Sometimes we need people to tell us the truth, even if it hurts. Recently, while practicing what I preach (challenge yourself to be better at what you do and to be a better human), I asked someone to give me some real, nitty gritty, raw feedback. She did. Was I scared? Sure, I was. What
One of my favorite ways to do introductions in my workshops is to ask people to share a fascinating fact about themselves. Too often I hear, “There isn’t anything fascinating about me.” They’re lying. The same goes for you. If you tell people there is nothing fascinating about yourself, you are lying, and you aren’t
It’s really hard to be kind ALL of the time, and when you're not, are you being human or are you being a workplace meany? I’ve struggled with this myself. I felt regret when I vented about coworker to another coworker. I questioned if I should have managed a meeting when I wasn’t the one
Leaders who laugh won’t be taken seriously. Leaders who laugh are unprofessional. Leaders who laugh aren’t good leaders. These are all misnomers. It’s actually the opposite. Leaders who laugh are relatable. Leaders who laugh humanize themselves. Leaders who laugh are leaders people want to work for. Stanford’s Graduate School of Business lecturers and workplace humor
I was a go kart passenger driven by a daring, competitive 9-year-old this weekend. Lap after lap she held off the other drivers so that we would round the track in first place every lap. The photo above didn’t capture our crash and burn finish. We crossed the finish line and were told to “brake,
Criticism creates anxiety. Coaching creates autonomy. Criticism creates fear. Coaching creates courage. Criticism creates robots. Coaching creates critical thinkers. Criticism creates mediocre performers. Coaching creates high performers. When leaders have metrics to meet, deadlines to hit, and bosses to answer to, the pressure can be too much. Sometimes that pressure comes out sideways, shifting their
I guess it’s not really a matter of earning the right to celebrate Effective Communications Month, but rather what are you doing to communicate effectively? There are a lot of bad communicators out there – heck, that’s what keeps me in business. Are you one of them? Are you the bad communicator that makes others
The past five weeks have been utterly exhausting, and I have put my business on the back burner so to speak. Why? Because my Dad needed me. In March, my 84-year-old Dad called me and said, “I think I want to sell my home. It’s too much to take care of.” This wasn’t the first
The first thing people say when they find out I wrote a book is, “Wow. That must have been a lot of work. I could never do it.” They’re right. It was. It took two years. (And they’re wrong. Anyone can do it if they have enough drive.) This is why I did it. I’ve
In my career I’ve worked with people I didn’t like working with. People I didn’t want to be alone with, not because they were creepy (well, there might have been a couple of creeps), but because they were energy sucks. And there have been a couple bosses that made me dread waking up in the
