in the marketplace, geopolitics, the environment, society.  Managers deal much more with internal systems and processes.

Executives as leaders have to make decisions about where an organization is going to go.  Managers get it to go there.  A healthy organization has both effective executives and effective managers.

The audio and shownotes for Executive Tools™ are only available to Manager Tools Licensees. To find out more about the benefits and to become a Licensee, click here.

If you are a Licensee, you can find your personal feed for Executive Tools on your user profile.

 

$200/year, which is the cost of a Manager Tools Personal License.

Manager Tools

It's a free weekly podcast with specific actionable guidance for managers of people in all sized organizations in all industries.  It's been downloaded over a quarter of a billion times worldwide over the past 18 years.  It has been awarded so many Podcast Awards that the Podcast Awards category for business is now named "The Manager Tools Business Podcast Award".

It is designed to help managers know what to do, how to do it, and when to do it in their day to day managerial lives.

One of the founders, Mark Horstman, sold his previous management consulting firm to retire in 2003.  Michael Auzenne, his longtime friend and corporate client as an executive, suggested to Mark that they should find a way to continue sharing what Mark had developed at his previous company, Horstman & Co. Mike put together the technical aspects of the podcast, and in 2005, they recorded their first podcast ever: "Solution to a Stalled Technical Career". They quickly followed that cast up with guidance on One On Ones, Feedback, Coaching and Delegation: the basis for the Manager Tools Trinity.

Kate Braun and Sarah Sentes, the Managing Partners of Manager Tools. Both have been with Manager Tools for 8+ years and have been, for much of that time, have been delivering our content while being responsible for our highest revenue products. Kate has a background in mechanical engineering with experience in aerospace. Sarah's background is in information technology, specifically, in academic environments.

Yes.  The Manager Tools podcast has won so many Podcast Awards that the Podcast Awards category for business is now named "The Manager Tools Business Podcast Award".

Manager Tools has been downloaded over a quarter of a billion times.

They are based on Mark's consulting to large organizations and coaching and training managers and executives through his previous company, Horstman & Co. At his first company, Mark and his firm gathered data on effective managerial behaviors. Over the course of 17 years, they studied - not surveyed - the behaviors of over 975,000 managers on every continent in the world except Antarctica.

We don't have guests on Manager Tools.

Kate Braun and Sarah Sentes took over the Manager Tools podcast in 2021 from our firm's founders Mark Horstman and Mike Auzenne.

We use Zoom to connect our hosts, and then record the output on each end from an Audio-Technica ATR2100x-USB Cardioid Dynamic Microphone (ATR Series) with Audio Hijak Pro.  We use Hindenburg Pro to convert our recordings to mp2 to send to our sound engineer, Paul Figgiani, who then does the mixing to give us a professional quality sound. 

For a 30 minute podcast, we record for 31 minutes – we very rarely restate or re-record anything.

Career Tools

It's a free weekly podcast with specific actionable guidance for everyone, whether they’re managers or not.  It covers topics that are applicable to anyone, from those who are just starting out, to those with 40 year careers, in all sized organizations in all industries.   It’s not enough to be good technically and get good results. The more successful you are, the more you need relationships. Career Tools podcasts help you be more effective in both areas.

Around the 2008 market crash, Mark Horstman realized that people needed more career content than we could release at a rate of one per month in the Manager Tools feed.  We created Career Tools as a dedicated channel for career content that we could provide weekly, and still for free.

Yes, Career Tools won the best business podcast at the Podcast Awards in 2010.

About half a million people download Career Tools each month.

They are based on Mark's career consulting to large organizations and coaching and training managers and executives through his previous company Horstman & Co, his previous experience as a recruiter and his current experience working with managers and executives with Manager Tools.

We don't have guests on Career Tools.

We use Zoom to connect our hosts, and then record the output on each end from an Audio-Technica ATR2100x-USB Cardioid Dynamic Microphone (ATR Series) with Audio Hijak Pro.  We use Hindenburg Pro to convert our recordings to mp2 to send to our sound engineer, Paul Figgiani, who then does the mixing to give us a professional quality sound. 

For a 30 minute podcast, we record for 31 minutes – we very rarely restate or re-record anything.

Conferences and Training

General

The Manager Tools presenting team is composed of a group of presenting associates. Presently, that is Kate Braun, Sarah Sentes and Amanda Chase.

