(My column first appeared on Forbes here.) Communicating technical concepts to another technical person requires focus and discipline. Add to this picture other complexities in cross-gender communication. Then scratch below the surface, and you’ll understand why you’re in a difficult situation: A technical communicator won’t let you off the hook with vague generalities. A technical [...]
(This blog first appeared on Forbes.com here.) Credibility is hard to earn and easy to lose. People judge you not only based on your job performance, but also by your communication––how you talk and what you talk about when and with whom. Words have to match actions. In addition to meeting your deadlines and hitting [...]
The biggest barrier between leaders and followers is distrust. And the window dressing for distrust is insincerity. People put up with a lot of quirks in their leaders and coworkers just to keep the peace—but insincerity particularly grates on the nerves. It’s like trying to satisfy hunger with cotton candy. A good question to ask [...]
Few people admit to bad communication habits—much less habits that can cost them a job or a contract. Yet, we all see some of the following habits in people we interact with in the workplace on a daily basis. A few reminders can cut your risks that these habits don’t creep into your own business [...]
Some silences can be more painful than others: The thank-you note that never arrives. The dinner invitation that goes unanswered. The job interview request that’s never returned. The re-order that fails to come through. Paul Simon’s famous “The Sounds of Silence” always puts me in a melancholy mood—seeing a world of bleakness, where people fail [...]
You’ve heard it said that people do business with people they like. But they also believe people they like, help people they like, hire people they like, promote people they like, get on committees with people they like, vote for people they like. Few would argue that likability is a good thing. If you’d like [...]
