How to Make Small Talk Less Awkward I hate small talk. At least, I used to. In social interactions, I used to plaster on a fake smile, fumble my way through uncomfortable questions and answers, and secretly wish I could be shoving toothpicks up my fingernails...
3 Tips for Delivering Feedback Considering most people want to do good work and meet expectations, delivering constructive feedback sure can feel like picking your way through a minefield of misunderstanding, hurt feelings, defensiveness, and conflict. And with...
The 4 Components of Belonging “Everyone here looks down on me.” Over a Zoom coaching call, the executive assistant at a large global corporation hunched over and looked downward, hugging herself. “I’m not a city girl. I come from a very small rural town and I...
When & How to Use The Language of Connection Most people don’t give much thought to the specific words they use. Words just spill out automatically and are expected to accurately convey a message. How about you? The way you phrase things sends its own...
How to Be: Three Life-Changing Lessons from a Remarkable Woman About a month ago, I lost my mentor and dear friend, Mary Kogen. Mary was, on the surface, my college piano and pedagogy teacher. She taught me technique and chord progressions, how to break the...
2 Neglected Nonverbal Skills on Video Calls How much of your day is spent in video meetings? Over the past two years, video calls have likely become standard fare in your daily work diet, even if you’ve returned to your office. You may have experienced a bit of...
