Thanksgiving Leftovers

OK, so I finally threw out the remaining crumbles of Thanksgiving stuffing last weekend. Now that we’re headlong into the rush and buzz of the holiday decorating/shopping/singing/gift-giving season, I have this deep need to hold onto the simplicity of Thanksgiving—“the holiday that’s just about food and family”, as one of my friends described it. I’ve [...]

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Crushing your biggest fan

This week I watched as a friend was crushed by his supervisor.  He has worked for the company for the past four years, and is the perfect example of an individual who “owns” his job.  His relationship with the company goes beyond employee / employer but might be better described as he is a “FAN” [...]

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Too Empathic?

When I got my EQi results, I wasn’t too surprised to see that my Empathy score was the highest. I like to consider myself a caring person. The EQi defines empathy as “the ability to be aware of, to understand, and to appreciate the feelings of others,” so I guess I am good at it… [...]

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Missing the Bus

I had an experience this morning that reminded me of some EQ skills. Social Responsibility and Flexibility. From time to time, I ride public transportation to and from work. This morning, I rode the bus. Instead of taking the suggested route, I took a riskier route that makes my transfer between busses very short. I’ve [...]

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No Engine Brake!

Just off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia lies one of my favorite road signs (you’re thinking, “this guy has favorite road signs?”). It is completely ridiculous. So ridiculous, in fact, I had to take a picture of it. Have a look: At first glance, one may say, “What’s wrong with that sign.” Well, nothing [...]

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Don’t Slap Your Clients

Recently, I was in a meeting. Pretty exciting and unique, right? Well, it actually was a productive meeting for PeopleSmarts. We are helping one of our clients adjust to the current economic situation and prepare them for their future. Near the close of the meeting, one of the attendees made a wry comment that somewhat [...]

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EQ=EQ

I recently spent 10 days on a river rafting trip through the Grand Canyon with a group of people whom I had not previously met. Most were friends of a friend; the opportunity to float and run rapids through 200-plus miles of nature’s grandeur was more compelling to me than knowing the crowd I would [...]

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Same words, different results

Last week i was in Chicago’s O’Hare International and ventured into the baggage office, where disgruntled passengers end up without anything to wear tomorrow – literally.  Likely the worst place to work in the entire airport.  You never have a happy customer enter your office. I watched two different representatives say almost identical words and [...]

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Using Assertiveness to Propose

A while back, I had the opportunity to propose a big advertising spend to an executive committee. This campaign was to run on some popular social media sites where the advertiser hadn’t officially been before. Because of the EQ skill of assertiveness (the ability to express feelings, beliefs, and thoughts and defend one’s rights in [...]

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The Power of Preparation & Flexibility in Banishing Stress

Recently, at an EQnomics Series “Pulling the Stress Plug” event I discovered at the last minute that the LCD projector’s cords were not in the bag. I realized one of my colleagues may have inadvertently put them in her/his laptop bag at their last presentation. While normally, I would double-check the cord was there, however, [...]

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