As we approach the holidays, I encourage you to donate food, time, money or talents as your gift to your community.  History will record this Christmas as one of the most difficult for our nation.  There is no shortage of individuals and philanthropic organizations that have empty pockets and shelves.

What you just heard, you know, was a lie.

How do you handle yourself in a workplace when a coworker or your boss lies?

A lie will kick the props out from any relationship.  We support our agreements with each other with trust and trust is always annihilated by a lie.  

So, what do you do when a lie makes an appearance in your workplace?

There are, in my opinion, three options.

First, you can chalk up the lie to a “bad day.”  You know, all of us have them.  Every once in a while we choose the easy way out and tinker with the truth.  Assuming this lie does not cause massive physical or psychological damage just let it go.  

Second, you can verbally confront.  Here is what you do not want to say, “Hey, you and I know what you just said is a bold-face lie.”  Try instead, “I have different information/facts that do not support what I just heard.  Let’s look at this factual information together.”

Notice this approach redirects you and liar away from making this a personal attack to looking at information which is verifiable.  This is an especially good approach to use with a boss who has positional power in your life.

Finally, you can always ask, “Could you provide me with data to back up that statement?”  Make it clear you are unwilling to move forward with any action or change in attitude until the statement has been substantiated with quantifiable data.

Since forcibly washing out someone’s mouth with lye (no pun intended) soap is not an option in the work environment, you have to master other methodologies to confront and deal with a lie, an attack on the truth.

The one word title caught my attention, but the contents held my mind captive.

I encourage you to find Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff (ISBN: 13:978-1-4221-2500-7).

If you want a glimpse into the future, Groundswell will open wide the doors and windows of your mind.  Blogging, YouTube, FaceBook and a horde of those on-line “social communities” are and will be changing the way we think, work and even worship.

Li and Bernoff have written a book about a “groundswell” of new technological communities which are beginning to have an economic impact.  Specifically, the authors cite five characteristics of these new tech “neighborhoods” which include listening, talking, energizing, supporting and embracing.  If you believe this is an exercise in “futuristic hand-holding,” review the power of social communities in the last presidential election.

You may not be interested in having more on-line “friends” (I do not subscribe to any social network) but, after reading this book, I am convinced this social phenomenon will impact your job, career choices and bank account.

This month I am suggesting three of the free articles I have posted on my web site.  You can download these and use them for your personal growth or publish them in your organization’s newsletter. I have chosen these three articles because the topics are timeless.  See if any interest you.  

“Skills to Work For a Passive Boss”

“Stopping Self-Sabotage”

“The Acceptable Addiction”

To download any one of these articles, go to www.execenrichment.com and choose the Downloadable Resources option.  After filling out a brief form, you’ll see the list of articles available.

The practice of shaking hands needs clarification.

It is not customary to shake hands with someone who regularly works with you.  If you have not seen each other for a long period of time a handshake is certainly appropriate.

When shaking hands with someone you are meeting for the first time, take the initiative to extend your hand.  If you are traveling to another culture, do your homework.  There are places, especially in the Orient, where shaking hands is not practiced.

Men, when meeting a woman for the first time, etiquette requires the woman to take the lead by extending her hand.  When the woman makes the first move, it is then appropriate for the man to respond in like manner.  If you have an ongoing working relationship with this woman you can then extend your hand first when meeting in the future.

Now, here is the difficult part about socially shaking hands.  The handshake should be “firm.”  If it is either a limpid (“wet fish”) variety or the “911 bone-crusher” you will create a negative impression which, believe me, will not quickly be forgotten.

Do you have small, adhesive notes decorating your office or desk?  I have a suggestion for managing your time and efforts with these little pastel reminders.

Designate a wall, small white board or a segment of your desktop where you will place these easily seen notes.

Visually you will create confusion and frustration when trying to order your workday if the environment is plastered with all of these neon mini-messages blaring, “You are so far behind you will never catch up.”

Also, and what has worked for me, I am using my cell phone memo pad to replace the written notes I have been known to accumulate.  My cell phone is always attached to me so I am not looking for a pen and my favorite color “stickies.”

I am editing this edition of LeMonAide on a six-day speaking tour which will take me almost coast-to-coast.  And, here is the amazing part of this trip.  I am traveling with my briefcase and one small suitcase which measures 15 inches high, 8 inches deep and 11 inches wide.

You are asking, “How does he do it?”  Well, here is my methodology which has been honed over 25 years of active air travel.

In this small suitcase (the brand name is “Foray” and I bought it at Office Depot) can carry six days of clothing and toiletries if you are willing to do the following:

1. I have a dress sport coat with me for a keynote address I will be providing on Saturday morning which I wear when I travel.  It serves as a light jacket for these fall temperatures.
2. There are only two changes of underwear in my suitcase which are made by Patagonia and are made out of “wick” material which I wash out every evening and they are dry when I get up.
3. I have folded one pair of dress pants and I wear a pair of jeans.
4. I have folded three shirts which I iron when I get to my hotel and since my undershirts are always clean, I can wear each shirt twice during the week.
5. I have a pair of old Bermuda shorts and “flip-flops” for going down to the front desk early in the morning for coffee or to print out a boarding pass,
6. My toiletries are in two small zippered bags which I can move around in the mini-suitcase to meet the carry-on requirements.

The advantage of carrying a suitcase this size is when I am on regional jets this bag goes on board with me.  In both the CRJ200 and the ERJ200 this suitcase will go in the miniscule overhead compartment.  This means when I arrive at my destination I am not wasting time waiting for the gate-checked bags to be brought up stairs or an elevator where I can retrieve them before going to my next flight.  As a matter of fact, my Foray suitcase has actually made it possible for me to make connections that otherwise would have resulted in additional hours in an airport waiting for the next flight.

Oh, and Foray is not one of my clients!

This month I am recommending a free MP3 file for you to download entitled, “The Myth about Getting Even.”  When you look through the scrapbook of your life, are there people who have victimized you?  If your answer to that question was “yes,” this download may help you permanently end your need for “pay back.”  

To download this file, go to www.execenrichment.com and choose the Downloadable Resources option.  After filling out a brief form, you’ll see the Podcast option.  Choose that option and you’ll find this and other MP3 files.

Before trying to sell your product, get a piece of paper and write down all the statements of resistance you may hear from your perspective customer.

Why take the time and effort to work on something that is not a problem?

The answer obviously is, “You will never be able to sell your product unless you know all the good reasons why someone would not buy it.”

Your sales will increase if you get into the shoes and mind of your customer because:  (1) you will be verbally unprepared to respond to resistance unless you have a predesigned reply, (2) you will refine your sales presentation from previous encounters with dissatisfied customers and (3) in order to identify your competitive edge you need to distinguish yourself from your competition by excelling in knowing your customer.

Making this points-of-resistance list will take time and energy.  Did you really expect to be a success at selling without both of these commodities?

You have to read this.

In 2008 Oxford University, the genesis of the New Oxford Dictionary, made a study of “the most irritating, misused phrases and words in the English language.”  Are you guilty of using any of these?

“It’s not rocket science”
“It’s a nightmare”
“Absolutely”
“With all due respect”
“At this moment in time”
“Fairly unique”
“At the end of the day”
“Blogosphere”
“Bajillion”
“Bro”
“Tween”

Then Oxford University turned its literary attention to office clichés.  Are you ready?

“Team-building”
“Value-added”
“Grassroots”
“Low hanging fruit”
“Monetize”
“No brainer”

I don’t know about you but I am, with all due respect, guilty of these literary infractions!