Dean Brenner

When I first started The Latimer Group, nearly twenty years ago, I worked from home full time. The company was a “group” in name only, and it was just me for several years. An office wasn’t necessary… or affordable. But as we grew, an office became an imperative, and it has now been nearly thirteen […]

Maintaining relationships from distance is hard. Very hard. Whether it was the high school relationship you tried to keep together when one or both went off to college… or a marriage put to the test because of a job relocation… or a best friendship tested when one of you moved across country… there are countless […]

Most people communicate selfishly in the workplace. Sorry… I apologize for that harsh opinion. But I believe it to be true. Most people communicate with their colleagues, customers, vendors, and suppliers based primarily on their own needs, wants and goals. Most people build their communication (presentations, meeting agendas, negotiation points, talking points) based on what they want, […]

Editor’s note: The original version of this post linked to the wrong interview with Bryan… That’s been remedied, and the correct interview is available below, and via the following Soundcloud link. We apologize for any confusion. On June 11, 2020, Dan Cooney and I had a fascinating conversation with our long-time friend Bryan Gildenberg. We […]

Navigating challenging conversations is never easy, but in today’s world, it’s a skill that’s more important than ever to have in your communication toolbox. In this short video, we talk with you about some basic foundational mindsets that you should have as you enter into your next challenging conversation. For more episodes of The Message […]

As I wrote in the initial post in this series, I am in the midst of examining my own playbook for navigating challenging conversations. Such skills have never been more important, at least in my lifetime. And while that statement fairly opens me up to accusations of tempocentrism, I happen to believe it to be […]

Relationships, professional and personal, can be made or broken by the manner in which challenging conversations are handled. If handled well, the relationship can be forever strengthened. If handled poorly, the relationship may never recover. So, a complete tool box of tactics is a very valuable thing to have. In my last post, I shared […]

The ability to navigate our way through a challenging conversation is always a great skill to have, especially when there are large issues to be discussed. And especially when we know people have big opinions and big emotions. I am in the process of re-examining my entire set of tactics and behaviors around challenging conversations… […]

Originally published with the Forbes Coaches Council. As a coach, I see a lot of different kinds of speakers: those who are confident and controlled and others who are nervous and still figuring out how to get their point across. And I’ve had people ask, “Don’t you sometimes want to laugh at how bad some of these presentations can be?” […]

To our clients and friends in The Latimer Group community. We are thoroughly disgusted by the treatment and tragic killing of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis. This reminds us, yet again, of how far our country has yet to go in our journey towards fairness, opportunity and safety for all. The legitimate protests […]