My student pulled me aside during the break and asked me “What are leaders reading today?” Without giving me a chance to respond, he followed it quickly by asking a second question, “What should I be reading to improve my communication as a leader?” The question he had for me is one I think about […]
Everyone looked at him and waited to hear his response. All nine people in the conference room had their attention fixed on one person. After a brief but dramatic pause, he began to speak with a calm voice and a solid solution. The rest of the group seemed transfixed as they listened. It was hard […]
“Well, that guy’s an idiot.” He said it so matter-of-fact. As if he were pointing out the color of the car we were riding in. It was stated as if “Everyone knows it. It’s common knowledge and everyone agrees with me.” Wow. That’s a strong opinion. I couldn’t help myself. I just had to ask one […]
I flew to Dallas for a meeting with my new boss. As a Business Development Manager I would be negotiating contracts for the company so I asked him about negotiating prices. He glared back at me and gave a direct response, “We don’t sell on price here! We sell on value!” Now, I didn’t disagree […]
My student finished presenting his persuasive case to the audience and then opened it up to questions. “Have you calculated the internal costs to our organization due to the downtime this project would cause?” When I saw my student’s face, I knew this hadn’t been part of his calculations. Every second the pause hung in […]
Why do we have so much trouble putting off the things we want, yet we have no problem putting off something we think will be work? The final entry for this series is the 4th and final mental hurdle we all deal with daily… wait for it… procrastination! We never seem to have trouble putting […]
You were expecting a call from your prospect yesterday and it never came. Immediately, the speculation in your mind begins to torment you. “What happened? Why haven’t they called? What did I do wrong?” Every question points you toward a feeling of loss. This is the voice of resistance and it’s your first mental hurdle. […]
I was introduced to Don Sanders through a mutual friend at lunch one day. Don and his co-author had written a book called Cut the C.R.A.P. and Resolve Your Problems. Kinda catchy, isn’t it! As psychologists they found that many of their patients could solve their own problems if they could just get beyond 4 […]
Kevin Karschnik is an amazing teacher and a great friend. I wanted to share his thoughts on visual aid design. We’ve all seen a speaker put every word they’re going to say on a slide and then proceed to read every slide to the audience. This is where the phrase “death by PowerPoint” was born. Please […]
First impressions can occur in as little as 1/100th of a second. While that speed may have served us well several thousand years ago, today it can cause us to jump to incorrect conclusions. In his book, Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ, Daniel Goleman points out that the amygdala part of our […]
