In 2006, 450 Radio Shack employees opened their email one day and found a message that stated: “The workforce reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated.” Looking at this ill-advised approach from the outside, it’s easy to see that email was a poor communication method for the circumstances. From within our own...
Several years ago, we hired a pet-sitting company to give our dogs a walk on occasional days when our work schedules meant too long a stretch for canine comfort. At first, things seemed to go well enough. But after a few weeks, the company failed to show up on several agreed-upon days and our poor dogs bore the brunt...
Imagine that it’s a Saturday night and you’re headed to the movies with friends. There’s a new blockbuster movie and people whose taste you trust have told you it’s a must-see. Picture yourself buying your ticket and joking around with friends while standing in the concession line. Imagine the taste of the popcorn as you share a bucket with...
In the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, 4-foot, 9-inch, 18-year old gymnast Kerri Strug was up last on the vault. By her calculations, her team’s last shot at the gold medal rested squarely on her shoulders. She sprinted down the runway and into the air, performing a vault with a handspring and twisting dismount. As she reached the ground,...
Curious George, the storybook monkey, is over retirement age these days. So the odds are good you grew up with Curious George books, television shows or movies. The “good little monkey who was always very curious” is a great image to keep in mind during difficult conversations with clients. Just ask someone else from the family tree: the gorilla. ...
Clients. They’re your bread and butter, the conduit for doing the work you love. They can also be the thorns in your side, inducing digital dread of email and fear of phones. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll offer five tips for jump-starting dialogue with clients—before, during, or after things get messy. These five tips will help you keep...
