April 21, 2016
“Other things may change us, but we start and end with family.” Anthony Brandt We all bring it – we all have it. It is a matter of degree – and awareness. In every interaction we have at work, we bring the dynamics of our families, culture, generation and gender with us. The first problem is that most of us […]
March 17, 2016
Ever wonder what’s in that bag? By now the term emotional baggage is familiar – but what do we think is in the bag? Surely it’s packed with old hurts, resentments and fears, but unless we go in there and pay some attention to those unwanted feelings – the bag stays full. If we’re not the type that likes or […]
March 14, 2016
Writing in The New York Times, Tara Parker-Pope wrote in (Go Easy on Yourself, a New Wave of Research Suggests) “Do you treat yourself as well as you treat your friends and family? That simple question is the basis for a burgeoning new area of psychological research called self-compassion – how kindly people view themselves. The research suggests that giving […]
October 11, 2015
Ever since I began to work in the business world, the term “soft skills” always felt off to me. The more I come to appreciate the complexity of human dynamics, the more off it feels. In my experience, there is nothing soft or easy about mastering people skills. In fact, when I look around, especially in the workplace, clear and effective […]
June 11, 2015
Since this piece was first published, it’s been in the top 5 of viewed articles every day. Clearly – the head vs. heart conflict is very much alive. There is little disagreement that effective decision-making is one of the most important tasks we have in every part of life. If we were to take a survey in the average workplace […]
February 3, 2015
“Employees are not emotional islands. Rather, they continuously spread their own moods and receive and are influenced by others’ moods. When they work in groups, they literally can catch each others’ emotions like viruses, a phenomenon known as emotional contagion.” Wharton @ Work, University of Pennsylvania In the past decade, there has been an important finding in neuroscience that should […]
January 13, 2015
“Some lucky people seem to have a magic touch when it comes to getting people to buy into their plans, goals and desires. But, in reality, reaching people isn’t magic. It’s an art…and a science. And it’s easier than you think.” Mark Goulston, author, Just Listen Yes, we all know that listening is important. It is considered, by broad […]
November 1, 2014
Worry is a trap. Lately, I’ve been falling into the worry trap too often. I’ve found myself worrying about many things. I worry about ________________. I worry about the ______________. I worry when _________________. I worry about – OK, that’s enough because mental rehearsal is the engine that powers worry. Despite many years of dedicated effort to raise my level of […]
March 11, 2014
In a series of articles, we’ve explored some reasons to consciously act on developing our empathic skills. We cannot expect to extend our empathy to others in the fullest sense unless we are capable of giving it to ourselves first. The reality is that we are often as hard on ourselves as we are on others. We’ve often joked that if we sat […]