Grinding your own beans

The hotel room I was visiting in Germany this week offered coffee, like most of the hotel rooms I stay in. Typically there’s a tiny version of a kitchen coffeemaker or one of the pod-type machines, generating weak brown liquid with caffeine that’s just passable to get me through my morning to a real cup ... Continue Reading

Not alone.

Last week when I was out of town for a few days, I visited a gym. This was a small gym in a rec center, like you may find in a pretty good hotel. I had been there about 30 minutes when a woman came in, settled into a corner, and got on her phone. ... Continue Reading

Just be early.

If you’re leading a meeting that starts at 9, get there with twice as much time as you think you’ll need to prepare.   You’ll get lost, the tech will fail, they’ll change your room, the tech will fail, someone will knock over an urn of coffee in the corner, the tech will definitely fail. ... Continue Reading

Jared, the waiter with personal power

Recently I was in Pittsburgh for work (nice city!), and one night our team had dinner at the restaurant in our hotel. Our waiter, Jared, transformed the evening.   He greeted us and made some small talk, like servers often do. Then he told us: “You are my only table tonight, and I’ve been given ... Continue Reading

Surprise!

I prefer not to think before speaking; I like surprises.   I saw this on a T-shirt a woman was wearing at the mall, and of course I had to grab my phone and jot it down before I forgot.   It made me laugh—I imagined her talking, then her eyes widening as she heard ... Continue Reading

Say your name say your name

One of the most common things we do when meeting new people is say our own name. “Hi, nice to meet you! I’m Angie Flynn-McIver.”  Happens all the time.   Maybe because our names are so familiar to us, we’re not always great at remembering that the person we’re talking to has never heard it ... Continue Reading

GOAL!

First, let me say that I don’t know much about soccer. I enjoy watching it every four years, but to say that I’m a casual fan is an overstatement.   But I was watching the US women’s team in the final against the Netherlands, and the role of the goalkeeper struck me. Not the pressure, ... Continue Reading

I’m getting emotional

Sometimes a conversation or even a presentation can make us emotional—that code word for teary or choked up. It can happen for a lot of reasons; sometimes we know it’s coming and sometimes it blindsides us.   What can you do? Your emotions help us understand who you are. Knowing what moves you so deeply ... Continue Reading

What is your goal in service of?

I love to read. My family will tell you that I’ve always got at least two books going, and I keep a running list of what I’ve read. I met a woman yesterday who set herself a goal last August to read 100 books in a year, and she is up to 95 now. I ... Continue Reading

The unfriendliest face in the room

What do you do when you’re giving a talk or a presentation, and your eyes fall on someone whose expression seems to say, “This is just the worst. Why am I here?” This has happened to me a few times, most recently two weeks ago. The effect was exacerbated by the fact that the group ... Continue Reading