Roleplaying. If it doesn’t make you think of Dungeons & Dragons … it possibly gives you work jitters. Roleplaying is one of the best ways to “wrestle and grow” your communication skills. But it is certainly a wrestle, especially if you have an audience. I recently assessed employees who role-played some customer service scenarios with professional actors. It was a …
Podcast 111 – Crucial Conversations: Master your story
Have you ever had an argument that turned out to be just a misunderstanding? If you’re going to have a high-stakes, emotionally charged conversation, you need to look hard at the story you are telling yourself. Learn more about this powerful and challenging exercise. This episode is part of our series on “Crucial Conversations.” The first episode is at this …
How car dealerships look from the outside
I recently posted about “the end of car dealerships.” Consider this part 2: Wired recently published “The Incredible Shrinking Car Dealership.” First off, this is a good look for anybody outside automotive retail at the pressures going on within the dealership model. And for those inside, this is a good look at how you are perceived. Second off, I’ve been …
Horn Sections Make Rock Better: Somebody’s Always Trying
Another recommendation from a longtime listener (thanks, Dan–your live music knowledge goes farther than almost everybody else!): Samantha Fish. Here she is covering a Ted Taylor classic live. In the same key no less–with a lot more guitar solo.
Why you need a coach but your ancestors probably didn’t
Let me make a prediction: You are busy. This isn’t something I could say with 100-percent certainty in the past. But at some point in the 1900s, it became true of virtually all of us. It’s so true that FranklinCovey makes a lot of money offering The 4 Disciplines of Execution to people and organizations constantly under threat from what …
Podcast 110 – Crucial Conversations: Learn to look
In preparing for a high-stakes, emotionally charged conversation where there will be opposing views … you better learn to look. Mainly at yourself. Tips on how to do so in this episode. This episode is part of our series on “Crucial Conversations.” The first episode is at this link. We would love your questions and comments for future episodes: Email …
When honoring your values leads to a “Bob Hope story”
I won’t spoil this article’s funny story about how The Broadmoor hotel protected Bob Hope and his wife. The article is really about all the things this independent resort (over a century old) does to earn five stars from the Forbes Travel Guide. (“No other hotel or resort has been so good for so long.”) This is a record-setting hotel …
Horn Sections Make Rock Better: Come Together
I mentioned a while back that I sent out a request for more Horn Sections Make Rock Better songs. This discovery (thanks Kelli!) is a group of Berklee alums who have backed up a number of pop stars. The Regiment Horns, live:
The humility it takes to be a leader
The New York Times has a daily email briefing called The Morning that is pretty darn good. I don’t always agree with the editorializing, but it explains the reasoning behind why certain stories are in the news or on the Times’s radar. Here is one story I suspect we will all agree on: “The power of humility.” Using the N.F.L. …
Podcast 109 – Crucial Conversations: Start with the heart
When you identify a high-stakes, emotional issue with strongly opposing views … how quickly do you discuss it? Or do you resort to “silence or violence?” As promised last episode, welcome to our series on how to have difficult conversations. We are using the excellent “Crucial Conversations” as our inspiration. Whether you have to tell somebody they smell bad, discuss a …