This week we’re taking a tried and true principle from political campaigning and applying it to internal communication at your company. . . yay! Nobody said it better than Lee Atwater: ‘’Perception is reality.” In politics this means that what … [Read more...] about Perception v Reality? It’s a sucker bet!
Sometimes a 1:1 is harder than a keynote!
Your head of sales isn’t happy and wants to meet at 3, your 16 year old said last night she wants to spend the summer in Asia alone, your largest customer just sent an ominously vague e-mail demanding a call immediately. Yikes!! Conversations like … [Read more...] about Sometimes a 1:1 is harder than a keynote!
Mastering yourself
Being an innovator requires courage – an unwavering commitment to delivering a brand new thing. It requires resilience – surmounting obstacle after obstacle, in service of the idea. It requires an insatiable appetite for self-awareness and personal … [Read more...] about Mastering yourself
Change requires humility, courage and discipline
The basic recipe for change is pretty clear. But that doesn’t mean change is easy. The people in our lives are used to us the way we are, we are used to us the way we are. In fact, our brains, which hate changing the patterns we have created, fight … [Read more...] about Change requires humility, courage and discipline
Practice = confidence = fluency
Why is it worth actually practicing your communications skills? Why is it worth investing energy to learn techniques, to sharpen your messages, to spend time on the stage before the speech? If you aren’t prepared you can appear pre-occupied and … [Read more...] about Practice = confidence = fluency
How you feel impacts how you communicate
The last three posts have not specifically been about communication, they’ve been about what it feels like to be in a leadership position – how people project ‘boss’ onto you and lose sight of who you really are, how the leadership mantle depletes … [Read more...] about How you feel impacts how you communicate
Circles, Arrows and Saatchi & Saatchi
On July 29, Saatchi & Saatchi Chairman Kevin Roberts, surmising about why women in his firm choose to opt out of becoming creative directors, said, “Their ambition is not a vertical ambition, it's this intrinsic, circular ambition to be happy.” … [Read more...] about Circles, Arrows and Saatchi & Saatchi
L’état, c’est moi – and I’m exhausted!
Last week’s post You the person and you ‘the boss’ was about recognizing that when you step into a leadership position you’re also stepping into a metaphor. The people around you project their own beliefs onto you as ‘the boss.’ They lose their … [Read more...] about L’état, c’est moi – and I’m exhausted!
You the person and you ‘the boss’
You may be a wonderfully open and supportive CEO, a department head, a team leader. You may be completely fair-minded and welcome frank discussion in every strategy discussion. And still, people who work for you may resent you, or be afraid of … [Read more...] about You the person and you ‘the boss’
My favorite spokesperson homilies
During 30 years in PR I trained hundreds of spokespersons to talk to the press. As it turns out, the things that good spokespersons do apply equally well to any form of communication. Behold, my favorite spokesperson homilies, with applications for … [Read more...] about My favorite spokesperson homilies
