Trying to close a deal? Get a commitment from a big donor? Or, just build a stronger connection with someone? The most critical time for achieving that goal may be the ten minutes before you talk about business.

Nobody is doing more to add to our knowledge of the irrational side of human behavior than Dan Ariely. Not only does he conduct experiments that are elegant in their simplicity, but he writes about his work and that of other researchers in…

One of my all-time favorite TV commercials is the classic 1990 United Airlines spot that shows a manager distributing plane tickets to the sales staff so they can visit their customers in person. This was filmed in the days before email…