Eyes speak louder than words, if anyone’s looking. In my weekly newsletter, Packets and Pauses, about communication and presentations, I’ve been talking a lot about eye contact. How important it is, how to use it, how we screw it up. Recently, I had lunch with Some One who has an even bigger eye problem than […]
Alex Ramsey Challenges You: A Non-IQ Quiz on Logic for Leaders
When asked to prove if something is true or false, people tend to focus on confirming “the rule” as stated, rather than falsifying it. Humm that’s sort of a brain twister, isn’t it? As a result, even supposedly smart people can be quite illogical. That is, according to research psychologist Keith Stanovich, a prof […]
Control Freaks
One hallmark of exemplary leadership is the ability to inspire cooperation among others. Control Freaks, on the other hand, do motivate by dangling a long carrot. But, instead of working with others to create alignment and heart-felt passion for a shared goal, they apply humiliation, intimidation and bullying. I spent a fair amount of […]
A Powerful Personality Test
Dozens of psychological and personality tests provide insight, they insist, into how we think and act. They pronounce with authority that we do or don’t so this or that well. According to one highly regarded test, I’m “gifted” as an ” attorney, ski instructor, forester, geologist, carpenter, minister, physician, writer, architect, fine artist, musician, dentist, […]
Interpretations
There’s an old saying that goes something like this: No matter what your point of view, you can prove it in the Bible. It’s true in the Bible, and it is true in the US Constitution. For instance, my son who is a young lawyer was president of the Second Amendment Society at his […]
Uncharted Territory
No matter how old you are, no matter how much you’ve experienced, the river of life inevitably takes you into waters you’ve never seen or experienced before. And if those waters are especially turbulent, you might have a tendency to snatch at every tree growing along the river as you try to […]
The Ghost Map
A peculiar phenomenon follows me when I walk into a book store: Books speak to me. I’m not schizo. I don’t literally hear words such as, “You hoo, here I am.” On the other hand, I might as well, since the end result is the same: I buy them. Could you resist a book […]
Takes More Than Great Tomatoes and Basil
You can have great tomatoes and basil and still mess up the tomato sauce. How you put the ingredients together makes a difference. The seasonings you use to blend the flavors and even technique influence the outcome. The same is true with speaking. You can have great content, great graphics, but the way you put […]
Happiness? Whose Job Is It?
I haven’t been posting much lately not because there was nothing to say. To the contrary, I’ve been up to my ears in thoughts and activities. For example, I was in Morocco during the Egyptian crises. It was an extraordinary trip. If I can get a foto or two downloaded here, I shall do […]
Revisiting Ike
Until yesterday, when I heard David Eisenhower discuss his grandfather’s iconic 1961 farewell speech, I never fully grasped the full wisdom of President Dwight Eisenhower‘s words. David, in his new book Going Home to Glory, a memoir about life with his illustrious grandfather, puts the famous Military-Industrial Complex speech into a broader context, explaining why […]