How motivational speakers can do more harm than good
If you’re looking for a “motivational” speaker for your in-person or virtual event, do yourself and your participants a favor and please reconsider. At the risk of alienating anyone who likes a good cry when hearing a heart-wrenching personal story and the members of...
Why and how to make recognition contagious
While the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak demands our attention, please keep in mind there are positive contagions out there that also deserve your awareness. Emotions, feelings, and attitudes are contagious too, especially at work. For example, one of my clients...
Why you need to improve your “work/life skills”
CEOs are ranking soft skills more valuable than technical skills, according to IBM’s fall 2019 report "The Enterprise Guide to Closing the Skills Gap." Yet, the term "soft skills" has a bad rap for a number of reasons, as I explain in my Forbes article published on...
Why and how to adopt the HERO within
When you feel stuck or upset, “Ask yourself ‘Is it a tragedy or is it an inconvenience?’” advised Dr. Fred Luthans in his recent guest lecture to business students at the College of Charleston. This simple, yet insightful question can help you reset how you perceive a...
How to overcome the rat race
“Rats are clever, quick thinkers, and successful, but content with living a quiet and peaceful life.” That’s from the Chinese New Year Zodiac, which could be trying to burnish the rodent’s reputation in this Chinese Year of the Rat that began the end of January. But...
How to adopt a Tiny Habit to reduce crime
Since February 2008 when I started writing this blog, my subjects have always been business related. Now 12 years later, I’m breaking with tradition for this special topic that requires behavior change. Due to a confluence of events, I’m addressing a growing public...
Why and how to increase your soft power
Soft power is evolving. It's becoming an accessible and practical leadership tool. Consider the following: If you organize and facilitating meetings, such as serving as the meeting leader or key coordinator, you may be more powerful than you think -- even if you work...
How can you be trustworthy — both ethical and competent?
Do you consider yourself competent and ethical? In other words, you’re competent if you’re good at what you do, and you do what is right. If you’re like most of us who work for a living and are reading this, you probably answer “yes” to my question. And when you’re...
How to be a better communicator by being fluent and sticky
What do these phrases have in common? Help yourself to some brain candy. If you know better, do better. For the fall, get a flu prick before any “boo” trick. Don’t just recycle, recycle right. Know your no’s. They are examples of simple, fluent phrases that are easy...
