Business is fundamentally an extended conversation. Whether you’re speaking with your boss, team members, colleagues or direct reports, conversations shape what gets done.

As a leader, you must engineer conversations to foster:

• Clarity
• Cooperation
• Creativity
• Connection to company values

Sadly, the quality of many work conversations borders on mediocrity and/or boredom, with meaning and connection reserved for personal conversations.

Fierce Conversations

In her books, Fierce Conversations and Fierce Leadership, consultant Susan Scott explains that the word “fierce” doesn’t imply menace, cruelty or threats. In Roget’s Thesaurus, the word fierce is associated with synonyms like robust, intense, strong, powerful and passionate.

“The simplest definition of a fierce conversation is one in which we come out from behind ourselves, into the conversation, and make it real,” Scott writes.

Some people, however, are intimidated by the idea of talking about what’s real because it requires raw honesty and vulnerability. In truth, it’s the unreal conversations that should scare us because they never address what needs to be said, cost organizations untold fortunes and limit individuals’ career advancement.

While politeness and constructive criticism matter, they should not come at the expense of meaningful interactions that explore diverse perspectives and competing recommendations.

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This is a brief synopsis of a 2000 & 1000-word article suitable for consultants’ newsletters for executives and leaders in organizations. It is available for purchase with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials. You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.

The complete 2,000 word article includes these important concepts:

•    Fierce Conversations
•    Making It Real
•    The Risk of Being Real
•    Start Having Fierce Conversations
•    Four Goals of Real Conversations
•    Human Connectivity
•    Emotions Have a Bad Rep
•    How to Sharpen a Conversation

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Leading Change, One Conversation at a Time

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Leading Change, One Conversation at a Time, Condensed Version, 1000-words

If you’ve been working hard for any length of time, in any field, chances are you’ve experienced at least one humiliating career failure. Career “hiccups” can kill your spirit and make it difficult to regain your motivation and drive.

Some of the “bad” things that happen to hardworking, well-meaning, capable people each day include:

• Missing the big opportunity
• Getting passed over for a promotion
• Getting demoted
• Losing a lot of money
• Getting fired
• Going bankrupt

What happens to us when our worst career nightmares come true? Career-altering events can happen to anyone — and they do. But when they happen to us, they seem incomprehensible, largely because we’ve worked so hard to be nice, dedicated and well-meaning.

But even when we can partially blame the economy, there comes a time when we must take a hard look at what we could have done differently. Despite faltering companies, imperfect leaders, coworkers who don’t like us and other external variables, we must eventually engage in private, honest introspection.

It’s time to ask: What part did I play in the events leading up to the career crisis? And how do I get my “mojo” back?

Historically, the word “mojo” has been associated with witchcraft and voodoo — specifically, the ability to cast spells. Over the years, it has become urban slang for personal power, magnetism and charisma. In business, mojo refers to the moment we do something purposeful and powerful — an act lauded by others.

For some, it represents personal advancement: moving forward, making progress, achieving goals, clearing hurdles, passing the competition — and doing so with increasing ease. Star athletes call this being “in the zone.”

In Mojo: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back If You Lose It, leadership expert Marshall Goldsmith introduces the term “nojo”—the opposite of mojo. Nojo sufferers approach their work negatively. They’re bored, frustrated, dispirited and confused, and they aren’t shy about sharing their dissatisfaction with others.

Goldsmith lists seven professional mistakes that contribute to nojo in otherwise competent, successful and smart people.

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This is a brief synopsis of a 2000 & 1000-word article suitable for consultants’ newsletters for executives and leaders in organizations. It is available for purchase with full reprint rights, which means you may put your name on it and use it in your newsletters, blogs or other marketing materials.

You may also modify it and add your personal experiences and perspectives.

The complete 2,000 word article includes these important concepts:

• Defining Mojo
• Lost Mojo
• 7 Common Career Mistakes
• Over-committing
• Waiting for the Facts to Change
• Looking for Logic in All the Wrong Places
• Bashing the Boss
• Refusing to Change Because of “Sunk Costs”
• Confusing the Mode You’re in
• Maintaining Pointless Arguments
• Mojo Recuperation

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7 Career Mistakes that Turn Mojo into Nojo -  May10-101a — 2000-word article

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7 Career Mistakes that Turn Mojo into Nojo -  May10-101b — 1000 word Article