Concepts to Remember

1. Understand the distinction between

   • Collaboration and conflict

   • Collaboration and compromise

   • Collaboration and competition

   • Power and control

   • Power and strength

2. Avoid committing any of the Seven Deadly Sins of PLOP:

   • Persecuting or mistreating others

   • Gossip, rumor-mongering, or back stabbing

   • Personalizing events or the actions of others

   • Saying yes when you really mean no

   • Arrogance

   • Whining

   • Always needing to be right

3. Set boundaries around those who demonstrate the Seven Deadly Sins toward you.

4. Work to understand the style and motivation of others.

5. Practice communicating clearly—not just your intentions, but how what you say is received.

6. Practice integrity, always.

7. Always focus on the real issues, not on blame.

8. Focus, too, on what is best for the future.

9. When receiving feedback, listen and learn.

10. When delivering feedback, use the Oreo cookie approach.

11. Listen up:

    • Don’t interrupt.

    • Always show respect (even when you disagree).

    • Pay attention to what is being said and how it is being said.

12. Know your boss’s objectives and your company’s objectives, and make a contribution.

13. Fight only your own battles, and choose them wisely.