by Franklin Wordsmith | Dec 16, 2019 | Culture, Persuasion
My friend’s eyes were wide with sadness and fear. She’d been avoiding a tough talk with her boyfriend, wasn’t sure where to begin, and asked me to role play with her.(Stick with this, business leaders, because we make the same mistakes in difficult conversations at...
by Franklin Wordsmith | Nov 4, 2018 | Leadership
Maybe like me, you thought that empathy was putting yourself in another person’s shoes. It turns out that’s one kind — but there’s a second type that’s better. Using the latter does more than make the people you’re with feel better....
by Franklin Wordsmith | Aug 2, 2017 | Leadership
Last week, I sadly ended a partnership for creating and putting on an event. Why? Because of the Drama Triangle.After I invited a third person to help my partner and me develop this program, friction arose. It soon became clear that as long as one person felt...
by Franklin Wordsmith | May 2, 2017 | Leadership
My last boss asked, “How am I doing as a supervisor?”When people ask a direct question, I respond in kind.“You have my favorite quality in a boss! You don’t hover over my shoulder and second-guess me. But what’s hard is that whenever I have a question – no matter how...
by Franklin Wordsmith | Apr 18, 2017 | Leadership
I’m on the board of the local chapter of a professional association. For six months, I’ve been on the committee in charge of updating the website, watching the project languish. At a lunch with the chapter president, I said, “I’ll be happy to take the lead on this...
