Have you ever awakened at 3:00 a.m., rehashing a conversation from earlier in the day? Why didn’t I think to say X? Or if I had just commented that Bryan’s actions were “unusual” instead of calling them “irrational,” maybe he wouldn’t have exploded and walked out. What if . . . . On and on, [...]
Change usually involves a period of chaos until people struggle through it to success. Even the world’s most powerful software requires a learning curve. Influencing people to take action or to change their mind often includes minimizing the risk of potential pain in a negative outcome. To minimize that risk, take a few tips from [...]
Have you ever become frustrated searching a company’s website, trying to find an answer to a simple question or a phone number to call for help? Ever spent fifteen minutes sorting through automated phone menus, trying to get to a live person to get a simple problem corrected? You may have become convinced that these [...]
Experienced negotiators refer to this surprise tactic as the “bomb scare.” Such surprises happen in sales, salary negotiations, customer projects, and political situations. Consider the two “bomb scares” (one for each side) with the two James Comey announcements before the 2016 elections about re-opening the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails and then weeks later the [...]
(This article first appeared on Forbes.com here.) “Never heard back on that.” “They never took serious action on my recommendation.” “Sure would like to have a seat at the table when that discussion comes up next time!” All of these are common laments from those who’ve had their day in front of C-suite decision makers—and [...]
(This article originally appeared here on Forbes on May 19, 2018.) When it comes to commitments, there are two kinds of people in the marketplace: Those who keep commitments as if their life depended on it—and those who break them as easily as crystal. By definition, integrity means soundness, sincerity, truthfulness, coherence, honesty, of good [...]
