Articles
Explore over 350 articles that will help you grow your client relationships and improve your personal effectiveness.
Eight Cringeworthy Questions You Should Never Ask
I’ve heard this a hundred times: “There are no bad questions.” Sorry, but there are indeed bad questions. And, there are good questions that go bad when used at the wrong time. For example: “Why?” It can be a great question—or a critical, negative one if used improperly. Here are eight questions you should avoid: […]
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How to Dramatically Increase Your Impact and Satisfaction
Reframing Work and Life #6: The Personal Impact Matrix We would all like our work to be satisfying and meaningful. And to that end, there is an entire industry of books, life coaches, and assessments dedicated to helping people discover what they should really be doing. The dramatic story you may have read about the […]
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The One Thing that Kills Personal Learning
Have you ever met someone at an event or party and asked them lots of questions about themselves—and, consequently, learned some interesting things from the conversation? But then, you realized they were utterly incurious about you, and never asked a single thing about yourself? In the end, they learned nothing from the encounter. Their lack […]
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Choose Ambitious, Bold Clients
Reframing Work and Life #3: The Client Aspiration Matrix There is an unreservedly important but often ignored quality that you should always look for in your clients. It is called ambition. Boldness is another way of putting it. Many executives simply want to do a “good job” while maintaining the status quo. Usually, but not […]
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Four Types of Power Questions
Reframing Work & Life #1: The Power Questions Matrix Jerry Panas and I coined the term “Power Questions” in our book of the same title. Somewhat to our amazed delight, it went on to become a global best-seller that has been translated into 21 languages. Power Questions, put simply, are open-ended questions that engage the […]
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Why the Most Promising Leads Often Fall Flat
Sometimes, the urgency of the lead is inversely proportional to the probability of conversion. It was six in the evening. I was about to wrap up for the day. The phone rang. I was tempted to let the caller leave a message. But I was curious, so I picked up the receiver. The voice was […]
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The Best Way to Meet CEOs
One of my clients, Catherine, was a senior partner at a major law firm. Before that, she had been the General Counsel for one of the largest companies in the world. It’s a powerful and important position. For most, it would be the crowning achievement of an extraordinary career. Because of this, Catherine has what […]
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The Very First Question You Should Ask Yourself this Year
In the last week, my inbox has been flooded with advice about New Year’s resolutions, goal setting, and achieving personal success next year. Some of it is valuable, much of it tedious. Everyone tells me that goal setting is an essential habit of successful people. Yet, I wonder. Did Picasso set a goal to become […]
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