Taking care of each other
The street I live on doesn’t have a sidewalk. Runners, people walking to the bus, drivers, and cyclists share the same road. Traffic is relatively sparse; there are seldom several cars at once going in either direction. When I’m walking on the road outside my house and a car is coming towards me, one of …
Unsung, or rather less-sung, heroes
A few years ago I watched a remarkable documentary called 20 Feet from Stardom. This film follows the careers of several back-up singers—men and women whose names you probably don’t know, but who had enormous influence on music you’ve heard all your life. They sang with the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Sting, …
Information, skill, and practice
A new friend of mine, Ginger Davis Allman, wrote something really smart recently that she said I could borrow for you. Here it is: There’s a difference between SKILL and INFORMATION. My students often assume something is a talent, so they seek information, not realizing that what they’re missing is a skill. Skills come from …
We know you by your deeds, or; You are what you do
Every time we interact with another person, that experience adds to their cumulative understanding of who we are. If we behave, on balance, with impatience more than with empathy, that’s who we become to others. It doesn’t matter if I don’t think of myself as an impatient person if that’s how I behave. This matters …
The mystery of “presence”
We are often hired to coach people who have been told they need more “executive presence.” This is one of those pieces of feedback that is completely in the eye of the beholder; it’s a moving target. Often, “improving executive presence” simply means “look and act more like the person giving the feedback.” If that’s …
Hiding behind your screen
Ignite CSP senior coach Neela Munoz has been noticing a few things that are specific to how we communicate when we’re on a video conference–check it out!
What is your labor?
On this Labor Day in the United States, I’m curious. What is your labor? I don’t mean “what work do you do,” but instead “what feels like labor to you?” Another way to think about this is: what work do you do that you need respite from? This question is coming up for me because …
Different people like different things.
This insight is crazy, I know. But I mention it because it seems to me that even though we know this, in our brains, we still struggle to really take it in. Different people…like different things. For us as communicators, this can be confusing because we succeed with one group and then fail with others. …
The audience’s job (yep, they have one)
When you’re in the audience, your job is to show up fully. Bring your attention, your ears, your patience. Bring your empathy. Bring your openness. The job of the audience is to remember that communication is a two-way street—the speaker can’t do 100% of the work. You have to meet them partway.
Happy birthday!
Two big birthday wishes today. The first is a cheery happy 2nd birthday to this blog, and more important, to the people who read it. I am so thankful when you let me know when a post resonated with you, or when you bring my attention to something I’ve missed. The second is to my …
