Advice about Advice
It’s like getting hand-me-down clothing. When I advise businesses about management development, I think about it that way. And this also applies to advising your employees, co-workers, or even spouse. (If you don’t treat employees like employees, you may even get some good advice from them!) Here’s some advice about advice. You’ve probably been the […]
What’s the Value of Training, Anyway?
Training your workforce costs money and that’s why it’s easy to put off. Company managers may view training as non-urgent because leadership development and people skills training are not like payroll or the electric bill, which have to be paid. So you may wonder what’s the value of training, anyway? According to Gallup, skills-based development […]
Networking for Introverts
Do you cringe at the thought of attending one of those networking events? Too many business professionals would rather throw money into advertising when there is a less expensive way to increase their business. True, your advertising and marketing may pique customer interest in your product or service, but people don’t buy because of clever […]
Don’t Avoid Turbulence
As a leader, do you try to avoid turbulence and conflict? Well, when I first learned to fly hang gliders, I wanted to avoid turbulence too. Smooth, stable air – that’s what I preferred. I waited for calm before I’d ever launch. My glide was usually gentle because of this preference. However, when you’re gliding, […]
Making Moments Matter
I like to ask people what they do to keep their lives in balance, and I usually get answers about family, spirituality, or hobbies. One day I asked Mariah, my massage therapist, and she said she had gone to a Laundromat over the weekend. Eeewwww, I thought, where could she possibly be going with this […]
What Good is a Positive Attitude?
What good is a positive attitude? It makes a big difference! I’m not talking Pollyanna-type optimism, but a just positive leaning. The answer is better performance. As the leader, your attitude is your approach to a situation. It is the way you look at your environment. If your attitude is too optimistic, you may fail […]
The Power of Your Smile
Consider the power of your smile. Recently, I received this email: “Hi Chris, I saw you in *** on Friday, and am sorry to say I did not recognize you with those sunglasses on. My wife and I both have different books of yours, and you have spoken in front of ***. Remembering when you […]
Avoid Trigger Word Problems
Some of the words we use trigger emotional responses in others. If you are aware of them, you won’t get unwanted reactions from someone you’re trying to relate to. Let’s talk about how to avoid trigger word problems. Although most of our communication occurs through our body language (which you can see with your eyes) […]
Improvise Your Way to Better Teamwork
At work, your teams have to take diverse, oddball, and sometimes disagreeable ideas – from each other, their bosses, their boards, or a regulator – and merge them into cohesive productive results. The team members aren’t doing it for fun and they aren’t usually laughing. It can be a struggle. But the weird thing about […]