“Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.” ~ Margaret J. Wheatley The Law of Unintended Consequences A short time ago I was working with a team of senior leaders. We were discussing the overall purpose of the organization and the bottom-line goal that was driving…
Voltaire was a Pretty Smart Guy – (Part I of a 4 Part Series) François-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, was a prolific writer, historian, and philosopher. He was a staunch believer in freedom of religion and freedom of speech, so I find it ironic that the words he spoke some 300 years ago can set…
When Corporate Headquarters and the Field Are Not Connected Over the years I have had the opportunity to work for organizations who have multiple locations all over the world and a centrally located corporate headquarters located 1000’s of miles away from where the actual work is being done. I experienced this situation early on in…
So what’s all this mumbo jumbo you keep hearing about Emotional Intelligence? Emotional Intelligence can be defined as a person’s ability to effectively negotiate social relationships and environments. Emotional Intelligence is a relatively new science and is becoming an important factor in determining a persons success in business and in life. A recent survey of…
The Art of Listening vs. The Ignorance of Interrupting 72 Interruptions … Yes, count them! Vice Presidential Candidate Tim Kaine interrupted his opponent or the debate moderator 72 times in a 90 minute period. That’s once every 75 seconds! He wasn’t interested in debating, he had an agenda and he was driving it home. He…
Creating a Culture of Communication … Sow What? Poor Communication continues to be the single biggest factor that negatively impacts organizations. The sad thing is that it has been this way … for 100’s of years. Poor listening skills, failure to communicate important issues, misunderstandings, and improperly trained leaders, are just a few of the…
The most important skill you can build on in your life is your listening skills. And yet … The single biggest issue negatively impacting most work environments and relationships is … poor listening skills. So why is listening so hard? Listening requires that we stop our internal mind chatter and focus on listening to the other person.