Growing up, my father worked two jobs, seven days a week. We lived in Los Angeles and he’d deliver milk in the morning and newspapers in the afternoon. He was up at 3am for the milk route. Home around noon for a brief nap, and then out the door by 2pm to pick up his papers. That was his schedule six days a week. He got a break on Sundays… Read More »Want to connect? Talk to my dad

I recently heard a presentation from the CEO of a large service organization. It was a great chance for him to tell the story about the great things they’re doing. Unfortunately, I was extremely distracted during his entire speech. All I noticed was that every sentence seemed to have two or three “umms” stuffed in the middle. In my mind he was completely unprepared for his presentation. People who study… Read More »What’s your filler phrase?

Before you sit down for your next media interview, take a moment to answer this question: What would your headline be? Headlines are teasers. In just a few words they must capture the reader’s attention and give them enough information to make a topical connection. They’re usually not even a full sentence. Writing great headlines isn’t easy, but it’s worth your time to think about how your interview will be… Read More »What would your headline be?

Here’s a surprising fact to come out of the pandemic. A lot of employees don’t believe that communication within their workgroups has suffered. In fact, a big chunk of people believe it’s actually improved. While that’s great news, there’s also a problem that has popped up. Communication within a specific group may be working, but things are notso great for the people within the rest of the organization. Late last… Read More »Communication troubles in the post-COVID world

Let’s start this with a confession: I’m a fast talker. It goes back to an experience I had in elementary school. I thought I was going to have to recite something with a group of other kids but found myself all alone on the stage. The obvious way for me to end my moment in the spotlight was to rush through it as quickly as possible. I still recall a… Read More »4 Tips to Slow Down Your Speech

Want to know what’s causing all your stress at work?
It’s probably unclear goals.

We are supposedly living in an era of enlightened leadership.  After all, we’re bombarded by books giving us insight into how to do it better. Whether it’s Good to Great or the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, we finally have the knowledge and tools that leaders lacked just a few decades ago. So why are we still doing it badly? It’s likely because we can’t unlearn centuries of training simply by reading… Read More »Managing First Impressions