Dear Joseph, How do you best help a friend that has only days to live? I assume being a good listener is important, but is there anything helpful that I should say? Signed,Hoping to Help Dear Hoping, For purposes of my response, I’m going to assume this is a close friend, not simply an acquaintance. …
We’re excited to welcome a new contributor to the Crucial Skills Newsletter. Please enjoy a special introduction to Brian Wansink from author Joseph Grenny. We also encourage you to review VitalSmarts’ support of Brian Wansink here. A Message from Joseph Grenny If you haven’t met him yet, I want to be the first to introduce …
Dear Joseph, I work with scientific communications. My team leader dismisses any scientific paper that doesn’t agree with her beliefs or the company’s messaging, regardless of the quality of the research. On top of that, she always interrupts us when we’re trying to present the objective view of existing science on a topic, so we’re …
Please welcome Lisa Vermillion as a new author to the Crucial Skills Newsletter. Lisa joined the VitalSmarts team in September of 2019 as a Master Trainer and Client Solutions Engineer. Her professional background includes designing curriculum, writing books, coaching business leaders, and speaking and training. Dear Lisa, My coworker walks in after 8:00 a.m. every …
Dear Joseph, My daughter just turned 40 and has gained more weight than ever. Conversations about her weight gain over the years have mostly been negative, though she did actually lose weight with the help of a trainer about eight years ago. She says her schedule doesn’t allow time, but I disagree. I need help …
Dear David, I am a school principal and recently we had an incident where a student injured another student. I will be meeting with the father of the injured child, who is very angry. He feels the school has failed to protect his daughter in the past and this exacerbates the situation. While the school …
Dear Joseph, Our offices look soundproof. But they are not. Even with the doors closed you can hear almost everything above a whisper from the adjacent office. My coworker in the office next door hums and sings very loudly. I put headphones on to try to cover it with my own music, but I can …
I found myself in an interesting conversation a few months ago with a fellow trainer. They shared with me that while they love what they do, they have good and bad days just like anyone else—and that sometimes, on the not-so-good-days, showing up the way we want to or feel we should in the classroom …
Dear Candace, I work at a church, and sometimes the members cause drama. Recently we received from a parent two angry emails about our children’s ministry. This parent has a reputation for getting angry, but she’s rooted in the church so probably isn’t going away. For a long time, I deliberated whether it was worth …
Dear Steve, What do you say to your manager in order to move from a level two to a level three? How do you talk about career advancement and convince them you are ready for the next step? Signed, Moving On Up Dear Moving, Oh, yes. The “level-up” conversation. You want to show that you’re …
