Reading Time: < 1 min I was recently reading Kevin Paul Scott’s “Inspired Every Day“, and one little statement he made hit me very hard. He simply said: “Who is the best listener you know? What is that person’s impact on you and others?” It hit because this should (in theory) be me, but it’s not. It’s hard to really […]
Empathy
Understanding doesn’t mean agreement
Reading Time: < 1 min Understanding can be a powerful thing. Whether it means understanding people on the other side of the political aisle or just sonder in general, more understanding leads to better outcomes for everyone. In the book “Crucial Conversations“, the authors offer a similar take, saying: “To keep ourselves from feeling like sellouts while exploring others’ paths—no […]
Grateful in the macro and the micro
Reading Time: 2 min When you ask someone what they’re grateful for, you often get the same kinds of things – health, family, friends, etc. Those are all wonderful things, and we should all be grateful for them, but being grateful for smaller things can sometimes have a bigger impact. In a recent episode of “My First Million”, the […]
Learning conversations
Reading Time: < 1 min There are many types of conversations that we can have with others, but one of my favorites is a “learning conversation”, as explained by Charles Duhigg in “Supercommunicators“: Our goal, for the most meaningful discussions, should be to have a “learning conversation.” Specifically, we want to learn how the people around us see the world […]
Present or be present?
Reading Time: 2 min The title of this post may be a little confusing, but spelled out it’s: Present (“pre-sent”, like giving a presentation) or be present (“pres-ent”, like being active in the room). In many cases, those are two different things. If you have an important presentation to give, you may often distance yourself from those in the […]
Generosity is not about lowering your price
Reading Time: < 1 min There are many ways to be generous with your clients, and lowering your price can perhaps be a way to do that. In many cases, though, that’s not really what being generous is all about. In a recent episode of the “Finding Mastery” podcast, Seth Godin shared some thoughts on this: “Generosity is not about […]
Don’t steal the revelation
Reading Time: < 1 min There are times when getting to the right answer quickly is important, and everyone should be pushing for the answer. Other times, though, it can be more beneficial to wait and let people figure things out for themselves. In a recent episode of The Long and The Short of It podcast, Pete shared this idea: […]
Looping for understanding
Reading Time: 2 min Charles Duhigg’s book “Supercommunicators” had a ton of great insights in it, and I encourage you to pick up a copy. I have a handful of thoughts that I’ll be sharing over the coming weeks, but this was one of the most interesting to me. So much of communication revolves around simply understanding what the […]
Stay focused or stay available?
Reading Time: 2 min I’ve noticed that when I meet someone for coffee or lunch, they behave in one of two ways: I also see some of this from the other side: It’s a matter of deciding what’s important. I certainly hate to not respond to people while I’m in the middle of a meeting, but it’s almost always […]
Discover why they’re amazing
Reading Time: < 1 min When you meet someone new, there is undoubtedly part of their personality or their life or their knowledge that is amazing. It might be something you discover right away, but often it’s not and you need to find out what it is. In his book “Excellent Advice for Living“, author Kevin Kelly says it roughly […]