“The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of a wise man is in his heart.” – Benjamin Franklin How often have you said something that you thought was perfectly clear, only to find out later that the receiver had taken it in exactly the wrong way?Read more
Resolving conflict doesn’t come easily to too many people. Most of us want harmonious relationships and smooth interpersonal interactions. However, we know that disagreements and conflicts are part of any dynamic organization. They arise because people care about their jobs and want to produce good results.Read more
A major source of communication breakdowns is incongruence between the words that people say and the nonverbal signals that they send, largely because we lose sight of the fundamental truth: You cannot not communicate. Every second that we are in the presence of another, we are constantly sending and receiving messages, often silent, nonverbal messagesRead more
Long before the ink dries on the legal agreement to acquire a company or to merge two entities, the integration strategy should be clear, but the timing can be tricky. Attempting to fill in the details too soon can take eyes off the integration. When that happens—often in response to pressure from investors, analysts, andRead more
Most parent companies conscientiously concentrate on the integration of business systems but ignore a more important part of the transaction—the assimilation of people. Frequently, they concentrate on retaining a few key individuals but give little attention to what will happen to the others. A year or two after the close, decision-makers frequently realize they shouldRead more
