Your Go-To-Negotiation Expert
Have I ever told you about my daughter’s negotiation skills? At nine Taylor decided she wanted to swim like a mermaid. After locating several YouTube videos of mermaids to prove the possibility, she found a video showing exact instructions to craft a mermaid tail. Then, she convinced us to buy expensive swimsuit
Some of us don’t need to watch scary movies or go to haunted houses to get our monster fix. Instead, we just need to go to work. Monsters in the workplace include the “ghosts” who disappear when the going gets rough, the “witches” and “warlocks” who stir up trouble, the
Take a Hike – literally. Today is National Take a Hike Day (November 17). Yes, there is a holiday for everything! With holidays and vacation time approaching, the stress to get it all done hits hard. End of year deadlines coupled with personal pressures always make me feel overwhelmed and less productive. Co-workers taking
My Business Manager, Zan, recently told me a story from her previous job at an elevator company. Her best customer called and complained almost daily about the elevators in his facility. These weren’t safety problems or even major concerns. She finally determined that the source of Mr. Complainers frustration was
A few weeks ago I watched one of the worst led meetings ever. Instead of getting to the heart of the matter, leaders allowed an outsider to derail and delay the real issues. As tempers flared, the president relinquished control to attendees. Instead of clarifying issues and communicating an action plan,
In the spring I spoke at the beautiful Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas. I even played a little video poker. Three hours of playing seemed like a good entertainment value for my $20 investment. Most of us know the odds aren’t in our favor when we gamble. How would those
My daughter just completed cheer camp and arrived home exhausted. However, she and her friends also had a renewed excitement about cheering, gymnastics and even going back to school in the fall. Tough situations can be the best learning experiences (some call it getting wiser). It’s also important to be intentional about
Ever try to make things better and you only made things worse? Recently the JV cheer moms and I were sitting around waiting to make our appearance at an event. We were hot. I pulled out a hand-held battery operated fan to cool us down. One mom didn’t really like
Last Monday, I experienced a breakdown. It started with a “snake emergency.” A four foot rat snake was lounging in our garage. I was late for an appointment and the snake needed to leave before my daughter came home from school. Did I mention my husband was out of town? The snake was
I recently spoke at a national convention in St. Louis. I was so excited to speak in St. Louis because it was a great convention and also the city where I lived until I was 9 years old. While there, I visited my childhood friend (pictured above), my elementary school and even my childhood
When I was a sophomore in college, I spilled salad dressing on my formal dress. My dad said, “Just hold your flowers down and those ribbons will cover it. No one will notice.” Dad is always positive and has a solution. My dad, Col. Byron R. Byars, Jr., USA (Ret),
Really, this shouldn’t be funny – but I can’t stop laughing and shaking my head about it. I was recently at our neighborhood homeowners’ meeting where several of us disagreed with actions taken by our association leadership. Apparently, my words made one of my neighbors very angry. He wanted to make