CTC (NAR) cheat sheet

Mentoring is a long-term developmental relationship focused on career and psychosocial support; coaching is a short-term, performance-focused partnership targeting specific skills or goals.

The GROW model sequences a coaching conversation: Goal (what do you want?), Reality (what is happening now?), Options (what could you do?), Will (what will you commit to?).

Coaching assumes the coachee has the resources to solve the problem; the coach asks rather than tells. Mentoring assumes the mentor transfers experience and opens networks.

A coaching agreement specifies session frequency, confidentiality boundaries, success measures, and the duration of the engagement before the first session.

The mentor–mentee relationship moves through initiation, cultivation, separation, and redefinition; each phase has distinct expectations for contact frequency and direction.

Powerful coaching questions are open-ended, future-oriented, and free of embedded advice (e.g., 'What would success look like?' not 'Have you tried…?').

Feedback in coaching follows observation–impact–question: state the observed behavior, its impact, and ask the coachee to interpret it before offering suggestions.

Mentoring programs fail most often from unclear matching criteria and absent goal-setting; define mentee objectives and mentor capability profiles before matching.

The Thomas–Kilmann model defines five conflict modes on assertiveness and cooperativeness axes: competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding, and accommodating.

Collaborating works best when both the issue and the relationship are high-stakes and time allows; competing suits emergencies and safety decisions; avoiding suits trivial or cooling-off situations.

Positions are stated demands; interests are the underlying needs, fears, and priorities. Conflict resolution shifts the conversation from positions to interests.

Escalation of conflict follows a predictable path: discomfort, incident, misunderstanding, tension, crisis. Intervention is cheapest at the discomfort and incident stages.

Separate people from the problem: address the emotional and relational layer before negotiating substantive terms, or the substance will be rejected.

A conflict diagnosis asks three questions: what is the source (data, relationship, values, structure, interest), who is involved, and what stage has it reached?

Mediation is facilitated negotiation by a neutral third party who has no authority to impose a settlement; arbitration ends with a binding decision by the third party.

De-escalation techniques include active listening, naming the emotion, slowing pace, and agreeing on process before debating content.

The CPS model has four stages: Clarify (explore the vision, gather data, formulate the problem), Ideate, Develop, and Implement; each stage diverges then converges.

Divergent thinking produces many options without judgment; convergent thinking evaluates and selects. Mixing the two in the same moment kills idea generation.

Problem statements should be open-ended and free of embedded solutions: 'How might we…?' invites options; 'We need a new CRM' forecloses them.

Brainstorming rules: defer judgment, encourage wild ideas, build on others' ideas, and aim for quantity before quality.

SCAMPER prompts idea generation through Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, and Reverse.

The Six Thinking Hats method assigns parallel thinking roles (facts, feelings, caution, benefits, creativity, process) to structure group ideation.

Prototyping is the cheapest way to test an idea; a prototype should be built to answer a specific question, not to demonstrate completeness.

Convergent tools include dot voting, impact–effort matrices, and criteria-based scoring; select the tool before generating ideas to avoid biased selection.

DISC measures observable behavior on two axes: pace (fast vs. moderate) and focus (task vs. people), producing D, I, S, and C styles.

D (Dominance) is fast-paced and task-focused: direct, results-oriented, decisive, and impatient with detail.

I (Influence) is fast-paced and people-focused: enthusiastic, persuasive, collaborative, and weak on follow-through and detail.

S (Steadiness) is moderate-paced and people-focused: patient, loyal, supportive, and resistant to sudden change.

C (Conscientiousness) is moderate-paced and task-focused: analytical, precise, systematic, and cautious about risk.

Communication rule: address D with bottom-line results, I with recognition and enthusiasm, S with personal reassurance and time, C with data and accuracy.

DISC describes behavior, not personality, intelligence, or values; it measures how someone acts, not why, and is not a predictor of competence.

Most people are a blend of two or more styles; the primary style is the most natural, the secondary is the backup under stress.

Goleman's five components: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill.

Self-awareness is the foundation: recognizing one's emotions as they occur and understanding their triggers and impact on others.

Self-regulation includes pausing between stimulus and response, reframing, and managing impulses; it is distinct from suppression.

Empathy has three forms: cognitive (understanding another's perspective), emotional (feeling with them), and compassionate (acting to help).

The amygdala hijack is a stress response in which the emotional brain overrides the rational brain; recovery requires time and physiological down-regulation.

Active listening requires paraphrasing, reflecting feeling, asking clarifying questions, and withholding judgment until the speaker finishes.

