[Opinion] Fierce Confrontations

Confrontation is the beginning of conflicts, but confrontation can only come about if we have the courage to have a conversation in the first place. Conversation is not confrontation, though conversation may make parties in conflict uncomfortable. Uncomfortable conversations must happen in fierce ways for those conversations to have value, meaning, Read more…

HIT Piece 11.29.2016

Sometimes a presentation doesn’t “work.” Sometimes there’s no connection with the audience. Sometimes the presenter talks more to themselves than they listen to the crowd. Sometimes questions aren’t asked (or answered) by the audience or the presenter. Sometimes there is no active listening on the part of the audience. Sometimes Read more…

[Advice] Conflict Manipulation

The manipulation is simple, but the consequences are complex. We lament “Why can’t we all just, get along?” and then we proceed to irritate, obfuscate, or deceive the other party. Then we look at them with Alfred E. Nueman’s famous facial expression and metaphorically shrug our shoulders. The problem is Read more…

[Advice] How to Have Gratitude

Remember how easy it was to say “thank you” when you were a child and you had nothing to lose? Yeah…neither do we… And the thing is, as we become fully autonomous adults, with our own minds, motivations, and needs, it becomes less easy than it ever was in childhood. Read more…

[Strategy] Why So Few Self-Aware Organizations?

Organizations, founders, managers, and employees who are self-aware do better than those who aren’t. This should come as no surprise, but in an economic, social, and even political climate where “knowing thyself” is as mysterious as “knowing thy customers,” it becomes incumbent upon an organization–and the people employed by it–to Read more…

HIT Piece 11.22.2016

The power of stories is undeniable, particularly around the Thanksgiving holiday. Stories about the Pilgrims. Stories about the country today. Stories about the country yesterday. Stories about the neighborhood. Stories about the family. Thanksgiving is a curious holiday, because at its root, it is about thanking God (who the Pilgrims Read more…

[Opinion] Mental Infrastructure

There is a lot of mental infrastructure from the Industrial Revolution still laying around. And most of that infrastructure can be seen on display in organizations: Employees who are at the bottom of an organizational chart, believing that they are the foundation on which the organization rests, yet feeling as Read more…

HIT Piece 11.15.2016

I don’t know. The three words that kill any consulting, coaching, or training gig. The three words that kill any sale (B2B or B2C). The three words that kill any career around a meeting table. We recognize the vulnerability, powerlessness, and transparency in the “I don’t know” statement. And in Read more…