Have you ever been stuck in a conversation that was going nowhere? Feeling helpless, what could you do to avoid the dead-end direction? Unfortunately, this happens frequently to us both inside and outside work. This week, I outline three “U-turn” tactics to get the conversation back on course.

The post Ep. 382 – Pulling a U-turn in a Conversation appeared first on Just Saying.

In meetings, it’s easy to run out of time. Participants rarely allocate sufficient time to summarize what’s been discussed and assign action items with any time to spare. In this episode, I provide a few practical ways for meeting leaders to think and act with the ending in mind.  

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When Amazon infamously ditched PowerPoints in meetings and opted to use a six-page written narrative format, many professionals took notice of their bold move. However, very few followed their lead. After reading a book on Amazon’s leadership philosophy (“Working Backwards”), I decided to experiment with a new meeting format. In this podcast, I provide a […]

The post Ep. 380 – The B.E.S.T. Meeting Method appeared first on Just Saying.

What happens when managers have too many people and priorities to handle? A recent Wall Street Journal article highlighted a growing concern when organizations are trying to get much more from a thinning front line of leaders. One of the results is that bosses are running out of time to spend with their extended teams. […]

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Polished leaders all master these three areas. They can frame their role powerfully, share courses of action convincingly, and summarize complexity consistently. In this episode, I provide very practical ways to improve in each area to rise above the rest.

The post Ep. 378 – Roles, recommendations, and re-caps appeared first on Just Saying.

We can speak very different languages, from finance, tech and science to logistics, legal and engineering. What are some simple ways to increase your awareness and avoid common tendencies to talk past people and lose them along the way? In this podcast, I share a clip from a 1960’s show “Flipper” and provide some common-sense […]

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What’s the return on investment (ROI) if your organization is filled with clear communicators? In a recent conversation with a business consultant, I was challenged to measure it mainly in time savings. In my experience, however, that’s the easy answer. The deeper one is calculating the hidden impact when you cause chaos and confusion?

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As new leaders step into new roles, many of them fail to help their subordinates understand the best way to communicate with them. Rather, they let vague assertions, false assumptions and ongoing trial-and-error observations shape the way they get and give information. In this episode, I provide a simple two-step process to gain clarity about […]

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If you want to become a clear and concise communicator, getting your extended team to commit would go a long way. After more than a decade of teaching our BRIEF system, we have introduced an annual subscription service that is designed to drive accountability and predictable outcomes. In this podcast, I shed some light on […]

The post Ep. 374 – BRIEF Team Builder: a new annual subscription service appeared first on Just Saying.

According to “Shark Tank’s” and entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk had incredibly high signal-to-noise ratios. In other words, they could maintain high levels of clarity without succumbing to distractions, disruptions or low-level chatter. In this episode, I share some practical ways to manage your noise and increase your ratio.

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