The Etiquette of Trust, or the ‘ABCs’ 

Trust is much desired and, perhaps, missed, the safety and desire to work somewhere in a trusting environment ranks high on most people’s lists when it comes personal, and professional, relationships. Because of the intangibility of trust, it can seem illusive and in the etiquette of trust, there are three aspects, or actions, that are

The etiquette of emotions in the workplace

Humans are a series of emotions, and habits. Our emotions can drive our commitment to well-serving habits and our habits can either quell, or enhance our emotional states in reaction, or response, to people and situations. What happens when emotions are presented at the office, on Zoom/Teams, or with clients, and colleagues in a way

The etiquette of graceful tardiness  

While likely none of us want to be late, it happens. Kids, pets, traffic, distractions and more can keep us all from being on schedule and/or where we would like to be when we would like to be there. What to do? There’s no need to panic, lie or start rationalizing internally, or to others,

The etiquette of 2023 video meetings 

  We have been Zoom-ing and Teams-ing for years and while the frequency of these video meetings may have subsided since the height of the pandemic, the format is here to stay.  People have “Zoom Room” fatigue and Teams Meeting “taxed-outed-ness.” So being intentional can keep the time to a minimum and maximize the technology

The Etiquette of Enthusiasm

Have you ever had an idea so strong you felt like you could not wait to share it? It seems most of us will agree, publicly at least, that we don’t like a “Donnie Downer” (surely you can appreciate the reason we don’t say “Debbie Downer”…), and yet very rarely do we think our enthusiasm

The etiquette of receiving difficult feedback professionally

You might agree that most unsolicited feedback is perceived as criticism. And, with that in mind, you also may agree that it takes constructive, useful feedback to grow. So, what happens when you receive an idea, criticism, feedback or a “You know, you really should …”? It is important to realize most people—not all—absolutely do

The etiquette of email subject lines

Depending on what year it is, and what source you’re looking at, it is reported that more than 3 billion emails are exchanged each day.  Because subject lines are like book titles, and we know the old “don’t judge a book by its cover” expression, emails are judged and, therefore, opened based on who sends

The etiquette of leading a difficult situation/conversation

Picture this: Someone says something that did not sit well with others on the team. Somebody is consistently tardy. Someone eats stinky food in the breakroom. Someone took a client from you who was clearly identified as a target who was engaged in your customer management system/database. These are all challenging, disappointing and tempting to

The etiquette of effective post-pandemic networking

Now that more traditional networking is happening again, some of you—OK, some of us—have been out of practice when it comes to effectively networking. Because connections are key to our community of sharing in life, and business, it is important we get back in the groove as quickly, and confidently, as possible. Since there’s no

Engaging in an empathetic exchange via email

You get them—business emails, some you want, some you don’t, some you subscribe to and some that are spamming you. And you write them—business emails, some that people want and some they don’t want. What’s the secret to making yours most welcomed and read? Have empathy and care in how you craft your emails. Yes,

Easing into difficulties

People can be difficult. Situations can be difficult. Relationships can be difficult. You can be difficult. While “difficult” is not typically on anyone’s to-do list for any given day, difficult conversations are likely to occur when we are leading, and aren’t we all leading in the way we think, act, speak and respond to others?

The reason words matter, and how to make matters about words

It’s true—tone and body language affect our interpretation of what is being said or shared. So, the words are skewed by the mood, as I like to say. Not ever, though, is a note, an email, a text, letter, announcement or instant message ever received in exactly the same time, mindset and energy that it