I’m in the process of recruiting people to participate in a few events I’m hosting. I’m aware every time I send an invitee an email that I’m dependent upon them to achieve my goals. It would be easiest to not take on this recruiting effort, or to just blast out some information and hope people
Harvard psychologist Robert Kegan suggests that most people never become high-functioning adults who think for themselves. Becoming a fully functioning adult, according to Kegan, requires transformation away from dependent thinking. He theorizes that people need to transform through five stages (including what drives choices): Stage 1 – Impulsive Mind (immediate gratification) Stage 2 – Imperial
Researchers conducting a study asked humans and monkeys to perform a series of random tasks. To limit their ability to talk to themselves, some of the humans were asked to repeat the words “blah, blah, blah” while performing the tasks. The humans who performed the tasks without repeating “blah, blah, blah” demonstrated all the working
My friend Jamie leads a large technology organization. Last week I joined him for an all-hands Q&A about my latest book, Lead with Influence. Jamie previously read and reviewed the book, so he asked really thoughtful questions that apply especially to knowledge workers. Because so many readers of my posts are in knowledge work and,
Have you ever noticed that the lessons that serve you well in your professional life are often reinforced in the most unexpected circumstances? The other day as I was driving my daughter to school, I reminded her, “Do your best on the standardized reading test today.” “I don’t care about the test,” she replied. “It’s
As I stood waiting to check in for a doctor’s appointment, the front desk staff was enduring a combative patient. He’d come into the office that morning to dispute his bill and was threatening to disparage the clinic on social media for misleading and unfair business practices. It seemed the two women at the front
I work closely with a company that designs and manufactures expensive boats. One of their long-time customers, a large boat dealer, asked for a meeting with them to discuss boat design improvements they believe are needed to sell more boats. The dealer has a long pattern of harsh criticism and negativity. At the same time,
In response to my latest book release last week, I received an elucidating message from a close friend who is also a university professor of theology. I’ve decided to include the full text here rather than summarize it because it’s so well-articulated: The sub-title on page 93 is “Listen Empathetically” and later on page 96
On January 18, SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket with four crew members to the International Space Station. It’s another successful mission for SpaceX. Behind its explosive growth, of course, is the sometimes volatile CEO Elon Musk whose tirades are well documented in Walter Isaacson’s biography and elsewhere. Isaacson also describes the numerous people who
I’m renting a log splitter this week. That’s probably a very Minnesotan thing to do. It’s used to divide large cross-sections of trees into logs to be used as firewood. Since I have a time limit on the rental, I need to decide how much effort to spend with each tree slice. Splitting the logs
Matt Norman is president of Norman & Associates, which offers Dale Carnegie Training in the North Central US. Dale Carnegie Training is a global organization ...READ MORE