SELLING IDEAS TO SENIOR LEADERSHIP

When I started my career, I was a pretty good research scientist but I knew I needed to improve my business skills. The major breakthrough came not through the workplace, but through coaching. You want to learn to communicate? Try coaching a rowdy, rough-and-tumble water polo team. I learned – and learned quickly – how to make the seemingly complex simple and how to put things in terms that were important to each athlete.

These skills helped me make the transition from scientist - the Geek and Proud of It - to entrepreneur and management consultant. The most satisfying successes in my consulting career came not from my technical brilliance, but from making things crystal clear for my clients, then teaching them how to share their best with their colleagues. Turns out, those skills were the most important thing I left for my clients. My mission now is to give the world's technical people the communication skills they need to advance their careers.