Communication

The best audience of all: a dog?

August 9, 2017
American University has eight canines on a roster of “audience dogs,” whose main duties are to be attentive for university students nervous about presentations.

When employees ask for too much

July 26, 2017
Q. I’m amazed by the demands my employees make. It never stops. They want to work from home. They want more time off (one guy requested a three-month sabbatical!). I never expected being a supervisor would require fending off constant outlandish requests. What can I do?

A thoughtful response to a failure

July 20, 2017
As a young manager at Johnson & Johnson, Jim Burke developed a therapeutic chest rub for children. The product launched to great fanfare—and failed miserably.

Proclaim the what, not the how

July 13, 2017
Clarity and leadership go together. Communicate clear directions and give your team the leeway to find ways to advance toward the goal.

To tame speech anxiety, be selfless

June 30, 2017
In the days and hours leading up to your presentation, you may wallow in anxious thoughts such as, “I dread this” or “I hope I don’t look stupid.” Joey Asher, an Atlanta-based speech coach, calls this “selfish self-talk.”

Never give an order that…

June 27, 2017
Issue a command that people disregard because you’ve allowed them too much power to write their own rules and your demise as a leader will be slower and more painful.

Before saying thank you, think of the context

June 26, 2017
Q: When my negotiation counterparts make a favorable concession or give me something I want, I find myself holding back from thanking them. I worry that saying thank you may put me in a position of weakness. On the other hand, I don’t want to be perceived as unappreciative of their willingness to cooperate. What do you recommend?

Your words reveal your confidence

June 23, 2017
Everything we perceive is influenced by how we see ourselves. For this reason, we need to develop self-awareness—with no filters—to fulfill our potential as leaders.

What Cubs and Red Sox scouts look for

June 22, 2017
Theo Epstein is a baseball legend—and he’s only 43 years old. He recruited the right mix of players so that two storied franchises, the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs, could win the World Series after long droughts. Assembling these winning teams did not happen by accident.

Trust and train your people

June 18, 2017
How can ordinary people perform effectively in complex and dangerous situations?