Emotional intelligence is learnable; self-awareness and self-regulation improve with deliberate practice and feedback, unlike IQ which is largely stable.

Social skill translates emotional intelligence into influence, persuasion, conflict resolution, and building networks.

BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement) defines the walk-away point; a strong BATNA increases leverage and reduces dependence on the deal.

The ZOPA (Zone of Possible Agreement) is the overlap between each side's reservation value; no ZOPA means no deal without changing the terms.

Distributive negotiation assumes a fixed pie and seeks to claim value; integrative negotiation seeks to create value by trading on differing priorities.

Interests, not positions, drive integrative deals; trade what is cheap for you and valuable to them, and ask what is behind each demand.

Anchoring: the first offer sets a reference point; a well-justified anchor pulls the settlement range toward it, so prepare the anchor with rationale.

Concessions should decrease in size and be exchanged for reciprocal movement; unilateral concessions signal a weak reservation point.

MESOs (multiple equivalent simultaneous offers) present several packages of equal value to you, revealing the other side's priorities.

Negotiation preparation covers your interests, their likely interests, your BATNA, their likely BATNA, reservation value, and target value.

Structure a presentation as opening (hook and thesis), body (three key points), and close (summary and call to action); audiences remember beginnings and endings.

Audience analysis determines content depth, vocabulary, and examples; the same topic needs different framing for executives, peers, and customers.

The rule of three: three main points are recalled more reliably than four or more; group supporting evidence under each point.

Visual aids support, not replace, the speaker; one idea per slide, minimal text, and large readable type.

Delivery variables include pace (about 130–150 words per minute), pause, volume, eye contact, and gesture; pausing after key points increases retention.

Handling questions: listen fully, repeat or paraphrase, answer concisely, and defer unknowns with a commitment to follow up.

Rehearse aloud and time the presentation; silent rehearsal does not surface pacing, transitions, or filler words.

Nervousness is managed by preparation, breathing, and reframing arousal as readiness; avoid reading slides verbatim.

Gross profit = revenue − cost of goods sold; operating profit = gross profit − operating expenses; net profit = operating profit − interest − taxes.

Contribution margin = price − variable cost per unit; break-even units = fixed costs ÷ contribution margin per unit.

The balance sheet follows assets = liabilities + equity at a point in time; the income statement covers a period; the cash flow statement reconciles the two.

Net present value discounts future cash flows at the cost of capital; a positive NPV adds value and is the preferred capital-budgeting criterion.

IRR is the discount rate at which NPV equals zero; accept projects whose IRR exceeds the cost of capital, but beware multiple IRRs with non-conventional cash flows.

Payback period ignores the time value of money and cash flows after payback; use it as a liquidity screen, not a sole decision rule.

Working capital = current assets − current liabilities; the cash conversion cycle = days inventory + days receivable − days payable.

ROI = (gain from investment − cost of investment) ÷ cost of investment; it ignores risk and timing, so pair it with NPV for capital decisions.

The triple constraint is scope, time, and cost, with quality as the balancing outcome; changing one constraint affects the others.

A project charter authorizes the project and records objectives, scope, stakeholders, milestones, and success criteria before work begins.

The critical path is the longest sequence of dependent tasks; it determines the minimum project duration and has zero float.

Float (slack) = late start − early start; tasks on the critical path have zero float, so any delay there delays the project.

Risk management: identify, assess probability and impact, plan responses (avoid, mitigate, transfer, accept), and monitor throughout the project.

A RACI matrix assigns Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed roles; only one person should be Accountable per task.

Scope creep is uncontrolled expansion of scope without corresponding changes to time, cost, or resources; a change control process prevents it.

Earned value: CPI = EV ÷ AC (cost performance), SPI = EV ÷ PV (schedule performance); values below 1.0 indicate overrun or delay.

Tuckman's stages: forming (orientation), storming (conflict), norming (cohesion), performing (productivity), and adjourning (closure).

Psychological safety-the belief that one can speak up without punishment-predicts team learning and performance more than individual talent.

Team roles must be explicit: clarify who decides, who executes, who is consulted, and who is informed to prevent overlap and gaps.

Diverse teams outperform homogeneous ones on complex problem-solving when inclusion is managed; without inclusion, diversity increases conflict.

Shared goals and interdependent tasks define a team; a group of individuals with independent tasks is a workgroup, not a team.

Norms are unwritten rules of behavior; they form early and are hard to change, so set them deliberately at team formation.

Team development interventions include goal-setting, role clarification, problem-solving workshops, and interpersonal feedback sessions.

Remote and hybrid teams need explicit communication cadences and documented decisions to compensate for missing informal contact.