During the coronavirus pandemic, an unprecedented number of Americans started working remotely. So what happens now that vaccines and falling case numbers are making it possible to return to the office? There’s a hotly contested debate. On one side, you have Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, who believes the new workforce will look like the old, pre-pandemic, office-based workforce. …
The philosophy that “it’s just business” may work in the mob and in Hollywood. But, here in the real world, many of our business decisions are based on our relationships with the leaders of the companies with which we do business. Recently, a client (and friend) asked me for help in deciding whether to continue a business relationship between him …
“Culture Trumps Everything” is more than the title of my book. It is how I see the world, how I process information, how I evaluate the behavior of others. Last week, though, I got a painful reminder of its caveats. The People Who Don’t Adapt If you take someone who is loud and boisterous, and you walk them into a …
I lost my mother two years ago. This Mother’s Day, I spent my day fielding phone calls from all over the world, literally – the U.S., Argentina, Spain and Colombia – from family and friends who wanted to check in on me, but who also wanted to reminisce. It was as if they were trying to glue back the pieces …
Argumentative people find energy and excitement in conflict. They are always willing to argue and fight, and they look for people who’ll step into the ring. Sometimes it’s actually good to have people like this around. They can help us refine our logic and strengthen our resolve. Organizational studies have found that when CEOs are looking to nominate their own …
We’ve all seen them, heard them or even worked for them: people who think they are truly above others. They are great. They are superior. The things they do are very special or the absolute best. They recoil when they are told they are wrong. And they turn aggressive in the face of a real or perceived afront. I’m talking …
We’ve all experienced stubborn people at some point in our careers. Once they have made a decision, their position becomes like a piece of granite. You won’t have much luck trying to move them by brute force. But what you can do is hand them a hammer and chisel and convince them that they have the capacity to use those …
In the past several weeks, I have had a series of presentations with people who laid bare their very challenging personality styles. It is one thing to work with difficult people on a keynote or half-day presentation. It is an entirely different matter to work with them day in, day out. This week, we will discuss strategies and tactics to …
I live in Denver, a United Airlines hub. As a result, I have flown over 1 million miles with United since I moved to Colorado in 2012. While I have not flown since March 12, 2020, I am very familiar with United and how it operates in Denver. Every once in a while, a company gets on my radar and …
Last week, a discussion with a friend took me back to a book I read a couple of years ago, “How Emotions are Made” by Lisa Feldman Barrett. Dr. Barrett is a renowned neuropsychologist who explains the concept of a body budget. In short, your body budget is your brain’s prediction of how much of its resources it should spend …
