Tips for Handling Challenging Conversations during the Holidays
The holiday season usually offers many opportunities to practice your best conversation skills. Family members who usually don’t see each other, come together, which may present challenges because of...
View ArticleCould Your Leadership Communication Use a “Make-Over”?
The challenge for leaders is that they are frequently unaware of how their behavior negatively impacts their people's performance. Because of the continuing emphasis on results, many leaders really...
View ArticleDo You Let Your Feelings Get the Best of You? Eight Tips for Managing Your...
For some time now I have been coaching a manager who has had several challenges with her director. One Friday night recently, my wife and I had gone out of town for the weekend for a little rest and to...
View ArticleCan You Manage the Emotions of Others? 10 Tips for Defusing Defensiveness
It is not uncommon as we interact with others for individuals to become emotional or defensive in the moment. When this occurs you must remember that their reaction says more about them than it does...
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How Can You Increase Your Emotional Intelligence?
Everyone has had to deal with a difficult challenge, the poor performance of others, or something that didn’t go as planned. When such a situation occurs, we may begin to experience an emotional...
View ArticleDo Words Really Matter? Six Questions to Improve the Power of Your Message
Recently my son decided that he wanted to change a class in his junior high schedule. My wife and son went to pay a visit to the school counselor. During the meeting, the counselor asked him why he...
View ArticleHow Can You Make Your Words Work? 10 Tips to Improve the Clarity of Your...
Words all by themselves don’t create anything. But the words you choose and how you put them together will influence the thinking, feelings, and actions of others. In short, your language will help to...
View ArticleHow Can We Help Others to Engage?
Many times when I speak at conferences, individuals will find me after a session and request coaching with a difficult situation. These encounters always provide wonderful opportunities for learning...
View ArticleHow to Cut Through Fake Talk to Increase Employee Engagement
Will had worked hard for the company for about two years. Not once in that time had his manager spoken with him about his development. Somewhat concerned, Will approached his manager and asked if they...
View ArticleSix Questions to Help You See More Clearly and Increase the Power of Your...
Years ago during my first job in corporate America, I experienced firsthand the power of presence. There was a woman in my department that everyone referred to as “Crazy Mary.” I thought such a...
View ArticleWhat People Wished Their Leaders Knew
During my years as a consultant, I have often had people say to me, “I wish my leader knew …” to which I would encourage the individual to speak up and raise an issue of real concern so things might...
View ArticleHow Can You Increase Innovation through Collaboration? 9 Tips for Successful...
During the last several weeks, I had the opportunity to speak to a wonderful group of leaders at a very large company in the Midwestern United States about how to increase innovation through...
View ArticleCriticism is Not Feedback: Seven Questions for Understanding the Source of...
The summer between the second and third year of law school is the most important for finding a job after graduation. I was fortunate to secure a fantastic internship with a law firm that specialized in...
View ArticleCan You Manage Up? Eight Questions for Increasing Your Influence
As I travel around the country speaking and training people to hold potentially difficult conversations, I am frequently asked if the skills and processes which I teach can be used with one’s boss. I...
View ArticleDo Your People Give You What You Want Every Time?
Several years ago I was coaching an executive sales team. During the meeting, someone brought up that the salespeople in the field were struggling. The VP of Sales said something like, “I have been...
View ArticleDo Your Stories Keep You Stuck?
I recently went to lunch with a friend who works as a therapist. We began talking about how the stories that we often tell become the reason that we become stuck or unable to move forward in obtaining...
View ArticleHow Do You Change Your Stories?
Everyone has a story. Sometimes the story we tell becomes an explanation for why we don’t achieve the results that we want. The first challenge is to notice the stories we tell. The second challenge is...
View ArticleHow Do You Avoid Playing the Blame Game?
Last week my second son graduated from high school with honors. We were very proud of him. When all the celebration and fanfare were over, I asked him, “If there was one thing that you could do over,...
View ArticleAre You Using the Magic Words?
Recently a vice president of human resources shared with me that he had been approached by another senior executive who was having trouble with a particular employee. When he asked her what the problem...
View ArticleWhat We Can Learn from Our Fathers
This Sunday is Father’s Day. A day that is set aside for celebrating and honoring our fathers. Whatever your personal circumstance, there are things that we can learn from our fathers or the father...
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