You don’t know why it happens yet it does. You see someone you dislike and your defenses rise up like a rocket. You can feel your muscles tense, your jaw tighten and words that want to erupt from your throat. … Continue reading
AA: Autism and the Amygdala
Interesting discovery …. that autism is tied to a specific part of the brain. And children are not necessarily born with autism. The part of the brain, the amygdala — that houses your “fight or flight” syndrome is the key. … Continue reading
Is what you saw what happened?
It happens to all of us … we witness an injustice – someone is mistreated, or an email is misconstrued. You don’t know all the details, yet you are quick to judge the wrong-doer. Are you interpreting their behavior as … Continue reading
Addressing Nuts and Bolts before Planes and Cars
As a leader, how intuitive are you to what your followers are saying — and what they are not saying? Do you clear your mind of extraneous clutter before addressing issues? Do you dwell on what you will say and … Continue reading
Triggering the emotions of others
Many people ‘wander’ through life not cognizant of the effect they have on others. Others simply do not care – they are who they are and they will not change their people-interaction-skills or techniques for anyone. They believe it is … Continue reading
Putting your head in the sand
We’ve all seen it happen …. someone is overly-emotional and expressing it in the most inappropriate manner: laughing too loudly or jumping up and down ‘for joy’ and on the other end of the spectrum crying, shuffling with head down … Continue reading
Talking Emails
Electronic communication is our way of life and unfortunately oftentimes our primary method of communication. The same words can be read and interpreted several different ways, especially when all words are uniform (no bold, italics or emoticons). For instance, how … Continue reading
Sarcasm or Intentionally Forcing Happiness?
Remember this scene from “The Sound of Music” … It’s Maria’s [Julie Andrews] first evening dinner with the Captain and the children. Earlier that day the children placed a frog in her dress pocket. Instead of chastising them, she took … Continue reading
Defensive fuel to flame fires
Think of the last conversation you had that escalated to a more intense level than you would have liked. Your ‘Amy/Andy’ felt threatened. When a threat is sensed, defenses rise. As a result, conversations become power struggles. You may toss … Continue reading
