Philadelphia Business Journal

by Karen Friedman on October 29, 2018 Leave a Comment

Don’t get buffaloed in negotiations: Use bison logic to achieve your ends.

We just returned from vacationing in Wyoming. Hiking, biking, rafting and kayaking through Grand Teton mountains and Yellowstone Park. What a great trip!

Everywhere you go, you see bison, also known as buffalo. Like cows here at home, they calmly graze in the meadows, occasionally looking your way. Typically, if you don’t bother them, they won’t bother you. Only in Wyoming, these 2000-pound animals occasionally come down from the hills and out of the meadows to stroll along the side of the road alongside the traffic.

by Karen Friedman on September 18, 2018 Leave a Comment

Impression Management

The client wanted me to turn eight unprofessional storytellers into professional storytellers in four hours. At completion, her company had hired a professional video crew to tape these people telling their stories in two minutes or less, based on the tips we shared with them. The plan was to show their finished video stories at a corporate meeting. The crew was available for two hours, so the client said surely, I had plenty of time.

Realizing she didn’t understand the time frame wasn’t realistic, I offered options including bringing multiple coaches with me, so we had more time to help each individual shape, craft and practice delivering their stories.

The client didn’t want to pay for multiple coaches.

by Karen Friedman on August 1, 2018 Leave a Comment

Staying Present in the Moment

It was early January and everyone in my family was sick. It was that awful coughing, sneezing, wheezing respiratory wipe you out type sick. In my case, it seemed all I could do was sleep. No matter how much sleep I got, I needed more. I would sleep twelve hours and then need to take a nap.

I started to worry about myself, but everyone around me kept telling me to listen to my body. It had been an emotional and stressful time as my father had just died. My mother was staying with us. People were constantly in the house paying their condolences and there were a lot of details to attend to.
[Read more…] about Staying Present in the Moment

by Karen Friedman on May 30, 2018 Leave a Comment

Leadership Lessons for Loudmouth Jerks

I was in line to board the plane home when I heard a man about four people behind me speaking loudly into his phone.

“Yes, we got this deal Jim. I really put a good one together. I did this, and I did that and let me tell you more about me.”

Well, those were not his exact words, but you get the picture. As we trekked into plane, people kept looking at him as he kept talking loud enough for anyone in line to hear him, but he didn’t seem to notice.

I was in row 10, aisle seat when, still barking into his phone, he motioned for me to get up, so he could get through as he was also in row 10, window seat. Lucky me.

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