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woman giving feedback to a man at work

Tips for Successfully Communicating Performance Feedback

“How many supervisors like to give performance feedback?” When this question was posed to over 500 leaders in one of the nation’s largest municipal water and power companies, a scant few raised their hands. When asked to explain why, the answers boiled down to three responses: “Because I don’t want to hurt their feelings,” “She’s my friend; I don’t want her to feel bad,” and “I don’t want to  deal with the anger.”

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languages of love

The Language of Love: A Valentine Card

In their 1992 book The Language of Love, Gary Smalley and John Trent, Ph.D. distilled this thought into what I’ll call five “sub-languages:” In this post I apply their top five to shape my own top 5 list to improve the way we communicate with those around us.

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a woman listening

Listening: (Still) the Superpower of All Human Interactions

“The art of conversation is the art of hearing as well as of being heard.”  “When people talk, listen completely. Most never listen.” Those two timely bits of sage advice could have been made within the last year, month, week, or even day. Any guesses?

The first quote, from William Hazlet, is attributed to his selected essays written between 1778 – 1830…

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man giving a speach

Communication Resolutions for 2023: Five Key Tips

As the year comes to an end, it’s time for reflection, renewal, and commitment, often through pledging to New Year’s Resolutions. Next year, why not take a quote from an admired historical figure that informs communication? After all, it’s something we do 24×7, whether we want to or not, and whether we intend to or not. By focusing on how we communicate, we may have more successful results.

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misunderstanding due to diversity and language

Diversity, Language & Miscommunication

Diversity is a wonderful thing. The benefits abound: a McKinsey study found that diverse boards of directors generate better returns and more money; a Tuft’s study concluded that diverse groups uncover more angles when serving on mock juries (which underscores the value all the more so); a combined study by Columbia, MIT, University of Texas-Dallas and Northwestern found that stock picks by diverse teams experienced 58%…

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