When was the last time you were in a room where the problem was a shortage of talk?
Each of us has an experience, a perspective or an insight (or two) worth sharing. The challenge, at least as it relates to building productive relationships, is that some of us (I’m looking in the mirror, FYI) act like the insight is so grand as to warrant the lion’s share of attention in any room.
So there is almost never a shortage of talk.
Meanwhile, interactions where the objective is to listen, intent on learning, are rare.
If you’ve encountered anyone skilled at purposeful listening it might have made you a bit uncomfortable. It almost certainly made an impression.
Continue Reading Is Anyone Really Listening?
Here’s why so many marketing and sales messages fail to deliver.
I’ve spent the last couple of decades believing the surest way for any team, tribe, enterprise or community to realize its mission is to identify and build around a set of shared values. 
Succession planning for many firms is what the preparation of a Last Will and Testament is to a majority of individuals. Who wants to take time today to consider the (distant) end to something?
The question I get more than any other from new (and sometimes, not so new) acquaintances — professional and personal — is “what was it like giving a TED talk?”.
If you secretly fear your approach to business development is underperforming, you are not alone. In fact, you’re among a majority of law, accounting and consulting professionals and firms I know.
For a long time I bought the idea that some individuals simply don’t have what