Ask Paul: What if, it’s not my meeting?
Q: Paul, I’d appreciate your input. I attend several meetings that need to be better – but they are not my meetings. What can I do as a participant to make these meetings more successful? — Sasha Sasha, there are three places to look: 1.    Participate as though the...
Have Your Best Holiday Yet – Plan it Backward
Imagine it’s January 8th. You’re back in the office, sitting at your desk, reading through emails and checking items off your to-do list. You’ve successfully gotten back into the swing of things, and yet you can’t stop thinking about the holidays. Just last night at...
Start a new holiday tradition: Conversations to remember
My grandmother, Esther, was wonderful. I remember her as strong, caring, and hardworking. I remember taking friends to the creamery where she worked. She handled large milk containers with ease and manipulated the large steam hoses like they were nothing. Of course,...
Does your family have rules when it comes to technology? If not, you should consider it.
NO ACCESS CAN MEAN FREEDOM! I text regularly with several of my grandchildren – it’s a wonderful way to keep in touch during the times when we can’t be together. Typically, they are great about responding, but every once in a while I don’t get a reply text. It’s...
Ask Paul: How do we change our meeting culture?
Q: Hello, I enjoyed your HBR webinar on the right way to end meetings. We are interested in changing our culture around meetings. If you were to recommend one thing for us to implement, what would that be? – Michael, FL. Thanks for the question, Michael, it’s one that...
Who might you invite to coffee?
Building relationships is part of the job With today’s hurry-up pace, it seems we’ve simply lost the notion of slowing down and taking time to be interested in other people. Front porches have been replaced with fenced-in backyards. Company softball teams have...
Zombies are in meetings everywhere – how to spot them and what to do about it
In honor of Halloween – and the Season 6 premiere of The Walking Dead this Sunday – I’d like to take a minute to talk about zombies. Yes, zombies. The very ones that regularly attend your meetings! Do any of these sound familiar? The always late person whose tired...
What are you saying NO to when you say YES?
One of my favorite ideas when working with people who are dealing with overwhelm is this: Every time you say yes to something in life, you are saying no to something else. The point is to be more aware in the moment of the choices you make. The same idea can make a...
Q&A with Francesca Gino
Francesca Gino is a psychologist, Harvard Business School professor, and the author of the book: Sidetracked: Why Our Decisions Get Derailed, and How We Can Stick to the Plan. She has long studied the factors at play when decision making collides with real life...
An Agreement About Distraction
Distraction is a big issue these days. Too many of us sit in meetings with a room full of people consulting laptops, smartphones, or other devices, and this trend needs to be stopped cold in its tracks. As a constant advocate for awareness, presence, and focus, I’ve...
Featured Articles
Inspiring Thoughts
Books
