"The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen."

---Frank Lloyd Wright 

Such an odd thing for an architect to say. Especially FLW.

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It's Thursday before Mother's Day and I have put nothing in the mail to my mom. Actually I have nothing to mail her yet. If you're in the same boat, hurry up and write a blog post about her. Maybe she'll like it half as much as the artwork you brought home from kindergarten way back. At least that's what I'm hoping.

9 Beautiful Things My Mom Taught Me:

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According to research, women talk more than men. Women also earn less money than men and are weaker negotiators. I'm not writing about discrimination or victimization here; I point this out to remind you that being comfortable talking, or having the gift of the gab, doesn't necessary mean you're using communication to move your career or business forward. Actually, introverts are better sales professionals than extroverts.  Read more »

Make no mistake, offering a product or service of incredible quality is essential for business sucess. The thing is, it's not enough and never will be. If making the best product in the market were all it would take to dominate the market, IBM's personal computer business would have withered away when the Mac came out; Dell would have never made it. And Ruben is fond of recalling what his teachers at Juilliard used to tell their students, "The best musicians in the world are not the ones making the most money." Which makes me wonder if Gustavo Dudamel is perhaps not the best conductor but the best marketer of classical music.  Read more »

As promised, free tips about helping you serve others by being the authority in your industry.

1. People prefer to work with the leading authorities. (Even when they say they can't afford to.)

2, Working with a real authority gives your clients great conversation fodder, aka bragging rights.

3. Carefully define your niche....where you want to have your authority. Read more »

There was once this meeting of college professors who gathered to hear a little-known but well-published professor speak about his scientific research. He was a great speaker, good looking, and his talk was extremely well received. Nothing special about that. Except he had never actually published his research because he wasn't actually a researcher; he was a professional actor who was hired by researchers. This actor had memorized a speech for this occasion, one that was full of inconsistencies and contradictions that would be normally noticed by experts in the field, as was every member of that audience. Only they didn't notice. Read more »

Some reminders why investing in improvement of your presentation skills is a worthy endeavor. While in Versailles a couple of weeks ago I learned about "bene dicere" -- which means to speak well and say the good, a quality valued by King Louis XIV, and yours truly. 

1. Enhances your social life because you're now a "good mixer."

2. Improves your memory.

3. There are people in your life looking for you to be the leader. Read more »

The alternative title to this post was "Why I almost slapped my daughter." If you had been there, you would surely understand my temptation. (That's why parenting is not for wimps.) It was the very next day after we got back from our trip to Paris and London, and this teenage child, who shall remain unnamed for right now, had a minor meltdown from overwhelm and began this rant that included the phrase, "I hate my life!" Wow. Read more »

Almost everything you need to know about communication!