Have you found yourself in a situation that requires you to gain cooperation when you’re not officially in charge? Whether you’re communicating with a client, a boss, a colleague or even your family, figuring out how to pull rank when you have no rank to pull requires perspective, strategy and clear communication. The first step to gaining cooperation from…
“Please and Thank you, they’re called the magic words. If you want nice things to happen, they’re the words that should be heard.” These are lyrics from a song sung by Barney the Dinosaur and his sidekick kids in a children’s show my daughter and I watched faithfully when she was growing up. And, I think there’s a lesson in…
“I told you so” along with “That’s a dumb idea,” “I knew you couldn’t do it” and “What were you thinking?!!” are just some of the nasty comments that may catch us off guard when they come our way. Even worse is when those well-intentioned, but hurtful comments come from people close to us such as co-workers or family. I…
In my communication keynotes and workshops, I frequently share this popular quote: Speak so that others love listening to you. Listen so that others love speaking to you. What I love sharing, even more, is HOW you go about doing that. How do you get a positive reaction from others when you speak…and when you listen? I sometimes share jokingly—truth…
On a Monday morning one of my colleagues ditched email and actually called a client. He had been wringing his hands and stressing all weekend after receiving an email from the client on Friday that led him to believe he had somehow unintentionally offended her. On the phone call, he was relieved when his client clarified that her message “I…
I learned from reading the book The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman that my preferred love languages are “acts of service” and “quality time.” In fact, my husband—with whom I celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary in December 2015—won me over with his acts of service such as offering to take me to the airport before dawn for a 6:00am…