If you look up the meaning of empathy in the dictionary, it means being aware of and sharing another person's feelings, experiences, and emotions. Empathy is the action of understanding. Why is trying to see things from another person's point of view considered taboo? When did empathy become a bad thing? Listening - really listening to someone is as essential to communication as speaking. You will never learn a thing if you keep talking. We are not wired to be good listeners, but we can learn how. Listen to my latest Confessions of a Reformed Control Freak Podcast and discover the three key listener skills you need to master to become a really great listener.

The world of work is constantly changing. What are you doing to help yourself and your management team to keep pace with those changes. Are the leadership skills that got you here the same skills that will get you and your management team to where you need to go to lead in these uncertain times? Listen to my latest Confessions of a Reformed Control Freak Podcast and discover the four key leadership skills that will distinguish you from a so-so leader to an exceptional one.

True leaders develop more leaders, not grow more followers. True leaders understand that their role is to bring people together with different skill sets, teach them what they need to know and do, and then get out of their way and let them do it. Are you leading or just managing? Listen to this Confessions of a Reformed Control Freak Podcast and discover the four skills that you need to master to become a true leader.

Henry Mintzberg, Cleghorn Professor of Management at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, and author of nearly two dozen books on management, first coined that phrase - 'Management is Leadership Practiced Well' in his groundbreaking book - 'Managers NOT MBAs - A Hard Look at the Soft Practice of Managing and Management Development.' When you get right down to it, whether you hold the title of manager or leader, the common denominator is people. Soft skills are essential skills. A manager or leader must excel at these three skills to manage or lead others. Listen to my podcast and find out.

This is not the time to rest on your laurels. The workplace is evolving, and you need to adapt to these changes. The way you managed and led others got you to where you are, but that approach may not take you and your team to where you need to go. It's becoming increasingly evident that soft skills—your ability to communicate and interact more effectively with others—are essential leadership skills. Next-level leadership is possible, but only if you focus on your people. Listen to my latest Confessions of a Reformed Control Freak Podcast to find out how.

Motivation is defined as the reason or reasons one has for acting and behaving in a certain way to achieve a specific result. Motivation is inside out - never outside in. Everyone is self-motivated. You can't make someone do something that they don't want to do unless you have something they want. If you know their WIIFM - What's In It For Me - and you have the authority to grant it, you can use that understanding to get them to do what you want. Offering the carrot while showing the stick always yields better results. Listen to my latest Confessions of a Reformed Control Freak Podcast to learn more about motivation.

Have you ever met someone for the first time and thought, Oh Yuck, what a DINK? And I don't mean Double Income No Kids. You didn't know why; there was just something about them that you didn't like. But after you spent time with them and got to know them better, you changed your mind. Establishing a rapport and building a relationship with the people you work with and interact with is crucial to your success as a team member, manager or leader. You don't have to socialize with everyone you work with, but you do need to learn how to get along with them. Listen to my latest Confessions of a Reformed Control Freak Podcast and learn how.

Do you know me? I'm looking over your shoulder, waiting for you to make a mistake so I can point out everything you've done wrong. My way is always the best. I need to be in charge, and want everyone to know about it. I'm your classic control freak. I'm robbing you of your opportunity to grow because I haven't learned to give up control to get control. I haven't learned how to delegate effectively. Listen to my latest podcast and learn how to stop putting out fires in eight easy steps.

We are who we are and act the way we act because that's who we are. But that might not be a good thing. A strength overused or used in the wrong situation can become a weakness. When you identify why you do what you do, you can learn to modify your behaviour to get a more favourable result. You can learn to act in a way that will get you what you want because you know if you act the way you usually do, it will be counterproductive to accomplishing your goals. You can develop new habits. Listen to my podcast and discover how DISC will teach you how.

We are who we are and act the way we act because we are who we are. We are born with a particular style - a certain way of behaving that is engrained in us at a very young age. You can't take the stripes off a tiger or rub the spots off a leopard. It's in their DNA. We must embrace who we are and amplify our strengths instead of wasting time trying to improve our weaknesses. It's only a weakness if it's getting in the way of accomplishing your goals. Listen to this podcast and discover how DISC will help you identify your strengths.