Two things about failure we should accept
The other day, someone told me they don't use the word 'failure' in their house. No one is ever a failure they said....
Put-Downs: How to respond to them
Put-downs can hurt "If your brains were dynamite, there wouldn't be enough to blow your hat off." (1) How’s that for a put-down? Not bad....
FREE Video Series: the 11 Essential Non-Verbal Communication Skills
Yes. It's FREE! Most of us have heard plenty of stuff over the years about how important our non-verbal communication is. And in particular, how...
How to Master Tough Conversations. The Golden Rule: Only Use Facts. (It’s harder than you think.)
First, the video (It has captions so you can watch it without disturbing others.) Second, the transcript. What's the one thing? Hi, I'm Mark McPherson. After...
Nine handy hints for giving compliments and avoiding the pitfalls
It’s a tricky business Giving a compliment is easy, isn’t it? Well, yes. It is. But here’s the thing. If you’re not very careful...
If someone doesn’t ‘get’ what you’re talking about, do everyone a favour: say it’s your fault.
Trevor asked for a second chance My friend Trevor told me a story and it went like this: "Earlier in the week I was at...
Things to avoid saying when suggesting an idea
Twenty odd years ago we had a rule for my team at work. It went like this: “When we make a suggestion, put forward...
Five ways to give people some acknowledgement and recognition
Giving acknowledgement is more than just a nice thing to do. Giving people some acknowledgement - for their efforts, deeds and achievements, for their...
Ten of the most common Relationship Wreckers. Are you guilty of them?
There are plenty of things said every day, in ordinary run-of-the-mill conversations, we need to weed out and throw in the bin. They're what...