Thinking Out Loud

The Conversations You Want To Have

Are you having the kind of conversations you want to have around the kitchen table or the staff-meeting table? If not, do something about it. First, do your homework, which begins by looking at yourself. What potential obstacles might you be putting in the way? Do genuine fears hold you back from discussing what you believe is important—what are they? Could you be assuming a negative outcome to a conversation, which might prevent you from starting one in the first place or might project a defensive/negative position that sets a shadow over the discussion from the beginning? Or do you wait for an opening that is not likely to occur? Read More

Absorbing Energy

Empathy is tricky business; it’s also natural and part of being social creatures. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that someone has empathy because what they see happening is very different from what you see. Empathy, however, is part of us all even though we feel it, have it, and express it (differently).  Read More

Is It Okay To Hurt Other People?

Is it okay to hurt others? No, not to deliberately be mean and to intentionally cause hurt but sometimes it is necessary to bring up a topic or issue that we know may hurt or upset the other person. And because we know that person’s feelings may get hurt, we are reluctant to begin a conversation where that is likely to occur. Read More

Company Culture:  An “Anthropological” Discovery Process

Company culture drives productivity as it draws and repels talent. It is more than slogans. A culture is organic about how it develops; you can’t invent it just because you want it to be a certain way. There has to be congruity between what you say about it and how it really is, and that is all about trust and integrity.  Read More