Dean Brenner

How often do you sit in meetings and think to yourself “wow… this is a colossal waste of time“? My guess is your answer is some version of “far too often.” The next time you are feeling that way, do some quick back-of-the-envelope calculations. Make an estimate of what you get paid by the hour. […]

Information is the blood supply in the modern business organization. But in a world where there is an overwhelming amount of information available, we have to make sure that we are exchanging good information, and not just any information. So let me amend my opening sentence. Good information is the healthy blood supply in the […]

(We recently had a conversation with a good friend of The Latimer Group, who said something really powerful to us. Our friend shared that her firm no longer calls communication a “soft skill.” Instead, they refer to communication as a “power skill.” We LOVE that, and it caused me to write this post, which has […]

My colleagues and I always talk about the importance of getting to the point quickly. So don’t worry… I am not about to contradict twenty years of Latimer teaching. But my colleagues and I also believe in the importance of audience and situational awareness, and that we should always try to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach. […]

Do you find persuasion easy? For most of us, the answer probably is some version of “sometimes.” It’s a broad question, with lots of variables: what you are “asking” for, the environment and situation, the person being asked, and several other variables can all play a part in how easily the persuasion happens… or if it […]

I was speaking with a good friend recently. He’s a business owner, and the definition of a straight shooter. He doesn’t tolerate people who waste his time or who don’t deliver as promised. He shared a story of a contractor he was working with who never, ever seemed to be able to meet a deadline. And his […]

Great and powerful communication is not a single skill set. No, in fact great and powerful communication is actually four skills. And like any other elite artist or athlete, great performances are built first by breaking the overall skill into subskills. When we break things down into smaller parts, it is easier to build a […]

Let’s talk about building credibility… real credibility. Not the short term version of credibility that comes from a referral or a common friendship or the personal courtesy of someone giving you a chance. No… let’s talk about the long-term credibility that is built by you, your actions and your performance. Real credibility is created in […]

Many of us in our professional lives will get to a point where we have a lot of experience. We have done the job for a while, we know the products, we know the stakeholders, we know what our clients or customers want or don’t want. Experience matters, a lot. And when we accumulate significant […]

One of the things that consistently comes up in conversation during coaching and training is the moving target of credibility. How to get it… what to do if you don’t have it… and how much of it is needed. And just like any other “power source” it helps to first understand the sources of credibility, […]