How do you get better at hitting a golf ball? By hitting golf balls. How do you get better at riding a bike? By riding a bike. How do you get better at anything? By practicing and repetition… by building up a comfort level… by building up muscle memory. And some good coaching along the way certainly helps […]
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Category: Leadership
Originally published with the Forbes Coaches Council. We all aspire to be better communicators. We all know that communicating well will help us accomplish our goals, impress our colleagues and our superiors and generate business. We all want to feel confident and project leadership. But while we see the benefits of good communication, we generally think about […]
I was speaking with my good friend Tom the other day. Tom is 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. We were speaking about a few things on the phone, and he shared a story of a contractor […]
Originally published with the Forbes Coaches Council, August 2019. Many of us likely want to become better communicators, whether your goal is to speak clearly, concisely or persuasively. As individuals, we can work to improve our own communication through preparation and practice of a few crucial underlying skills. We can set out to know our audience, hone […]
My son started fourth grade this week, and on his first day he brought home something from his teacher that I found profound and inspiring. As he was excitedly recounting his first day, and telling us about old and new friends, his new locker and how he intends to decorate it, he pulled out a […]
Keeping your energy level up all the time is hard. We all get tired. We all get frustrated. We all get sick of our work/colleagues/friends/selves. And when we are any of these things, our productivity suffers. One of the best quotes I have ever heard (well… more of an attitude than a quote) is that positivity […]
Clients of The Latimer Group have heard me say, many times, that the hardest thing for any organizational leader to do is to change the way his or her people actually behave. If you want to reinvent your organization, you can add or subtract business units, product lines, services, locations, etc, etc, etc. You can make yourself […]
This blog post was inevitable. I was always going to write it. I just needed a moment of inspiration. Because when your favorite poem is quoted by your favorite actor/comedian, in your favorite scene from your favorite movie, the stars are about as aligned as they could possibly be. So, late the other night I was flipping around […]
Originally published with the Forbes Coaches Council. In goal-oriented communication, few things are more important than creating a sense of connection between yourself and the person you are speaking to. When you are in the audience, what type of speaker captures your attention more: the one who speaks to your concerns, your needs and your circumstances, or […]
We heard a great idea from a workshop participant last week. During a two-day class on Executive Presence, one of the participants mentioned his plan for skill development after the class was over. And in particular, he said something fascinating… he mentioned working closely with his “accountability partner.” We pushed him a little, to tell […]