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Showing posts from March, 2020

Staying Connected in Times of Turmoil

Wherever in the world you're currently located, chances are you're staying home to keep yourself and others safe from the coronavirus (and if you're not staying home, you should!). Many of my clients are small businesses worried about what this year will look like. Many of my friends are improvisers and performers struggling to make ends meet while their "survival jobs" are on hold.  I don't have any magic formula and won't pretend to, but I am thankful technology allows us to both work from home and to remain connected even when socially distancing ourselves.  So if you're feeling sad and rudderless, please reach out to family and friends either via phone or video conference. Everything is better when tackled with the help of others. Takeaway: ask for help and support when you need it.

Listen Twice as Much as You Speak

“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.”―  Epictetus If you're a salesperson or ever read a sales book, you're probably familiar with the concept of getting the other person to talk about their needs first.  In improv, which I've written about before , listening is critical: you're making up things on the spot with your team and if you're not listening to everything being said and established, you'll mess up the scene—literally—for the others. For example, if you don't hear that someone was labeled "Brian" and instead call them "Larry," the audience is pulled out of the story. Or if you didn't hear someone call their scene partner their sister and you label them their wife....You get the picture. But listening is just as important to non-sales people (and non-improvisers). If you work with clients, actively listening will show that you care and respect them, and will probably

Compassion Is Good for Business

For those of us taught to treat people right, it's sometimes hard to stomach how some businesses are run and how some employees are treated. Turns out that leading with compassion is actually good for business.  I've blogged about the Blinkist app before and how great and useful I find it to be.  Today's daily recommendation was for  Awakening Compassion at Work: The Quiet Power That Elevates People and Organizations  by  Monica C. Worline and  Jane E. Dutton .  In brief, there have been scientific studies that prove that if you treat your clients and employees with compassion, you will actually be more profitable—even in hard times!  Remember this the next time you're stressed and/or fed up either  with  someone on your team or with a vendor. Everyone—you included—makes mistakes. So just take a deep breath and instead of jumping to the worst conclusion, ask some questions to determine why the mistake happened. (This was also discussed in the blink.) Not only w