I’m noticing there are two types of people in this world; those who when on Zoom calls (or Teams, etc.) turn their camera on, and those who prefer to leave the camera off. With one of my clients – a large professional services firm –despite pleading and cajoling and shaming, I generally get only 30% […]
Some years ago I wrote about a “Better New Year’s Resolution.” It was pretty good, if I do say so myself. For years I tried to improve on it, and never could. I finally stopped trying. Here it is again, not-so-new-and-improved, but still pretty good, I think. What do you think? My unscientific sampling […]
I recently listened to Howard Stern’s interview with (Sir) Paul McCartney. One part stood out. Howard asked Paul about multiple instances where John Lennon had been cruel towards McCartney; didn’t he feel treated unfairly, hurt, resentful, Howard asked? Paul essentially replied that no, that was just John being John, that once you accepted that as […]
In Gallup’s annual poll of Most Trusted Professions, lawyers rank 11th out of 15. In our work with clients, we often ask for unprompted answers to “which professions are least trusted?” The results reliably list car salesmen, lawyers and politicians as top choices for the bottom three. It’s also true that in our practice, lawyers […]
It’s been 20 years since the release of The Trusted Advisor. As we began the process of creating the 20th Anniversary Edition, we dived into deep reflection on how building trust has changed over the last two decades. Surely it had to be vast… when the first book was released many people didn’t have an […]
Fourteen years ago I wrote the following thoughts on New Years resolutions. It feels even more relevant this year, as we breathe a collective sigh of relief that 2020 is finally over. Apologies to those who have read it year after year – though I suspect some of you won’t mind seeing it anew. Happy […]
– With contributions from Sandy Styer, Client Manager – Diagnostics and Stewart Hirsch, Senior Coach – Business Development and Executive Leadership Pandemic. Coronavirus. Covid-19. _____. ______. . ______. Fill in the blanks with adjective(s) of your choice [apocalyptic; unprecedented; crisis; game-changer; etc.] Add a flourishing punch line, and you’ve got the intro to this […]
The ZDNet headline is striking: “Americans trust Amazon and Google more than Oprah (and Trump).” Wow! Ring the alarm bells, right? The article goes on to cite the underlying study, from Morning Consult, called Most Trusted Brands 2020. Those brands range from the US Post Office to Hershey and Cheerios, from “religious leaders” and labels on […]
Thirteen years have passed since I first wrote the following thoughts on New Years resolutions. Frankly, it was good. And frankly I haven’t been able to write a better one. Next year, maybe (though, probably not). So, apologies to those who have read it year after year – though I suspect some of you won’t […]
This is the fifth in a series of five posts on short (seven words or less) powerful phrases. Each phrase distills the essence of a key part of approaching trust-based relationships in business. Why focus on short phrases like this? Because the concise expression of several emotionally powerful concepts packs a punch. Such phrases feel profound. They […]