Dean Brenner

Over the course of this blog, we write frequently about the important ingredients for great communication… clarity and brevity chief among them. Today we touch on another critical ingredient: context. Context is critical. Context creates relevance. Context helps your audience engage and listen. Context helps your audience care. We are all time starved. We are all attention deprived, to varying degrees. […]

My colleagues and I always talk and teach about the importance of knowing your audience, and preparing for your work communication correctly. And at the center of that work is the ability to clarify the message and “the ask,” to try to anticipate what the audience will care about, and the questions or objections they […]

I recently had a conversation with a person I am coaching, and he recounted a story to me. He recently had led a really hard meeting with colleagues, where he made a presentation on a challenging, divisive topic. He was trying to build alignment within the business unit on how to handle a significant business […]

I spend a lot of my time coaching business leaders, emerging and established ones, on their leadership and communication skills. And the best versions of these conversations occur when the leader is willing to make themselves vulnerable and share with me what keeps them “up at night.” The list of things that cause sleeplessness for […]

In the game of golf, not every shot is the same. The variables change with every shot: distance to the hole, your lie, whether you are in the fairway/rough/sand trap, the weather conditions, what hole you are on and the score vs your opponent. All of these variables, and others as well, will dictate which […]

Good morning to our clients and friends around the world! Happy new year! We hope you all had a restful and joyous holiday, and we look forward to charging ahead into 2024 with you. Here is a quick thought to get our year started off correctly, something that we are taking on here at The […]

(Author’s Note: The following story happened on December 6, 2021 during a quiet afternoon at our office. I happened to be sitting at our conference table with my wife Emily. We were having lunch, doing Christmas cards, and just making small talk about all the things we had to get done between then and the […]

Good morning, clients and friends! We are winding down our year here at The Latimer Group, and wanted to take a few moments to share some final thoughts before we close our office for the year. This is a great time of year to be grateful for the people and the things around us. And […]

All of us are leaders in one way or another. We all lead, either formally or informally, constantly or occasionally, officially or unofficially. But we all lead. This is a skill that everyone needs to know at least a little something about. In addition, it is important to remember that no two leadership situations are […]

Think about the best leader you’ve ever witnessed, listened to, or seen in action. What made her/him compelling? I am sure there is a wide range of answers that you might give to explain what made them compelling. But among the many different answers, there would absolutely be some answers centered around said leader’s presence. […]