Manager Tools provides five training events: The Effective Manager Conference, The Effective Communicator Conference, The Effective Hiring Manager Conference, the Effective Remote Manager Conference and The M Conference.

The three core trainings: The Effective Manager, The Effective Communicator and the Effective Hiring Manager Conferences are provided as in-person public events regularly through the US, in Europe and in Australia. We also provide those trainings at client locations throughout the world. There are virtual sessions scheduled regularly at different times to provide as many opportunities for training as possible for remote teams. Finally, we have video versions of these trainings available for on-demand learning. No matter which training you or your team attend, the content is the same, so your whole team will be equally effective after training.

We limit our in person conferences to approximately 30 people. The smaller size allows you to get personal attention and feedback on how you’re doing during the practice. It also provides time for the highly interactive nature of our delivery, including time to answer all your questions.

No. One of the most common comments we hear from experienced managers who attend our Effective Manager Conference is “I wish I had known this when I first became a manager”. It’s a great opportunity to be ready with a plan of action before you get promoted. Additionally, many of the behaviors we teach can be applied to other work relationships such as peers or project team members.

Our Effective Communications Conference is for any professional who wants to learn how to be a more effective communicator. The entire Manager Tools team will tell you the behaviors you’ll learn during the ECC are the most powerful we’ve ever learned during our careers.

And you don't have to be a manager to be involved in the hiring process to attend our Effective Hiring Manager Conference. If you are contributing to the hiring process in any way, whether you be an interviewer or are responsible for onboarding, this event is for you.

Yes!  We’ve had many managers attend with their teams.  They tell us it’s very beneficial to learn alongside their directs.  It’s also useful to have the chance to discuss the concepts with your directs during breaks and over meals.  We have great admiration for any manager willing to attend management training with their directs and admit they don’t have all the answers.

Effective Manager Conference

The Effective Manager Conference is a one day training session (available for individual managers in public settings and available to corporate clients in private settings), which teaches the basics of the Manager Tools Trinity:  One On Ones, Feedback, Coaching and Delegation. The training details what to do, how to do it and when to do it. And for Feedback, Coaching and Delegation, there is extensive practice during the training.

Effective Manager Conference (in person)

Agenda

8:00 Welcome & Purpose - We welcome the group and state our purpose: learning and practicing Effective Manager Behaviors.
8:05 Agenda & Ground Rules - We will cover this agenda, and then interactively agree on Ground Rules for the day such as staying on agenda, no mobile phones or laptops, etc.
8:15 Introductions - All attendees will prepare and present a brief (30-second) introduction of themselves.
8:45 One On Ones - How to build a trusting relationship with your directs with details on what, who, when, how long, about what, and where for a Manager Tools One-On-One.
9:45 Break
9:55 One On Ones (Continued)
10:30 Feedback Model - How to talk about performance with your directs in order to encourage effective future behaviors. The 4-step model explained in detail.
11:30 Break
11:40 Feedback Practice - Practice delivering Feedback, multiple times, in increasingly more complex situations, in order to get comfortable with the model.
12:30 Lunch & Rolling Out The Trinity - How to start doing One on Ones, Feedback, Coaching and Delegation. How to choose times, notify your team, brief your team, on every part, and what to be aware of as you start.
1:30 The Coaching Model - How to improve skills performance in 4 steps: Set A Goal, Brainstorm Resources, Create A Short-Term Plan, Implement. Each step described and then illustrated in detail.
2:30 Break
2:40 Coaching Practice - Practice the Manager Tools Coaching Model multiple times.
3:20 Break
3:30 Delegation Model & Practice - Why and How and What To Delegate, and the words to say when you do so, explained, and then practiced.
4:30 More Feedback Practice - Practice delivering Feedback, multiple times, including negative feedback, in order to get comfortable with the model.
5:00 Close

For public sessions, in person, in the US, the investment is $1300. If you also attend the Effective Communicator Conference, you will be able to attend both for $2100. The Virtual Effective Manager will be an investment of $1100. Our client on-site prices start at $20,000. We also have a video option.

You can see all our upcoming public dates and locations here, our scheduled virtual events here, and we are also happy to deliver all our training at your location.

No. We have trained thousands of managers who have attended our public and client conferences who have no experience with the podcast.  There is no question, however, that familiarity with the topics by listening to the podcast will significantly enhance your learnings at our conferences.

Only a desire to get better.  You do not need to be at any certain level of management.  We have frontline managers, directors, and executives attend our conferences.  All we ask is you be willing to change your behaviors. 

