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
Cancel with Class Greetings Wow-of-the-Week Family, As some of you know, there are words I find upsetting (e.g. moist, slacks, limo…) Among them is the word “classy”. Today’s headline makes an exception for… Read More
“I’m Not Complaining—I’m Explaining”… Are You Sure? This past week, I was listening in a call between a client and her employee. In response to my client’s question regarding why her employee had—essentially—dropped the ball the employee… Read More
2 People Meet = 6 People Present: What to Do When You’re Perplexed, Agitated, or Aggravated by Those Around You This past week my attention was caught by a quote from psychologist and philosopher, William James: “Whenever two people meet, there are really six people present. There is each man… Read More
Anatomy of a Crummy Apology (and How it Could Be Improved) I write a lot about apologizing because I think it is an important, and under-rated skill. Important because—when done well—apologies cause people to forgive: to give as they did before.… Read More