After a day with a client, coaching executives on using the teleprompter, I came home on Monday evening to discover our top executive had his own prompter problems. When President Obama lost his place while reading from the prompter, came to a dead stop in his speech, and had to tell the operator to move [...]
With the increasing competition for available jobs, we can all take a cue from Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson. In Sunday’s New York Times Corner Office, columnist Adam Bryant asked Mr. Anderson if there was any change in the qualities he looked for in candidates compared to 5 or 10 years ago. His reply focused [...]
Suppose you are CEO and your VP of sales says to you, “The client rejected our proposal, and you may also be surprised to discover that our name has been removed from the bidders list.” You’d probably be wondering who removed your name from the client’s bidders list. The sentence doesn’t provide that information. And [...]
Recently, while leading a writing workshop at Microsoft, I noticed a cluster of people gathering around a particular attendee at the back of the room. The group huddled over his open laptop and listened intently for what seemed like several minutes, then started chuckling, then broke out in roaring laughter. After they dispersed, another group gathered, listened [...]
For tips on communicating with employees during this challenging economy—and in fact, during any tough time—check out Gloria Lau’s column in Investor’s Business Daily. My main point in her interview with me was that just because employees don’t ask questions about what’s happening in the economy as it relates to their company and their jobs [...]
For those of you who may be looking for a job, L. M. Sixel, of the Houston Chronicle, interviewed me this week for a round-up article with a new twist on job hunting: how to “freshen” your résumé if it has been circulating for a while—or if you think that your career history is rather [...]
We’re bombarded daily with numbers as to whether the economy is improving or still declining—new home sales, jobs lost per month, first-time claims by those applying for unemployment benefits, manufactured goods produced/sold. As the different politicians and reporters try to tell us what the numbers mean, I can’t help but recall this classic story that [...]
