Listen, listen, listen. I harp on it all the time in our programs and in these weekly tips. It’s a critical skill for anyone endeavoring to be a trusted advisor. And I don’t care how adept you think you are as a listener, there’s always room for improvement.

I made my way back up the aisle of an airplane last week and caught a glance of a laptop screen with an all-too-familiar display: a presentation slide with about 20 logos on it. Ah yes, the picture that’s worth 1000 words, meant to convey, “We work with organizations like yours, or organizations that should impress you, or both.” I assumed it was part of a pitch deck and immediately wondered how far into the deck this slide found itself.

I led a 30-minute webinar a couple of months ago. Attendees were global alumni from a consultancy that has hosted a series of my Trust-Based Business Development programs. The goal: boost everyone’s BD efforts over a 30-day period by issuing a “Monday Morning Promise Challenge.” The unexpected result: Me re-learning some of my own lessons about easy BD.

I recently wrote about how important I think it is for services professionals to stay grounded and centered and keep stress levels low. Toward that end, I wanted to share a specific practice with you—a personal one that I used as an opportunity to stretch this year.

The subject of authenticity came up recently in a workshop I was leading, and the conundrum of how to be trustworthy by simultaneously being yourself and being someone who adapts easily to others. Something occurred to me in the discussion that I’d never quite articulated before, which is that the answer lies in staying within our own authentic range.