The people who run Connectorcon love connecting people and they’re good at it. Every person they’ve connected me to has been valuable to me. I’m not just talking: I drove back all night after my cousin’s wedding near Pittsburgh to attend their all-day event this past summer. December 12, from 10am to 6pm they’re hosting a conference to help people connect and learn to connect better. You apply through a[…] Keep reading →

A reader wrote about a successful use of a technique I wrote about in “Someone not returning your emails? Here’s a polite tactic that gets responses.” I thought I’d share for others, since we all face the challenge sometimes. Also because I find over and over that low-level instruction, even or rather especially on low-level details leads to high-level success. Schools don’t teach these details but they matter. Hey Joshua,[…] Keep reading →

Years ago a then-friend and practicing architect visiting my apartment suggested that he could redesign it so it would look so great it would belong in a magazine. We had been friends for years. I knew about big projects he’d done. He said that he would find me a great contractor. He cofounded a company called thesweeten.com, through which we worked. Instead they delivered poor quality work with an incompetent[…] Keep reading →

Do you ever get into an argument where you feel like you’re right and they’re wrong and you know that they feel they’re right and you’re wrong? We all do. It happens when you and the other person apply different values. You can both consider yourselves right and the other wrong. Sometimes I call the situation “The Worst Problem In The Worldâ„¢” because of how much the problem can grow[…] Keep reading →

Continuing my series of alternative responses to the New York Times column, The Ethicists, looking at the consequences of one’s actions instead of imposing values on others, here is my take on today’s post, “How Do I Handle a Claim of Sexual Assault by a Close Friend?” Several months ago, a female friend told me that, six months earlier, a close male friend of mine sexually assaulted a female friend[…] Keep reading →

I have friend who is very charismatic. He makes up catch phrases and says them in a way people enjoy and associate with him. One of them, which he used as a greeting, was “Word word word.” As in, you’d be at a bar and he’d show up and greet everyone with a big “Word word word!” It didn’t mean much more than he felt friendly. At least as far[…] Keep reading →

A coaching client was in tears during a call not long ago. She lives in another time zone so the call was in the evening, after work. I took the call in my home. She called from hers. I felt for her, but my job was to coach her through the situation—to enable her to make herself feel better, resolve the cause, and know how to resolve similar future situations.[…] Keep reading →