A new assignment comes up. It will put someone in front of an important client, involve them in a business decision, or give them experience beyond their current responsibilities. You need to choose who gets the opportunity. Whose name comes to mind first? Perhaps it is someone you have worked with for years. You trust their judgment and feel comfortable putting them in the room. There may be very good reasons they are the right person. The question is whether you have considered anyone … [Read more...]
What Are You Allowing to Continue?
Consider a meeting where one person repeatedly interrupts a colleague. The person leading the meeting notices, but lets it go. There is a full agenda, time is running short, and addressing it would make an already difficult conversation more uncomfortable. Better to keep things moving. The meeting ends. The interruption may seem like a small thing, especially alongside everything else demanding attention. Yet the people around that table leave with information that never appeared on the … [Read more...]
The Conversations You’re Not Having Are Costing You More Than You Think
You know the conversation. The one you’ve been meaning to have. It’s been sitting there for a while now. Maybe it’s about someone on your team who isn’t performing the way they need to. The work is close—but not quite there. Deadlines slip. Details get missed. You find yourself stepping in more than you should. You’ve noticed it. More than once. You’ve even thought through how you might say it. And then… you didn’t. Not today. Not this week. Maybe next time. Because … [Read more...]
Do You Know the Words You Can No Longer Say (In Public)?
Do you know the words you can no longer say in public? This is especially true when speaking in front of an audience, at a networking event, conducting a business meeting, during a job interview (on either side), on your first date, and at a family wedding. There’s more, however, you get the idea. There are a new set of words and topics that are essentially off limits unless you intend to set off some real fireworks. George Carlin had numerous hilarious skits. By far his number one … [Read more...]
Have You Had A Civil Conversation Recently?
Have you had a civil conversation recently? What happens when a lit match is tossed onto a barbeque stacked with charcoal pieces soaked with lighter fluid? Quickly and rapidly POOF! Instant heat and fire. Is that what the two to three years of the Covid-19 lockdowns has done to having conversations and discussions with people of differing viewpoints? You know what I’m speaking about. We all are witnessing and many partake in this every single day. We have predetermined who we will speak … [Read more...]
Have You Ever Asked The Question?
Instead of wondering or coming up with solutions based upon assumptions, why not just ask the question? Or quite possibly the questions. Have you ever asked your employees the question: What makes your day working here? What annoys you the most working here? Now these may easily be viewed as questions where the answers might get someone fired fast. Therefore if you want to hear the truth, the questions have to be presented properly and truthfully. Further the no action to anyone … [Read more...]