Effective Communicator Conference

The Effective Communicator Conference is a one day training session (available for individuals in public settings and available to corporate clients in private settings), which teaches a behavioral technique for communicating more effectively with anyone. The Effective Communicator Conference relies on behavioral data derived from the MTDISC profile which captures an individual's tendencies to behave in certain ways. Attendees are taught how to observe other people's communication behaviors - both in face to face conversation and in email - analyze those behaviors against an easy to understand framework, and then tailor their communication to their audience.

Effective Communicator Conference (in person)

Agenda

8:00 Welcome & Purpose - We welcome the group and state our purpose: learning and practicing Effective Communicator Behaviors.
8:05 Agenda & Ground Rules - Review the detailed agenda, and interactively agree on ground rules for the day.
8:15 Introductions - All attendees will prepare and a present a 30-second introduction of themselves using, in part, their DISC profile information. You will need a copy of your DISC profile to complete the introduction.
8:30 DISC Overview - A basic overview of the technology/data and terminology of the DISC behavioral profile. This training is not “about DISC” - but DISC gives us a shared vocabulary to use.
9:45 Break
9:55 Communication Behaviors - How people with different DISC profiles communicate differently, based on behaviors. We will look at a few key pages of your DISC profile.
11:00 Break
11:10 Observe Practice - Practice observing another person, multiple times, to learn how to see and hear behaviors.
11:40 Lunch & Email Communication Practice - How people with different DISC profiles communicate using email, followed by practice determining the profile of an email’s author, and how to respond.
12:40 Analyze Practice - Practice observing and analyzing another person’s behavioral patterns and tendencies, multiple times, to learn how to see and hear behaviors.
2:00 Break
2:10 Tailor Practice - Each attendee will be tested on their ability to observe and analyze, and then tailor their own behavior to approximate someone with whom they’re having a conversation.
3:30 Close

No. We have trained thousands of professionals who have attended our public and client conferences who have no experience with the podcast.  There is no question, however, that familiarity with the topics by listening to the podcast will significantly enhance your learnings at our conferences.

For public sessions, in person, in the US, the investment is $1300. If you also attend the Effective Manager Conference, you will be able to attend both for $2100. Virtual Effective Communicator Conference is $650. Our client on-site prices start at $17,500. We also have a video option.

You can see all our upcoming public dates and locations here, our scheduled virtual events here, and we are also happy to deliver all our training on-site at your location.

Effective Hiring Manager Conference

The Effective Hiring Manager Conference is a one day training session (available for individuals in public settings and available to corporate clients in private settings), which teaches managers and professionals the hiring process from job evaluation to making an offer.  Attendees learn how to choose whom to interview, how to interview, how to probe, how to evaluate answers and how to choose which candidate to make an offer to.

Effective Hiring Manager Conference (in person).

Agenda

8:00 Welcome & Purpose - Review of our purpose: learning & practicing Effective Hiring Manager Behaviors..
8:05 Agenda & Groundrules - Review agenda, and interactively agree on the day's ground rules.
8:15 Introductions - All attendees will prepare and a present a 30-second introduction.
8:45 Effective Hiring Principles & Process - Review the purpose and process of an interview.
9:30 Break
9:40 Creating/Asking Interview Questions - How to create and ask behavioral interview questions.
10:00 Creating/Asking Questions Practice - Practice creating and asking behavioral interview questions.
10:30 Break
10:40 Interviewing Candidates In Person - How to structure a day of final, face to face interviews.
11:10 How To Listen & Practice - How to maximize the core of an interview – listening to answers. Practice listening to answers, taking notes, & recalling key points.
12:00 Lunch & Screening Candidates - How to screen a candidate's documents and social media. How to do an effective phone screen.
1:00 How To Probe & Practice - How to ask targeted questions during candidate’s response to draw out specific behavioral details. Practice listening to actual responses to interview questions, while probing for more specific behavioral details.
2:00 Interview Results Capture - How to finish an interview & capture interview results at the day’s end.
2:30 Break
2:40 How To Offer/Decline/Delay - How to make a job offer, delay & decline candidates.
2:50 How To Onboard - How to onboard your new hires.
3:25 Parking Lot - Time for final questions.
3:30 Close

No. We have trained thousands of professionals who have attended our public and client conferences who have no experience with the podcast.  There is no question, however, that familiarity with the topics by listening to the podcast will significantly enhance your learnings at our conferences.

