Tag: HDClarity
by The Question That Can Change Your Life
From Volume 5, Issue 6:Wow! Yesterday, I participated in a branding strategic implementation meeting with a client and his new branding gurus, goBrandgo. They covered all the usual questions—How is your industry perceived?, How are you perceived?, etc.—and then they asked something that left my client dumbfounded and impressed the heck out of me.
You’ve Got Two Cheeks. Use Them!
From Volume 5, Issue 5“But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.” Matthew 5:39
Some years ago I was involved in an organization with a terrific leader who had a habit of verbally dressing down a subset of direct reports. She said that she couldn’t get these direct reports to do what she needed to fulfill her commitments to her superiors without yelling, but yelling wasn’t creating any lasting change. So certain was she that these people needed her to yell at them that I could not get her to modify her behavior, so I resorted to Plan B.
The Art of Repairing a Broken Connection
From Volume 5, Issue 5You might relate to this experience. The other day, after scouring my databases for the phone number, I tried to call an old contact, only to be greeted with “You have reached a number that is no longer in service. Please check the number and try again.” I’d invested so much time in trying to connect, and now I was nowhere, faced with having to keep looking for a way to reach this person. And then I realized this happens all the time in our interactions, and simply because we don’t know how to reconnect, we lose the deal, the promotion, or even just our cool.
A Moment of Clarity, March 2012: Bucket List
Google “Things to do before I die” and you will see references to 100, 50, 101, 200, 1000 things. Seems like people have at least dreamed about a lot of things to do before they die.
The Forgiveness Thing
From Volume 5, Issue 3“To err is human; to forgive, divine.” Alexander Pope (1688-1744) It’s not the “err” thing I want to talk about. It’s the “forgive” thing. I understand people’s ire when something has been irretrievably taken from them. Theft comes to mind. Possessions. Virginity. Life. But the act of forgiveness is incredibly powerful. Let me show you what I mean.
Making Space In the Beaker of Knowledge
From Volume 5, Issue 3You can’t stuff knowledge into a full brain! Sometimes we have to let go of something to learn something new. Consider a beaker of water, full to the brim. Now try to put some more water in it. Doesn’t work, does it? Just falls over the edges onto the table. So it is when we try to impart our wisdom to others. Is it possible to get others to drain a little “knowledge” so they can learn something more? I believe it is.
HDClarity Tool Set: 7 Tools for a Clearer Picture
From Volume 5, Issue 2:Every article or video that’s appeared in this column is a tool for those who might want to change something, but who find their personal resources incapable of getting them there. We all need tools to enhance our innate capability to do things, and we often require a certain level of training and expertise to use them without hammering a thumb or cutting a finger. Here are a few of the many tools my clients and I use to get results and make changes, as well as quick links so you can learn how to use them effectively.
How to Break Free
From Volume 5, Issue 1:Remember when Coke cost a nickel? American cars had big tail fins? VHS was the way to watch movies at home and telephones sat on tables—and had dials? It all changed. We accept that things change. We don’t go berserk about cell phones or small cars. So why do we have such a problem when a rule we internalized back in 1975, like “You must clean your plate,” isn’t working anymore? There are some rules that need breaking, but doing it is hard, unless you understand where they come from and know how to free yourself.