I love building jigsaw puzzles. I don’t do them as often as I’d like but I truly enjoy kicking the other half of my brain in gear and fitting those funky looking pieces of cardboard together. The problem-solver in me gets so excited at the idea of taking a pile of cardboard pieces, sorting them out, and putting them together to form a complete picture. 

At the risk of crossing into total nerd-status here, I’m going to share a little story! One night last year, as I was perusing Amazon (this should be a national pastime…I can spend hours on Amazon…anyone else??), I came across an awesome puzzle of the zodiac symbols. I HAD to have it…but there was something about it, it was ROUND…I don’t know about you, but I didn’t even know puzzles came any way other than rectangular. I was intrigued, so I clicked “buy now” and the next day I had this new puzzle on my doorstep.

Giddy as can be, I dove into that box ready to...

Emotions are key players in almost everything we do. Fear, excitement, anger, and pride are just a few of the emotions that influence our behavior on a regular basis. The way you communicate is no exception to the impact of your emotions. As a business professional or someone in leadership, you need to become an expert at using and controlling your emotions. 

If you check out any recent articles about leadership, professionalism, or business in general, you will likely come across the term “emotional intelligence”. It might be the latest buzzword in the business world, but emotional intelligence is something that is important for your success.

But what is emotional intelligence? Loosely defined, emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive, interpret, and control emotions. Now, I don’t like the term “emotional intelligence”. It makes it sound like you can learn what you need to know about emotions in a book and that’s it. I prefer the...

I went to the movies last weekend. My son and I are die-hard Marvel Cinematic Universe fans so naturally we saw the new Thor movie. It was terrific and we were not disappointed. Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman filled their roles as the main actors beautifully and the supporting cast complemented them very well. 

Once the movie was over, I started thinking about the role of a main character and the importance of the supporting actors. 

Just like in movies, your communication strategy should have one main “character” and then several strong supporting characters. The strategy will be different for some of you but as a rule of thumb, in a client-facing business, you should always have face to face or voice to voice communication as your main form of communication. In your amazing supporting cast, should be text, email, social media, and printed communication. 

People crave real connection. You can use that desire for connection to showcase your...

Last week I discussed the importance of listening to those you serve. Listening is such an important skill and I hope you found the tips in last week’s post helpful and informative! (If you missed last week’s article, click HERE to read it now!)

I’m not one of those coaches or consultants that is out here telling you all what to do but then not practicing what I preach. No no, I am right here with you, seeking self-improvement and finding ways to be a better businesswoman, better professional, and all-around better human. 

This week, I want to share with you an experience I had in which I was able to put my listening skills and the tips from last week to the test!

Many of you know that I wear several professional hats. I am passionate about helping you all become effective listeners and communicators, I love helping people become better versions of themselves, and I also love being in the real estate industry as a mortgage professional!

As a mortgage...

Recently I was asked “how do I listen more effectively?” There is no quick or easy answer to that question but if one person asked it, chances are more of you are wondering the same thing!

Listening is a huge part of the communication process. If the first half of that process if the creation and transmission of information, the second half is reception and perception. Listening occurs in the second half.

We hear things constantly. Hearing is passive. Sound is all around us, and our ears are masters at sorting and processing all that sound. But listening is so much more than just hearing.

While hearing is a passive process, listening is an active one. There are varying degrees of listening, however, all of them are active processes.

Today, we will focus on intentional listening. Intentional listening is done by intentionally paying attention to what is being said and internalizing the information.

In his most recent book, Think Again, Adam Grant talks about a series of...

I recently went on a trip across the United States with my family. I love to travel, and I don’t mind spending the extra money to fly on my favorite airline. (It’s Delta in case you are wondering )

As I was settling in to get comfy for the 5-hour flight home, I started to think about why I am willing to spend the extra money to fly Delta. They are certainly not the cheapest airline out there and they don’t have direct routes to some destinations from my home airport. And with all the current issues facing the airline industry lately, their reliability has come into question (I still believe they are one of the most reliable airlines. Current issues are impacting all airlines and it stands to reason that the biggest ones would have a greater number of problems with short-staffing, flight cancellations, etc).

Anyway, I was sitting there watching my children get comfy in their seats, enjoying their apple juice in fancy cups (we flew first class) and overall, just...

How many times have you heard someone tout their ability to solve problems? Being a problem- solver is a resume-worthy skill in just about any profession. However, what if instead of solving problems, you could prevent them? Wouldn’t this be a more valuable skill?

Problem-solving by nature is a reactive process. Something happens that shouldn’t, and you have to determine how to proceed. Problem-preventing is a proactive process in which you anticipate what could go wrong and take action up front to ensure it doesn’t. Anticipation is the first step in problem-prevention.

As a business owner, you will inevitably deal with problems. Being a problem-solver is in the unwritten job description of every business owner out there. The good news is that there is a way to deal with fewer problems!

As with so many things in life and business, communication is the key to success when dealing with problems. Clients will have complaints or questions, or something may...

Soft skills are all the rage this month. As I have been thinking and researching more and more about the soft skills necessary for business success, there is one skill that keeps coming back to the forefront of my mind: Anticipation.

We hear all the time about the forward thinkers, the innovators, those that drive our progress. We need people that can create the technology and products of tomorrow. However, we also really need people that can think forward.

Not to be confused with forward thinking, thinking forward is the ability to anticipate what others need, want, or will say, before they do. Anticipation is an important skill for any business owner or professional to master.

When you anticipate, you have a reasonable expectation that something will happen. As you spend time in your business learning, experiencing, and working with clients, you will come to know the usual questions or reactions they will have to different things, and you can start to anticipate those things...

I try not to hang out on social media too much these days. I can only handle so many graduation pics and arguments about the latest issues that won’t result in any real change. I really only stick around for great recipes and to follow Adam Grant.

If you don’t know, Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist and author of Think Again (and a few other books on my to-read list). I read Think Again a few months back and it was very insightful. It forced me to evaluate my own thinking about several things and the ways that my thinking impacts my life and my business.

One of Mr. Grant’s recent posts on the book of faces (or maybe it was in his book…) was this quote:

“The ability to communicate is always in demand.”

I wanted to high-five him through my screen. This is a simple statement but carries so much truth. I would amend it only to say, “the ability to communicate well is always in demand.”

This got me thinking about all the people...

I recently had the chance to speak at a virtual event. I enjoy public speaking but prefer to do it in person. However, this was a completely virtual stage, so I had to get out of my comfort zone to be on video. It was a great opportunity to share my knowledge and push myself to do something I may not otherwise do.

I had a short notice to prepare for this event so I didn’t waste any time pulling together some content to present. That short notice got me thinking about the process I use to get ready for speaking events. This week I am going to share the 3-step version of that process to help you get ready for any event that may require you to speak to a group!

1. Preparation. The first step in getting ready for a public speaking event is to prepare. In this step you determine your topic, pull together your content, create a rough draft, edit, then draft the final version. In the preparation phase you should also get familiar with the venue in which you will be speaking and...