For public sessions, in person, in the US, the investment is $1300. The Virtual Effective Hiring Conference is $900. Our client on-site prices start at $20,000. We also have a video option.

You can see all our upcoming public dates and locations here, our scheduled virtual events here, and we are also happy to deliver all our training on-site at your location.

Effective Remote Manager

The Effective Remote Manager is training designed to help managers who are already using the Manager Tools Trinity™ adapt it to a remote working situation. All attendees will need to have a firm understanding of our concepts of One on Ones, Feedback, Coaching & Delegation, prior to this session. This training consists of one session, 3 hours in length, delivered virtually over Zoom.

No. We have trained thousands of professionals who have attended our public and client conferences who have no experience with the podcast.  There is no question, however, that familiarity with the topics by listening to the podcast will significantly enhance your learnings at our conferences. 

You can see scheduled sessions here. We are also happy to deliver this training virtually to your organization.

Public Conference Specifics

Registration and Payment

Yes – you can pay using a company credit card or PayPal when you register. We realize some companies prefer to pay via invoice. Please send us an email at [email protected] and we’ll assist you with the registration process.

While that is our preferred method, we realize some companies prefer to pay via invoice.  Please send us an email at [email protected] and we’ll assist you with the registration process.

We’re happy to extend a special discount for our in person attendees who are paying their own registration fee (versus having their company pay). Please email us your information at [email protected] and we’ll be happy to help you complete your registration.

In addition to the training, practice, and materials, we provide continental breakfast, lunch, and snacks and beverages throughout the day. Attendees of our EMC will receive access to our Trinity Rollout Email Series and RoadMap. Those who attend our ECC will receive an MTDISC assessment and a series of follow up emails with reminders of what was discussed during the day. Our EHMC attendees receive access to the Interview Creation Tool to create interview questions and an onboarding checklist to assist with future hires.

Dinner, hotel expenses, parking, and transportation are not included.

No. Due to travel and hotel expenses, our virtual and in person conferences are priced differently. Additionally our international conference prices vary by location and fluctuate with the exchange rates. You can find the current price for each conference here.

Yes.  Should a conference sell out, we will start a waiting list and do our best to accomodate as many people as possible.

You can cancel at any time for a full refund, no questions asked. Or you can ask to moved to a later conference.

Yes, of course, that is always our policy. Attendees may cancel or defer attendance up until the last minute, no questions asked. If we move or cancel any event, we communicate to attendees and give them priority for attending our next (or any future) conference.

You may cancel for a full refund at any time. You can delay attendance at any time with no charge. Just let us know your plans at: [email protected] and we will action the request quickly.

Hotel Information and Special Needs

Yes.  Please indicate your dietary needs on your registration form.  Your personal comfort and well-being are important to us.

If you are interested in booking a room in the hotel where the training is offered, all the hotel details can be found on your Conference Homepage.

Other Common Questions

We have virtual versions of all of our conferences available online here. And we have video versions of all of our conferences available online here.

Yes, we host all of our conferences in a live virtual platform. Details on our Virtual EMC can be found online here, our Virtual ECC here, our Virtual EHMC here and our Virtual ERM here. We also have video versions of all of our conferences available online here.

Yes.  Breakfast is usually available for 30 minutes in the morning prior to the start of each day.  There are also breaks throughout the day.   Often attendees who travel in and are staying at the the hotel will meet together for dinner at the end of the day.  While we appreciate any invitation, we regret that our presenting associates aren’t able to join you at the end of the day.  

Yes.  Part of being a manager is giving presentations.  If that makes you nervous or uncomfortable, you’re not unusual.  You’ll have an opportunity to practice at our conferences in a safe learning environment.

Manager Tools has been reviewed and approved by the PMI Authorized Training Partner Program so that PMP credential holders can now earn pre-approved PDU credits by taking our in person and virtual training courses.

For other organizations, many of our attendees have been able to get credit by presenting a certification of completion. We provide you with a certificate of attendance upon completion of each conference day which indicates the name, date of the conference(s) you attended, and number of training hours. This completion certificate can be found on your event's Conference Homepage. If you need assistance finding your completion certificate please email us at [email protected] and we'll be happy to assist you.

(Manager Tools is a member of the PMI ATP Program. PMI does not specifically endorse, approve, or warrant ATP’s products, courses, publications, or services.)

Our dress code is business casual.  Please keep in mind that we keep our training rooms quite cool.  We recommend you bring a light jacket.

