The Shortest Distance
We are here, we need to be there, and we need to take these steps to get there. It’s the straight line, the shortest distance. Yet …
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Right people, right challenges, great care and relationships.
Avoiding The Leadership, Sales, and Influence Hairball
Leading, influencing, and selling involves getting others to give up something they value–usually money, attention, political currency, time, or effort. If we are not careful …
Why Techniques and Scripts Don’t Work
People often ask for help with specific sales, influence, and leadership situations. I can tell them exactly what to say, we can use every script in …
Care Very Hard
There are those leaders who think very hard, who push very hard, or who worry very hard. They think, push, and worry so that they …
Can This Be a Plan?
They say that the happiest people on the planet are always saying, “Thank you.” Sometimes they say it out loud to others. Most of the …
To Change Someone’s Mind
In order to change someone’s mind, start where their mind is now. Should we start with our position–by convincing, educating, lobbying, telling, fighting, begging, tricking, …
When Meetings Are Painful
Most meetings serve two distinct functions: to track and to choose. These functions don’t mix well. In a tracking meeting, we check progress, coordinate with …
The Sort of Leader Who Gets People Unstuck
People who don’t change can gum up our organizations and their careers. We try requesting, coaching, pleading, pushing, “carrotting and/or sticking,” or even jumping up and …
Cursed Human Resources
We are still cursed with the Industrial Age concept of Human Resources. Despite wonderful shifts over the past half century–created by great people in HR and …
Make It Easy for Them to Help You
How do you get more people to make a donation to a charity? Be pleasant. Believe in the cause yourself, tell people what specifically you want them …