I facilitated an executive retreat for one of my clients, a retreat focused on all the changes that were needed in their organization. As they debated various strategies to make that happen, one exec stood up and said, “What if, and I know this sounds kooky, we communicated with the employees?” Of course, I didn’t say anything, but I was thinking, “Duh!” …
How to Resolve A Conflict with More Respect and Less Hurt
Common courtesy is no longer common practice. Indeed, rudeness, crudeness, and disrespect are flourishing. And in some cases, disrespect is esteemed as a sign of cleverness or assertiveness. Nothing could be further from the truth. Disrespect is still as dehumanizing and inappropriate as ever. And disrespect is almost always ineffective when it comes to resolving a conflict. So what can …
How Skid Row Taught Me How To Communicate (part 1)
Growing up, and even as an adult, after I had gone through a really bad day or a really bad stretch in my life, my father would tell me, “Well, you just learned an awful lot more than you ever learned in school.” I’m not sure that was 100% accurate, but his comment led me to a major discovery. Whenever …
Subject Line: The 10 Commandments of Awesome Communication (part 4)
We’ve all heard of the 10 Commandments, but not all of us get them right. For example, in one Sunday School class, the children were asked what was the first commandment. One kid replied, “It was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple.” Years before that Mark Twain recounted the story of a 19th century industrial baron who told …