Answering the front door one day, my immediate thought was, “What is he going to try to sell me today?” The salesman used his influence as he held out a small plastic vial and said, “I will only ask for two minutes and two ounces… of your tap water, please.” Well, he was courteous and …
3 Steps to Build Trust Through Conversation
“That’s ridiculous. I tell you what… If I’m ever presenting to a group of 5th graders, I’ll call you.” This was the response he gave me when I suggested a different approach for his new sales opportunity. As you can imagine, his response did wonders for developing our relationship. Just in case you think I’m …
3 Ingredients to Communicate Change
We All Handle Change Differently Some of us deal with change better than others, but the key to remember is that change doesn’t just happen. We all deal with it. As the leader, you need a simple method for helping your team deal with changes they need to address. What you say to them will …
4 Messaging Approaches for Data Analysts
“Why are my leaders always questioning my data results?” This was the question from my data analytics student and he was frustrated. So, I asked him, “What do you mean? Can you give me an example?” “Sure. Every time I give them the test results and I tell them what the results mean, they start …
Want to be More Creative? Try this…
I was holding the marker, standing at the whiteboard and waiting for someone to give me an idea to write down… but they didn’t. They were tapped out. My students had just come up with about 20 ideas and were fresh out of material at this point. Have you been there? When you’re at this …
Three Tools to Make Better Decisions
We make decisions all day long. Some are simple (froot loops or cheerios?) while others can be quite complex (quit my job or stay?) Some internet sources say it could be as many as 35,000 per day, which obviously includes all the simple decisions. How can we get better at making the tough decisions without …
3 Tools to Crystalize Your Message
My student gave me one final comment as she was exiting my workshop. She said, “My biggest takeaway from today? Less is more. I won’t forget that.” She smiled and shook my hand as I thanked her for her participation and insights. When you’re the speaker, you’re trying to achieve an objective when you speak. …
Leading with Fear Will Fail in the End
When I’m on long flights overseas, I end up watching at least one movie. Most recently on my trip to Korea I watched the movie King Arthur. I’m familiar with the storyline and I was curious how this adaptation would be different. In this version, the power craved uncle (played by Jude Law) thinks that …