Do workplace motivational courses/speakers make a difference?
Ok, I have to contradict everyone here (albeit with a few caveats). When I was in college, I took a weeklong negotiation course, and it changed my life. We negotiate every day of our lives–from the first time a baby cries in order to persuade her mom to feed her–but school does not teach us how to do it, except through trial and error. Some people learn that crying works, and they keep doing it. Other people learn that yelling works, and they keep doing that. Still other people have a more nuanced approach but cannot adopt their methods to changing circumstances. For me, it was a huge revelation that there was a language for studying, discussing, and improving negotiation skills. I fell in love with the subject matter and the way that it was taught, and it’s significantly improved the way that I interact with everyone, from my father to my boss to my waitress. So for the past eight years (with some breaks), I’ve been teaching businesspeople how to negotiate and communicate more effec
