by Andrea Howe | Nov 2, 2010 | Improvisation
In our August blog, I made some bold statements about the transformational nature of impov comedy.
Here’s a recap of what I said:
“In the nearly 20 years I’ve been working with groups, it is, without a doubt, most transformational team building experience I’ve ever witnessed. It’s much easier than ropes courses. It’s more immediately impactful than personality typing. It gets you out of your head and into the more creative parts of your brain—in an instant. Plus it just plain feels good to just plain laugh with your co-workers. And what could be better than laughing while advancing your business goals?”I also offered a simple exercise you can start using with your team today called
“Yes, but …” or “Yes, and …”?.
by Andrea Howe | Oct 12, 2010 | Trusted advisorship
There are lots of ways to build trust with others (
four, by our count) and Credibility is a big one. In our
Trust Quotient research, Credibility shows up as second only to Reliability as the
most favored way to build trust. (‘Most favored’ doesn’t mean ‘most effective,’ but that’s another blog, another day.)
This makes sense, given the emphasis that most business people naturally place on increasing trustworthiness by demonstrating credentials, experience, and know-how.
by Andrea Howe | Sep 14, 2010 | Improvisation
Anyone who’s been in professional services for more than a week has probably encountered a tricky client situation or two. Some examples:
- A prospective client asks you point blank, “What experience do you have in xyz industry?” and even though you saw that question coming, you didn’t think it would be quite so direct, and the honest answer is zero, zip, nada—only you’re afraid to say so because you think it’s a deal-breaker and you’ve got other relevant experience that surely they’ll want to hear about before summarily dismissing you!
by Andrea Howe | Aug 25, 2010 | Client relationships, Sales and BD Mastery
Life seems to happen to me in twos. A few weeks ago I blogged about A Cautionary Tale for Marketers based on two stories—a “don’t do this” story and a “do do this” story. Today’s blog is two-fer of a slightly different type: two stories, both illustrating what a difference a small kindness can make.
by Andrea Howe | Aug 19, 2010 | Improvisation
In the nearly 20 years I’ve been working with groups, improv comedy is, without a doubt, the most transformational team building experience I’ve ever witnessed.
It’s much easier than ropes courses. It’s more immediately impactful than personality typing. It gets you out of your head and into the more creative parts of your brain—in an instant. Plus it just plain feels good to just plain laugh with your co-workers. And what could be better than laughing while advancing your business goals?
by Andrea Howe | Jul 22, 2010 | Client relationships
I write about empathy a lot on these pages because it can’t be emphasized enough as a critical skill in business—and one that’s missing from most business interactions (See
“The Great Empathy Famine”). Today’s blog provides some specific tips for how to make empathy commonly practiced instead of commonly absent.
by Andrea Howe | Jul 20, 2010 | Client relationships, Sales and BD Mastery
Story 1: Don’t do this
I got one of those broadcast email solicitations from a very reputable organization that hosts executive roundtables. Brian (a stranger to me) wanted me to attend an informational meeting. To his credit, he “had me at hello” with the very first lines of his email, which were both personal and complimentary: “Andrea, let me first say I LOVE the name of your company and the genesis of it…the ‘new beat’ story. Outstanding!”
by Cary Paul | Jul 14, 2010 | Improvisation
This month’s improv tip is from Cary Paul, Chief Improv Officer
There’s an unexpected catalyst for transformational change out there that most companies haven’t considered tapping into. It’s not leadership from the top. It’s not buy-in from the bottom. It’s not a compelling vision. It’s not a mission statement that everyone can easily remember and recite. (Although all of these things matter). It’s humor.
by Andrea Howe | May 20, 2010 | Client relationships
I’ve led dozens of learning programs on being a Trusted Advisor. One thing I’ve learned: without a doubt, the most popular element of the
Trust Equation is Self-Orientation.
By “popular,” I mean it’s the one most people identify as a huge opportunity for improvement. Which makes sense, since it’s deliberately placed in the denominator to highlight its ubiquitousness.
by Andrea Howe | Apr 21, 2010 | Client relationships
Old Faithful is a geyser located in Yellowstone National Park, USA. It gets its name because it regularly shoots steam and water to great heights. In fact, with a margin of error of 10 minutes, Old Faithful will erupt either every 65 or every 91 minutes, depending on the length of the previous eruption. It’s been doing this since 1870.
While most of us who endeavor to be Trusted Advisors would probably prefer not to be associated with a “geyser” (myself included), there’s something we can all learn from this phenomenon of nature.
