Here’s a shocker that you may have heard from me before — People want to help other people that they like!
When people like you, they want to help you. They want to spend time with you. They want to do business with you.
So how do you get people to like you? How do you build that rapport? (more…)
People hardly ever say what they mean. Most people are driven by emotions, especially in highly-charged circumstances. Their words reflect those emotions, even if they act otherwise.
The kid (or coworker) that grumbles throughout a task — is still doing that task (even though she’s not framing it in a positive way).
The spouse, during an argument, who throws out the incorrect idea that (more…)
Andrew DeYoung has wanted to be a writer since he started reading Chapter Books in grade school.
And while Andrew’s been a writer for decades, his first published novel has made a splash.
The Exo Project was the winner of the 2017 Minnesota Book Awards for Young Adult Literature! Congratulations Andrew!
I am lucky enough to live across the street from Andrew. We spent an evening together drinking whiskey, chatting about his writing, and discussing the need for validation that comes with the creative process.
Check it out! (more…)
Way back in 2012, my wife and I traveled by Amtrak train to Chicago to visit some friends. Between card games in the bar car and beautiful scenery out the window, I read a book about Negotiation.
I was interested in making more money. I wasn’t sure how to ask or even if I was in the right profession. (more…)
Imagine you’re at a party. You stop in the kitchen to refill your beverage. You find yourself drawn into a conversation. As the evening (and the conversation) progresses, the kitchen fills with more and more people.
Soon it seems as though the rest of the house must be empty! Everyone is in the kitchen!
I’m sure you’ve noticed — people love to gather in the kitchen at parties. The hearth is the symbolic center of the home, where food and warmth are found. (more…)
My interest in Persuasion and getting people moving, getting them working and improving, overlaps with business and leadership.
I follow a number of successful entrepreneurs on Twitter. Many of them know that reality is flexible, that we create (and live by) our own limits.
Inspiring people to push past those self-inflicted limits is one view of Persuasion, and important for any self-starter like yourself.
Another aspect of persuasion, especially in larger businesses, is change management. (more…)
Last week we discussed Luck. Is an event that happens to us Good Luck or Bad Luck?
In the new Star Wars: The Last Jedi, a film filled with references to the balance of the universe (tao), a character is asked that exact question.
Was this event good luck or bad luck?
Once there was a farmer whose frail old horse ran away. The farmer was unable to plow his fields without that old horse. All the people in town were concerned for the old man and his family, asking how he’d be able to handle his bad luck.
The farmer responded, “Bad Luck? Good Luck? Who knows?”
Later in the week, that horse returned with a pack of wild horses. The townspeople were excited for the old man’s fortune.
The farmer responded, “Good Luck? Bad Luck? Who knows?”
The following month was spent breaking the wild horses to work the farm and to sell. During this time, the farmer’s son fell off a horse and broke his leg.
By then everyone knew the farmer’s answer. “Bad Luck? Good Luck? Who knows?”
While the son was healing, the nation went to war. Every able-bodied male was conscripted to fight. The son with the broken leg was allowed to stay home while the neighbors’ sons went off to war.
“Good Luck? Bad Luck? Who knows?“
We often see life’s events in terms of Good or Bad (or maybe even Good vs. Evil). (more…)
What has four legs, a long nose, two large ears, and a tail, and is immovable?
Could five blind men work together to answer that question?
Early in December of 2017, I saw the elephant in the room. I mean, I think I did.
I was an hour into Derek DelGaudio’s show about identity in the small Daryl Roth theater in Manhattan. (more…)