THE IMPORTANCE OF ASKING QUESTIONS: Solving the Right Problem (Part 2 of 6)

Hours of meetings, research, and effort ONLY to find out it was the WRONG problem. I remember this happening with a client a number of years ago when I delivered training on employee engagement.  The goal of the training was to “empower employees to work together better by building trust with each other”. Great! I

THE IMPORTANCE OF ASKING QUESTIONS: Connecting the Dots (Part 1 of 6)

A theme popped up this past week when I was teaching classes on Strengths-based Leadership and running meetings that don’t suck. The class discussions led me to pull out Socratic questioning information in all three classes. This was not planned. Then I noticed the topic of questions coming up in my personal life too. Several

THE HUNGRY BRAIN OF THE EXTROVERT

Two weeks ago I wrote about how to communicate better with introverts.  Now it’s time to give the extroverts the love and the attention they desire … because extroverts have communication needs too. Take a look at these descriptions: Attention seeking Easily distracted Noisy Exhausting Talks too much Impulsive Sociable Outgoing Friendly Enthusiastic Life of

  • showing two people who are trying to understand each other

A CALL FOR MORE EMPATHY

Communication is extremely difficult right now. Honestly, the word difficult fails to capture the charged emotions being expressed following the murder* of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. I am seeing, hearing, and experiencing interaction after interaction filled with blame, finger-pointing, name calling, accusations, and assumptions. There are people who want to be heard. They

  • coffee mug that reads busy introverting

Give an Introvert Some Space, Would You!?!

How do I communicate with an introvert? This is a question I’ve been frequently asked the past couple of weeks. I’m hearing others talk about it to. And as an extrovert, I think it is a most interesting question and worth exploring. If you do too, read on! Often the difference between introverts and extroverts

Why You Should Quit Telling Me What to Do.

Quit telling, because no one wants to be TOLD what to do - especially adults in the workplace. If you are looking to disempower your employees, make your coworkers resentful, and build invisible walls that stunt communication, teamwork, and camaraderie, then, by all means, keep telling people what to do and how to do it.

Generosity: 5 Side Effects to Kindness

Don't be a jerk at work - bask in the side effects of kindness. Think about the last time someone extended a little generosity your way. They did something for you out of kindness and concern. Maybe they held a door open for you. Or they took time to listen to your frustration even though

Seriously, get a sense of humor! Or do you have one already?

I’m serious, get a sense of humor for goodness sake! – Good-Humored G Factor About 5 years ago I was invited to speak to a group of over 100 people in job transition and boy was it ever a situation requiring good humor. If you have ever been in “transition,” you know it is a

Can a little “thank you” make a BIG difference?

A little "thank you" for a BIG difference - Gratitude G Factor It seems so simple. Two words. 1-2 seconds to do it. A short little phrase. Can it really make that big of a difference? Yes, expressing a little "thank you" can make a BIG difference. "First, gratitude has been credited as an influencer

5 Reasons Email is NOT the Answer

Some of us can remember life before email.  And others can’t remember, or possibly imagine, life without email. Has our use of email gone too far? Perhaps it has. Are we too dependent on email? Perhaps we are. Recently, I received an email asking me if I was willing to write a letter of recommendation.