Yes, we are serious about the cold room.  Our agenda includes a lot of interactive practice which means you’ll be up and moving around.  Better to be cool in the morning than far too hot in the afternoon.  We suggest that women do not wear skirts or dresses for this reason.  We ask that you please plan accordingly as we will not increase the room temperature if you’re chilly.  

M Conference

The M Conference is Manager Tools’ Executive Development event. Held once a year, you’ll hear from top leaders in diverse industries including banking, software, aerospace, consulting, markets, finance, HR, etc. as they share their thoughts on leadership, managing and more.

Build your skills and grow your network by getting access to the right topics and the right people. A significant benefit of The M Conference is the strengthening of your network, which we support with a private Slack channel for attendees.

The M Conference is $3000 to attend in-person. We also offer a video option from previous years. Buy a single video for $200 or build yourself a custom bundle!

Executives and managers who desire to become executives.

Products

General

Login to the site, and click 'My Account' in the top right hand corner of any page to go to your Account Page. You'll be able to find a link to all your products, licenses and conferences there.

Yes. If you're unsatisfied in any way, we'll refund your money, no questions asked. Please email us at: customer [email protected]

Select “for someone else” when you have the product in your cart.  Once you’ve finished purchasing, go to “My Account” (there’s a link at the top right of every website page).  From the left hand menu that appears, choose “Products for Others”.  You’ll see the product with one share remaining. 

When you click on that Share link you’ll be able to send them the product using their email address.  They will get an email letting them know that you’ve shared a product with them. Once they accept your gift they’ll begin to receive specific logistics emails about their access.

Changing Jobs

Interviewing Series

The Interview Series is our flagship product for those changing jobs. It includes every detail of how to be interviewed and get offers. Resumes, attire, answer preparation, practice videos. It comprises early 100 podcasts and shownotes (approximately 500 pages). To find out more, and to purchase, click here.

Resume Workbook

The Resume Workbook is an e-book containing everything we know about resumes. We wrote this to stem the tide of all the resume questions we get. It's 70 pages long. Every scenario is covered. (And if you still have questions, yes, we'll answer them, no charge). It includes: examples of headers, responsibilities, accomplishment bullets, unusual situations, unusual chronologies and how to handle them all. For more details, and to purchase, click here.

Communication

MTDISC

General

It’s a self-administered behavioral assessment. It measures how assertive or reserved you are, and how task or people-focused you are (these are independent variables). It has a long history of significant scientific validity.

MTDISC is an acronym standing for Manager Tools DISC. The four letters of the DISC are:

D – Dominance: the tendency to exert power and assertiveness

I – Influence: the tendency to assert oneself socially and interpersonally

S – Steadiness: the tendency to engage in reserved and personable behavior

C – Conscientiousness: the tendency to be reserved and analytical.

You will learn your natural behavioral tendencies and how to become more effective at work - particularly as a communicator. Your ability to work with other people, the majority of whom have different tendencies to you, is one of the most important skills you can hone over the course of your career. There is no better way to discover this than with the MTDISC tool.

We are no longer selling Wiley DISC products. We’ll be happy to tell you about MTDISC - a DISC product that Manager Tools developed that’s simpler, smarter and cheaper. You can find out more here or email us. Otherwise, you can reach Wiley here: www.everythingdisc.com.

Purchasing

You can purchase multiple MTDISCs by adding to cart on this page and then changing the quantity. Once you've completed the purchase, go to your account (there's a link at the top right of every page) and look for My MTDISCs on the left hand menu that appears. You'll be able to enter the emails of the people you'd like to send the MTDISCs to there, and the backend system will inform them and allow them to complete their questionnaire. You'll also be able to see who has completed and who is still to do so on the same page.

Yes. You’ll find a button to allow that when checking out.

Taking

About 20 minutes.

It is important to complete the instrument in one sitting. If you take a break of more than five minutes, the instrument will reset. Spending more than a minute on any of the questions is an indication you’re overthinking.

No. If you buy an MTDISC from Manager Tools and do not take the instrument, the link will remain on your account homepage forever.

Immediately after you complete the instrument, you will have a link to your results, and an email with your results will be sent to you. Also, there will be a link to it on your account homepage. These links will be available forever.

No, unless your organization has provided you the opportunity to take the instrument and is intending to share it with your immediate team of colleagues (which is not unusual).

Each time you take an MTDISC the output document will be posted to your account homepage.

