“I have left orders to be awakened at any time during a national emergency, even if I'm in a cabinet meeting.” Ronald Reagan

“Influence is something everyone can do. The people you spend most of your time with will influence you the most. It stands to reason if association influences, then you are an influencer by virtue of your association with others.” – Karl Rohde

Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn – Benjamin Franklin

I love books, but I never thought I would love business books. I was wrong. The right business book can be life-altering. There are gazillions of great business books out there, but here are some of my favorites.

Goodwill is the only asset that competition cannot undersell or destroy.
--Marshall Field

Lately, I’ve been reminded how little we usually know about another person’s thoughts, emotions, and motives.

Didn't Eleanor Roosevelt say something about no one can make you feel inferior without your consent?  Just substitute ‘inferior’ with any emotion and take your power back. – Marilyn Sherman

“The single most important thing [you can do] is to shift [your] internal stance from ‘I understand’ to ‘Help me understand.’ Everything else follows from that...”
– Douglas Stone, Difficult Conversations

Early in our marriage, I learned the four words my husband feared the most were, “We need to talk.” Through the years, I’ve discovered most of us have the same fear—even when we’re initiating the conversation. Here are a few quick tips to ease the stress of having a difficult, albeit necessary, discussion at work when problems arise.

Last year a co-worker, Jeff, and I made arrangements to travel to Washington, D.C. for meetings. It happened to be the same week that Hurricane Sandy arrived in the area. Our meetings were understandably postponed, which required us to cancel our hotel and flights. The hotel was an easy, online procedure, but the Delta Airlines webserver was overloaded. We opted to phone the customer service center. A pleasant woman at the airline canceled our flights, said a credit would be kept on our accounts for a future flight, and told us there would be a charge when we rescheduled.