Questions That Get Real Answers
Any concerns? reliably returns none, because answering it requires the person to volunteer that something is wrong. The fix is to ask questions whose easiest honest…
Read →Idaho leadership
Leadership Lessons
Practical leadership lessons from experienced Idahoans across the state's industries, institutions, and communities — guidance you can apply in your own work.
Listening Is an Information System
Treated as a courtesy, listening gets the effort left over after the real work. Treated as the primary means by which a leader learns what is…
Read →Delivering a Decision People Will Dislike
Explain the reasoning without reopening the vote. The distinction is between telling people why and inviting them to relitigate, and it is carried almost entirely by…
Read →Saying No
A soft no is heard as a maybe, and a maybe invites the case to be made again. The kindest version is the one that closes…
Read →Receiving Feedback Without Punishing the Giver
Your first two seconds determine whether you ever hear anything again. Nobody will tell you that you reacted badly, which is why the supply of honest…
Read →Giving Feedback That Changes Behaviour
Feedback and evaluation are different instruments delivered in the same words. Merged, the person defends their standing instead of hearing the correction, and nothing changes.
Read →The Four Sentences
Observation, effect, question, ask. The preamble everyone reaches for makes the conversation worse, because it tells the other person something difficult is coming and delays their…
Read →The Conversation You Are Avoiding
Delay does not hold the situation still. The cost accrues to other people while the leader waits for a version of the conversation that will be…
Read →Reading a Public Meeting
Public meetings are the most instructive communication training available in Idaho, and attending one costs nothing. Six things to watch for, and what each one teaches.
Read →Talking to a Reporter
A reporter is neither an adversary nor an ally. They have a job, the terms of the conversation must be agreed before it starts, and everything…
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