January 21, 2017

You are Hard-Wired for Altruism

Through the tragic events and natural disasters of the past decades we’ve seen  extraordinary outpourings of help and compassion for neighbors – and most important, strangers. Tragic events seem to galvanize our empathy and evoke great acts of kindness in response. In the past decade we have also been the beneficiaries of valuable findings from research to better understand the motives […]
December 5, 2016

Empathy Killers

In doing some research on empathy I came across this article and found myself  so “hooked” by it that I sat down to write this piece. Nicholas Kristof’s compelling New York Times article, Where is the Love, discusses the pushback he’s received from many readers on food stamp recipients, prison inmates and the uninsured.  Writing about hungry children, Kristof shares […]
December 1, 2016

Your Business Needs are Not the Same as Your Personal Needs

“People who are in touch with their needs do not make good slaves.”   Marshall Rosenberg, Ph.D Needs are basic to life. Everything we feel and do is in service to our needs. In the moment to moment biological imperative to meet our needs we make choices – thousands of choices. Every choice we make is an attempt to satisfy […]
November 24, 2016

Talking Emotional Literacy

   “The publication of Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence, marked a turning point in popular culture. Finally, emotions were deemed critical to human intelligence. Ironically, the book presents a model of emotional intelligence that is founded in the subordination of emotions to reason.” Miriam Greenspan, Healing Through the Dark Emotions Wine Connoisseurs know that there is a vast array of wines […]
November 21, 2016

Creating a Culture of Gratitude in the Workplace

We seem to get the “gratitude spirit” during the end of year holiday season. We hear the heart-felt stories about kindness and giving start to appear.  Tis’ the season, so to speak.   It’s a time when even the busiest and most cynical among us pause (even if only for a short time) and reflect.   But too often, the feelings of […]
September 30, 2016

Do “Sensitive” Men Get Overlooked in Business?

Let’s face it, there isn’t much written about “nice” guys and “sensitive” men in the workplace. One of the rare articles exploring ideas about your “atypical” workplace male was explored in the Harvard Business Review article, “Sensitive Men: It’s Your Glass Ceiling,” by Andrew O’Connell. The article raised some interesting questions and assumptions that present a starting point for the […]
September 8, 2016

Developing Greater Emotional Competency

Since the term Emotional Intelligence (EI)  was popularized in the mid -1990’s by former New York Times science writer, Daniel Goleman, work on EI has found its way into mainstream business. Goleman’s first book, Emotional Intelligence,  was based on the work of university researchers John Mayer and Peter Salovey, who were trying to scientifically measure the difference in people’s emotional abilities.  At the […]
July 1, 2016

Breathing Your Way to a Calmer Workplace – A Simple Solution

In nearly all of the work we do, we take at least 5 minutes to introduce a simple breathing practice.  While people sometimes initially react with uncomfortable chuckles, most people want more!  It seems remarkable when we say it – but are you remembering to breathe? That is what this simple article is all about.
June 17, 2016

People at Work ~ I Want To Know More About You

Ask me what is most important. And I will reply, It is people, It is people, It is people Maori Proverb You read a lot these days about the need for new workplace models. There is a growing consensus that decades of rigid, bottom line, often authoritarian management structures kill the culture necessary for real collaborative relationships.  The old models […]