Being a Great Communicator Also Means…
Posted On June 22, 2022 BY Dean Brenner
In a recent workshop, one participant asked a series of questions about how broad the application of the content we were teaching in the course actually was. I answered in a very “Latimer way,” by saying that our model applies to all forms of workplace communication: meetings, conference calls, presentations, email exchanges, etc. As I […]
Finding Strength in Vulnerability
Posted On June 8, 2022 BY Dean Brenner
Think about what makes you feel engaged, productive and motivated at work. Is it feeling like a cog in a machine? Is it the feeling that you have no meaningful understanding of the people leading you? Is it feeling alone and isolated? Of course not! Healthy, happy workplaces foster connection: Humans fundamentally want to feel that they […]
Communicating Through Conflict
Posted On May 9, 2022 BY Dean Brenner
Communicating through conflict doesn’t have to be that hard. It can be… but it doesn’t have to be. And the key is your mindset during the conflict. What are you thinking about when communicating with the person you are in conflict with? Are you thinking about winning the discussion, regardless of what comes later? Are […]
Executive Presence: The Art Of Projecting Leadership
Posted On May 2, 2022 BY Dean Brenner
Think about the best leader you’ve ever seen. What made her/him compelling? Many of us would say, “They just had ‘it.’ Their charisma was off the charts.” It may be hard to believe, but “it” — that combination of confidence, authority and personality that makes an executive engaging and inspiring — isn’t necessarily an inherent […]
Changing Behaviors is the Hardest Thing
Posted On April 29, 2022 BY Dean Brenner
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 […]
The Energy Drain of Leadership
Posted On April 18, 2022 BY Dean Brenner
I heard from a business leader last Friday, someone I have done some business with, but who is also a friend. And what started as a quick “hey, how are you” conversation, turned into an hour-long therapy session of venting and asking for advice… in both directions. I was thinking about this conversation for the […]
No One Leads All the Time: Seven Characteristics of Good Followership
Posted On April 8, 2022 BY Dean Brenner
At The Latimer Group, we often say, “no one leads all the time.” And today, we would like to dig into that a little bit more. Take a look at the image above. The yellow figure is usually the one that gets all the attention, much of the acclaim when things are going well. Many of […]
It’s OK To Not Be OK
Posted On March 25, 2022 BY Dean Brenner
(Author’s Note: For those who have been following along with this blog for a while, you know that your authors, especially this one, are not afraid to share elements of our non-work life here. For those who are new to this blog, don’t let the personal nature of today’s topic scare you away. This is […]
Want to Be More Persuasive? Be More Than a Messenger
Posted On March 23, 2022 BY Dean Brenner
So often in preparing to communicate, we make a fundamental mistake: we enter what my colleagues and I refer to as “the messenger mindset.” What this means is that our entire approach to communication is about the “delivery of information.” Rather than communicating based on goals and desired outcomes, we set out to inform, to update, […]
Three Simple Messages for Stronger Communication
Posted On March 21, 2022 BY Dean Brenner
The other day I was playing with my kids, and my daughter asked me about what I do at The Latimer Group. I gave her what I thought was a good answer, straight from our highly curated marketing materials: “we provide coaching and training to…” But my answer wasn’t super helpful to a six-year old. […]