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Category Archives: Communication
Let’s Improve Our Forecasting and Policymaking
In reading and studying history, I never cease to be amazed at how badly political, economic, business, academic, and media policymakers and thinktanks forecast the future. Their predictions for a strategy or the effects of a law or policy are … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Communication, Leadership, Perform / Execution
Tagged Forecasting, Policymaking, Predictions
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10 Words to Improve Our Communication
As an individual, as a company, as a nation, and as a world we continue to struggle with effective communication. Here is a list of 10 key words to keep front of mind to improve as we work to become … Continue reading
Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen
Inevitably, there will be times when there are too many managers and executives involved in a decision. This often happens for significant decisions that cross department or business unit lines. As leaders, we need to ensure that the decision-making process … Continue reading
Making IT Work
In today’s world, technology is everywhere, and we collect more data than ever before. But just having lots of data doesn’t mean we’re using it well. “We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom.” E.O. Wilson That’s why good … Continue reading
Posted in Communication, Leadership, Team / People
Tagged Actionable Data, Best Practices, Communication, IT
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A Good Leader is a Good Facilitator
As a leader, our objective must be to drive success and move our companies forward. To do this, we need to have effective team communication and decision – making. In short, we need to have excellent meetings. “As a consultant, … Continue reading
Overcoming the Stupidity of Smart People
Every day, we experience the consequences of smart people making stupid decisions. What causes intelligent people to make decisions that do not work and could never work or decisions that have unintended, negative consequences? Arrogance: Far too many smart people … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Communication, Leadership, Personal Success
Tagged Decision Making
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Upward Communication Makes Us All Better
In a previous blog, Communicate Upward, I discussed the need for upward communication and how to communicate upward. In this blog, I discuss upward communication and how it improves our employees’ understanding and capabilities. Upward Communication Good upward communication needs … Continue reading
Hold Opinions Lightly (While Holding Convictions Tightly)
“When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” John Maynard Keynes In a leadership position, we need to hold our opinions lightly. We need to be able to change our opinion or viewpoint when new … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Communication, Personal Success
Tagged Confirmation Bias, Decision Making
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Three Keys to Teamwork
The fundamental determinant of success on most projects and at most companies is teamwork. Volumes have been written about how to foster teamwork. My small contribution is to suggest that each of us, when part of a team, keep three … Continue reading
Posted in Communication, Perform / Execution, Team / People
Tagged Accountability, Humility, Simplicity, Teamwork, Winning Teamwork
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A Good Leader is a Good Storyteller
If only I could never open my mouth…until the abstract idea had reached its highest point – and had become a story! Zorba the Greek Since joining my current company, I have been emphasizing several concepts, such as “trust but … Continue reading
Posted in Communication, Leadership, Sales and Marketing
Tagged Communication, Leadership, Storytelling
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When Negotiating, Selling or Just Persuading, Quality Over Quantity
Niro Sivanathan is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at London Business School, who teaches Negotiations, Influence and Decision-Making. His psychological insights can help all of us be better negotiators, influencers and decision makers. In this blog, I let Niro’s … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Communication, Personal Success
Tagged Communication, Negotiation, Niro Sivanathan, Persuasion
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Selling When We are Not in Sales
No matter what our title is, we are all salespeople. Whenever we are trying to… persuade others lobby for our point of view satisfy a disgruntled customer ask for a raise… we are selling. Below I offer nine suggestions (from … Continue reading
Posted in Communication, Perform / Execution, Sales and Marketing
Tagged Communication, Persuasion, Selling
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The Curse of Knowledge
As leaders we are bedeviled by the Curse of Knowledge: The Curse of Knowledge is the difficulty we have in imagining that another person does not know what we know. The Curse of Knowledge rears its ugly head in three … Continue reading
Posted in Business Acumen, Communication, Leadership
Tagged Clarity, Communication, Curse of Knowledge
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The Necessity of a Good Cadence
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, cadence is defined as “the beat, time, or measure of rhythmical motion or action.” In the business context, cadence is used to describe regularly scheduled activities, specifically regularly scheduled meetings, follow-ups, visits or other actions. … Continue reading
Posted in Communication, Leadership, Team / People
Tagged Accountability, Follow-up, Leadership, Project Management
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To Improve Our Meetings, We Need to Do Our Homework
The consultant, Stan Sipes, once commented: “The most common weakness I see in organizations is the lack of work that is done in a meeting.” Today, more than ever, so little work is done in meetings because no one has … Continue reading
Posted in Communication, Improve / Turnaround, Perform / Execution
Tagged Communication, Effectiveness, Homework, Meetings
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Communicate in One Page
Idea Summary To run our businesses more effectively, most documents and reports in our businesses (including summaries, plans, reviews, and analysis) should be kept to one page. Perspective Businesses are awash in information, specifically reports, analysis, weekly updates or … Continue reading
5 Key Interpersonal Skills for Leaders
“Abraham Lincoln said that people think that the real test of a person’s character is how they deal with adversity. A much better measure of a person’s character is to give them power. I’ve been more often disappointed with how … Continue reading
Posted in Communication, Leadership, Team / People
Tagged Communication, Interpersonal Relations, Winning Teamwork
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Decisiveness
“In a minute, there is time for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.” This line from the 1915 T.S. Elliot poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, is a lovely bit of poetry. It is also a … Continue reading
Posted in Communication, Leadership, Perform / Execution
Tagged Consistent Execution, Decision Making, Decisiveness, Focus, Productivity, Vision
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Use Words Well to Lead Well
Our words matter. As leaders, we spend much of our time communicating with others through our actions, our body language, and especially our words. Unfortunately, all too often we do not use our words well leading to poor communication and … Continue reading
Posted in Communication, Leadership, Team / People
Tagged Communication, Learning, Management, Meetings, Project Management, Public Speaking, Teaching
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David M. Shedd - Move Your Company Forward 