As someone who has trained leaders for more than 25 years, one of the biggest challenges I see leaders facing is making the transition from team member and subject matter expert to leader. This transition is further complicated when organizations make the mistake of selecting new leaders based on length of employment and/or technical skill. […]
Have you ever felt like you’re the odd one out at work? Do you struggle to fit in with your coworkers or wonder why they don’t seem to want to include you or listen to your ideas? If the thought has crossed your mind that some, if not all of your coworkers, may not appreciate […]
Tis the season for holiday events including those at work and in your professional organizations. The office party can be a great time to really get to know your coworkers and colleagues, a chance to network and make new connections, and overall, an opportunity to shine as bright as Rudolph’s nose. However, every year we […]
People often ask me what’s the first step to becoming a better listener. The answer? Get rid of your bad listening habits. As much as we don’t like to admit it, most of us aren’t the best of listeners and we’ve developed some bad habits over our lifetimes. As you review this list of bad […]
“Could you be doing something more productive with your time?” This is one of my favorite sayings. It is such a mantra around my house, that my daughter actually wrote one of her college application essays on possessing a “productivity gene” that wouldn’t allow idle hands or an idle mind. If I’m not asking it of […]
Many people define empathy as the ability to step into someone else’s shoes. However as a leader, it’s more than that. It is the things you do and say daily that gives you the power to inspire others, create a culture of trust, and foster an environment where employees are happy and feel valued. As […]
Let’s face it, being a leader is challenging. Most of us never anticipate when we take on a leadership role the amount of time we’ll spend just trying to keep the team going in the right direction. In any team, there are going to be different types of people. Some will want to focus on […]
#As I was sitting here today planning this week’s blog post, I realized that this week is the 11th anniversary of my Performance Communication Blog. Although I haven’t always written every week, I’ve managed to amass more than 400 posts in the past 11 years, so I thought I’d share the 11 most popular posts […]
A while back, I was shopping in a retail client’s place of business doing some “recon” before preparing a customer communication program for their customer care employees. As I watched customers come and go with the various products they wished to return, I noticed a trend. The customers who were calm and politely requested a […]
As an avid animal rescuer, I’d rather wrangle a feral cat or deal with an aggressive dog than to face an angry human. Unfortunately, it’s our human customers who pay the bills, so figuring out ways to deal with the difficult ones is a must. Here are some things I’ve learned in more than 25 […]
