by Star Dargin | Aug 21, 2020 | Business, Communication, Confidence, Gratitude, Leaders, Leadership, Uncategorized
If you are a leader and you don’t know Brené Brown, you should! You can start by watching what 48 Million others have seen, her TED talk. Dr. Brown studies human connection from a scholarly point of view and shares insights in a down to earth, humous way, with a warm...
by Star Dargin | Jun 10, 2020 | Communication, Confidence, Leaders, Leadership, Teams, Training, Uncategorized, Virtual Teams
“Out of sight and out of mind” is a natural human behavior that works against the virtual manager. The challenge is to be visible and present, yet not too present. Creating an intentional and authentic virtual personality and presence is the best practice. Finding the...
by Star Dargin | Feb 22, 2019 | Communication, Confidence, Difficult, Gratitude, Leadership
Despite knowing that his manager supported his position and gave him regular raises, and promotions, Paul despised the person in charge over him. (In full transparency, Paul is not his real name—or any one person, for that matter—as some variation of this story plays...
by Star Dargin | Oct 15, 2018 | Communication, Confidence, Difficult, Leaders, Leadership
In extreme scenarios, being nice and not speaking up can result in death. A failed O-ring seal was blamed for the Challenger space shuttle disaster that killed seven astronauts, even though NASA engineer Allan McDonald knew of the potential disaster and didn’t sign...
by Star Dargin | Sep 23, 2018 | Business, Communication, Confidence, Gratitude
I had to stop being nice. Otherwise, I got spoken over and, worse, walked over. Gratitude is not about being nice all the time. “Don’t speak up unless you have something nice to say,” my mother repeated, often. Well, that doesn’t work so well in business. To get...
by Star Dargin | Dec 12, 2017 | Communication, Confidence, Difficult, Leadership
My family is my reluctant, yet fertile, petri dish. Petri dishes are self-contained round clear bubbles you conduct experiments in. I was raised by deep-rooted New Englanders who are always fine and say things are always good. This “never speak up” background was...