engagement

US & THEM

This week in honor of Martin Luther King Jr, we’d like you to consider a change of language that can have a profound effect on you and on others.    You see, language is the fundamental way in which we come to understand and relate to the world around us. When you change your language, you influence your ability to relate to others and to build powerful connections.    This week, we’d like you to play with your language. Every…

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The Power of Your Contributions

We coach people who want to be powerful and effective, to come to a discussion about concerns with not only the concern, but also with a proposed solution.    For some people, the idea is quite natural, but for others, it’s a challenging concept. They don’t know how to organize their thinking, particularly when the concern is emotionally heated. Today we wanted to offer you a simple structure that was initially developed by the US Navy and is now being…

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Why Diversity Is Good For You

In our work, we are having many discussions about the value of diversity. There is clearly a belief that diversity is a good thing, but many people don’t know exactly why. So, we wanted to provide you with some new research.   We’re at a time in our nation where there’s much division, anger, and fear. One of the areas of significant debate is the value of racial and ethnic diversity. So, it’s exciting to see this new research in…

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What Do Others Really Know About You?

David came into the room and seemed almost depressed. He said that he’d met with a colleague and the colleague had told him that it was hard for him that David has it “so easy in life.”   David is a smart, articulate, handsome man who can wear just about anything and look like he walked out of the men’s magazine, GQ. He has a warmth about him that endears him to others, and he brings great insight to his company meetings. …

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Examples of Great Questions

Over the last two weeks, we’ve been talking about the power of questions: The Right Questions Can Change Your Life and The Bones of a Great Question. Our articles have sparked requests from some of you asking if we could give examples of questions to ask. So, today, we’re doing just that. We’re sharing some great examples of questions that you can use to create engaging and connecting conversations. We’ve put them under a range of headings but don’t get stuck…

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If You Toss Someone a Grenade…

If you toss a group a grenade…they will run for cover. Starting a conversation with accusations or anger is akin to tossing a grenade into a room and expecting people to want to play “catch.” No matter how valuable your insight or how accurate your concern, the act of grenade tossing will result in people not hearing you because they’re consumed with ducking for cover. In talking to a client about his accusatory behavior he stated, “But the grenade isn’t…

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The Fundamental Pause

As coaches, we get hired because people – despite the best of intentions – are struggling to change the things that are getting in the way of their success. Our goal is to help you recognize and overcome those habitual reactions that keep the changes you’re working toward from taking hold. The key behind the work that we do is helping people manage their reactivity, and to do that we teach them something we designed called, the Fundamental PAUSE. The…

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Your Role As The Conductor

Recently, an executive we work with was describing that he was struggling to get out of the weeds of the day-to-day. He knew that he needed to be more strategic in his thinking and actions, but instead found himself pulled into doing the work that his team was assigned to do.   To succeed in his job, he needed to support others to do the work that needed to be done while he created the vision, strategy, and relationships to…

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