Dean Brenner

The worlds of sports and celebrity are overwhelmed with hype, and people who fail to live up to that hype. It often seems like celebrity and fame in 21st century America require lots of things, but it is equally clear that fame often does not require skill or actual performance. How many people do we […]

I am traveling on business this week, with one of our best clients. And in a workshop yesterday, I lived a sad convergence of business and current events. During one of the breaks, the participants in the workshop shared that one of the victims of the Orlando massacre had been their colleague. None of them knew […]

I am going to write about Muhammad Ali today. And I won’t come close to doing justice to the man, his history or his legacy. I’m not sure anyone can. But let’s get a few things out of the way, in an attempt to at least attempt to gaze at the scope of his life […]

I just returned from my 25th college reunion this past weekend, and yes… it was fun and exhausting, and a wonderful walk down memory lane. I spent time with great friends who I see regularly, occasionally and almost never, and all of it was amazing. Every reunion contains countless “so what have you been up […]

We had a great conversation with a long-standing client and friend yesterday, and part of it was a fascinating discussion of “new behaviors.” We were discussing some major training initiatives for his organization, and he asked the million dollar question: “How do we make sure we get a great ROI for our investment in training?” […]

Here is a little insight into our world at The Latimer Group, and the world for any coaching and training firm. Every single day of work is a job interview for future work. We are guaranteed nothing… We are not on direct deposit or retainer with our clients… We have contracts with all of our […]

Last week, during a series of workshops with one of our best clients, a fascinating topic came up for discussion. As we were reviewing the themes of The Latimer Group’s Model for Persuasion, one of the participants commented that “this seems more art than science.” The conversation paused for a few moments, we all thought […]

During a client workshop recently, the participants and I were talking about how different the world is now, compared to even twenty or thirty years ago. We were telling stories about life prior to email or the internet or 1000-channel-cable menus. I shared the fact that my kids have hardly ever seen a commercial because the television […]

Teams are everywhere, in every corner of professional life. The concept of “team” is pervasive, so much so that most people take the concept for granted. Most people don’t really grasp what it means to be part of a good, functional, productive team. Most people have probably never experienced “team” at its highest form. True […]

I am relearning, once again, some powerful lessons about communication. And I am learning them from our infant daughter. Our daughter is rapidly approaching her first birthday, and is doing all the things you would expect her to be doing. Crawling around, getting into things she shouldn’t, making all sorts of sounds, screaming when she […]