Embracing Discomfort

What is your favorite brand?  Whether Nike, Apple, Starbucks or another product come to mind, these companies understand that success is achieved through consistency, which drives brand loyalty. Is your brand consistent Monday to Monday™ or do you keep your...

  You can’t influence if you continuously show up late and unprepared.  My father engrained in my sisters and me, “Show up on time and you will be in the top 1%.”  That’s it!  Showing up on time and prepared isn’t rocket science or painful.  Many people stroll...

  If you’re ready to grow your influence, you’re going to have to change your perspective. You’ll need to start seeing yourself as others see you. Then you can identify specific areas you’d like to change and make a plan to do just that. It’s important not do...

“Hello, my name is…, I work for…, “We are here today to talk about…” These are the ultimate opening lines that will invite your listeners to check out of their technical gadgets and check into what you’re saying. Avoid being the person who opens their meetings,...

…Your listeners are using their electronic devices while you are talking. Do you find yourself competing with technical gadgets? When you and your message are not interesting or when you’re not directly connecting with your audience, you in effect give your...

The big a-ha moment happened during a mentoring session with a leader from a large pharmaceutical company: “I get it! A presentation is really an extension of a conversation.” For those of you who have worked with us, you’ve heard us express many times that when...

If you remember nothing else from my biweekly blogs, remember this one point: When it comes to influence, every single interaction – even the virtual ones – matters. Every presentation, conversation, impromptu meeting, email, text, picture, video, post or even a...

Are you where you want to be? Have you improved your verbal and non-verbal communication from where you began lastyear? Are you influential Monday to Monday? Influence is a choice and there are no “quick fixes.”  If you hold yourself accountable by seeking feedback...

Managing questions-and-answers is the real test of your knowledge, credibility and confidence.  Yet most individuals get too comfortable during Q&A, thinking the most difficult part of their conversation – presentation, sales pitch or high-stakes meeting –...

Most people recognize that feedback is essential to development, yet we tend not to welcome it. Perhaps we’d rather avoid what we may hear. Receiving feedback tends to make us feel vulnerable. We are afraid that our faults – and we all have them – will be exposed....

If you want to avoid jeopardizing your influence, you need to eliminate these phrases, which I hear every week during client calls, meetings and presentations. I’ll try.  What you’re really saying is, “I’m not going to get this done.”  A “yes” or “no” response...

Over the past 12 years I’ve been blessed to mentor powerful leaders across a variety of industries. I’m not sure if they realize how much I have learned from them. One of the many pearls of wisdom they have shared is in answering, “What skills are critical to your...