How to Tear Down, How to Build Up In my previous life, before I became a coach and speaker, I was a pianist. I still sometimes play piano at church, along with several other people. Some are beginners, and I try to encourage and support them. It always...
Don’t Be “Nice” I used to think of myself as a nice person. I don’t anymore. In fact, if people refer to me as nice, I cringe. It was a passage in Gavin de Becker’s book, The Gift of Fear, that first changed my opinion of this word: We must learn and then teach our...
The Art of Conversation: 4 Skills to Master At first, I thought it was just me. After spending an evening with friends and never once being asked a question, or sharing some news and receiving nothing but a “thumbs up” sign in response, or receiving multiple email...
2 Ways to Prevent Discouragement I often share success stories in my presentations and writing. They illustrate my point and make the skills and concepts easier to remember. Plus, they usually make me look pretty good! But you rarely get the whole story. The “happy...
How to Deal with Feedback Awhile back, a prospective client told me, “I want some communication coaching so I can increase my credibility at the office. I got some really negative feedback about how I conduct meetings. It stung, but I want to use this as an...