It always happens to trainers who are well-versed in speaking/communicating in classrooms and smaller groups. Inevitably they are tagged one day by their bosses to speak at the regional or national conference, participate in the plenary, or even act as a master of ceremonies. To the trainer perfectly comfortable in his or her training environment, …

In this time of information overload, contradictory messages, and fast-changing marketing ‘Best Practices”, some of the most intriguing advice comes from real experiences from real companies.

In 1999 I facilitated scenario building for eleven cross-functional pharmaceutical teams (R&D, clinical development, global marketing, regional operations, manufacturing, and regulatory). The future was 2020 and we were imagining the marketplace, what consumers would expect, how diseases would be treated, and the features and benefits of the gold standard therapies of the day. Imagining the …

To the point, this is a post on what most people call “teamwork.” Bored already? Believe me, I understand. Traditional talk on teamwork is overdone and underused. But the fact remains that most market evolutions rely on a team—somewhere, somehow, some way. And that’s why what happens inside teams, from a Presidential White House Cabinet …

What do you see on the horizon? I bet it’s change and more change! In these days of takeovers and mergers, of downsizing operations of multiple “rightsizings”, chances are that you are going to be caught up in some form of major workplace change at least once in your career. Probably many times! See Part …

I received over 100 email messages from nonprofits in the last week of 2010. There’s a good reason for that: it’s the best week of the year for online fundraising. I know, I sound like those billboards that say “You missed Ma’s Diner! Turn Back at Next Exit!” You can’t go back to December, but …

You will recall from my last post that the Eight Fold Path is a Buddhist approach to living and working to create greater peace, wisdom and compassion. The Eight Fold Path includes Right Livelihood, Right Action, Speech, Intentions, etc. Many caring people don’t ever stop to question if what they are doing is the right …

We all want to approach conflict situations with clear, honest communication that leads to a productive solution everyone can feel good about. But old habits and norms sometimes block direct, open communication. Use these suggestions as a checklist to see if you are communicating in the best possible way at your organization. If you aren’t, …

One of my executive coaching clients has been struggling with perfectionism. She strives for the impossible and disappoints herself when she does not achieve it. This caused her tremendous stress leading to feelings of guilt and failure when things did not turn out as she expected. She realized that her perfectionism made her rigid and …

My last article about Was the Guy Who Won the Client’s Audition Better than You? may have really seemed off-topic to some, and my apologies to those who didn’t find my sentiment to their liking, but I think it was a valid point. Maybe I can re-address it here in different and more positive terms …