Cool Gentlemen With Guns

I had a sudden urge to draw men with guns. I don’t think this is any passive aggressive manifestation of stress or anger. I think, sometimes, men with guns can be cool. Perhaps it’s Freudian. But I’m pleased with the noir look of these pen and ink sketches.

Ben Wilson wrote this post from his small room in his small house near the ocean. If you enjoyed this, you might like to sign up for his free communication tips. The newsletter also has less talking in third person.

Shooting over our Shoulder

Sometimes I imagine myself as a gangster hero, running from the law and living the romantic life that any hero lives. One thing that gangsters are skilled at (the movies tell us) is shooting over the shoulder. Running down the street, and pausing just for a moment to crack off a shot with just a stylish twist of the body.

In real life, this is pretty much impossible. You would have more chance of hitting your opponent if you took off your shoe and threw it. The over the shoulder shot does not give you the base of stability you need for shooting, and the fact that you are likely to be puffing means the pistol barrel will be wobbling around like a new born lamb.

Yet so many people communicate with over the shoulder shots. Rushing from meeting to meeting, room to room, café to café, firing off remarks with no idea who’ll catch them, understand them, or take action on them.

If you want your words to strike home, breathe evenly and deeply. Take a firm stance, facing your audience. Ready, aim, fire.

Inappropriate Office Attire

There is a school of thought that suggests that we should prefer comfort over professionalism. I don’t think this is always true. Appropriate clothing is a costume that people can hang their first impressions on. Even before you speak, you have been categorised, and the right clothing makes sure that first impression is right.

The right clothing is different for everyone. Less and less is there a call for suit and tie, but we still can’t get away with pajamas in the day time. Sadly. Make your clothing authentic, true to you, but like any message you send, craft the authenticity so that it matches what your audience expects.

It’s hard to break that first impression. Be authentic, but respect your audience. And please, no white socks and black shoes.

The Guiding Light of a Difficult Conversation

After an fascinating conversation on Twitter with @coachbythesea (Randi Buckley), I found this phrase very compelling. We were talking about the value of empathy in difficult conversations, one of Randi’s specialities.

Randi believes that empathy decreases the fear in a difficult conversation. If you approach a conversation with compassionate intention, then you will always be able to move forward. Such intention becomes your “guiding light.” I asked Randi if some people, without a natural empathy, were always fearful of difficult conversations, but she believes that such people would actually approach the conversation armoured with facts, and so be without fear. But the conversations would not progress to a resolution smoothly, if at all. The good news is that most people can learn empathy.

The sea and shore image comes from a trip I took to Raglan on the west coast of the North Island. I embellished the view with an imaginary light house.

Taking out the Trash

Agnes Ponders the Coolness of Crafts

Handmade paper clips are way cooler than machine made ones, ’cause, like,they’re made with love.

Marie takes a moment to explain lasers to a cat

This cartoon took form after a tweet from Merlin Mann, but it took me a while to get the cat right. Cats are complex creatures.

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