Articles

Leaders need to be great storytellers. Too often, they’re not. Saturated with information, they’ll go on interminably, without ever getting to the point – any point. Or they’ll make it about themselves, not about us. And it’s really, as I’m sure you’ll agree, all about us. It doesn’t make...

I love getting emails from my senior clients. Why? Because their correspondence is invariably upbeat, well-organized – and short. Their messages not only make it clear what’s expected of me, they motivate me as well. “A leader,” says a person I admire greatly, “is someone who inspires people.” There you...

We’re always pitching. We’re pitching for new business, for financing, for a job.  We’re pitching our ideas, our perspective, and our point of view. We’re always at it, in one way or another, so elemental is the human need to influence others. We’re always pitching, but most people...

Your presentation tanked. Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt. There’s something particularly humiliating about having a speech, pitch, or even a briefing, go awry. It comes with a special form of indignity. It feels deeply personal. Raw. Having made every mistake in the communication skills handbook, and...

The smartest people I know operate on ‘Lombardi Time’. They’re always early. Vince Lombardi (1913-1970) was a legendary football coach who required his Green Bay Packers to be 15 minutes early for meetings, practices, and appointments. If they didn’t arrive by then, they were considered late. “If you’re...