Your Go-To-Negotiation Expert
This year my Mother’s Day gift was to meet Lynda Carter, the Wonder Woman from my childhood. Do you remember her invisible plane or “Lasso of Truth” that forced others to tell the truth? Wouldn’t that lasso be handy at times? My friend Elizabeth and I, with several hundred others,
Early in my speaking career, I delivered a program on negotiating disputes especially before they went to trial. During the question and answer portion, one attendee let the audience know she had in-depth experience in Alternative Dispute Resolution. In her expert opinion, she said everything I told them over the last hour was
When we talk about gossiping and spreading rumors, we often think of people with nothing better to do. Surprisingly, research supports the fact that workplace rumors are usually true. But work drama caused by gossiping and “stirring the pot” is common and expensive as I discuss in this recent FOX
Early in my career, a boss really intimidated me. He was so unpredictable and at times a bully. Each day, I would call his administrative assistant to ask about his daily mood. We had a code. I’d ask, “How’s the weather today?” and she’d say “It’s stormy,” or “It’s clear but
I try to follow my own advice about being a good – and frequent – communicator. Recently, I got a little carried away. You may have heard my TEDxSMU Talk where I shared a story about Jay Leno. Years ago, I failed to ask for a picture with Jay while I
One of the most memorable comments I received on a speaker evaluation came from someone who was clearly not a Linda “fan.” “I think her information was good and she knew what she was talking about. However, she looks andsounds too much like my ex-girlfriend for me to give her a higher score. “
You’re feeling really uptight. You’re about to call a very high profile decision maker to ask for a favor or something big. You’ve been warned that this important person is very busy and probably won’t talk for long. You take a deep breath, mentally prepare for the worst, and make
Is it time you asked for a raise? Or, are you waiting for someone to notice your efforts and offer a raise to you? Why? You are in charge of moving your career forward. You don’t have to sit back and wait for your boss or someone in leadership to
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
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
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
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