see our keynote and workshop on leading from a distance If you’re a manager, right now your leadership skills are being tested, and evaluated (by those you lead), like never…
Category: Communication
Four Words You're Gonna Have to Stop Saying to Customers
There’s one simple change that you and your team can make that’ll yield happier customers right away, and it means simply purging your language of one four-word phrase. Over the…
Are You Listening, or Just Waiting to Talk?
Almost universally, the leaders I have the good fortune to coach find that one of the skills they most need to work on is listening… really listening. That need has…
Stop Ghosting, Keep Your Word, Your Reputation. It’s All You’ve Got!
Lately, I’ve observed unprecedented levels of people ghosting scheduled appointments. One involved a wasted 400-mile drive (grr!). I learned of others in conversation with two independent businesswomen, both of whom…
Assume Positive Intent
In April, 2008, as part of a Fortune Magazine segment in which notably successful people were queried about the best advice they had been given, Pepsico Chairman and CEO, Indra Nooyi volunteered a…
Huddles or Hurdles? It's Your Choice
Let’s start with some locker room talk. No, not that kind… This morning, at the Y, I overheard a conversation between two guys who were, like most of the rest of…
Preventing the Next Uber Dumpster Fire
Nobody in their right mind flies an aircraft, rewires their home, performs surgery, goes skydiving, or engages in many other activities without the benefit of training and/or certification. And if…
Speaking Each Other's Language
Let’s face it. Communicating at work is tough enough when both the speaker and the listener speak the same native language. Add different tongues to the dynamic and, sacré bleu!…
Eight Lessons Learned While Trapped in an Elevator
Earlier this week, I spent about a half an hour trapped, by myself, in an elevator that I’ve traveled 27 floors up, and down, an average of twice a week…
Should We Stop Doing Performance Reviews?
For the past few years there has been a hue and a cry, joined of late by large numbers of HR professionals, suggesting that companies need to stop doing traditional…