Business

Building Trustworthy Relationships at Work

By Sylvia Lafair | August 1, 2018 |

I recently worked with a client and the questions he had were around building trustworthy relationships at work which got me thinking… Who do you trust? And more importantly, why do you trust one person and not another? Like love, trust is amorphous. You can’t touch it, smell it or see it. Yet, most of…

Is your work environment toxic with lots of “staff infections”?

By Sylvia Lafair | July 15, 2018 |

Here is what many people have emailed me regarding toxic work environments, and they all sound like they work in the same company. The only difference is the geographic location, the same toxic work environment seems to pop up everywhere. These companies are scattered around the U.S., actually around the world from Pittsburgh to Paris,…

Leadership Strategies: Getting to the next level of development

By Sylvia Lafair | June 13, 2018 |

I am always struck by the battle each of us must go through as we open the door to the next level of development. It’s time to see things with new eyes, yet, there is a lurking sense that if we stray too far from what we know, well, we might fall an shatter. I…

Here’s How to Avoid the 5 Basic Mistakes That Create Job Stress

By Sylvia Lafair | May 31, 2018 |

Do you ever just wish that you could have a moratorium on change? That maybe, just for a month you could count on things staying the same? That you could depend on your work colleagues to show up and do their jobs so you could do yours? That sales would percolate and products get shipped…

3 Simple Ways to Stop Your Co-Workers from Driving You Nuts

By Sylvia Lafair | May 28, 2018 |

It’s tough to confront people. Well, at least that’s what 90% of the population says. Is your tendency to avoid or even worse, deny, that difficult issues exist at your office? It’s so much easier to blame others for being impossible to work with. We live in a “he did it, she did it, they…

5 Simple and Effective Communication Techniques to Get Attention

By Sylvia Lafair | April 24, 2018 |

Communication is an essential skill that all leaders must master.  In this article, I uncover 5 simple and effective communication techniques that can help you as a leader to capture the attention of your team or anyone you come into contact with. What is your preferred way of communicating? Without ever meeting you I can guess…

How to effectively deepen your conversation skills

By Sylvia Lafair | April 17, 2018 |

Let’s chat here a bit about why as a leader it’s important for you to deepen your conversation skills… When you walk away, hang up the phone, close your email trail, or shut down the texting after a discussion with a colleague take a moment and think about what kind of conversation you just had.…

Confidence Concerns: Even the Best Leaders Have Them

By Sylvia Lafair | April 10, 2018 |

Did you ever wonder if you were going to be fired? Did you ever have a conversation with someone in a position to tell you to pack your bags and leave? Do you ever have to tell someone they are not a fit for your team and it’s time to say goodbye? In my work…

5 Highly Recommended Books for Leaders

By Sylvia Lafair | April 2, 2018 |

Can you guess one of the almost forgotten secrets of powerful leaders? It’s found on the printed page or today’s smartphones. It’s an old skill, almost forgotten in our present, hurried world. No longer is it enough to have a good idea or product. It’s about respecting leaders who are well-rounded individuals — think Reid…

Leadership Strategies: How to know when you’re stuck

By Sylvia Lafair | March 27, 2018 |

In this post, I’m discussing how to know when you’re stuck or moving ahead as a leader. Ready for a profound shift? Ready for change that will be deep, sustainable, and positive? Ready to put the puzzle pieces of relationships together and be an exemplary leader? Ready to go to sleep at night and not…