How to work with difficult people
Publication: Conflict Management | Difficult People | Emotional intelligence | Relationship Building
Many years ago, I worked with someone who took an instant dislike to me. In our interactions, they were rude, abrupt and generally unhelpful. I never got to the reason for their behaviour, but I did find a way to manage it. My approach was the opposite of their behaviour. I went out of my […]
Are you giving enough or too much?
Publication: Prosocial Behavior | Relationship Building | Strategic Giving
There’s an old saying, ‘Information is power .’ While there is truth to that statement, so much of our life is better off when we share ideas, knowledge, insights, and our time. For example, where would we be without open-source technology, which is based on making the design and code publicly accessible? So many of the […]
Are you trying to go it alone?
Publication: Authentic networking | Mental health and connection | Relationship Building
Johann Hari’s wonderful book – Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression and the Unexpected Solutions, is a stark reminder of the fact that as humans we crave connection. Without connection we feel lost, isolated and that impacts our mental health and well-being. In the book he recounts studies in the US which asks the […]
Why uncomfortable conversations are good for you
Publication: Communication skills | Difficult conversations | Effective leadership | Relationship Building
Uncomfortable conversations aren’t fun. They’re the conversations you often put off until the last minute, and anticipate with dread. And yet, being able to have them is an essential part of effective leadership and a hallmark of a successful career. Shying away from these conversations may appear on the surface to be the easy option, […]
Want to be heard? Hear others first
Publication: Active Listening | Empathetic Communication | Leadership Listening | Relationship Building
Ever wondered how many words the average person speaks a day? Turns out it’s around 16000 for women, and 15500 for men. Curiously, there’s no research on how much of what we say is listened to or heard by the person or people it’s intended for. Research on this topic would be interesting because as […]
5 reasons why curiosity is good for you
Publication: Curious Leadership | Neural Growth | Relationship Building | Self-Awareness
Curiosity – it’s a simple concept in many respects. And yet it is something we find harder to do as we get older. It’s almost as though it is abandoned for the comfort and safety of wanting to have all the answers. We stop questioning. We base decisions on assumptions, hunches and past experience. We stop seeing exploration […]
Nice guys don’t finish last!
Publication: Collaborative Leadership | Influential Behavior | Positive Culture | Relationship Building | Workplace Kindness
There’s a famous saying “Nice guys finish last”. It’s widely attributed to a US baseball legend Leo Durocher who spent many years as manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants. It’s a saying that has entered popular lexicon. It implies that to be successful you should only look after yourself. It suggests that for […]