Your body language and vocal tone have an oversized impact on the message you’re delivering – meaning how you’re delivering what you say. When the audience’s trust of you is low and their concern about the issue that you’re talking about is high, which is often the case in the ...
read more →
Mark Twain said, “All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.” We see stupidity and confidence in any number of successful people these days. (I’ll let you decide who they might be.) Confidence comes in handy but, like beer, too much just isn’t ...
read more →
I was talking with one of our more experienced clients on the east coast the other day. She told me they’re encountering a consistent challenge with new hires, smart people often fresh out of school, who are really uncomfortable talking with folks beyond their own age bracket and out of ...
read more →
When the premise of democracy, statesmanship and compromise is under attack, as it is now, the mere idea of collaborating seems quaint and old fashioned. But the fact is it’s probably the only thing that will save us. Getting people to the point of willingness to collaborate is challenging. The ...
read more →
If people can’t or find it uncomfortable to come to you, go to them. Yo, Philly!...
read more →
The us against them mentality is no clearer than in local planning and zoning issues. As the price of real estate keeps home buying out of reach for more people, housing alternatives are struggling to find traction. The mere suggestion of “affordable housing” sends a lot of adjacent, existing homeowners ...
read more →
Well before Eurythmics wrote and sang those immortal words, “Sweet dreams are made of cheese,” I’ve been interested in popular music lyrics and how they reflect the mood of the time. Every era seems to lean into the emotional state of people experiencing their time from the “...
read more →
Hubris or arrogance – closely related, but subtly different emotions – are one of the biggest impediments to (re)building and maintaining trust in people who need to know that you’re credible. The challenge comes when highly qualified, well-intentioned people need to relate to those who don’t have that knowledge and ...
read more →
We talk about the loss of trust in expertise and institutions and it begs the obvious question of what we can do to get it back. The answer to that question is a little more involved than this very brief answer, but it’s not a bad place to start. Be ...
read more →
There’s a common belief that people in Western societies are becoming increasingly polarized, folding into moral tribes. But there’s significant evidence to suggest that we may be less polarized than we’re sometimes encouraged to believe. There are those who stand to gain power and income by convincing us we’re widely ...
read more →
