Meeting with a Colleague

Start an Elevator Conversation; Forget the Elevator Speech

The elevator speech is dead. That was my pronouncement in last week’s blog. The reasons: Elevator speeches are too vague, too canned, too...

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Making Great First Impressions

10 Tiny Things That Create Big First Impressions

Whether it takes 7 seconds or 17 minutes to make a first impression, people always seem astonished at what idiosyncrasy causes the gut reaction. That...

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Managing Small Talk Conversations

How to Skip Small Talk and Get to Know Someone

Noticing the time on a text message (3:04 a.m.) that came in from a Millennial one morning, I asked if he had been working that late. “No, I...

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Good Communication Practices

5 Communication Practices Touted As Effective—That Really Aren’t

No matter the topic, there’s always the flipside. Politics? The liberal view versus the conservative view. Religion? Scores of...

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Asking Important Questions

5 Mistakes Leaders Make in Responding to Questions

Whether delivering a presentation to clients or your own executive team, delegating, or passing someone in the hallway, leaders get questions....

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Leadership within a Business

How Real Leaders Inspire, Build Culture, Stay Happy, Make Money

Given a half hour to kill in a shopping mall, I prefer to spend it reading greeting cards or books of essays. Not silly or trite sayings and...

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