In workshops and coaching conversations, I receive many questions about the right way to communicate with employees. While I cannot define a “right” way to communicate, particularly during conflict conversations, I can identify definitively wrong ways to communicate, including these three common tactics that are guaranteed to irritate others: Insinuation. Making statements, especially ones that are bad or insulting,

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If you want to become more effective as a leader, more successful in meetings, or more confident while resolving conflicts, become a better communicator. On the high end of the communication skill spectrum, you find that great leaders — like Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King, Jr — are often great communicators. On the

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At some point in your leadership experience, you will probably be the new person on the team. You will join an existing team where you need to assume the leadership position. As the leader, you will probably be expected to make changes and improvements to increase team performance. And as the “newbie” on the team,

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At some point in your leadership career, you will need to “manage upward” – sell an idea, strategy, or approach to your leader that they either don’t want, don’t understand, or don’t like. The art of successfully navigating these complicated and difficult situations requires both tact and diplomacy. Ultimately, these situations rely on the same

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In a previous post, I offered five tips for giving feedback in a non-threatening way. While those tips are good in general and will help you in any coaching conversation, there is a specific situation that calls for some extra care – coaching and offering performance feedback to friends who now report to you. There

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What do you think when someone says that they would like to “give you some feedback”? Do you assume they have compliments or criticisms to offer? If you are like most people, your mind goes in the negative direction and you assume that what they want to tell you is what you did wrong. It’s

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At one time, I thought I taught conflict resolution. However, over time, I have come to realize that I don’t really teach conflict resolution as much as I teach conflict confidence. To resolve a conflict, you need the other person’s cooperation. Because you cannot demand or force cooperation, you have no control over how the other

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Would you like a simple communication short-cut? Would you like to know the single, best way to communicate with other people? The good news is that there is a simple answer… The best way to communicate with others is the way that is easiest for them to receive and interpret your intended message. The bad

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