Do you pride yourself in being the one with the answers? The person who, when opinions differ or decisions need to be made, is always right? There was a time I felt that way about myself, until I realized there was something very wrong with being the person who is always right. As a leader,…
A new client asked me a terrific question during lunch last week: “How do you win over someone who is resistant to you?” To which I replied: “I don’t know, have I started winning you over yet?” We laughed, but my responsive question was intended to be thought provoking. You see, a short time earlier,…
One of my long-time mediation clients loves to argue and tease me about “just wanting everyone to agree about everything.” He usually begins the good-natured ribbing right about the time I offer-up an “Is it possible…” or “What if…” question, which is of course geared toward eventually reaching agreement. This client absolutely enjoys a hearty…
This is a true story about a bright, ambitious, twenty-three-year-old who started showing up to work every day with a bad attitude. She’d sigh big, heavy sighs of exasperation, and wouldn’t speak to her coworkers – except the ones who would listen to her complain during lunch hour. If she didn’t absolutely have to, this…
It’s Memorial Day, 2016. Today many will visit gravesites and attend services to honor our service men and women who served and gave it all, as well as those still with us and even serving today. I hope our veterans and service men and women feel honored today. I hope they feel appreciated by the…
Your leader’s primary role is to be the strong base for your success support system, right? I mean, the very definition of a leader is to engage and inspire, while achieving organizational goals through the efforts of the team. So,what happens to you and your teammates when you have a disengaged boss? In my experience,…
Having trouble creating synergy at your workplace? I hate to break this to you, but it might just be YOU. Many of us don’t take the time to consider how we communicate when conflict arises. Unfortunately, most of us have been trained to speak a language that encourages us to alienate ourselves, through our communication…
Great leaders understand organizational success requires commitment to core values and goals; authentic and timely communication; collaboration to identify the best possible action plans, timelines, and solutions; and, they know how and when to celebrate! Indeed, great leaders celebrate! They celebrate the big wins of course, but more importantly, they seek opportunities to celebrate the…
Commit, Communicate, COLLABORATE, and Celebrate. Did you know Henry Ford spent a great deal of time bouncing ideas off his friends Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone? Man, what would it be like to collaborate with heavy-hitters like that? Well, Mr. Ford changed our world through the power of collaboration. He said “If there is any…
With the launch of the Perspectives LLC company website comes a new blog, The Collaborative Conversation. The name of the blog stems from my passion for helping leaders acquire the skills that inspire and motivate their teams to perform at their best. Among these skills, one of the most significant is collaboration. Perspectives LLC clients…
Love, Lies and Mudslinging: Welcome to Mediation! Mediation can be a stressful and arduous process. Emotions often run high as positions are expressed and interests are explored. Sometimes participants are even surprised by the twists and turns the process takes, as motivating factors and priorities are brought to light. Not long ago I mediated a…
Every now and then, a day comes along when it feels like “Murphy’s Law” is working overtime. I had to navigate through one of those days recently. It went like this: I had a Monday morning mediation in Naples, with six participants that were all traveling from out of town to a neutral site. I…