Is There an Apollos Hester on Your Team? Is It You?
Posted On September 26, 2014 BY Dean Brenner
Today’s post was written by Amy Fenollosa, Director of Learning at The Latimer Group. Did you see Apollos Hester this week? He’s a high school football player from Texas whose 2-minute interview on local television went viral. It’s gotten more than 5 million views in less than a week. What is it about Apollos that intrigued […]
Switch and Shift: How to Practice the MOST Human Thing
Posted On September 23, 2014 BY Dean Brenner
We recently contributed another article to our friends at Switch and Shift, a business blog focused on “the human side of business.” Our latest piece is called, “How to Practice the MOST Human Thing,” and is all about listening to and respecting our colleagues. 21st century communication has become more about speaking than listening. More […]
When to Debate, When to Dictate
Posted On September 22, 2014 BY Dean Brenner
I’m working with an executive right now who has an interesting and engaging leadership style. He likes to collaborate, he likes dialogue, he wants to hear what people have to say. He allows lots of input, and seems to detest strict hierarchy. I like this style, actually, because it is similar to my own. But […]
The Recipe for Great Communication Is Never Complete
Posted On September 15, 2014 BY Dean Brenner
We spend a lot of time with our clients talking about ways to create outstanding business communication. And all great business communication has five common characteristics, or ingredients: clarity, brevity, context, impact and value. Every single time we communicate in the work place, we need to be thinking about all five of these things. We […]
What’s Your Default Setting for Detail?
Posted On September 9, 2014 BY Dean Brenner
In nearly every one of our communication workshops, we spend significant time discussing the role of detail in 21st century communication. Does detail matter? Of course it does. How much detail is necessary? That depends on many things: who your audience is, how familiar they are with the topic, how senior they are, how mission […]
Do You Keep Score at Work?
Posted On September 4, 2014 BY Dean Brenner
Have you ever worked with someone who “keeps score” with you? You know, that person who always seems to remember the people who owe them something, or who did something bad to them, or how many people they need to get even with? Scorekeepers are people who keep track of how many good things they […]
Interpreting the Silence: “Why Haven’t They Gotten Back to Me?”
Posted On September 3, 2014 BY Dean Brenner
Have you ever written or sent something to a friend or a colleague, perhaps something important, that you worked hard on, and then been surprised when no prompt response came? It is hard in this situation to know what to think, or how to feel. Did I say something wrong? Did they not like it? […]
Listening Is Respect
Posted On September 2, 2014 BY Dean Brenner
This past weekend, I participated as a speaker in a training conference for young leaders. This is something I do every year, and that I enjoy immensely. It’s a great program, well designed, with lots of valuable information from multiple speakers. I spoke twice (both times on good communication skills) to two different subsets of […]
What Is “Leadership Transference?”
Posted On August 26, 2014 BY Dean Brenner
Leadership can mean different things at different times to different people. But a few things are non-negotiable. Not long ago, I read a short essay about Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the concept of “transference” came up. The point of the essay was that during his presidency, Roosevelt was not a healthy nor a strong man. He was in […]
No One Leads All the Time: 7 Characteristics of Good Followership
Posted On August 19, 2014 BY Dean Brenner
At The Latimer Group, we often say, “No one leads all the time.” Part of being a good teammate – and a good leader – is knowing how to also be a good follower. True, followership isn’t always fun; it’s not always sexy. The credit often goes to the person in the lead. But good […]