These next four blogs come to you by way of my good friend and colleague, Jason Cordoba, Manager of Small Business Systems -Aviation Industry at Component Control. I met Jason several years ago at an ACPC conference … he was instrumental in keeping the break-out session crowd under control. In black you can read the word GOOD, in white the word EVIL (inside each black letter is a white letter). It’s all very physiological too, because use it visualize the concept that good can’t exist without evil (or the absence of good is evil)

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — A Dutch woman who was the oldest person in the world when she died at age 115 in 2005 appeared sharp right up to the end, joking that pickled herring was the secret to her longevity.

Scientists say that Henrikje van Andel-Schipper’s mind was probably as good as it seemed: a post-mortem analysis of her brain revealed few signs of Alzheimer’s or other diseases commonly associated with a decline in mental ability in old age…

Asked what advice she would give to people who want to live a long time, she once quipped: “Keep breathing.”

You have a long time to learn how to communicate effectively …. Begin now!

Don’t you just love conference break out session descriptions? Now I have written my share of them, and I do realize that the words you use to describe the session can mean the difference between a standing room only crowd and a one-on-one coaching session! I (more…)

On July 16, I wrote about the Pilot Ego, and gave words to describe what the Captains thought of their co-pilots and what the co-pilots thought of their Captains. More research has brought to light other interesting facts: Psychologists have studied pilots and have concluded there is a particular personality of pilots. From MBTI, they are intuitive extroverts. They are more attuned to understanding and forming patterns from the information received. They get their energy from being keenly involved in activities, not satisfied with sitting along the sidelines. They are also very logical, pragmatic and have strong desires for achievements. They also are caught in a paradox … balancing their strong ties for a solid family life with the yearning for new experiences. By far, however, the most prominent character trait of pilots, especially military and Alaskan bush pilots, is their absolute, solid, unwavering faith in themselves. This may account for the prevalence of Captainitis and the primary cause of several accidents. In the next several days we’ll explore the effect this had on the history of aviation.

A man takes his large dog to the vet. “My dog is cross-eyed.  Is there anything you can do for him?” “Well,” says the vet.  “Let’s have a look at him.”  The vet picks up the dog, examines the dog’s eyes and ears, and (more…)

I’m watching the 1957 movie “12 Angry Men“. The original featured a stellar cast of Henry Fonda, E.G. Marshall, Jack Warden and Martin Balsam. If you have never seen this movie [the original is better than the remake, both are worth seeing], I highly recommend you watch it. It’s only about 90 minutes long and is an excellent lesson in breaking out of the box thinking. Henry Fonda, Juror #8, does not believe the young man accused of murdering his father is guilty. He is not certain the (more…)

Does your team resemble the congruence of a football team, or the single superstars of a basketball team?  These sports provide us with two separate team perspectives. In football teams, there really is no ’superstar’.  I know, I know, a team can’t make it to the Super (more…)

America’s vanishing cars

Wow …. sounds like the beginning of “Without a Trace” or the ending of “The Ghost Whisperer” when, in those shows, people fade away.  Will we be on the highways and see cars disappear, right before our eyes?

The article focuses on how the number of new cars is declining and this number is now lower than the number of cars turned into junkyards.  It continues to say that the economy is contributing to fewer miles being driven.

Let me ask you … what went through your mind when you read the first line of this blog?

It’s not what was written, it’s what we think we read.

From one of my Quick Communique: Points to Ponder newsletter:

So many people come from a position of certainty.. when it’s really personal opinion, their perception of what they saw or heard. They can be sure.. but without accuracy or evidence..

A lot of conflict comes from unbending certainty – especially when one of the people know the logic is flawed or facts indicate something else.

When was the last time you looked past the words and thought through, for yourself, the accuracy of someone’s statement?  We can speak with authority on what we believe strongly in ….. and others may believe it is fact.  You may think “Well they were positively absolutely sure about what they were talking about.”

There are certain personality types that will always come across as strong and certain.  There are other types that come across as meek and flexible.  With the above logic, those people that are not forceful in their words are not accurate in their statements? Personality types play a major factor in the intensity of certainty and accuracy.

I have found that people will toss around statements – and they talk with authority – yet when asked “how do you know that?” they clam up.  Have we become so accustomed to talking without thinking – and more importantly – listening and accepting without challenging – that we are now a surface-thinking society?

Contact Shari for more information on this topic; she offers seminars to help you understand this topic more thoroughly.

It’s not what you said, it’s how you said it

…lessons would be a waste of money.”

In an episode of F Troop, Sgt. O’Rourke said this to the bugler H. Dobbs. You would then think that Dobbs played the bugle beautifully, thus not needing lessons.

In reality, Dobbs was an awful bugler. His ‘Reveille’, ‘Assembly’ and ‘Retreat’ sounded like off-key notes strung together, and he only occasionally played them well enough to be recognized.

How many times do we accept the ‘positive’ meaning of what we hear, oblivious to all the implications that are involved.  We hear what we want to hear, not what the other person wants to tell us.

Sure, we excuse our words by saying “We must be professional, we must be tactful, we must not hurt their feelings, we must be …….”.  Yet are we really sparing their feelings and looking out for their best interests?  More often, we simply want to extract ourselves from a sticky situation.  We don’t want to deal with our own emotions, and we surely don’t want to deal with theirs.

The proper thing to do is to acknowledge their attempts and, if it is really important, be honest with them – conscious of their emotions.  And keeping yours in check too.

It isn’t what he said, it’s what we think we heard.