Carol Kivler teaches workers how to communicate
By: Mike Mathis
LAWRENCE Doing your job well doesn’t necessarily mean you’re successful at it.
Other factors, such as knowing how to communicate and deal with difficult people, play a big role in how productive you can be in the workplace, according to Carol Kivler.
And it’s up to the boss to help employees reach their potential by providing the tools and interpersonal skills they need to perform their tasks successfully, Ms. Kivler said.
"Many people get exasperated, because business doesn’t equip them with the skills they need," said Ms. Kivler, a corporate trainer and motivational and executive coach who lives in Lawrence. "Management is about getting people to do what you need them to do because they want to do it, not because you want them to do it."
Ms. Kivler’s clients hail from a variety of segments of business and include private corporations and government agencies. They include the Mercer County Board of Social Services, Princeton University, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the American Press Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, and The New York Times Broadcasting Group.
A former high school teacher and college professor, Ms. Kivler said she is motivated to coach and train others in part by her own personal struggle with clinical depression. She has had four major bouts since she was diagnosed in 1990.
"I kept my diagnosis in an air-tight closet for fear I would lose my job," said Ms. Kivler, who has three children and three grandchildren. Now "I want to instill hope for those who are diagnosed with a mental illness that periods of recovery are possible."
For Ms. Kivler, becoming a corporate trainer and motivational speaker wasn’t a difficult decision to make. She simply exchanged chalk for a briefcase.
A graduate of the College of New Jersey and Fordham University, Ms. Kivler taught business courses at Mercer County Community College for 12 years and at Bordentown Regional High School for three years before deciding to launch Kivler Communications. Ms. Kivler serves as the firm’s president.
"I had been in the classroom for a long time," Ms. Kivler said. "It was in my blood."
The workforce has changed dramatically over the last 10 years, according to Ms. Kivler. Today’s workers aren’t as loyal to their employers as their parents and grandparents had been, she said, and they’ll switch jobs several times over a career.
Meanwhile, those who remain in the same job with the same company for 20 years or more often become stagnant, according to Ms. Kivler.
Ms. Kivler provides an array of customized corporate training and development services to clients, including time management, supervision, customer service, coping with difficult people, working with multiple bosses and preventing burnout, according to the firm’s Web site.
While most organizations fill management positions from within, Ms. Kivler said they often neglect to provide those employees with the tools they need to succeed. Among the sessions she conducts for fledgling management employees are mentoring, team building, leadership skills, writing effective performance appraisals and making the most of meetings.
Part of her repertoire involves teaching workers how to write clearly and concisely for business, a trait Ms. Kivler said many people don’t possess.
The training is interactive "where the participants talk more than I," Ms. Kivler said.
"On the job training is very important," she said. "Poor management is hazardous to your health."

