Rather than the usual ‘what do you do for a living' or ‘where do you live’ consider a few of the following questions:

• In your professional life, what do you think is the most exciting thing?
• In your personal life, what is exciting you the most at the moment?

• A large part of understanding people is not to talk but indeed the exact opposite, to shut up and listen.
• You have to resist the urge to talk and you have to continue to bring the conversation back to the other person. You have to learn to genuinely listen and show ...

The key is that you need to put all people at ease, it’s not about finding a winner but finding a resolution that works for both sides.

Conflict usually appears when someone is struggling to feel heard or be helped. It’s important to understand both sides and let each side...

There’s a simple key to networking that nobody talks about. Standing out from the crowd, you want to be noticed. In a room full of people trying to get noticed, you need a point of difference.

Wear an attention-grabbing piece of clothing, something that stands out and i...

• If you are a manager, identify a few people that report directly to you. (If you aren’t a manager identify a few people that you influence in one way or another).
• Remember a few of your favorite school teachers. How was their teaching beneficial to you and how did they affect your pe...

If you really want to be influential, you want to encourage people to come up with your idea ‘all on their own’:

• Don’t use the phrase ‘I have an idea’. Subtly push the other person in the direction of your idea and the results. Don’t be explicit.
• You could

• Validation is a powerful way to diffuse anger and frustration.
• Validation is taking mirroring to another level. The idea is to repeat what the other person is saying, but also to suggest some understanding of how they are feeling. One caveat to be a...