Just Saying - The BRIEF Lab

When Amazon infamously ditched PowerPoints in meetings and opted to use a six-page written narrative format, many professionals took notice of their bold move. However, very few followed their lead. After reading a book on Amazon’s leadership philosophy (“Working Backwards”), I decided to experiment with a new meeting format. In this podcast, I provide a detailed overview of the BRIEF Executive Su...

What happens when managers have too many people and priorities to handle? A recent Wall Street Journal article highlighted a growing concern when organizations are trying to get much more from a thinning front line of leaders. One of the results is that bosses are running out of time to spend with their extended teams. In this episode, I propose six ways to adjust to this challenging, demanding re...

Polished leaders all master these three areas. They can frame their role powerfully, share courses of action convincingly, and summarize complexity consistently. In this episode, I provide very practical ways to improve in each area to rise above the rest. The post Ep. 378 – Roles, recommendations, and re-caps appeared first on Just Saying .

We can speak very different languages, from finance, tech and science to logistics, legal and engineering. What are some simple ways to increase your awareness and avoid common tendencies to talk past people and lose them along the way? In this podcast, I share a clip from a 1960’s show “Flipper” and provide some common-sense tips to achieve simplicity and clarity. The post Ep. 377 – You’re speaki...

What’s the return on investment (ROI) if your organization is filled with clear communicators? In a recent conversation with a business consultant, I was challenged to measure it mainly in time savings. In my experience, however, that’s the easy answer. The deeper one is calculating the hidden impact when you cause chaos and confusion? The post Ep. 376 – What’s the cost of confusion? appeared firs...

As new leaders step into new roles, many of them fail to help their subordinates understand the best way to communicate with them. Rather, they let vague assertions, false assumptions and ongoing trial-and-error observations shape the way they get and give information. In this episode, I provide a simple two-step process to gain clarity about ways to share what works for you and what doesn’t. &nbs...

If you want to become a clear and concise communicator, getting your extended team to commit would go a long way. After more than a decade of teaching our BRIEF system, we have introduced an annual subscription service that is designed to drive accountability and predictable outcomes. In this podcast, I shed some light on a series of service elements that can really help your team create sustainab...

According to “Shark Tank’s” and entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk had incredibly high signal-to-noise ratios. In other words, they could maintain high levels of clarity without succumbing to distractions, disruptions or low-level chatter. In this episode, I share some practical ways to manage your noise and increase your ratio. The post Ep. 373 – What’s your signal-to-noise rati...

Call Back Episode 209 : Tech Timeouts, originally recorded  on October  18, 2021. When you are always on, that means you’re never off. Living in a 24/7 world of pervasive connectivity, we are challenged to find rewarding moments during the day to disconnect. The post Call Back Episode – 209 Tech Timeouts appeared first on Just Saying .

A 1980’s self-help guru predicted that if you “go into the silence” for 30-60 minutes, you will get clarity 100% of the time. In an environment that doesn’t allow even a few minutes alone, we may find this hard to believe or impossible to achieve. Well, in times that are highly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA), we need to follow the advice of the Brian Tracy’s of the world. The po...

Think about being in a meeting and seeing someone who has no vital role and nothing to say. They just fill a chair and add no immediate value. Like a potted plant, they may be there to fill a space. In this week’s episode, I challenge conventions about not inviting people that don’t need to be there. The post Ep. 371 – Meeting participants (and potted plants) appeared first on Just Saying .

Whether it’s an important conversation or a very difficult one, we need to be ready. In this week’s episode, I will walk you through six different considerations to put you in a frame of mind that improves your chances that the exchange will go better than planned. The post Ep. 370 – Making key conversations count (the 6 T’s) appeared first on Just Saying .

Watching someone communicate with no purpose and no plan is brutal. It’s like seeing a poor farmer scatter seed blindly into the wind. If this is how you show up, it’s going to take a toll. Many people communicate like this, with little or no plan with what they want to say. This is where ideas, attention and reputation all perish. The post Ep. 369 – You’re all over the place appeared first on Jus...

