Filed Under: Communication

Published on: Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Lead with a Story

Posted By: Anthony Vlahos
Filed Under: anthony vlahos, communication, brand, consumer awareness

Comments (26)

... a simple story changed everything.

Once there was a prince who, one day, decided he would give a pair of new shoes to every child in need, but first he'd need a plan...

Published on: Thursday, March 15, 2012

Are Hard or Soft Skills More Important?

Posted By: Robyn Greenspan
Filed Under: robyn greenspan, leadership, ceo, management, communication, emotional intelligence, expertise

Comments (89)

One can have the very best technical and functionally specific expertise but cannot be considered a leader without engaging followers, and that is done through effective communication, relationship-building and developing emotional connections.

"I would argue that it is the proficiency in the 'soft' skills like empathy, communication and emotional intelligence that determine whether a leader is even able to successfully employ the 'hard' skills like analysis, risk management and operating efficiencies. You really can't operate efficiently if you can't get the best from your people, and they may not 'hear' you if there's no emotional connection," began one of the discussions within the ExecuNet community.

Published on: Monday, December 05, 2011

There’s a Lot More to See When You Look Up

Posted By: Robyn Greenspan
Filed Under: world business forum, robyn greenspan, communication, career planning, tammy erickson, multi-generational workforce

Comments (1)

I took this picture at Grounds for Sculpture over the summer, which is an incredible place that I'd encourage you to visit if you are nearby. It resonated with me because, I'll admit, I'm such a gadget geek that I sometimes have my head down, pushing buttons and missing what is happening right in front of me.

My rationale is that I am capturing the moment in a picture or on Facebook or I'm looking up information that I need right now! But I have to be more conscious that it's really the experience that's meant to be savored, not the documentation.

Published on: Monday, October 31, 2011

Networking Lessons from the Frankenstein Monsters

Posted By: Robyn Greenspan
Filed Under: robyn greenspan, networking, communication

Comments (1)

Whether he was portrayed in film or in parody, the Frankenstein monster was a man of few words: "Fire: bad; friend: good." With that limited vocabulary, it's no wonder the peasants chased him out of the village with torches.

You'll likely get a similar 21st century reaction at a networking event when you don't communicate well. You know when you're chatting with someone and they find a reason to walk away — to freshen a drink, make a call or do something more important? It's often legitimate; after all, there's limited time at many networking or business events. But if you notice a pattern of people excusing themselves from the conversation, that's your "Fire: bad; friend: good" moment.

Published on: Friday, August 19, 2011

Non-Verbal Communication: Understanding and Mastering the Secrets of Body Language

Posted By: Joseph Daniel McCool
Filed Under: leadership, joseph daniel mccool, communication, linda dominguez

Comments (1)

Sometimes, it's what someone doesn't say or the attitudes and beliefs they betray non-verbally that communicate more than words and which really mean the most.

Author and trainer, Linda R. Dominguez, a coach with the Executive Coaching and Resource Network and guest presenter for an exclusive ExecuNet webinar, says non-verbal communication constitutes as much as 65 percent of any conversation you may engage in as a business leader.

Published on: Friday, July 22, 2011

Are You Networking or Needworking?

Posted By: Lauryn Franzoni
Filed Under: networking, job search, lauryn franzoni, communication, opportunity, executive career

Comments (0)

Congratulations! You're taking charge of your career, and you've been reconnecting with everyone from college friends to people you met two jobs ago. Your network of contacts has quadrupled in size. You've connected — now what?

If your next step is to systematically contact these people to see if they've heard of any openings for a person with your strengths and qualifications, you're not networking, you're doing what career coaches call "needworking."

The people you are contacting know it. And they don't like how it makes them feel.

Published on: Friday, June 24, 2011

How to Succeed Where Other Leaders Fail

Posted By: Robyn Greenspan
Filed Under: robyn greenspan, success, communication, leaders, denny strigl, customer, frank swiatek, results

Comments (0)

"What you do on a cell phone is far from the most important thing of the day. What you do in front of people is far more important." That's an odd statement coming from the former CEO and president of Verizon Wireless, but Denny Strigl, as a leader, is more invested in people than technology.

In an exclusive presentation to ExecuNet members, Strigl, with co-author of Managers, Can You Hear Me Now? Frank Swiatek, shared the common reasons leaders struggle and how to deliver results without getting derailed.

Published on: Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Three Chords and the Truth

Posted By: Anthony Vlahos
Filed Under: leadership, anthony vlahos, communication, risk, message, sacrifice

Comments (51)

Wild Thing. Blowin� in the Wind. All Along The Watchtower. Bad Moon Rising. Ring of Fire. Brown Eyed Girl. Workin' Man Blues. Countless Ramones songs.

The basic twelve-bar blues progression is three chords: tonic, subdominant, dominant. Most early Rock & Roll (Elvis, Chuck Berry...) was simply Blues played cut-time.

Published on: Friday, May 20, 2011

First We Kiss

Posted By: Anthony Vlahos
Filed Under: leadership, culture, anthony vlahos, communication, brand, consumer relations

Comments (48)

After all, one must start somewhere.

Brands we adore, the remarkable customer service rep who fixes our problem, leaders whom we love to follow: They usually begin the love affair by deep kissing us in advance.

It's so much easier to read lips when they're touching yours.

Published on: Thursday, April 21, 2011

10 Tips for Texting or Talking

Posted By: Robyn Greenspan
Filed Under: robyn greenspan, networking, communication, twitter, facebook, friending, texting, email

Comments (13)

Friend me, follow me, invite me, connect with me, Google me, email me, text me.

Talk to me?

I'm pretty awesome with 140 characters, and I can roll out a status update with a punch line, but actual conversation with real people in real time is starting to feel like a challenge.

Published on: Wednesday, January 12, 2011

The New Global Deal

Posted By: Robyn Greenspan
Filed Under: world business forum, robyn greenspan, leadership, communication, opportunity, politics, al gore, climate crisis

Comments (2)

The 45^th Vice President of the United States began speaking at the 2010 World Business Forum, where ExecuNet exclusively reported, with a positive remark about the economy, but then he quickly put it in perspective with an anecdote from the late Grand Ole Opry comedienne Minnie Pearl of a farmer who was involved in a car accident. When the farmer went to court to sue for damages, the lawyer asked him whether it was true he said he "felt fine" right after the accident.

The farmer began to tell a long, involved story of the events of the car accident, culminating with the other vehicle hitting him and his cow. When the police arrived on the scene, they saw the injured cow and mercifully shot him. "So when the police asked the farmer how he felt, he said, 'I feel fine.' Many of us are feeling like that, said Gore."

Published on: Friday, October 29, 2010