No. In fact, it’s not a test (which has a key of right/wrong answers). It is an instrument designed to provide you with self-insight. There are no right or wrong answers.

There are no right or wrong answers. There are no “good” or “bad” MTDISC results. MTDISC only helps you understand your behavioral tendencies and recommended changes to your behavior in certain circumstances with people who have different tendencies than you.

Benefits

MTDISC will make it easier for you to understand your patterns of behavior. It will also identify situations in which your natural tendencies will either be beneficial or deleterious. MTDISC will help you understand other people’s tendencies and suggest to you different behaviors to make you more effective when working with people who behave differently than you.

You can, but we don’t recommend it. The instrument is not a test. We don’t recommend you use it as a screen to cull applicants or candidates. We do recommend that once you have hired, to use MTDISC to learn more about the person's tendencies so that you can develop a good relationship with them.

You will learn your natural behavioral tendencies and how to become more effective at work - particularly as a communicator. Your ability to work with other people, the majority of whom have different tendencies to you, is one of the most important skills you can hone over the course of your career. There is no better way to discover this than with the MTDISC tool.

Science

You will learn your natural behavioral tendencies and how to become more effective at work - particularly as a communicator. Your ability to work with other people, the majority of whom have different tendencies to you, is one of the most important skills you can hone over the course of your career. There is no better way to discover this than with the MTDISC tool.

No. MTDISC provides you a framework for thinking about your natural behavioral tendencies.

As with any social/behavioral instrument, results can be misused, misapplied or ridiculed by those who are less than professional. Ignore them.

No. The instrument only asks you to focus on your work context to make it easier for you to answer the questions. Narrowing an instrument-taker’s context is a long-standing, well-regarded behavioral instrument technique.

It would be nearly impossible to have the mental and emotional stamina to sustain two different behavioral tendencies, one at work and one at home. This has been tested extensively and MTDISC will remain the same at work and at home. If you wish to test this, show your report to your spouse/partner. We think you’ll find they’ll say “I told you so.” ;-)

Yes. Typically a notable change in one’s MTDISC results are the result of environmental or external change that cause one to gradually change one’s behavior to achieve success within a new context. If you went from a technical role to a sales role, for instance, you would change your behaviors due to different incentives. An MTDISC test would reflect that change after a few months.

The DISC Model of Behavior was first proposed by William Marston, a physiological psychologist with a PhD from Harvard. His 1928 book, Emotions of Normal People, explains his theory on how normal human emotions lead to behavioral differences among groups of people and how a person’s behavior might change over time. His work focused on directly observable and measurable psychological phenomena.

No MTDISC profile is better than any other. MTDISC is not a test, it’s a behavioral instrument designed to help you understand how your different behaviors work in different situations.

There is no best job for each style. Manager Tools has ample examples of professionals with every MTDISC tendency succeeding in every job we’ve ever heard of. There is data that certain profiles of behavioral tendencies choose certain careers more than others, but we would not recommend using MTDISC to pick a career field.

No. The conventional wisdom that different nationalities have different behavioral tendencies has been disproved by mountains of data over the last 75 years. Historical DISC studies have show an equal distribution of DISC profiles in any large, random sample of participants from every country in the world.

We encourage you to listen to the Wendii Curve podcast in which we go into great detail about the mistaken belief that nations have personalities.

No. Every person is an individual. MTDISC is not a way to pigeonhole individuals. It is a way to help you understand your own and other’s behaviors generally and work efficiently with those whose tendencies are different than yours.

Application

It depends on whether you wish to teach our material or simply teach the basics of MTDISC.

If you wish to train your team/organization using our Effective Communicator training, which relies on MTDISC, you will require a license. Email us to find out more.

If you are simply going to provide the instrument to your team members and go over it with them, you will not need a license. You can find a free podcast with guidance on how to do that here.

Effective Relationships

Effective Relationships is a set of podcasts that help you communicate with the people you work with. Using DISC we establish their preferences, and then we help you adapt your behavior to work more effectively with them. For more details, and to purchase, click here.

Hiring

Interview Creation Tool

The Interview Creation Tool is our proprietary product that creates a complete set of interview questions for any job. It asks you 64 questions about what’s required in a job you’re hiring for, and gives you a 10 page interview question set, tailored to the job. It has space to write the candidate’s answers, and instructions on how to evaluate what you hear. It’s a Hiring Manager’s best friend.

