BLArticle®
The personal touch of a blog; the informative touch of an article.
Running Your Race
There is no debating the fact that standing before a room full of people creates pressure. The studies continue to point out that fear of heights, snakes, drowning, and needles still round out the top five biggest fears.[1] Still, those fears do not compare to the...
The Pursuit of Imperfection
Pushing ourselves to do our best is clearly one of the keys to success. However, don’t confuse the noble act of trying our best with the noble act of pushing ourselves to perfection. They may sound similar but they are dramatically different. Doing our best...
When Is It Okay Not To Do Your Best?
Have you ever asked yourself, “Is it okay not to try my best?” After all, not every opportunity that comes our way represents a life or death situation. This question comes up more often then you think, and the temptation to do less than your best work is always...
Drawing People To Your Strengths
It sounds simple enough: If you want to influence someone’s perception of you, you must lead him or her to your particular strengths. This certainly makes a lot of sense, but doing it in a repeatable, predictable manner is a whole different story. The first step to...
Finding Your Real Voice
Are you aware that most of us unconsciously call upon different voices, depending on the situation we find ourselves in? It starts at an early age, with something as simple as volume control. When you were little and you got a tad loud, you were reminded to use your...
The Art of Disagreeing
It always amazes me how misunderstood the simple act of disagreeing can be. Many try to avoid it when, in fact, we all know that disagreement is a healthy part of any relationship. After all, would you really like to be part of a relationship where there was never any...
When More Is Not Better
Let’s face it, we’ve been raised with the idea that “more” is better, and if you really want to see this concept play out in all its glory, watch someone try to persuade another. What takes place is fairly predictable. I’m a huge fan of questions, but at some point in...
The Power Of The Pause
Part Two The Group Pause One of the greatest gifts an audience can give to a speaker can’t be found online or in a store. It doesn’t cost a penny, and anyone can offer it up at just about any time. It’s painfully simple, and yet it frequently needs to be earned....
The Power Of The Pause
As a society, we just don’t seem to like silence! We’ll do just about anything to avoid it. We’ll spend countless hours preparing for conversations, just to make sure there won’t be any uncomfortable silences. We’ll talk when we have nothing to say. We’ll even throw...
Playing The Course – Not The Opponent
Let me begin by saying that I am not much of a golfer. I’ve just never had the time to work on my golfing skills. When business was strong, I had no time to play. When business was not strong, why would I have been out playing golf? But I have played the game, and at...
Locking it Down
I’ll never forget one of the best directors I ever worked with. He not only believed in me as an actor, but he also believed in my ability to experiment with the role I was given. His shows were legendary, but his success was by design, and not by coincidence. He was...
Chess Clocks Don’t Lie
It’s common knowledge that the art of effective communication lies in our ability to ask questions and listen. I’m sure I didn’t just tell you something you haven’t heard before, but why is it so many people struggle with this simple concept? For years, I’ve tried to...
Being OCD… ish
I have been accused of being, well, a bit quirky. I am a big fan of routine, and I have a long list of things I do in a repeatable manner. When I exercise, I swim a certain number of laps. I run a certain number of miles, and I do spinning and elliptical workouts the...
“Can You Make Me Funny?”
Humor comes easily to me. Maybe it’s because I used to watch, obsessively, old time comedians like Jerry Lewis, Red Skelton, Jackie Gleason, George Carlin, Buddy Hackett, Don Rickles, and Milton Berle, to name a few. Maybe it’s just how I’m genetically programmed....
The One Thing An Audience Will Not Forgive
I’m not crazy about Matthew Broderick: I loved him in Ferris Beuller’s Day Off, but who didn’t?! Thirteen years ago, I was in the audience of a Broadway performance of the musical “The Producers.” He was performing one of the lead roles. It turns out that some...
The Communication Shot Clock
I was a lucky kid for many reasons, and one reason was because I had a Dad, Lee Jolles, who taught me many amazing things. One of the best things he taught me was something he didn’t realize he was teaching me. You see, like most parents, my Dad always wanted to hear...
The Callback
If you ask most performers if they can remember the first time they took to a stage, the answer will come with surprising clarity. I don’t have the greatest memory, but I can remember my first time in front of an audience like it was yesterday… and I was four years...
The Corporate Compromise
As a Xerox trainer in the 80’s, the Xerox Corporation gave me the opportunity to go through their “Leadership Through Quality” program. I jumped at this chance to learn about the “Problem Solving” and “Quality Improvement” processes – something the company was known...
The Cost of Being Right
One of the benefits of being raised by a marine was that I was taught the meaning of courage. My father was a corpsman in not one, but two, wars, and the courage he displayed was beyond imagination. At an early age, my father demanded that I learn how to be...
Walking In The Client’s Shoes
At some point in a workshop, you’ll probably be engaged in a role-play. Did you see that face you just made? It wasn’t a happy face; it was a face that looked like you had a toothache! I’m not sure I’ve ever met a person whose reaction to a role-playing was this: “Oh...
“Rob is an expert not only in the art of influence,
but also in human nature.”
~Ken Blanchard,
coauthor of The One Minute Manager® and Trust Works!
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