Here’s a quick story about a nice exchange that went off the rails. Not way off, but enough off that it mattered, Sharing opinions can get you into trouble. Answer these three questions before deciding whether to speak up, or shut up.
In a conversation, misunderstanding and disagreements can happen before both people have even had a chance to speak.
It happens because we’re smart and thinking ahead. We interpret what the person has said to have a deeper meaning that the words that were uttered.
Business is personal – which was the original premise of LinkedIn.
When LinkedIn first came to be it was a platform to list and stay connected with the businesspeople you know, like and trust. If someone else you knew wanted to meet someone on your list, they could reach out to you to request a warm introduction. A lovely, civil and genuine way to build relationships.
Have you ever received an email or had a conversation where what the other person was saying to you had you scratching your head thinking, “How in the world did they get that impression from me?!” Assumptions can be troublesome.
Here are some basic tips for leading your team remotely. What you need to take from here will depend largely on how you operated when you were working alongside one another. The idea is to maintain mental collaboration while being physically apart and to look after the individual needs of your people.
In a recent meeting, a colleague (we’ll call him Mark) mentioned that his client (Brian) a great guy in many ways, could use a coach in a specific area. Mark asked how to bring up that Brian would benefit from working with an executive coach without it being awkward or insulting. The answer lies in changing Mark’s perception of executive coaching.
Who among us hasn’t had to apologize for something? Everyone has reason to express genuine regret for behavior. If you’ve never felt the need to say you’re sorry, that’s another – probably larger – problem to address.
You only have so much time in a day and therefore can only serve a defined number of clients. If you sell direct to consumer and don’t know who your clients are, that’s a different story. But service based, business to business companies have to decide whom they want to serve.
It’s a common frustration that a client has gotten so difficult to work with that the business owner wishes they had never engaged with them.
At two recent events I was the victim of the Sidebar Conversation. This is a conversation an attendee starts with his or her “neighbor” – during the presentation. It may be about the topic, but it’s still a conversation while the speaker is speaking. And it’s rude.
“Welp. That’s just the way I am.”
That’s the reasoning you may get when someone hurts, offends, falls short of expectations, etc. You’re left angry, disappointed, frustrated, hurt or having to clean up a mess.
Here’s why it’s a loser excuse.
Nearly every time I debrief an assessment with a client and share information about a particular trait that’s been uncovered, I hear something on the order of “Yeah, but everybody feels that way about (fill in the blank.)”
I brought up politics over cocktails and here’s what happened.
It was an experiment.
Pretty certain that the guy I was meeting with was on the other side of the political spectrum, I asked him what he thought about the election. Over the next half hour we had a spirited discussion about the players, major political issues and the state of the country. It got tens
Before we talk about terrible bosses let’s talk about terrible singers. Have you ever watched one of those singing competitions? You’ll hear an audition that sounds like a catfight on a chalkboard and think, “Does this chick seriously think she has a chance in hell to win this?”
For a few years I was part of a group of women mentors at a local university. The school has a program that matches sophomore women in the business school with women already out in the workplace. The role of the mentor is to share ideas, tips, information, support and hopefully wisdom to help the students be as prepared as possible to launch into the work world.
At one of the events, all of the mentors were asked to share what one trait each of us considered vital to being successful.
Certainly you’d never fire off a snippy email but I’ll bet you work with people who would and do. I know this because I’ve experienced it and I also hear about it every single week from people in corporate America. So this post isn’t really about you. It’s for you to share with those other people. From now on when I say “you” I mean “them.” Moving along.
You probably know these ideas, but knowing them doesn’t necessarily mean we remember to do them, right? Perception is reality. If you want to attract business, collaborate effectively, be comfortable walking into a room of strangers, and get along with people in general, the little behaviors matter quite a bit. Appearing poised and professional instead of anxious and amateurish is as easy as putting these five tips into action.
Learning, I’m usually a bottom-liner. I want to know what I’m supposed to learn and right now, please. I don’t need seven examples illustrating the point or three case studies about people who implemented this new process or idea.
Here are five instances when you might be able to get to your point more quickly, saving yourself and others time and probably annoyance, too.
It’s not what you say it’s the way you say it.
Did you grow up with your parents saying that to you, like I did? Tone, body language, facial expression and word choice all come together to create either a positive or negative experience in conversation. See the examples below to illustrate this point.
A couple of months ago a person with my best interest at heart was within earshot as I had a casual conversation. This was a conversation he was welcome to join but didn’t. That he didn’t join was neither a good thing nor a bad thing so his not adding to the conversation went unnoticed. …
Here are tips to deal with the Help Rejecting Complainer without losing your mind in the process.
Soft skills are critical and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Master this skill and watch your relationships, and therefore productivity, skyrocket. And you’ll be happier too.
People are what often make work challenging. And what specifically about those people? How they think. But perhaps that’s more of a positive than a problem.
You have a horrible client who is not only demanding, but rude and dismissive as well. Your manager, believing that this client’s business is very important, does nothing. If it was your company you’d fire the client, but it’s not your company. You know from past experience that your boss will never do anything to help the situation. Sure, once in awhile she tells you she knows how awful it is, but the situation never changes. Getting up the nerve for you to say something to the client would be pretty much impossible. But even it were possible it would probably result in a reprimand in your personnel file, a demotion or getting fired — and you need this job.
What do you do?
Donna Gamache had me as a guest on her BlogTalk Radio show and we had a great conversation about how to find contentment in this crazy, busy, loud world — including why you would even want to do.
We talk about tips for reducing stress, tackling that giant to do list, feeling accomplished every day, ….
A recent study indicated that nearly two thirds of employees are not engaged at work. For a variety of reasons, workers would just rather be anywhere but in their particular workplace. It’s often not the work that people dread, it’s the interaction with specific co-workers. A LinkedIn article, The Top Ten Reasons People Hate Their Jobs listed “Their Boss Sucks” as number one. And it’s not always the boss that’s the problem. Colleagues can make the workday pretty miserable, too.
It’s disheartening to hear so many stories about workplace environments that range from annoying to unbearable due to obnoxious behavior.
How about the CEO
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