“The tragedy of life is often not in our failure, but rather in our complacency; not in our doing too much, but rather in our doing too little; not in our living above our ability, but rather in our living below our capacities.” ~ Benjamin E. Mays A few years ago, I wrote a…
“Communication is a skill that you can learn. It’s like riding a bicycle or typing. If you’re willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life.” ~ Brian Tracy In almost every conversation I have with clients when I ask them the biggest challenge facing their…
“The disconnection between corporate and those in the field, is and has been one of the major causes of self-inflicted problems in the business world today!” ~ Joe Contrera 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…
“One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.” ~ Bryant H. McGill 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. Which begs…
“Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate, and to humble.” ~Yehuda Berg The power of words can have an unforeseen impact on you, your life, and the life of others. How we wield them can either be extremely negative, extraordinarily positive,…
“If you are in a leadership position, any you avoid conflict, speaking the truth (facts), or giving feedback, you might want to consider a different position!” ~Joe Contrera For more than two decades I have had the privilege of helping leaders develop their leadership and coaching skills. And yet…I am still amazed at the…
“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…
Leadership, Influence & Communication: The Power of Story Your ability to lead others is directly tied to your ability to influence them. One of the tools you can use to more powerfully influence others is the use of story in your interactions. Stories can magnify a point or grab an audiences attention during a presentation.…