Just Listen

The measure of self-assurance is how deeply and sincerely interested you are in others; the measure of insecurity is how much you try to impress them with you.

One of the services I provide to firms is what I call “Rent-an-Adult.”

When bad things happen, if you resist the temptation to do anything that will make matters worse, you will discover valuable things about your company and yourself that you would never have learned had you not taken the hit.”

The key to winning is poise under stress.

the right words have tremendous power to heal

nine basic rules and twelve quick techniques you can use to move people through different points on the Persuasion Cycle.

save yourself, you need to strip these people of the power to hurt you.

There are three ways to do this. The first is to confront these people directly. The second is to neutralize them. The third is to walk away and make sure they don’t follow you.

toxic people: the ones who were easy to upset and hard to please, who let me down time after time, who wouldn’t cooperate or play fair, or who constantly made excuses and blamed other people.

Simply saying “I screwed up” or “I’m afraid” is often the wisest move to make when you need to reach another person.

Tell the people you work with that you know you’ve been an ass. Tell them you’ll do your best to reform. Lay it all on the table, and hope that they’ll feel empathy.