Are you really listening to understand, or just waiting for your turn to talk?
In this Marketing 4 Business episode, Scott chats with Ali McCormick, communication and leadership expert and co-founder of Discretionary Effort, about the soft skills that make the biggest difference in business. From emotional intelligence and resilience to the kind of team communication that actually drives performance, Ali brings decades of real-world experience as a speech and language therapist, positive psychologist, and leadership trainer to the conversation.
Ali shares practical tools and insights you can put to work straight away, including:
- Why "why" is the wrong question to ask an underperforming team member – and what to ask instead
- The 5-to-1 feedback ratio backed by research that can transform team performance and morale
- How to prepare for a difficult conversation so you don't make things worse
- The Values in Action exercise that helps teams understand each other's strengths
- Why avoiding hard conversations isn't neutral – it's actively making things worse
- What resilience really is, whether it can be taught, and how to build it in yourself and your team
- The simple shift from listening to reply to listening to understand – and why it changes everything
If you're a business owner leading a team (whether that's 2 people or 20) and you want to communicate better, handle tough conversations with more confidence, and build a team that actually works well together, this episode is well worth your time.
Download the Local Business AEO Playbook here – a free, step-by-step guide that shows you how to position your business to be recommended by AI.
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