Posts by Mike Staver

Have you ever had someone say something to you that upset you, made you mad, or otherwise hurt your feelings? When you point that out, have they said, “Well, I am just being honest!” Doesn’t that make you want to say — “Well, lie a little!” So many times people use honesty as a weapon.…

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and they made their point, but just had to add a few other comments? Or, how about listening to a speaker that said “in closing” 5 times before they actually closed? I was recently working with two people that were attempting to resolve a conflict. At…

For years and years and years people have talked about how important listening is. Books are written, seminars are taught, coaches encourage it and bosses expect it. But for some reason most people are pathetic at it. Even after all the lectures, books and teaching most are just not willing to listen. I hereby challenge…

One of the most asked questions I get is, “How do I get my (employees, kids, spouse, partner etc) to be more motivated, more focused, more driven, more engaged, or more whatever?” While there are hundreds of people who will give you three points and a poem for how to do that, I would encourage…

Little kids ask a lot of questions in a single day. By the time we become adults, we ask very few questions. Most of the reason for that is that we have been taught that answers get us A’s. Answers prove we are smart. Answers make us feel certainty, and certainty builds confidence. There is…

Yes he does and he should matter to you! Not because of who he is and what he says. Not because of his ironic popularity. But because of the EXACT reason that he is popular. Trump is a fascinating study in what it takes to influence and what it takes to be followed. Donald Trump…

On a hill overlooking the ocean in Otsuchi Town in northeastern Japan is a phone booth known as the “Telephone of the Wind”. It is connected to nowhere, but people come to “call” family members lost during the tsunami of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Many visit the phone booth including a mother and…

If you can’t say something nice then don’t say anything. It’s not what you say it’s how you say it. Once you’ve said it you can’t take it back. You can disagree without being disagreeable and on and on it goes. There are many, many clichés. Many wise words of counsel speaking to the need…