The Scene: We’ve all met this person. The Director of Sales stomped into the meeting room, slammed a full cup of coffee down on the table and, without looking at anyone in particular, plunged in. “I don’t know what we’re supposed to be doing here. You said you wanted to talk about how we’re working […]
By Julie Benezet: Your voice matters. Whether your listener is an executive, romantic partner or state legislator, there is much that needs to be said and, more important, heard. Finding the right tone for a situation will make a difference as to whether your message gets through and achieves something better. A simple training exercise […]
By Julie Benezet: We’ve all met this person. It might even be you. They blow into the room, point in your direction and tell you exactly how to do something down to the tiniest detail: the choice of font, the photos to be inserted, or the attendee list for a meeting. The tone of voice […]
By Julie Benezet: Two years ago, when I first wrote about mindfulness and executive presence, it was near impossible to live in the modern world and not to have seen the barrage of articles, books, blogs, conferences and weekend retreats devoted to the topic of mindfulness. The barrage continues, only it no longer talks about […]
By Julie Benezet: As I watch mesmerized at the fallout from the Brexit results I can’t help thinking about the power of anger and how it insulates people from its impact. In today’s landscape, there seems to be no shortage of anger and its omnipresence is deadening forward movement by leaders and their constituents. The […]
By Julie Benezet: You have decided that collaboration is an important company value and critical to its culture. However, what does that mean in practice to a leader? Consider the following scene: Leader: Okay, how are we doing on the Xerxes project? Engineer, how is the programming going? Engineer: It’s going, but it would go a whole […]
By Julie Benezet: “I know I have to work for him,” complains a young executive. “He runs our company but he seems so judgmental. Whenever we talk he just looks at me levelly as if waiting for me just to go away. That’s a problem when I need him to approve the restructuring of our […]
By Julie Benezet: Humor is an underestimated tool in moving business conversations forward. One of the reasons is that making a witty observation involves risking that the audience might be offended, unimpressed or simply not amused. You do not know how it will go until you put your comment into the airspace. However, it is […]