Month: September 2026
The results we create often begin with the conversations we choose to have. That includes conversations with customers. Conversations with teams. Conversations between leaders. And perhaps most importantly, the conversations we have with ourselves. I recently joined Gerhard Gschwandtner of Selling Power for a discussion about my career in sales, leadership and professional speaking. Looking…
There’s something I learned years ago about standing in front of an audience that has stayed with me throughout my career. Stop thinking about yourself. Even after years of speaking, there are still moments when the nerves show up before I walk onstage. You wonder how the audience will respond. You think about whether the…
I recently received an honor that caused me to reflect on an entire career. I was inducted into the 2026 Legends of the Speaking Profession. For someone who has spent decades speaking professionally, you might assume that communication always came naturally to me. It didn’t. As a teenager, I had a speech impediment that prevented…
There are people who become successful. There are people who become famous. And then there are those rare individuals who become something much greater. Dolly Parton became an icon. Her story didn’t begin with wealth, connections or opportunity. She grew up as one of 12 children in a one-room cabin in the mountains of Tennessee.…
The results we create often begin with the conversations we choose to have. That includes conversations with customers. Conversations with teams. Conversations between leaders. And perhaps most importantly, the conversations we have with ourselves. I recently joined Gerhard Gschwandtner of Selling Power for a discussion about my career in sales, leadership and professional speaking. Looking…
There’s something I learned years ago about standing in front of an audience that has stayed with me throughout my career. Stop thinking about yourself. Even after years of speaking, there are still moments when the nerves show up before I walk onstage. You wonder how the audience will respond. You think about whether the…
I recently received an honor that caused me to reflect on an entire career. I was inducted into the 2026 Legends of the Speaking Profession. For someone who has spent decades speaking professionally, you might assume that communication always came naturally to me. It didn’t. As a teenager, I had a speech impediment that prevented…
There are people who become successful. There are people who become famous. And then there are those rare individuals who become something much greater. Dolly Parton became an icon. Her story didn’t begin with wealth, connections or opportunity. She grew up as one of 12 children in a one-room cabin in the mountains of Tennessee.…