How Leaders’ Communication Styles Impact the Delivery of Results

I recently asked acoustics expert David Greenberg what the greatest concert hall is. He quickly replied, “For what?” He went on to explain that different venues are better for certain types of performances. When you think about the best way to communicate with your team, ask yourself, “To do what?” Concert halls designed to accommodate [...]

Contrasts in Controlling the Conversation: Armstrong vs. Weiner

  Accepting that it's always dangerous to comment on things while they are happening, there seems to be a marked difference between how Lance Armstrong and Anthony Weiner have handled recent controversies. Weiner Tweeting Lewd Pictures? Somebody sent somebody else a lewd picture of congressman Anthony Weiner from Weiner's Twitter account.  Weiner says his account [...]

Communication basics: who what how

  Whether you are onboarding into a new firm, taking on a new leadership role, or managing a team transition, the communication basics always apply.  Three critical decisions should guide everything you say and do and don't say and don't do: Who you are talking to What you want them to understand and feel How [...]

Emotional Positioning

  As a new leader, everything communicates. And we're all new leaders all the time.  The core of your communication must be your message.   But how do you get to the right message? The answer lies in the three components of emotional positioning: benefit, support, character.  Any of you that were trained by anyone [...]

Inspiring and Enabling Disagreement is a Core Leadership Skill

How do you react when someone disagrees with one of your ideas?  Does your fight or flight instinct click in?  That is, of course, the natural response honed by millions of years of evolution.  Yet, for today's higher order leaders, it's far more productive to go the other way and encourage the disagreement. Image by [...]