“You’re Such a Bad Dog…” I imagine some of us have had the experience of having a friend’s dog jump on us while its owner coos, “Oh, you’re such a bad dog… you’re the very… Read More
Are You Living Between “When” and “Then”? This past week I was speaking with a client who was feeling….Let’s say ‘disgruntled’ with her situation at work. As we talked through how she might proceed she said, “Look,… Read More
“Why Are You Doing It That Way? Vs. “Can You Tell Me Why You’re Doing It That Way?” As those of you who’ve met me surely know, I have a lot of ideas about how things ‘should’ and ‘shouldn’t’ be done—mostly, that things should be done exactly the… Read More
Make ‘Let’s Stay in Touch’ a Reality As we emerge from our pandemic cocoons, meeting and greeting one another and getting caught up on the business of our business, I’m guessing (hoping!) there will be exuberance in… Read More
It’s Never a “Good Question” As I mentioned in last week’s post, my preference for beginning a meeting or presentation is to start with a story, statistic or question. After that? State your question policy:… Read More
“Opening Amenities are Opening Inanities” The title of this post is one of my favorite lines from Winston Churchill. What does it mean? In the context of your next Zoom meeting or presentation it means… Read More
You’re Gonna Wanna Gimme… No, I’m Not For many of you, this post may seem super-persnickety and/or old fashioned. I’m OK with that. What is today’s topic? My telephone’s desire to change “going to” to “gonna,”  “want… Read More
Shame on Shame Is there any feeling more corrosive than shame? Rage, jealousy, and fear… they  come and go, but – in my experience – once they’re gone it’s hard to recall what… Read More
Assumptions – Why Making an Ass of You Blows Back on Me Most of us have heard the phrase,  “When you assume things you make an ass of u and me,” used by boss-type-people to underlings who made assumptions about how work… Read More
Tools for (Potentially) Head-Exploding Conversations Every now and then we find ourselves in conversations where our internal monologue is, “How is it even possible that this person doesn’t understand why this is irritating/upsetting/disruptive?” Which often… Read More