Last week, I spoke on Courageous Conversations on the Smiles at Sea cruise to the Bahamas. I’m not much of a cruiser myself, but I confess that it’s not a terrible day at the office either. At dinner one night, I discussed the concept of empathy and patient communication with a PhD pharmacist who works in Oncology and teaches Residents. …
You Can Fly!
Mary Kay Ash once said, “Aerodynamically, the bumblebee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn’t know it, so it goes on flying anyway.” Rules in life and business are necessary and important. They maintain order and protect and support us in many ways. But sometimes as a coach, I’m struck by how often we assume that the way …
Spinning the Positive
Every coin has a flipside. Every inside has an outside. Every “No” response has a “Yes” alternative. At the Disney University, I’ve heard that one of the class assignments is to go out into the theme park and find a few Disney “cast members” and ask a question for which the reasonable answer would be “No” … and listen to …
Bad Landings
Will Rogers once said, “People who fly into a rage always have a bad landing.” Even though I am a student and a teacher of Courageous Conversations, leadership communications, and the emotional intelligence necessary for success in those areas… I lost my temper recently with someone I care about very much. And, it was ugly. A bad landing for sure. …
A Jar Full of Love
Pet peeves. We’ve all got ’em. I hate it when guys leave the toilet seat up and I fall right into it in the middle of the night. I hate it when someone takes the last of anything and doesn’t restock it or add it to the grocery list. I hate it when the express checkout lane of 15 items …
The Cancer of Negativity
Negativity. The terminal cancer of workplace culture. Negativity is like a microscopic germ placed in a warm petri dish. Nestled in an environment with no defenses preemptively built in, it will grow, multiply, and spread so silently and slowly that it’s almost unnoticeable to others until… it’s deadly. When a workplace has a tolerance for people who exhibit negativity, they …
DON’T Start with “Why?”
If you’ve been on the planet in the last decade, you’ve no doubt been exposed to Simon Sinek’s video and book, Start with Why. Simon makes a tremendous case for the power of asking ourselves “What’s my ‘why’?” in an effort to communicate with clients, patients, and team members the emotional reason behind what we do rather than the more …
The Root of All Things
In preparation for writing a new book on Courageous Conversations, I’ve been doing some research and re-reading some old classics on communicating effectively in challenging situations. I am reminded on all fronts about how easily we can get derailed when emotions take over for logic. There is a raft of research to prove that when we are faced with a …
The Great Sales Match
“Matchmaker, Matchmaker, make me a match, find me a find, catch me a catch…” For some reason, I’m on a weird kick lately to re-watch all my old favorite musicals. Those famous lyrics from, Fiddler on the Roof, haunt my head as I write this week’s Monday Morning Stretch and think about how often we complicate the communication process with …
It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Happy Monday! As I write this week’s Stretch, I’m on a plane to San Diego after attending some professional meetings in Honolulu and indulging in five days of rest and relaxation on Maui. I’m returning rested and recharged with a renewed sense of wonder about the incredible beauty of our world. On the five-hour flight home, I watched the film, …
