“Dear Boss: My Greatest Joy is Sitting in Traffic 4 Hours a Day.” (Part 3 of a 5 Part Series) As a keynote speaker and motivational Hybrid Workplace Speaker, I understand that these are tough and uncertain times. As an executive leader, you want to keep good people, but there is a great deal of confusion as to how to do that. In my talks on hybrid workplaces, I...
Remote Workers Like Working Remote; Sometimes, Maybe (Part 2 of a 5 Part Series) As a keynote speaker and in my keynote and seminar talks as a keynote speaker for hybrid workplaces, I am often asked if remote work is here to stay. The quick answer is: “Bet on it.” At least half of remote workers polled have flat-out stated they will leave any organization that does not allow...
Hybrid Workplaces Have Been Knocking on Your Door for Years, Let them in, already! (Part 1 of a 5 Part Series) As a keynote speaker on hybrid workplaces, I am thrilled to see that organizations are finally awakening to the possibilities of what hybrid workplaces can bring. Before we kick-off this 5-part series on hybrid work, let me just say as a motivational speaker on hybrid workplaces that hybrid...
Change for the Sake of Change is a Bad Look As a change management speaker who speaks to groups across America about negotiating and responding to workplace transformation, I am well-aware of the tumultuous times owing to inflation, mergers, acquisitions and business failures. Change in the Workplace is everywhere, but is it always a good thing? The Boomerang In my last post, I talked about the so-called “Great Walkout”...
The Workplace Balance Has Changed, Is Your Organization Prepared? It has argued that COVID-19 “changed everything.” As a national change management speaker, my counter argument is that COVID changed nothing but accelerated everything. In my keynote talks on change management, I point out that as the Omicron variant began to subside, the workplace would be re-balanced and employees would become not more powerful, but more heard and prone to...
As a Negotiation Skills Keynote Speaker, one of my interests is listening to other negotiation skills keynote speakers from diverse fields, talking about their industries. We should never feel we are too old to learn. With that in mind, not all that long ago, I was captivated by hearing Formula I racecar legend Mario Andretti talk about the business of racing. In a question-and-answer period, Andretti talked about how...
As a negotiation skills keynote speaker who teaches skills such as “don’t qualify your price,” I remember the old quote about those who negotiate the price of a product or service before the negotiation. “Qualifying price” is a negotiation skills mistake that far too many inexperienced negotiators make, and it has harmed thousands of businesses. Many Names, Same Result In teaching negotiation skills, as a keynote speaker I am...
When Did We Stop Listening? Well, when did we stop listening? It’s a question many experienced negotiation speakers are starting to ask. As a negotiation and leadership keynote speaker, I stress the importance of listening rather than talking. In fact, prior to many negotiations or conversations, we believe we know what the other person is thinking. Rather than actively listening in the negotiation or indeed, in any business conversation...
If Workplace Safety is a Negotiation, Why Aren’t We Talking More? As a manufacturing safety speaker, I stress that manufacturing safety is an ongoing negotiation. As a safety keynote speaker, I am passionately committed to doing everything I can to talk more on the importance of safety, encourage more safety conversations and to teach workers and supervisors to spotlight safety negotiation as their highest priority. “Letters from CEOs” As...
A Safety Silo is not a Disney Ride One of the highest purposes of my life is to be a motivational safety speaker. Speaking on safety is personal to me, because of the early years of my career. Long before I went into sales and became a keynote speaker, I worked in factories and steel mills. I saw far too many injuries that could have been avoided. “If you...
Is Your Circle of Safety too Small? As a workplace safety keynote speaker, I often share with my audiences that I did not “come up” in industry in the typical manner. I like to speak on safety because I worked in steel mills, construction and manufacturing. In fact, not long ago, I was introduced to a manufacturing group by the CEO who called me “the working guy’s best friend.”...
Recently, as I was presenting workplace safety to an organization in my capacity as a Workplace Safety Speaker, a comment was submitted to me by the COO that I wanted to share with you. “Mike, I really want you to hammer these guys in your Safety in the Workplace talk. Last year, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, a few of our guys decided to have an unauthorized party in the...
As a Negotiation Skills Keynote Speaker in my keynote and break-out session talks for Pharma Companies on sales and negotiation skills, I ask the question: is negotiation really selling or is selling really negotiation? Whether we are selling or negotiating, we know that listening skills are crucial, but are there other things the two have in common? Sales & Negotiation Skills In a recent article for the Harvard Law...
Don’t Take This Personally, Take This Very Personally My decision to work as a safety meeting speaker didn’t start because I was reading a book on safety one day. My role as a safety meeting speaker started many years ago when one of my buddies on the job was badly injured. In fact, he could have lost his life. My first jobs weren’t in a stuffy office but in...
What Resistance are You Trying to Overcome? In my work as a sales and negotiation skills speaker, I tell my audiences that before anyone sits down with a client to negotiate a sale, chances are that 70 percent of the research has already been done. More Than “Getting to Yes” The popular thinking in sales used to be that the “sales guy” needed to come up with a great...
Warm Towels and Change As a Change Management Speaker, I recently speaking on fearing change and emotions of change, I went over the stress that COVID has caused us and its relationship to change. According to the CDC “The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major effect on our lives. All of our lives. Most of us are facing challenges that can be stressful, overwhelming, and cause strong emotions.” The...
When Did We All Learn to Panic? As a change motivational speaker and change management speaker, I must obviously be aware of the present business climate, with research into trends and projections into the future. However, in speaking on negotiating change both in-person and virtually, I try to be a student of history. Much of the panic over change might be ascribed to social media or 24/7 cable news, but...
Want to Get to “Yes?” Don’t Forget to Say “No.” My specialty as a real estate negotiation skills speaker, allows me to speak virtually and in-person with realtors on the art of negotiation throughout the country. In my talks on real estate negotiation a question that frequently comes up is about getting to “Yes” in a real estate transaction. Try Saying “No.” Remember that old negotiating saying about not...
Are You Listening or Leaping? In my area of expertise, being a negotiation and listening listening skills motivational keynote speaker, I often ask my in-person or virtual attendees if, during a negotiation, they listen or leap? I am usually met with head scratching. Negotiation and listening skills are inter-twined. As a keynote speaker and consultant on negotiation skills, I have sat through hundreds, if not thousands of negotiations. Needing...
Want to be a Superior Realtor? Learn Negotiation Skills In my work as a negotiation skills training speaker to real estate agents, I am often asked why negotiation skills are so important? My response is that when realtors learn negotiating skills it is one of the best ways that they can differentiate themselves. Real Estate Negotiation I recently came across an excellent piece in the prestigious Harvard Business School online...