It’s available as part of a Personal License and is included in our Effective Hiring Manager Conference, as well as in some client trainings.

To find out more, click here.

Managing Your Team

RoadMap

RoadMap is our interactive application that assists you in more effectively rolling out the Trinity to your organization. Reminders and prompts help you keep track of your One On Ones & Feedback, with ready answers at your fingertips for whenever you have questions or need an extra bit of guidance. To see it in action, click here.

RoadMap is automatically included with your Annual License or as part of any of our Effective Manager Conferences.

Effective Feedback Examples (Audio and Video)

It’s our answer to a question we hear a lot – “can you give me some more examples of what Feedback sounds like?” Mark tells you what bad feedback sounds like, and then what great Feedback sounds like. With more examples, your Feedback will be even more effective. To find out more, go to Effective Feedback Examples.

Books

The Effective Manager Book

Mark wrote The Effective Manager book to reach out to the audience of managers who do not listen to podcasts.

What do managers do? Detailed descriptions of the four important behaviors: One on Ones, Feedback, Coaching and Delegation, as well as a detailed timeline of when to roll out the tools, how to introduce them to your team and how to follow up.  The 2nd Edition includes information about how to deploy the four behaviors in co-located, remote, virtual and hybrid teams.

The Effective Hiring Manager Book

Mark wrote The Effective Manager book to reach out to the audience of hiring managers who do not listen to podcasts.

You can read the full table of contents here.

Early Career

First Job Fundamentals

It’s a series of podcasts that include all the things we wish someone had told us when we were starting out, and all the things we wish that we could tell all those starting their career today. To find out more, or to purchase, click here.

Tools

RoadMap

RoadMap is our interactive application that assists you in more effectively rolling out the Trinity to your organization. Reminders and prompts help you keep track of your One On Ones & Feedback, with ready answers at your fingertips for whenever you have questions or need an extra bit of guidance. To see it in action, click here.

RoadMap is automatically included with your Annual License or as part of any of our Effective Manager Conferences.

Guidance

All Manager Tools materials are for personal use only as outlined in our Terms of Use and may not be shared without an explicit agreement.

If you would like to discuss an organizational license, please contact us at [email protected].

The Trinity are the core principles that underly our management philosophy.

One on Ones

Effective managers create relationships with each of their directs. To do that, we recommend spending 30 minutes every week talking to each of your directs.

Building a solid relationship with their directs is the most important thing great managers do. The best way we know to make that happen is Manager Tools One on Ones.

Feedback

Great managers talk about performance all the time. Our Feedback Model tells you exactly what to say and how to say it.

Coaching

Great managers are never satisfied. They ask for higher performance. Our goal-driven Coaching Model makes it easy for you to oversee the skill and performance improvement of your directs - in 5 minutes a week. If you've been avoiding coaching because training plans take too much time, our Coaching Model will show you a better way.

Delegation

Effective managers push work down. It frees them up to work on higher value projects and develops their team's capabilities. Our Delegation Model tells you what to delegate, why and, most importantly, how.

Managing Your User Account

You may have unchecked the selections that allow us to send you mail.  You can check by going to your Account and then selecting Newsletter Subscriptions.

If this is not the case, then the emails may be going into spam.  This happens frequently with corporate email accounts.  You may wish to switch to a personal account in this case.

If neither of these solutions resolves the issue, please email us at [email protected].  We'll be happy to investigate further. 

 

You can request a new password via your Account. Select 'Edit Account' and 'Request new password'. 

Billing and Payments

If you no longer wish to continue your subscription to the Personal License, go to your Account and click on Subscription to cancel your recurring charge. Your current subscription will expire, and you will no longer be charged. Remember, your subscription to Personal Licenses are recurring until you cancel your subscription. If you cancelled your subscription, but you were still charged, let us know via email to [email protected] and we will be happy to issue a refund.

Go to your Account page and then click on the Stored Cards tab. You may edit payment details there.

Monthly Personal licenses are monthly recurring subscriptions.  Annual licenses are charged each year automatically.

The subscription will automatically renew until you cancel the subscription. To cancel your subscription, go to your Account Page.

You can print receipts from the associated order. You can find your orders on the Order tab of your Account Profile.

Contacts

Thank you for your interest.  We are not looking for interviewees at this time.

Thank you for your interest.  We're not accepting interview requests at this time.

Our mailing address is: 

2028 E Ben White Blvd, Suite 240 PMB 4622
Austin Texas 78741
United States