by Sabrina Bachmann | Apr 15, 2024 | Monthly-ish tips
This post is part of our Monthly-ish Tips series.
Back in the day, before COVID forced some major workshop redesigns to accommodate the needs of virtual participants, I used to open every in-person session or keynote with a story. A recent opportunity to spend a day in the same physical room with 60 participants (yay!) had me thinking fondly about my favorite tale of my first-ever client meeting—which also happened to showcase a big professional trust fail on my part. Maybe I’ll reprise “The Shipyard Story” one day. In the meantime, here it is, with an important reminder for us all no matter our professional tenure.
by Andrea Howe | Mar 21, 2024 | Monthly-ish tips
This post is part of our Monthly-ish Tips series.
The last monthly-ish tip focused on what to do in the face of others’ silence. This time I invite us all to reflect on situations where we choose silence, especially in the face of potentially awkward situations, and the way that draws down on our trustworthiness.
by Andrea Howe | Nov 15, 2023 | Monthly-ish tips
This post is part of our Monthly-ish Tips series.
I had a really great experience with a customer support person not too long ago, via chat no less. It wasn’t because they were uber-friendly (which oddly tends to annoy me); it was because they did something really simple and distinctive early on that relates to the more rational side of trust-building (which is where most are more comfortable anyway). And few of us do this enough—or consistently enough—with our own clients, whatever the communication medium.
by Andrea Howe | Oct 16, 2023 | Monthly-ish tips
This post is part of our Monthly-ish Tips series.
I was recently interviewed for a podcast and asked at the end, “What advice would you give your 20-year-old self?” My answer reminded me of a cautionary tale from the early days of my consulting career. I think there’s a good bit of generalized wisdom in my story about everyone’s relationship to authority, and how that can cost us in terms of trust and relationship-building.
by Andrea Howe | Sep 25, 2023 | Monthly-ish tips
This post is part of our Monthly-ish Tips series.
Today’s tip is my first “post reboot” tip. While deciding what to write about it occurred to me that there’s value for us all to consider how a good reboot is especially beneficial to anyone doing the rewarding—and sometimes tiring—work of a service-oriented role. (Consultants and more, you know who you are.)
