Hi Friends,
I hope you enjoy this week’s actionable insights.
Which of these articles do you want to read?
“Navigating complexity starts with owning the morning”
“How to watch out for assholes without becoming one.”
“Seven ways to reduce conversational wear and tear”
“How to create an island of goodness.”
“The first conversation with your new boss.”
“The first conversation with a new member of you team.”
“Nine barriers to getting into flow— an Enneagram perspective.”
“Want to make powerful offers? Stop expecting people to read your mind.”
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Before you go!
The curse of never reporting completion
It’s no fun when someone breaks a promise to you by delivering late and/or not what you agreed. I’ve written about this before. But consider the opposite: the person does what they committed to but never tells you. Sound familiar? I call this failure to report completion. It happens all the time, wreaking havoc.
If you manage people, you owe it to yourself to ask them to report completion clearly and consistently. Now, I’m not arguing for another 175 emails a day. Find a method and timing that works for both of you. The good news is that this allows you to stop worrying or nagging and move things forward.
In case you missed these podcast interviews
Charlie Gilkey interviews me on Productive Flourishing about the three kinds of conversations, how to renegotiate commitments, and how the Enneagram helps navigate conversations here, and Wendy Bittner asks me how we simplify racial identity in America on Not Simple here. More new interviews coming soon!
What I’m reading
Mobilize! Dancing in the World by Chauncey Bell. The conversation micro-habits I design for leaders are super practical yet they stand on a solid foundation. This book illuminates that foundation through vivid stories from the author’s long career as a consultant provocateur.
In Search of Our Roots by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.. Nineteen Americans from Chris Rock to Oprah discover their roots through genealogy and DNA testing. Each story is unique, complex, and filled with drama and intrigue. If you’re ready to test drive life as an anti-race anti-racist, you’ll find support for both parts of that here.
Antidote to simplistic antiracist or racist interpretations of American history
“Normal, regular black people went about their business each and every day. They loved and hated, worshipped and sinned, worried and aspired. They were defeated in a shockingly depressing number of ways, yet they triumphed as individuals, as families, as a people. Together they created a culture, one of the world’s great cultures.”
—from In Search of Our Roots
Cheerfully real,
Amiel Handelsman
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