What is your ‘fantasy ambition’? Mine is to be a musician. So when I agreed to sing a few pieces at my old law firm’s annual client function, I was secretly hoping that I would be ‘discovered’ and my career in music would take off. But the reality turned out to be a bit different. What happened […]
How do you manage your reaction to something that hits you when you’re least expecting it? I was once hit in the stomach with a basketball that I didn’t see coming. It knocked the wind right out of me, and I instinctively yelled: “I’m going to tell my mother on you!” In my defence, I was eight years old and […]
It was a scathing assessment. Would-be accountants might be good with numbers, but they lack the soft skills necessary to prosper in today’s business world. That was the parting shot fired by Peter Roebuck upon retiring as head of accounting at the University of NSW. According to an article in the Australian Financial Review, Roebuck said that “Poor […]
‘Personality is everything in art and poetry.’ So said Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and we know intuitively that this is true. But what about influencing? What is the role of personality in the art and poetry of an influencing conversation? As a facilitator of CMA’s Influence in the Workplace workshop, I often hear this question. […]
Ever noticed how the so-called ‘festive season’ can play out more like an exercise in conflict management? It’s supposed to be the season to be jolly but often ends up stressful as interpersonal conflict gets driven to the surface by unrealistic expectations and misaligned assumptions. At a time when many people are wishing for ‘peace […]