I remember the first time I met Laura. It was my very first Colorado National Speakers Association meeting five years ago. Imagine a room full of professional speakers and trainers who were for the most part, independent business owners. During the very short breaks we had in between the guest speakers, they were all scrambling…
DetailsHer reputation long preceded our introduction. Back in 1993, I was living in San Antonio, Texas, and working in human resources for the largest medical center in the city. That’s when I first heard about Barbara Greene, affectionately known as the “networker from heaven.”
A manager I was coaching recently explained (away) the behavior of one of his supervisors: “He isn’t an angry person. He means well. It’s just that he’s often sharp with people. And sometimes they take it the wrong way. He’s really a good worker. I’ve told him that people can be intimidated by him, so…
DetailsYou can use the following anonymous survey to assess team communication. Use the following scale to answer each question: A score of 1 means you do not agree with the statement; 4 means you agree with it; a 2 or 3 means your opinion falls somewhere in the middle. Your survey results are confidential. Keep…
DetailsWhen delivering presentation skills training programs, one of the first requests we get is, “Can you provide some tips and tools to polish our presentations so that they are less boring and everyone stays awake?” The reality is the attention span of an adult is 8 seconds. Now, this does not mean that people won’t…
DetailsOft expectations fails, and most oft there where it promises – William Shakespeare A story is told of a young psychology student serving in the Army who one day decided to test a theory. Drawing kitchen duty, he was given the job of passing out apricots at the end of the chow line. He asked…
DetailsIn his short, wonderful book, Helping, Edgar Schein presents us, whether we are a professional coach or a manager playing a coaching role, with three ways to respond to a request for coaching/mentoring help (or, for that matter, advice with a problem on the job). We can be: an expert resource who provides information or…
DetailsLast week I had the wonderful opportunity to sit in the audience and hear Chip Heath, author of the New York Times bestselling book, Made to Stick and regular columnist for Fast Company magazine speak. Along with his brother and co-author, Dan Heath, the boys have come up with an amazing simple but easy process…
DetailsA Metaphor Imagine that you’re competing in a marathon. You’ve been diligently preparing for it for a long time. You’ve trained. You’ve recruited the people that you felt you needed to help you perform at the highest standard possible, and now you’re in that race. But like almost everyone else in this competition, you’re behind. There…
DetailsThey are happy men whose natures sort with their vocations – Francis Bacon According to a survey reported on in People Management (http://bit.ly/MmCPet) the number of employees who are ‘proud’ to work for their organization has fallen from almost half of workers at the start of 2012 to just two-fifths. A survey of 1,114 office…
DetailsThe man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder-a wait, a nothing, a no man. – Thomas Carlyle One of golf’s immortal moments came when a Scotsman demonstrated the game to President Ulysses S. Grant. Carefully placing the ball on the tee, he took a mighty swing. The club hit the turf…
DetailsIf you’re going through hell, keep going. – Winston Churchill A story is told of a group of friends who went deer hunting and paired off in twos for the day. That night one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under the weight of an eight-point buck. “Where’s Harry?” he was asked. “Harry had a…
DetailsMarkets are conversations, and these days, they are often led by the crowd. Be it your customers or your employees, they are uniquely empowered to spread the good or bad word about you. Question is, how closely are you listening? More than ever, internet users have two things going for them: Transparency and Tools. They…
DetailsWhile most people don’t describe themselves as “difficult” (although some actually find pleasure in doing so!) difficult behavior can nonetheless come from anyone, anytime, anywhere; we all have the capacity to express it. What constitutes difficult or prickly behavior is very subjective,shaped by our personal perceptions. We each define individually what annoys or frustrates us;…
Details“There are four ways and only four ways, in which we have contact with the world. We are evaluated, perceived and classified by; what we do, how we look; what we say, and how we say it” Dale Carnegie To make sure you are projecting a positive and connecting image here is a quick…
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