Blog

I do a lot of one-on-one coaching. And in most cases, I will conduct some background interviews to gather information about the person I am coaching… what are their strengths and weaknesses, and what gaps can I help fill? One of the most common weaknesses that I hear during those interviews is that the person […]

When we think about communication in the workplace, all too often we focus on the delivery part: what we will say, what our slides will look like and how loudly we should speak. All that’s important, but what about the other side? Before we speak, we need to listen. And when we do speak, we need to make sure that our audience […]

There are two ways we can get people to do what we want or need them to do: because we have influence over them, or because we have authority over them. We can have influence without authority, and we can have authority without influence. Influence comes from respect, collaboration, and credibility. Authority comes from title and your […]

I recently had the pleasure of being a guest on the Ebb and Flow Podcast, hosted by Paul Leeming of Long River Wealth Management. I know Paul and his partners at Long River really well (full disclosure… the senior partner and founder of Long River is my father-in-law, Tom Lips). Their group sets the standard […]

Do you want to be an effective communicator? Be more memorable? Do you want people to follow your lead, support your idea, or buy your product or service? Of course you do. When I say “be memorable,” I’m not suggesting that you do something outrageous so that they remember that crazy person who did “x.” I mean […]

There have been a few moments throughout my coaching career when a single question appears that impacts the entire business community, regardless of industry, geography or company size. And right now is one of those moments. The universal conversation I am having with our client companies, the individuals I coach, my friends and business acquaintances, and […]

In all the communication coaching that we do, one question seems to come up all the time. “How do I get my leader to realize he/she needs some coaching as well?” Most leaders are really good at identifying your areas of possible improvement. But the very best ones are also good at identifying their areas of possible improvement. If […]

How well do you actually listen to the people around you? Do you think you listen well? Are you sure? I think I listen fairly well, most of the time. When I focus on it, which is most of the time, I do listen well. But it is far too easy to get distracted, and […]

Have you ever worked with someone who seems obsessed with taking credit for everything? I have, and it… is… awful. It is unmotivating, frustrating, and exhausting to be around someone who is constantly trying to remind you how great they are. All you ever hear from a person like that is some version of “look at […]

I recently got a great email from a client named Colin. We’ve done extensive work with his company over the last five years, and Colin will occasionally reach out and give me a great idea for a blog post or a podcast. Colin listed for me the ways that his colleagues can reach him: work email (which he […]