Leadership

Winston Churchill once famously said “the most important thing about education is the appetite.” We teach and coach communication skills all day, every day, here at The Latimer Group. And we see all kinds of people walk into our workshops. We see the willing, the unwilling, the motivated, the unmotivated… and everything in between. Some […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

[Author’s Note: This post was originally written in September 2019, right as my son was starting fourth grade.] 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Originally posted with the Forbes Coaches Council, May 2019. 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 feeling alone and isolated? Of course not! Healthy, happy […]

This post was originally published in February 2017. Earlier this week, my wife and I, along with some good friends, attended our first political “town hall” event, hosted by Chris Murphy, the junior senator from Connecticut and a Democrat. We obviously are living in a highly-charged and emotional political climate in the United States, and […]