Great leaders are authentic and willing to share when they’ve struggled, been tested and have failed. Success is often the result of severe challenges, stupid mistakes and painful losses. By being able to open up and share these personal stories, leaders can connect with people more deeply than by barking orders and giving speeches. The post Ep. 368 – Sharing crucible stories appeared first on Jus...

Many professionals aspire to be thought leaders, yet few have what it takes. If this is what you (or someone you might know) feel compelled to pursue, be warned that with this role comes responsibilities. Not only do you need to be experienced, knowledgeable and respected, but you also must be a clear communicator who has some humility and lots of generosity. The post Ep. 367 – Becoming a thought...

If you can’t sit still for a moment, it will be hard to extract the real value AI. As these mind-bending developments increasingly take root, we may be too busy to even take notice. The irony – harsh reality, actually – is that we absolutely must embrace quiet time to slow down, learn and embrace it so that we can advance. The post Ep. 366 – Working with AI slowly and quietly appeared first on Jus...

Boomers, Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z all think they’re somehow superior. When it comes to communication, there are definitely differences but people share more in common than they’d like to admit. In this episode, I provide an limited overview that gets you thinking more about what we all value. The post Ep. 365 – An imperfect guide to generational communication differences appeared first on Just...

Professionals may worry too much about their presentation skills and fail to improve their daily conversations. Whether it’s calling someone, providing an update or having a side-bar discussion, these moments happen far more than standing at a podium and wowing an audience. The post Ep. 364 – Botching your day-to-day conversations appeared first on Just Saying .

A subject matter expert (SME) can be both a source of knowledge and suffering. Without realizing it, they can dive into the weeds and pull you in deep with them. In this episode, I share some practical considerations to help curb your tendency to become a say-it-all. The post Ep. 363 – Know-it-alls appeared first on Just Saying .

Imagine taking one day a month and setting it aside as a “Quiet Workday” that’s dedicated to deep work. In this challenge, I provide recommendations for you to schedule a day where more than half is spent in silence, there’s a specific focal point and an agenda designed deliberately for you to go much deeper in time primarily spent alone. By avoiding tech, distractions and the rhythm of a typical...

Running around can be depleting and choosing to stop can energize and empower us. After taking a pause myself for several weeks, I have chosen to continue the podcast into our 9 th season In this episode, I share five different moments where we can pause three to five seconds and gain great power when doing it. Link to Instagram Reel: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEVPNUQusw5/?igsh=dTNvYjRtZGt3Mm...

Do you think that this podcast should continue for another season? I have mixed feelings and would like to hear directly from you. I can go either way. In what might be the last episode, I share some possible adjustments to the format that might make the content more relevant. It’s time for my listeners (you) to speak up (just saying). The post Ep. 360 – Giving my audience a voice (is this our las...

We can all degree that most salespeople talk too much and aren’t great listeners. Learning from an accomplished sales trainer, I recently was inspired to create a new training program called “Quiet Selling” to teach professionals to listen more and talk less. In this episode, I share five moments that can help you slow down enough to be more deliberate and give your client’s a voice. The post Ep....

Thanksgiving in the U.S. is one of my favorite holidays of the year. To keep up with the tradition, I’d like to share how gratitude is a powerful way to ground me and lower the noise in my personal and professional life. In this episode, I also share a short list (in no specific order) of what I am grateful for this year. The post Ep. 358 – Why gratitude is so grounding appeared first on Just Sayi...

You may want to start a podcast, go to be a guest on one, or are just curious about how people prepare for them. After eight seasons doing this podcast and numerous guest appearances on other shows, I thought it might be helpful to provide some behind-the-scenes insights on how I do this podcast to shed some light on the production process. The post Ep. 357 – How I prepare for a podcast appeared f...