Leadership

In all the communication coaching that we do, one question seems to come up all the time. “How do I get my leader to realize he/she needs some coaching as well?” Most leaders are really good at identifying your areas of possible improvement. But the very best ones are also good at identifying their areas of possible improvement. If […]

Like many families, much of our summer was spent keeping our kids engaged in activities. We want them active, outside, and off screens as much as possible. For our son, that meant sleep away camp for the first time, as well as an engineering design class, and some sailing. For our daughter, that also meant […]

It is a very early August morning here. The sun is just rising in the east, and the only sounds are the tapping of my keyboard, and the drip of the coffee machine. My head is completely clear, and my heart is completely full. And so, I want to talk to you today about the […]

(Author’s Note: This post was originally written in July 2020, when all of us were in the depths of the initial wave of Covid, and its impact on everything. I am on vacation this week, recharging my batteries and building up my own resilience. So this post spoke, loudly, to me. And, with the business […]

We all aspire to be better communicators (or rather, we should.) Strong communication will help us accomplish our goals, drive good outcomes, and add value to our colleagues and customers, and generate business. All good things. But while the benefits of good communication are easy to identify, most people tend to think about poor communication as […]

We get inquiries all the time from managers, directors and organizational leaders about a need for communication training for their teams. And in nearly every conversation, the leader is very clear about the needs and weaknesses of his or her team. Then, when we actually conduct the training, and once the participants get comfortable enough to speak […]

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 […]

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 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 […]

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 […]