Here are some recommended guidelines on how to speak straight respectfully:

1. Create some ground rules: No accusations, no name-calling, no bad language … etc.

2. Seek to understand before being understood.

3. Be factual. Resist interpretations and hyperbole in order to bolster your case.

4. Give up being “right”, as in a righteous attitude. 

5. Take breaks when it gets too hot. (You could use a walk after all that turkey anyway.)

6. Don’t take anything personally and don’t make assumptions. (Agreements 2 & 3: Don Miguel Ruiz)

7. Set up the environment. (Adults only, alcohol-free, remove sharp utensils … etc.)

8. Know your audience.

9. No ganging up on minority opinions.

10. Listen.

What is Mini Me saying when someone else is speaking? A few common examples:

• “I wish she would get to the point.”

• “He has no idea what he’s talking about.”

• “I already know this.”

• “I completely disagree.”

• “I’ve been there, done that.”

• “My way would be so much better.”

• “I have so many things I need to be doing right now.”

• “What am I going to have for lunch?”

I like to think of integrity like a boat. It either works or it doesn’t. There is no moral judgement involved. It’s really not about right or wrong or good or bad.  If the boat’s got you, then you can relax, knowing you are being held. You can be highly productive and get from one point to another. Or you can use the opportunity to enjoy just being on the water

With the socially conscious movements of today, and elevated by today's global marketplace and connectivity, consumers are taking a closer and closer look at business ethics.

Tell people how to behave, give them a reason to do so, and they most often will.

Assuming positive intent of others is less about them and more about you creating the reality you desire.

We have recovery as a practice because we know mistakes, impacts, and breakdowns will happen. The quicker we can recognize our mistakes the quicker we can clean it up and productivity will resume

It’s that connection that brings it to life. Just like my cool client proved, enthusiastic passion can light up a room AND be for good business. That’s how we get masterful at increasing employee engagement, building leadership skills and creating a high performance culture. 

You have the power to choose your leadership style, but the one aspect of your style you can’t choose is leading by example. You truly have no choice but to intentionally practice it, as it will happen whether or not you choose to do so.

For over thirty years, we’ve known and admired Lynne Twist from her work with The Hunger Project, a grass-roots organization committed to ending world hunger, and for the Pachamama Alliance, a partnership for the indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest that she cofounded with her spouse, Bill.

Our consultants at Momentum have tools to uncover problems and reveal blind spots. It's the transformational discovery that can change the efficiency and the productivity of your business.

The practice, discipline really, of blameless problem solving gives leaders and managers a great tool to accelerate performance, quickly build trust, and pull for greater employee engagement across the organization. When blameless problem solving becomes part of the culture, it’s a powerful lever for high performance.

Your willingness to move through the pain and adversity will set you free into your ultimate expansion.

My own philosophy about secrets is that the longer we hold them the more potential negative impact they have. I’m not talking about other people’s secrets because those aren’t ours to share.

One remedy to assumptive behavior is to get clear on expectations, and to practice the process of Requests and Promises. It keeps transactions clean and free of unnecessary hiccups, speed bumps or roadblocks. These are called Conversations For Action*, and when we make them specific, measurable, and in time, many of the headaches associated with assumptions are eliminated.

“IF YOU FOCUS ON RESULTS, YOU WILL NEVER CHANGE. IF YOU FOCUS ON CHANGE, YOU WILL GET RESULTS.”

If you want people to behave a certain way, you have to tell them how you want them to behave. That way they know what you expect from them

when you assigned the project, were you clear enough to the team involved?

• Who is this for?

• What is the purpose?

• What outcome do we want to achieve?

• Why I am trusting YOU to this assignment

When we don’t keep promises, it opens up all kinds of portals for mischief.

The words "fun" and "productivity" rarely occur in the same sentence. But what if we discovered that having more fun actually increases our productivity?