Think and dial

On Tuesday, I posted about refreshing your network. Scott Cunningham posted this comment in reply: I try to call people that I haven’t spoken to in awhile during my commute home from work. A great opener is “Bob, I was just thinking of you. How are you doing?”. If you’re sincerely thinking about them, you …

Just admit it, you don’t get it

In your relationship life, being a good listener makes all the difference. When others around you feel like they’ve been heard, it empowers them. Often, though, we are terrible listeners. We think we are great at it, because when someone is starting to explain their perspective to us, we jump in a react with, “Yeah, …

Don’t say an unkind word to help

A few years ago when I was living in the Bay Area, a friend of mine quit his job. His boss was a total jerk, I believe my friend referred to him as a “tool.” Like a fool, I told him what I thought of his boss. I told him that I never really liked …

Don’t try to make people like you

This week’s video post is an excerpt from my DVD, The Likeability Factor. My point is that you can’t get people to like you. They will or they won’t, based on how you make them feel. Given that people do business, marry and listen to who they like, this is somewhat unnerving. The good news …

Ask someone how their weekend was

I’d like to continue from my theme from Friday: Don’t email your people this weekend. Did you pull this off? Could you resist the temptation? If you did, good! Good leader, good manager! Now take this a step further. Spend thirty minutes today (Monday) investigating the good times some of your people had this weekend. …

Audit yourself: Last Friday’s sent emails

How is your tone of email? In other words, do you convey your intentions very well over email? Or do you behave like Larry David’s character on Curb Your Enthusiasm, ignorant of how crazy you make other people feel? Do you melt down sometimes and fire off mad notes and then forget about them? Dr. …

Be your own Simon Cowell

Sometimes you have to look into the mirror and say to yourself, “If I’m being honest, your behavior yesterday was GHASTLY!” It might do you some good. This morning I was on JB and Sandy’s Morning Show in Austin TX. They’ve been my friends for a few years now and big supporters of The Likeability …

Brag on a good mom

Mother’s Day reminds us how much we admire mothers. They give, make and bring joy into our lives. If you haven’t heard the Pizza Hut story, take a few minutes to watch this clip. You’ll reconnect to the struggle of the modern mom and how she embodies that which we would call true leadership Email …

Don’t live on poison

Luckily for me, I finally sat down with my family and watched The Secret last night. We couldn’t watch anymore news coverage or mindless sitcom or reality programming. The Secret’s concept is simple: Think thoughts that are positive, focus on feeling good. If you do, you’ll attract good into your life. Focus on what you …

On Monday, thank someone for last week’s contributions (Part 2)

About 10 years ago I stumbled upon a great Monday morning exercise in gratitude. Every Friday, I would write down the names of three people that made a diffference to me that week (in my business life, for example). I might think of one of my coordinators, a supply partner or even an agent. Over …