We’ve known for years that the vast majority of job openings are never advertised. The number of jobs filled through networking alone is probably 70-80% or more. At first this seems like a huge problem for a typical job seeker. Whatever you see on a job site is a very limited fraction of the total … Read more
Leadership is a matter of intelligence, trustworthiness, humaneness, courage, and discipline … Reliance on intelligence alone results in rebelliousness. Exercise of humaneness alone results in weakness. Fixation on trust results in folly. Dependence on the strength of courage results in violence. Excessive discipline and sternness in command result in cruelty. When one has all five … Read more
Dr. Marc Siegel, clearly a very intelligent and experienced physician, has trouble getting his message across. In this 3-minute segment with three goofball news anchors, he tries to communicate some points about salt, but quickly loses control of the discussion: As the only one there with any medical training, or any experience actually treating disease, he should be controlling the … Read more
In his classic book Influence, Robert Cialdini describes the power of consistency in affecting human behavior: Just after placing a bet, [people] are much more confident of their horse’s chances of winning than they are immediately before laying down that bet. Of course, nothing about the horse’s chances actually shifts; it’s the same horse, on the same … Read more
Most important is the ability to suspend your assumptions. When you enter into another culture that is not familiar to you, or when speaking with someone who comes from a different background, they probably do not share many of your assumptions about the world. Everything is potentially on the table: from huge philosophical issues like gender … Read more
I’ve been stood up. I’m sitting in a coffee shop as I write this. I was supposed to meet someone to discuss business, but the person never showed, despite confirming the time and location with me just yesterday. I texted and emailed them. No response. Seriously guys, communicate! If you have to cancel a meeting … Read more
Listening skills are an area that lots of people struggle with. How many of us ask someone their name or what they do for a living, and then immediately forget it? I’m not a perfect listener. But I have improved a lot from where I used to be. In my case, I had so many … Read more
I’ve written about concision before. This topic came up again recently at a talk that I was giving in NYC. One of the attendees found it difficult to keep her networking conversations concise. This happens to a lot of us. When talking to someone new, through a combination of wanting to be polite and just … Read more
One of the key qualities of dry, boring communicators: no passion! When someone seems to lack passion and excitement for their topic, we get bored very quickly. Why should we be interested in the topic if they aren’t? With more passion in your communication, you are more convincing, more engaging, and just more fun. Some simple questions to … Read more