Many years ago I was a manager for a company in the midst of change. Not only did the digital revolution deeply affect our business, but then the internet came along and changed the way people bought things and that turned our company upside down. One day, the owner and the CFO asked if they…
Following our Practical Communicator story about Doug, let’s look at another type of communicator~ the Fiery Communicator. If you are old enough, you may remember the story of the Soviet (now present day Russia) Premier Nikita Khrushchev. Apparently, present day Americans aren’t the only ones cringing under the flying ash of an erupting volcano. On…
Even though you may both speak English, the way in which you communicate is often very foreign to someone else. Let’s take Doug and Joan for example. Joan, comfortable being verbal, likes to surround a story with details, likes to use language to connect. She has had enough interactions with Doug, who is the maintenance…
Nature gives us a wonderful metaphor for what happens internally when companies merge, take over smaller or mid-sized firms that are all expected to live in harmony, strive for greater productivity and a higher profit. Enter the Shark. The fiercest beast in the sea. This could be the suits in Manhattan that desire to be…
One fairly straightforward rule in communication is in order to keep channels open, there has to be give and take. Like in a dance, one steps in, another out and so on. So when one person drops the dancer, the dancer no longer trusts the partner. This is what happens when someone firmly asserts…