The One Conversational Tool That Will Make You Better At Absolutely Everything

Ask yourself: If you could interview like Walter Cronkite, would you get more value from your meetings? Would your mentors become more valuable? Would your chance encounters with executives in elevators and thought leaders in conferences yield action items and relationships? The answer is yes. “As someone who had little to no experience in business--outside of running my own one-man freelancing operation--all that's really saved me (so far) from madness are the skills I used as a journalist,” says Evan Ratliff, who wrote for magazines like The New Yorker before founding his startup, The Atavist. One of those skills, he says, is “being able to formulate questions that deliver useful answers, whether from advisors or clients or whomever.” Good questions can move your business, organization, or career forward. The problem is, most of us ask terrible questions. But we don’t have to. The following advice can make you a much better interrogator, not to mention conversationalist:

http://www.fastcompany.com/3003945/one-conversational-tool-will-make-you-better-absolutely-everything

New Years Resolutions For Business The New Year is a propitious time for businesses to re-prioritize their objectives and start afresh with renewed vigor and a clear mission. Setting – and following through on – thoughtful and apposite resolutions is an effective way to maximize results and impact for your company. In my estimation 2013 will be a year marked by continued economic volatility (through headline risk, inflationary monetary policy, and an ambivalent unemployment rate), the emergence of the micropreneur, increased attention on ROI (return on investment) in social media, and philanthropy as a potent form of marketing. The businesses that win in the New Year will be those that iterate incessantly to define their own innovation curve, that establish strong and unambiguous company cultures, and those that use their data points effectively to minimize wasteful spending and increase their ROIC (return on invested capital.) 1) Iterate – This will be the buzz word of the year.

Praise versus Encouragement Most of us believe that we need to praise our children more. However, there is some controversy regarding this point. If we always reward a child with praise after a task is completed, then the child comes to expect it. However, if praise is not forthcoming, then its absence may be interpreted by the child as failure. According to Naomi Aldort, "Children who are subjected to endless commentary, acknowledgment, and praise eventually learn to do things not for their own sake, but to please others."

Accepting Criticism Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on twitter or identica. Every day, I get emails and comments that are amazingly positive and encouraging, and in truth these messages are the very thing that sustains my blogging. However, I also get negative comments now and then: criticism of my writing, and not nice criticism either. The One Conversational Tool That Will Make You Better at Absolutely Everything Hi 1) @LoneTruth look for 1) 2) @tearsana look for 2)

HOW DOES NONVIOLENT COMMUNICATION WORK? NVC offers many tools for connecting with others in ways that serve life. Nonviolent Communication can dramatically improve our relationships by helping us focus our attention on: Empathic understanding of others – without compromising our values, and Honest expression of our feelings and needs – without blame or judgment In NVC, we learn to hear difficult messages with compassion and to express ourselves authentically with the help of these four steps: OBSERVATION – what we observe that is affecting our well-being FEELINGS – how we are feeling in relation to what we are observing NEEDS – the values, dreams, and preferences connected to our feelings REQUEST – the concrete, presently doable actions we request in order to respond to our needs and enrich our lives

Visualize the Problem Today I would like to provide you with a quick case study of how visual thinking was applied to a tough decision that one of my life coaching clients was trying to work through. Her name is Emma (not her real name), and we are going to look at how to go about visualizing your options. Emma’s Current Reality Emma worked at the head-office of a large food distributor earning a good living. However, Emma was at a point in her career where she felt as though things were stagnating. She wasn’t growing, didn’t feel challenged and the passion she once had for her work was no longer there. Read What Facebook’s Sandberg Calls Maybe ‘The Most important Document Ever To Come Out Of The Valley’ Facebook’s No. 2 top dog, COO Sheryl Sandberg, recently said that Netflix’s company culture document “may well be the most important document ever to come out of the Valley.” The document, a bullet-point-happy PowerPoint, has become a cultural manifesto for the Internet’s economic epicenter, amassing over 3.2 million views on Slideshare.net. More than simply a management guide, it’s a window into a philosophy that thrives on uncertainty, creativity, and trust — a blinding contrast to the hierarchical culture that dominated much of the 20th century workplace. To the extent that innovation and the Internet play a role in the modern workplace, it is a crystal ball into the future of daily life.

Empathic Listening The Benefits of Empathic Listening Empathic listening (also called active listening or reflective listening) is a way of listening and responding to another person that improves mutual understanding and trust. It is an essential skill for third parties and disputants alike, as it enables the listener to receive and accurately interpret the speaker's message, and then provide an appropriate response.