Giraffes are social. And when they socialize, they like to be informal and mix things up. Giraffes move into and out of herds; they don’t stick with one group or develop territories (known as cliques or ingroups and outgroups in the workplace). Think of giraffes as being socially-fluid. What do you do at work? Do you
Giraffes are odd looking. They are disproportionate with their long necks and comparatively teeny heads. Their necks are too long to allow them to bend over to drink without splaying their legs. They tower over all other mammals at about 15-20 feet. And the list goes on. YET, as odd or awkward as they may
What boundaries are we taught to respect throughout our lives? A quick brainstorm produced this list: Drive on this side of the dotted line. Obey the speed limit. Stay in your yard. Listen to your parents. Don’t swear at work. Don’t take what isn’t yours. Do what you were hired to do. and right now,
Let’s call her Lucy. She walked around work like she was everyone’s best friend. She took every opportunity to publicly let others know how exceptional she was at her job. She presented herself as the most creative, most productive, most energetic person in the office. She answered her phone, “It’s a great day in [insert
If you are perfect, stop reading. There is nothing in this article for you. On second thought, this article is probably more for you than it is for anyone else. (Because no one is perfect.) If you make mistakes, keep reading. If you struggle when coworkers screw up, keep reading. If you are fine working
Without knowing it, we disempower ourselves by placing limitations on our thinking. Our thinking reflects what we know AND what we don’t know. Inherently, our thinking is then limited. Imagine it like this. You are on a scenic drive through the mountains and everything you can see is directly in front of you. You see
Look above. Do you find these phrases annoying? Frustrating? Irritating? In my opinion, if you have SAID or HEARD these phrases even once, that is one time too many! It’s like this folks—If you find yourself saying things like the aforementioned phrases, people aren’t doing a very good job of seeking understanding. And guess what?
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
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
As a communication expert, I read, study, and research human behavior. It pushes me to regularly reflect on my own behavior, and today I seem to be reflecting … and reflecting … and reflecting. I am reflecting to the point that I am not really making progress. My. Brain. Does. Not. Want. To. Work. Today.
