

The Art of Listening
The real art of listening is akin to listening to a musical piece. It is 100% about the other person – what they are saying, how they say it, the impact of what they say on you, the listener, and the atmosphere between you.
It is not linear. It’s not just about listening to their words, but to the music of their words. We listen for the rhythm and sound of the words and to the spaces in between the words.
Essentially, we are listening for the emotional charge behind the com


How to Apologize
At the heart of effective communication is not necessarily what we say nor how we say it, but how we make the other person feel. So what do you do when someone’s feelings gets hurt? 1. First forgive yourself. This is such an important point, and so hard to do! You hurt someone. That feels awful (or maybe at the time not so awful, but you feel badly now.) But it doesn’t serve anyone if you shame yourself. In fact, shaming creates more violence within, which gives rise


The Heart of Change
I watched Ghandi last night. His comment about our work really being about the violence not with each other, but in our own hearts hit close to home.
How often have I found another wrong, blamed another, or said things with bite that I wished I could take back? What is the violence in my heart that does such a number on me that I find my fellow human beings lesser than so I can feel better?
How do I distinguish between my human-ness and my behavior, beginning first


Emotional Courage
How often have you been in a meeting and thought to yourself, “No… I won’t bring that up. I’ll let it go. See if it gets better…. Maybe I’m the only one who feels this way.” Chances are you’re not. In all likelihood, if you are thinking about it, someone else is likely wondering about the same thing. It’s just you who’s got the clarity and the guts to choose to voice it… or not. Leadership Skill Emotional courage has been flagged as one of the critical challenges in leadershi