Communication Skills Archives

The Authority Paradox: Why The Word We Fear Most Is the One We Need Most

How comfortable are you with the word authority? This week, I had two conversations with two different founders within 48 hours. The first told me she wanted to raise her level of authority in the marketplace. To her, that meant owning her voice at a completely different level. It meant ...

Consistency vs. Commitment: Building Real Influence in Your Field

Last week, I took some time off to enjoy slow mornings and long lunches with my family in our new home in the hilltops of Granada, Spain. Stepping back like that got me thinking about one of the main mistakes I see experts and thought leaders making: mistaking consistency for ...

The Negotiation Secret No One Talks About: Stop Fighting, Start Winning

What if the biggest obstacle to getting what you want isn’t your negotiation skills. But how you think about negotiation in the first place? Recently on Inside Influence podcast, I spoke with Professor Margaret Neale, the Adams Distinguished Professor of Management at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and co-author of ...

The Day I Almost Quit (And the Decision That Changed Everything)

I was ready to disappear.Sitting in my office, laptop open, watching strangers dissect everything from my haircut to my clothes in the comments of a LinkedIn post I’d just shared.The conversation had spiralled from thoughtful comments about the ideas, into personal attacks, and people from around the globe were piling ...

Why Your Success Depends on a Skill Nobody Taught You

When was the last time you felt truly heard? Recently on my podcast Inside Influence, I reconnected with Julian Treasure. Julian is a five-time TED speaker whose talks on communication have been watched over 80 million times, founder of The Sound Agency, and author of “How to be Heard.” His ...

The 90-Day Strategy That Separates Real Thought Leaders from Everyone Else

Everything you’ve been told about consistency is backwards. The most successful thought leaders I know don’t create content every day. In fact, they barely think about content at all. While everyone else is scrambling for Monday morning inspiration, burning out from daily posting schedules, and apologizing for “being inconsistent,” these ...