Communication

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 […]

I prefer speaking with people who think differently than I do. It’s more interesting. It’s more challenging. It makes me think. It opens my eyes to other perspectives. And sometimes it makes me angry. But it’s all 100% healthy. And unfortunately our society – in business and politics, and especially on social media – is […]

In an earlier post, we talked about the first critical step towards creating a well-aligned, motivated and productive team. You must have a clear direction, mission or goal for that team to be aligned around, before you have any hope of having an aligned team. What’s the second critical step? Well, at the risk of […]

In the latest edition of our Soundwaves podcast, we offer some additional thoughts on the July 10, 2014 announcement by LeBron James that he’ll be returning to his home town of Cleveland to play with the Cavaliers once again. Rare is the occasion when a celebrity — especially such a high-profile one as LeBron — […]

Every once in a while a celebrity or an athlete does or says something that really catches you off guard, and makes you stop and think “wait… that was really good. Where did that come from?” Last Friday, July 11, 2014 was one of those times. Regardless of whether you like basketball, or follow sports […]

There is a disconnect that I witness every day. The disconnect is between our own perception of what is “clear” and what others think about that clarity. When we have an idea or a strategy or something in our head, and we have thought it through and worked it out, in our own minds it […]

The other day I was on a conference call with two good friends. One, Bill, is the CEO of US-based marine industry company. The other, Ron, is an independent marketing consultant. We were catching up on some business issues, and Bill made a comment that stuck with me. His company has had some communication challenges […]

We’ve all been to THIS conference call… too many times in fact. While Tripp and Tyler absolutely nail the inherent comedy in the ways we conduct conference calls, let’s take the conversation to the next level. How do we run better conference calls? Here are a few simple ideas: 1. Set context and get the […]

If we look at our communication as if it were a meal that our audience will consume, we’ll of course want to prepare a communication “meal” they will enjoy. And in order to do that, there are 5 ingredients that must be included in our recipe: Clarity, Brevity, Context, Impact, and Value. But how much […]

  I spent the entire day yesterday with my four-year old son. We had quite a nice little Saturday. We woke up early, had breakfast together, and then went out for some man-style shopping. Home Depot was the highlight, for some tools. We then came home and spent several hours in the yard together. We […]