Let’s Talk About Me, Me Me
You either already are, or will be, dealing with true-blue narcissists, those folks who are … shall we say … unnaturally fond of themselves. Here are some thoughts for you....
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Opinions are Like Belly Buttons, Everybody Has One
I prefer the cruder version of the above headline but hey, it’s Christmas time. We all know people who have opinions about everything, regardless of whether or not they actually know anything about it. Don’t be one of them....
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Why You Hate Those People
I really dislike the Bears, Lions and Vikings. People and the groups we belong to don’t like other people and groups who aren’t like us. This can bloom into hate. Science says, in part, it’s biology, and we can learn to believe differently....
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There’s One Thing That You Want People to Remember
Ellen Degeneres, the comedienne and talk show host, regularly uses the line – and titled her book, My point…and I do have one. The point here is to get to the point. In speaking, presenting or facilitating any group of people, decide the single, simplest point that you need ...
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Attitude, Commitment and Training
In addition to actually doing this work, we train a lot of other people to do this work. Invariably, people come into training workshops looking for the magical, new, cool thing that will fix all of their problems in dealing with the public. Here’s the secret sauce....
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Asking the Right Questions
Max Hardy is a longtime Aussie mate and colleague of ours who, in this Ted talk, does a nice job of explaining the power of the right question....
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Trust From the Horse’s Mouth
The Edelman Trust Barometer has measured and tracked public trust in institutions globally for several years, so, to understand this death of trust, we go to the horse’s mouth – Edelman. This is a long piece of video from the Aspen Institute, but if you want to understand this phenomenon ...
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You Work with Millennials
- Millennials, who are now assuming the lead in government and other institutions, have the dubious honor of fixing the problems created by the past and current crop of managers. They think and work differently than their predecessors.
- Leading and motivating start and end with communication and that’s a learned
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Internal Engagement
We help organizations overcome dysfunction, both with the customers/public that they serve and internally. People need control of their lives and jobs and if they don’t get it, they disengage....
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Keeping Your Chin Up
These are tough days to be working in public service, especially federal government. It’s hard for people who have been under constant fire and derision for years to stay motivated to serve the greater good, and it’s difficult to inspire younger people to want to do it for a living, ...
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