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As we enter the holiday party season, someone inevitably will ask you the question:

How was your year?

For many, this has been a tough year.  Endless pandemic news.  Lockdowns.  Cancelled vacations.  Turbo-charged cabin fever.  

You can respond to the question with all your trials and tribulations from the year.  It’ll feel good to let loose.  Perhaps they’ll feel the same and you can relate to each other’s difficulties.

But where do you both end up at the end of that Story of Your Year?

Turn it around 180 degrees.  After you’re finished telling the person the Story of Your Year, 

How do you want them to feel?

Here are 3 Steps to build an engaging and positive Story of Your Year for holiday parties.  

Step 1:  What One Word describes how you want people to feel after you tell them the Story of Your Year?

Step 2:  Journal all your highlights and lowlights from the year and boil them down to a list of 5 or less....

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My boss and I were sitting in the client cafeteria.  Lunch long over, we chose a private table near the big windows.  We had just finished a great workshop with a potential client.  Spirits were high.

In consulting, we rarely got 1:1 face-to-face time with our bosses.  Especially at the partner level.  So this was a great opportunity to have a career conversation.

I considered how to ask it.  At some point, you’ve probably labored over this same question.  

“What do I need to do to get promoted to the next level?”

As he leaned back, I imagined all sorts of responses:

•  Double your sales
•  Build more offers
•  Expand your team
•  Speak at more conferences
•  Develop relationships with more senior clients

But his answer took me aback.

“I don’t think you have what it takes.  You need Sharp Elbows”

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What does that mean?

You can watch Sharp Elbows in pro basketball.  The ball bounces off the rim and a player g...

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I saw an intriguing advertisement for today with the phrase, “Commitments aren’t made with words.  They’re made with Actions.”

That phrase got me thinking about how commitments work.  At first, you make a commitment in your head.  

•  To go to the gym more often
•  To grade papers this week  
•  To clean the garage this weekend
•  To volunteer more next year

What commitments have you made to yourself?

The ad differentiated between commitments made by Words vs Action.  In a former life, I was an engineer, so I started thinking how physics might shed light on the concept of Commitment.  

Let’s begin with our science metaphor.  (don’t be scared, I’ll keep it easy) 

Commitments build the Potential Energy needed to overcome Inertia.  Inertia is an object’s tendency to stay put.  

•  Ever feel inertia to do things you ‘should’ do?  
•  Ever experience your team’s inertia to try a new process, tool or technology?  
•  How
...