Archive for June, 2010

Interpersonal Communication Styles & Managing Conflict

(Just so you know in advance, there’s a contest at the end of this post.  If you want to play, please keep reading…) Yesterday, I met with Sarah’s organization, LifeCare Alliance, to discuss how I might be able to help them get things going on a few projects.  Just so you know, LifeCare won’t be a paying client of mine.  They have a great mission, helping hordes of people in and around the Columbus community and, frankly, Sarah has already paid their bill in supporting me throughout the start-up months of Social Business Strategies. It’s funny to me to admit this, but I found out during the meeting that I barely made eye contact with Sarah.  Rather, I focused on engaging with the people she brought to the table.  I stayed professional, but it was almost involuntary.  It was like some subliminal force kept my communication style in professional mode so, at all costs, I could avoid the perception of a potential conflict of interest. What’s most interesting to me was the conversation Sarah and I had while preparing dinner that evening: (Generally paraphrased) Me:  So how do you think it went?  The meeting, that is.  Was it okay? Sarah:  I thought it went well.  Everyone seemed to be open to the ideas.  But seriously, how come you don’t talk like that when we’re at home? Me:  What do you mean? Sarah:  You were so calm and collected!  You never interrupted anyone.  You listened really intently, and I could tell you were considering what everyone had to say.  Even your voice was more calm! Me:  Really?  I was that much different? Sarah:  I was starting to wonder what happened to my fiance?  If you’d been kidnapped and replaced or something. Interpersonal Communication Style & Conflict Our relationships and the level of closeness have a tendency to alter our style [...]

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Social Media & Human Evolution

In the past two days, I’ve been a part of two very powerful hugs. The first was with a childhood friend when she and her husband came for a visit to Columbus and Community Fest.  At the end of a wonderful (and much needed) evening, one final hug goodbye reminded me of how and why we’ve stayed friends after all these years.  The second hug was with my mom.  Just before dinner one evening, I could tell by the expression on her face that some of the health issues she’s been facing recently were wearing on her spirits.  Without knowing what else to do, I hugged her. Both of these hugs were real hugs – not simply the “pat on the back” type of hugs that we have all become so used to giving and receiving.  In that moment of real hug, a small chemical reaction occurs in the brain of each human involved.  The chemical emitted produces certain emotions and, with it, a sense of behavior. Powerful Hugs One of the most fascinating things I’ve read yet this year was a Fast Company story documenting the work of  Neuroeconomist Paul J. Zak, a professor at Claremont Graduate University.  Paul so believes in power of a hug that he makes a point to hug just about everyone he meets.  That behavior is one of the many things that has led to his Claremont campus nickname, Dr. Love. Zak is responsible for popularizing the term “neuroeconomics,” an emerging field that combines economics with biology, neuroscience and psychology. With an eloquent writing style and a good sense of storytelling, Fast Company’s contributing writer Adam Penenberg details his time working as one of Zak’s test subjects in three-part experiments.  Why is this important?  Dr. Zak has discovered, for the first time, that social networking triggers the release of the hormone Oxytocin, the chemical present [...]

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