How to improve your communication to counter uncertainty
Have you heard anyone this year rave about all the uncertainty that's everywhere we turn? Probably not. But even though we humans would rather trade this uncertainty for some predictability, we're capable of managing all the changes coming at us from so many different...
Why and how to comply with the Platinum Rule
The Golden Rule is king in my household, which is a stark contrast to what I encourage my clients to do. For my clients and myself, I prefer the Platinum Rule – do unto others as they like to be treated. When you follow the Platinum Rule, you show respect,...
How weak are your social muscles these days?
Even the dogs are acting weird these days. When we’re outside walking, Marcel the Therapy Dog who used to adore attention from humans, will now often wrap himself around my legs when he thinks a stranger is getting too close to him. When Marcel’s in my office, he no...
Why my mail-in vote needs a witness to be counted
Voter suppression is alive and well in the state of South Carolina where I live. Normally I don’t write about political issues, but these aren’t normal times. Three issues are at stake and in danger of eroding: Free and fair elections, the hallmark of a strong...
Can you overcome two obstacles to lead with empathy?
Here's what executive presence looks like now: Leaders who show their humility and vulnerability as they express kindness, compassion and empathy for us and others. And, by the way, we also want them to deal with all the extreme uncertainty we face. Being a kinder,...
How to stimulate your thinking to be “future-ready”
“Pessimism is a luxury for a less urgent time,” observed Amanda Ravenhill, the Executive Director of the Buckminister Fuller Institute, speaking about Urgent Futures: Climate Change. At last week’s Institute for the Future’s Ten-Year Forecast 2020 virtual conference,...
How to improve your writing: partner with a robot
Read any blog posts or articles by Liam Porr, Adolos, or GPT-3 lately? GPT-3 is a robot working with Porr, a computer science undergraduate student at UC Berkeley, and his pseudonym Adolos. More formally, GPT-3 is Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3, an...
Do you care if you have no summer memories?
What do you think you’ll remember from the summer of 2020 – other than the weirdness? This isn’t a trick question, but it could be. This summer may end up being a black hole for your memories – especially if you’re still working at home and keeping a low social...
How to work smarter when your brain is fatigued
If you’ve got a brain and live on Planet Earth, face the facts: you’ve got to deal with “Covid-19 brain” for the foreseeable future. Covid-19 brain is real, according to Dr. Hilke Plassmann, a neuroscientist at INSEAD. She coined the term to call attention to how the...