Communication

Feeding A Bird

(Influential Leadership) The Trust Test

  Do You Pass The Trust Test?   The global communications firm Ketchum has polled thousands of consumers across 12 countries several times over the past decade, and in the latest study just 24% believe leaders overall are providing effective leadership.  Clearly there’s a lot of room for improvement!   What do those respondents consider […]

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Presenting In Front Of Skyscraper

(Influential Leadership) The Executive Summary

Photo by Bruce Mars on Unsplash  Use The Executive Summary Approach   Do you want to be more effective presenting technical information to non-technical executives?   The first key to an influential presentation is to meet the audience where they are and then to speak their language.   Your audience is not intimately familiar with

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Enveope With Superman Stamps

(Influential Leadership) Push The Envelope

Every once in a while, we need to step back and reflect on ways to raise our standards, step out of our comfort zones, take a chance – push the envelope.  So ponder this question:   “How can I push the envelope this week?”   Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash   This is a question

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Men Talking Over Coffee

(Influential Leadership) Master Clarifying Conversations, Part 2

Last time I shared this relationship ‘truth’:   The quality of a relationship is directly proportional to the amount of effective communication that exists in that relationship.     One key to effective communication is the clarifying conversation.   Steps To Mastering The Clarifying Conversation   Step One: Get Clear Your Intent   The first

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Conversing In Nature

(Influential Leadership) Master Clarifying Conversations

How much of your leadership success depends on your ability to skillfully relate to others? Whether it’s the relationship with your clients, senior management, staff or co-workers, your ability to effectively communicate and master key relationships could arguably be the most important component of your success and fulfillment.   Relationship Cancer   Assuming this is

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Curious Cat

(Influential Leadership) Ask Questions

We often make the mistake of thinking that leaders should already have all of the answers.  If you want to be a truly influential leader, don’t hesitate to ask questions!   Often when we think we don’t have a lot to contribute to a discussion, we hesitate to ask questions. This is a big mistake,

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Empty Picture Frame

(Influential Leadership) Frame Effective Questions

Many times we hold back on asking a question because we don’t want to look uninformed. We don’t want people to think, “They should already know that!”   Even savvy business consultants sometimes fall into this trap. But asking questions is critical to both being perceived as a leader, and to getting the information you

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DJ In Front Of Crowd

(Influential Leadership) Surround Yourself With Good People

In his book, Good To Great, Jim Collins presenting his finding that a key distinguisher for the companies that went from merely good to great performers in their market space was what he nicknamed “Level 5” leaders. These aren’t the flashy, flamboyant leaders we read about in the trade press. These are very focused leaders

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Fancy Hourglass

(Influential Leadership) Outcome-Focused Planning

Is effectively managing your time a challenge for you? Do you feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day and that you just don’t get to those things that really matter?   If so, you’re not alone. Effective time management seems to be a common ailment among independent professionals and a place where there’s

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