Our 10 tips to ensure you make a great impression Are you planning to attend your Christmas office party? I hope so. This is a great occasion to relax and have a good time – and can be a highly anticipated, positive antidote to year-end stress. But anytime you combine fun with professionalism, it can…
If a woman wants to be perceived as powerful, credible, and confident, she has to be aware of the nonverbal signals she's sending
Be aware of the nonverbal signals you’re sending There are two sets of body language cues that followers look for in leaders: warmth (empathy, likeability, caring) and authority (power, credibility, status). Although I know several leaders of both sexes who do not fit the stereotypes, I’ve also observed that gender differences in body language most…
It is safe to assume that someone on your team didn’t understand what you just said In my research and work on leadership presence with leaders in 33 countries, I’ve seen these six assumptions that can derail a communicator’s effectiveness: Assuming that everyone on your team knows why the work they are doing is important…
Good body language skills can help you understand people’s emotions and motives
It was during the break of a Master Class I was giving on Body Language That Sells when the sales manager approached me. He’d hired me because he saw that the most successful salespeople were also proficient at displaying and reading body language, and he wanted to help his team develop this set of skills.…
Seven reasons why it is still hard to know when you are being lied to
"You're next in line for a promotion." "Let's have lunch sometime." "I'd love to read your report." "No, those pants don't make you look fat." We get lied to all the time. People are dishonest out of politeness, to avoid punishment, to protect others, or to deliberately mislead for personal gain. Some years back, Tim…
People look for two sets of cues in leaders: one signals warmth and caring, the other power and status. Both are necessary
During a break in a seminar I was conducting on collaborative leadership, a man from the audience told this story: “My wife is an attorney and I’ve always been a supporter of women in the workplace. I also believe in collaboration and try to make everyone feel included and appreciated. So I was taken aback…
Collaboration begins by building on those positive qualities that already exist in your team
Several years ago, I was in Germany working with a group of high-potential employees worldwide. Their organization had identified them as valuable candidates for leadership development. It was quite an event – a week of various topics and speakers with dog sledding as the team-building event the afternoon before my program. (Which was quite a…
The success of any organization or team hinges on the strength of the relationships of its employees
Xerox Corporation, in the 1980s, was looking for a way to boost the productivity of its field service staff. An anthropologist from the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) travelled with a group of tech reps to observe how they did their jobs – not how they described what they did, or what their managers…
I've seen how ghosts can haunt organizations around the world. It wouldn't surprise me if your company was also haunted
I not only believe in ghosts, I've seen how they haunt organizations around the world. It wouldn't surprise me if your company were haunted. In fact, I'd be surprised if it weren't! I even wrote a (almost true) story about a young woman chasing a ghost through a parallel universe located in the ventilation system…
See it as an opportunity to expand your network and build your personal brand
The Wall Street Journal says that the reunion season is about 25 per cent busier this year due to the class get-togethers postponed during COVID. Here’s the story With this larger-than-usual attendance, a pent-up desire for in-person connection, and an increase in social anxiety, comes a wonderful opportunity to expand your network and build your…