The Monthly Memo.
The Zoom Call Strategies You Have Overlooked
My hope is you are managing the uncertainties of these days as well as possible – and rest assured, no one is doing it perfectly! During this time I’ve had a chance to observe all kinds of video meetings and want to offer some overlooked elements you can share with...
Zoom Etiquette We All Need to Keep in Mind
First, thinking of you and hoping you are safe. Second, been on any Zoom calls lately? Or any of the other platforms that are now our new office conference rooms? Yea, me too. Because a lot more of these meetings are taking place, here are seven things to keep in mind...
Correctly Messaging During Difficult Times
First, I hope you are safe - and think this might be helpful. Walking a fine line, you want to reach out to colleagues and clients, but you don’t want to seem opportunistic or inappropriate. Perhaps you have a specific way to be helpful, but how do you let them know?...
Communicating with Employees in a Divisive Election Year
The scenario is on the minds of leaders at companies large and small going into Election 2020. “What do we do about employees combining our brand with their opinions during the most divisive election season this country has seen in decades?” Organizations envision...
Think of Each Communication Experience in 3-D
There are three important moving parts in any communication experience – and keeping each in mind will serve you well every single day. Seeing and understanding the three parts helps you balance your message and heighten the impact of that message – otherwise, and...
Avoid These Crisis Missteps That Never Seem to Go Away
If there was a surefire way to stay out of trouble, would you take it? Of course you would. So why do we see the same stumbles again and again in public life? I was reminded of these oft-repeated mistakes during a recent episode involving a senior leader with the...
Need to Come Up with Good Ideas? Here’s a Roadmap
After writing 167 different Monthly Memos it can be hard to come up with a new idea – which proved to be the inspiration for this very one! We all face it at one time or another. A new idea or approach is needed and you end up as the “Committee of One” to handle that...
Want Job Security? Be a Translator!
The most fun in writing the Monthly Memo is seeing something happen in the marketplace and then being it able to share it.Such is the case with this Memo, based on the conversations I’ve witnessed over the last few weeks and then thinking about what it means for the...
Too Stiff? Too Folksy? How to Find the Balance
People who do what I do for a living often have shorthand expressions when people stand up and speak. Just like a baseball coach might say a batter is “too aggressive” because they swing at lots of bad pitches, there is a way of slotting people into a speaker...
You Receive Bad Career News. Then what?
Firings. Layoffs. Downsizing. Outsourcing. Limited buyouts. Through my official duties and unofficial experience (and a personal episode) I’ve had opportunities to learn a lot about how best to handle bad career news. Besides providing counsel for high-profile execs,...
