WEBLOG Archive December 2008

THE YEAR OF BEING AUTHENTIC

Want to add authentic conversations to your list of New Year’s resolutions?

One of the first steps is beginning to recognize how often we try to manipulate each other with our conversational techniques. Manipulative language is so pervasive in our culture that it often becomes invisible. Creating awareness is the first step toward change. Check out our new poll and choose the manipulative technique you see at work most frequently.

We’d also hear what you think is the most important aspect of an authentic conversation. You can make a selection

OBAMA'S BOLD CHOICE

I support gay marriage. I am adamantly pro-choice. And I am no fan of Rick Warren, pastor of the conservative Christian Saddleback Church in California.

And so perhaps it will surprise you to know that despite my initial dismay, I emphatically support President-elect Barack Obama's selection of Warren to give the invocation at the inauguration ceremony.

The Baltimore Sun today published a commentary by Katha Pollit, a columnist for The Nation, which speculated that Sen. John McCain, had he won, would never have chosen a prayer giver so on the…

TOUGH TIMES, TOUGH CONVERSATIONS

A funny thing happened on the way to being interviewed for an article about how to have conversations with layoff survivors.  A few days before our scheduled interview, the reporter got laid off.

We did the interview anyway, but the venue for the article changed from a national print magazine to a major online news network for which she freelances. As we began our conversation, she told us how bothered she was when her (now former) boss, whom she had known nearly 25 years, told her she shouldn't feel bad because she would land on her feet.