The life lesson we should have been taught at school. We all suffer from emotional overreactions. In the heat of the moment we say something to a person we love without stopping to consider the shockwaves. Or we blast off an email and wonder why we didn’t sleep on it before pressing ‘Send’. Our emotions spill over and, by the
Read more >
5 Warning Lights That Tell You a Conversation’s Going Wrong In the late 1960’s, a series of catastrophic plane crashes occurred without any apparent awareness of danger on the part of the pilots. In response, the aviation industry introduced an enhanced warning system to alert pilots to danger. For example, if terrain rises significantly within 2,000 feet of the
Read more >
A riddle asks: “What do we love to give but hate to take?” The answer is advice. And yet many of us are addicted to offering our solutions and pearls of wisdom at the slightest opportunity. Over time this can cause friends, family, and colleagues to pull up the drawbridge on communicating with us. Our advice may be well-intended but
Read more >
A number of years ago I worked with an international company that had one woman among its entire senior management community. After a strategy meeting, the conversation at dinner deteriorated to the point where I felt uncomfortable on her behalf. She happened to be sitting next to me, so I asked her how she coped. ‘I behave like a man,’
Read more >
The fact that we’re ‘not talking’ doesn’t mean we’re listening. When someone’s speaking, we can be preoccupied with our to-do list, mull on better ways to spend our time, or compose our weekly shopping list. While we may be physically present, we’re mentally in another universe. Instead of having a conversation, we have a nonversation. When this happens, we’re in
Read more >