Wisdom Cafe Wednesday

Archives of past Wisdom Cafe Wednesday newsletters.

10 Winning Characteristics Of Successful/Effective (Win/Win) Negotiators

The art of negotiation is done right when all parties involved agree that the result is a win/win situation. An effective negotiator will ensure that this is the case. In addition, the goal of negotiation should be to strengthen the relationship between the parties in question. One way to do this is to ensure that empathy, innovation, and flexibility are being practiced.

Read here for more ways to be a successful negotiator.

10 Verbal Communication Skills Worth Mastering

Personal branding expert Dan Schawbel predicted that in a competitive work environment where everyone works at the same level with similar talents, interpersonal communication skills will become the key differentiator. Impressions matter greatly in key moments of communication, so it is important to ensure that you are spending time developing and mastering your interpersonal communication skills.

Read here to learn which 10 communications skills are worth...

10 Top Qualities of a Great Collaborator

In an evolved workspace environment, collaboration has become an even greater necessity. The ability to work effectively and diplomatically with your team is a focused skill that requires an individual effort. Some qualities of a great collaborator include being team focused and appreciative.

Learn more here.

10 Things Successful Supervisors Do Differently

Being a supervisor means playing a crucial role in structure of your organization. An outstanding supervisor creates a profound ripple effect based on factors such as management and communication. Success as a supervisor is manifested in watching those you supervise grow to become great leaders and changemakers.

Read here for 10 things you can do to increase your success as a supervisor.

10 Informal Learning Activities to Boost Employee Engagement

Workplaces can benefit greatly from implementing informal learning activities alongside formal learning training. Informal learning provides hands-on, practical experience in an unstructured setting that allows learners to set their own goals and objectives. Exploration in informal, unstructured settings allows for intuitive learning that is low stress while encouraging curiousity and fitting easily into a work routine. Because informal learning often comes off as less intimidating than formal learning structures, it has the added benefit of boosting employee engagement.

Want to...

The Impact of Interruptions

In order to achieve high performance it is important that we are able to work with focus. We have all had the experience of working on a task and starting to gain some momentum. Our brain is fully engaged, we begin to get immersed, and we sense an underlying feeling of excitement as we begin to make progress. And then…

Fred stops by to say “Hi, nice to see you at your desk.” or

Mary says… “Quick question…” or

John says… “I’m just going to sneak past you to leave a quick note for Nancy.”

In this one moment, this point of...

Team Building with Myers-Briggs—Building a Home Out of M&M’s

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a useful instrument for illustrating and appreciating differences between each other (though not scientifically sound). One of my favorite activities is demonstrating this to naysayers who equate MBTI to astrology, so here’s a simple team building activity you can use when your unit is in need of something lighthearted. To avoid spoiler alerts, I’m not including photos, but am happy to share some examples from the many times I’ve done this on campus, if you email me.

Firstly, all participants will need to know their...

What's Your Shadowside On a Team?

Increasing employees’ self-awareness of their personal ‘shadow’ on the team helps create a tone on the team that is more open and conducive to team skill sharing. You should use...

Ways People Might Misread Your Body Language

Research shows that when your verbal and nonverbal signals are out of alignment, people are forced to choose between what they hear and what they see. And subconsciously, they'll believe your body language. In this course, workplace body-language expert Carol Kinsey Goman, PhD, reveals how body language is perceived and often misread, and shares the six nonverbal signals you need to know to make a positive first impression. She also discusses the importance of body language for leaders, and shows how you can establish leadership presence. Lastly, she provides simple and effective tips on...

Turn Mistakes Into Part of Your Career Success

Exposing yourself to risk and failure can help push you up the career ladder. Just make sure someone's watching.

Learning to use mistakes well is an important leadership trait. In fact, looking at how an executive responds to failure can be more telling that assessing their success when weighing up a person's ability to take on the leadership mantle. Great leaders learn from their errors. They are quick to recognize when a mistake has been made and are able to efficiently assess what can be salvaged or gained from the fallout. In many cases, feedback is immediate for anyone astute...