I TOTALLY SCREWED UP! A few years ago, a colleague and I gave a “Lunch & Learn” presentation on nonverbal communication skills for W.I.F.S. here in Portland. We wanted to make it entertaining and engaging, so we (and by “we,” I mean “I”) thought it would be...
The California Stop When you see a Stop sign, what do you do? Stop? Really? One day, I came to a four-way stop in my local shopping center parking lot as I cruised toward Target, the first of about forty-seven stops on a busy errand-running day. The van ahead...
har • mo • ny (n.): a pleasing or congruent arrangement of parts Music is a language, a means of expression. It requires skill to convey emotion, mood, and depth. Feeling it is not enough. You must be a proficient musician to get your message across. When I turned...
Have you ever worried about making a good impression? We all hope to make a good impression when we’re meeting people for the first time, especially when the stakes are high. Worrying about it will backfire, though. Instead, prepare in advance so that...
AUTHENTICITY: ARE YOU USING IT AS AN EXCUSE? “What do I do,” a client asked me once, “when someone is droning on and on about a subject I don’t care about? Do I just sit quietly and pretend to care? That doesn’t seem authentic.” That word, “authentic”—it gets...
Leadership: Are You Willing to Be Seen? Leadership. It’s a word so overused and celebrated that it has almost lost its meaning. It has become a generic goal—something everyone aspires to, though they may not know what it means. Before you decide you want to be...