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Good Business Practice: Trust… but Verify
“First off, don’t let the force of the impression carry you away. Say to it, ‘hold up a bit and let me see who you are and where you are from—let me put you to the test’ . . .” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.18.24 Epictetus is pointing to a moment we often miss… the split second where something happens,…
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Great customer service is impossible when systems are built to protect the company first.
I’ve always paid close attention to how customer service actually shows up, not in what companies say they value, but in the moment where something real needs to get done. I’ve felt it particularly in interactions where the person in front of you is no longer solving your problem, but managing your request within the…
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The Power of the Pause
The pause arrives in the middle of urgency… when the data is incomplete, the room is tense, and everyone is looking toward the person with authority as if action itself were the solution. That moment is where most organizational damage begins. This is because pressure compresses time. And when time compresses, judgment often follows. The…
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Trust is a Process, not a Pitch
One of the many distortions inside organizations under pressure is the way trust gets compressed into a moment. Somewhere along the way, leaders begin to believe that trust lives inside the sales conversation itself… inside the presentation, the proposal, the pitch. If the story is compelling enough, if the value is articulated clearly enough, if…
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Don’t be Deterred by the Roughness of the Road
The language of roads and journeys runs through some of the oldest reflections on purpose and leadership. Not as a metaphor for movement alone, but as a way of naming commitment over time. A road implies direction, endurance, and a destination that exists whether the traveler feels confident or not. When Paul, an early Christian…
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What are the 3 Faces of Courage in Business?
Courage is one of the four cardinal virtues in Stoicism – alongside wisdom, justice, and temperance. These virtues form the backbone of Stoic ethics, guiding us toward a life rooted in reason, integrity, and alignment. The Stoics describe courage as the ability to face fear, adversity, and hardship not with bravado, but with resilient clarity.…
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The Business Cost of Ignoring Emotional Intelligence
The idea of Emotional Intelligence (EI) first appeared in academic psychology in the 1990s through the work of Peter Salovey and John Mayer, who defined it as the ability to perceive, understand, and regulate emotions in ourselves and others. But it was Daniel Goleman’s 1995 book, Emotional Intelligence that pushed the concept into boardrooms and…
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Are you really ready?
The moment you say yes, you’re ready. At least, that’s the story we’ve been told. But what does ready actually mean? Most of us were raised on a traditional picture of readiness: It sounds responsible. It also keeps a lot of brilliance stuck at the starting line. The Myth of Traditional Readiness Traditional readiness is…
Clarity BEFORE Execution. Structure BEFORE Speed
If you could better understand one thing about your business right now….
Most costly decisions begin with
an inaccurate understanding of the situation.
I help leaders understand what is actually happening before major decisions are made or
resources are invested in solving the wrong problem.
Giselle Hudson | Pre-Decision Diagnostic Advisor | Sensemaking for high-stakes business decisions 