I have some really brilliant friends. Truly brilliant. Whenever I spend time with them, I’m reminded of how lucky I am to learn from them, grow with them, and have them in my life. One such friend, Deb Berecz, has been my bestie and a solid light in my life since 5th grade. Deb is an experienced collaborative family law …
Conflict Done Right
If we’re honest, most of us hate conflict. We either gear up for an uncomfortable fight, or we avoid it altogether. I think conflict gets a bad rap. I believe conflict feels uncomfortable to us because we’ve blindly adopted an old definition of it from parents, co-workers, friends, and society in general. We look at it through the frame we’ve …
Solutions and Service vs. Sales
Do you, someone on your team, or maybe even your entire team hate the idea of selling? If you do, you’re not alone, especially in healthcare and other service-related industries like consulting, speaking, and training! But what if I told you there was an easy way to make sales without ever “selling”? What if it was as simple as training …
The Stretch Zone
LionSpeak is a communication coaching company specializing in coaching individuals, leaders, and teams, who wish to communicate with more clarity and inspiration to achieve remarkable results. In other words, we help people communicate better in a variety of circumstances. For example: An administrator wanting to convert more callers to appointments. A leader wishing to inspire their team to massive action. …
The Drama Triangle vs. the Empowerment Triangle
You may have heard of the “Drama Triangle.” It was initially introduced by a psychiatrist named Stephen Karpman in the 1960’s as a “social model of human interaction” to demonstrate unproductive patterns of relating when conflicts arise. Each point of the inverted triangle represents one of three “faces of drama”: The persecutor (constantly finding fault and placing blame), the victim …
A Call for Love
I recently heard someone say that how people act demonstrates whether they are receiving love or putting out a call for love. When I consider this in terms of behavior and communication, I think it just might be spot on. Think about the last time you experienced someone “acting out”— a teenager, a spouse, an audience member, a team member, …
From the Top
“My job is to report it, not to fix it. That’s my manager’s job. That’s why she gets paid the big bucks!” This was the reply I received when I asked a client’s team member if she would be open to some coaching about how to solve a conflict with one of her co-workers. Simultaneously, her manager had complained to …
Words That Matter
Whether in a one-to-one conversation, video, email, text, social media post, or group presentation, what we say matters. Everything from body language and non-verbal communication to our word choice creates an image and perception in the minds of our intended listeners. As leaders, we want our message to land with strength, clarity, and persuasion. I’ve written several Stretches over the …
Celebrating Partnerships
Eleven years ago, I interviewed a young, bright virtual assistant in Ohio who possessed all the technical skills I needed to support my growing speaking and coaching business. She was professional and timely. She had experience in helping to make busy professionals’ lives easier by handling all the little details behind the scenes like travel arrangements, client scheduling, shipping, bookkeeping, …
Stop the Boredom
If you dread your team meetings or trainings, your team members likely do too. As a coach, I’ve observed some really great team meetings and … some really horrible ones. Here are some lifesaving tips to keep your meetings from experiencing what I call epic boredom and fatal disengagement. If you incorporate these adult learning principles, you will eliminate people …
