October 7, 2018

Why is Conflict So Hard? How to Manage it More Productively

Despite the worn-out demands that the workplace is no place for “”personal feelings,” people bring all of their unresolved emotional baggage to work – and there is little we can do about that. Outmoded collective beliefs that endure like – work life and personal life should be separate – speak to a lack of knowledge about the new science  of emotions […]
June 11, 2018

Workplace Relationships – We Have to Care

“The question in an imperfect competitive reality is: how do we move forward together?              Kevin Roberts, CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi  It’s not rare for us to hear some people we work admit – I just don’t care about some of the people I work with. Thankfully, these people are not the norm. Without question, the endless […]
December 3, 2015

What Does it Mean to Live in the Age of Empathy?

If we are living in a so-called Age of Empathy – what does that mean? What does it mean for an individual, a co-worker, an employer, a neighbor, a city or a world society to live with empathy in the face of such harsh daily realities?  What will we do differently in our personal and social lives? What kind of […]
October 11, 2015

There is Nothing Soft about "Soft Skills"

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 […]
May 13, 2015

Conscious Communication – It’s All About Us

Beneath every commuication is a feeling. This feeling drives your communication. How conscious you are of your communication will have an effect on others. All of our clients tell us that they want better, more effective communication at work. Most people are hungry for communication that is real, honest, clear, conscise and most important – respectful. Communication is suffering in […]
April 28, 2015

Why Do We Have To “Promote” Kindness at Work?

 “I now realize I have been working with my eyes closed. I appreciate even more a professor with whom I work occasionally: he always makes the point that leaders, managers — everyone in fact — should never underestimate the importance of kindness at work.” Gill Corkindale, Harvard Business Review An article in the Harvard Business Review (HBR) by author Gill Corkindale,  “The […]
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 […]
January 26, 2015

The "Management Model" You Can’t Manage Without – Part 1

In his book, Your Brain at Work, author David Rock gave organizational leaders an essential model for understanding human dynamics at work.  Forget the “toolkit.”  This model is the foundation that holds everything affecting performance in place. Leaders and co-workers entering the brave new world of business in the 21st century who ignore this knowledge face a serious uphill climb.  […]
February 20, 2014

5 Reasons to Develop Your Empathy

“Empathy is the one weapon in the human repertoire that can rid us of the curse of xenophobia.”              Frans B.M. de Waal, author, The Age of Empathy   Are We Living in The Age of Narcissism or the Age of Empathy? Maybe it’s both. For human beings, both are innate.  Freud believed that narcissism was a normal developmental task […]