What do managers routinely do that frustrate their employees? And parents do that frustrate their children? And spouses do that frustrate each other? One of the most common frustrations people experience is being told what to do. Kids get really tired of their parents telling them what to do. Hence, kids leave their stuff all over […]
What is the most critical skill to people’s success – personally or professionally – yet also the most elusive? Time management? Strategic thinking? Discipline? Decision making? No. While these are important, they pale in comparison to communication skills. Attentive listening, asking relevant questions, showing empathy, and knowing how to handle difficult communications are the most
Have you ever been in a conversation when someone said something inaccurate, you corrected them, and then they became defensive? Or you pointed out a colleague’s shortcoming and discovered later they stopped talking to you because of it? Or you tried to help your spouse improve in some way which created hurt feelings and an argument?
Do you generally communicate at a detailed level or high level? Given your role, should you typically talk in general terms or specifics? The answer of course is that it depends, but many people apparently don’t know what it depends on. Have you ever attended a seminar where the speaker stayed at such a high
People’s success depends on two broad categories of skills – hard and soft. Hard skills are technical abilities that relate to specific occupational domains such as engineering, marketing, finance, or construction. They are called hard skills because they are specific, tangible, and often observable. Soft skills in comparison are less tangible and not specific to
