December 2, 2015

Every Word Has Power (Watching Your Language Can Change the Way You Feel at Work)

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink, Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.” ~George Gordon Byron Words are powerful. What we say reflects what we think.  Our spoken word originates in our thought.  Typically, most people don’t think consciously.   Long established habits that have formed hard wired neural networks […]
August 11, 2015

Vulnerability is our Common Bond

“The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.”  Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times   The problem is – we suffer alone. There isn’t a human being that does […]
June 11, 2015

Self Talk – Are You Judging or Coaching?

I once heard someone say that if we overheard a conversation at the next table in a restaurant with people talking to each other the way we talk to ourselves – we’d get up and leave.  Know what I mean?  This statement has stayed with me for a long time, especially when I am judging myself harshly or listening to […]
May 22, 2015

Renewing Our Belief in the Power of People

“I feel the capacity to care is the thing which gives life its deepest significance.” Pablo Casals   The more I see others from my heart and not my judgment, the more compassion I have for my fellow human beings.  Admittedly, this is a work in progress. There’s something poignant about pilots reporting their final passenger count as having a […]
May 13, 2015

Conscious Communication – It’s All About US

Underneath every communication is a feeling. This feeling drives your communication.  How conscious are you of the subtext of your communication and the impact it has on others? Every time we do a seminar or facilitate a meeting, people say they want better communication in the workplace.  What most people are hungry for is communication that is real, honest, clear, concise […]
February 11, 2015

WHO DO YOU TRUST? And Why It Matters

“Trust is a delicate property of human relationships. It is influenced far more by actions than words. It takes a long time to build, but it can be destroyed very quickly. Even a single action – perhaps misunderstood – can have powerful effects.”   Douglas McGregor, author of the business classic, The Human Side of Enterprise The Wharton School of Business published […]
February 3, 2015

Leadership and Emotional Contagion

“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 […]
February 1, 2015

The "Management Model" You Can’t Manage Without – Part 2

“Brain science’s transformation of management isn’t just about another new technique or model. It’s about shifting our paradigm to incorporate the hard data of science and fundamentally changing the way we think about business.”                                   Charles S. Jacobs, Management Rewired Neuroscience will revolutionize the way we do business. It will do that because it will eventually transform the way we view […]
January 31, 2015

We Need New Models for Workplace Relationships Part 2

“We sense we’ve reached the end of something.” Lynne McTaggart, author, The Bond In Part 1 of this article I explored some of the forces that  have shaped our vision of workplace relationships.    There’s an increasing amount of rhetoric in business conversations today about the importance of optimizing people to maximize their strengths and  nurture  passion and creativity.  Hey, I’m […]