Assertiveness Skills

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Is It a Religious Contradiction to be Confrontational?

Some people think it might be contradictory to their faith to be confrontational. In this lesson, Glenn explains how being confrontational is not in conflict with most religious teachings.

Why You Need to Learn How to Handle Conflict the Right Way

Good leaders understand that in order to be an effective manager, your employees don’t have to like you. But they do have to respect you, and they won’t respect you if you’re a doormat that lets everyone walk all over you. Nor will they respect you if you’re an authoritarian jerk who walks all over everyone else.

Reading Hand Gestures

Being able to read other people’s body language helps reveal what they’re really thinking, and helps you understand how to best deal with them. In this video, Glenn explains how to read hand gestures.

Reading Eye Contact

Being able to read other people’s body language helps reveal what they’re really thinking, and helps you understand how to best deal with them. In this video, Glenn explains how eye contact affects the message you're sending.

Why You Shouldn’t Feel Guilt for Getting Your Way

When two people in a peer-to-peer relationship like a marriage want different things and a win-win scenario isn’t possible, compromise is important. But there are times when neither is an option, and one person will get everything they want while the other will get nothing. In this lesson, Glenn addresses whether you should feel guilty if you’re the one that gets everything.

Is It Ever Too Late to Change?

If you have been a doormat who shied away from all conflict in the past, or an authoritarian jerk who walked all over people and created unnecessary conflict, is it ever too late to change? Watch this video to see Glenn’s explanation.

Power Robbing Phrase #1

It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it. In this video, Glenn explains why and when apologizing can actually be a bad thing.

Power Robbing Phrase #3

This one is especially important for managers. Make the mistake of using it, and you could be inadvertently signaling your employees that you expect them to let you down.

Power Robbing Phrase #2

There’s a big difference between not having a strong opinion on something, and not caring about something. In this lesson. Glenn explains how your answer to a question as simple as “Where would you like to go for lunch?” can cost you credibility.

Power Robbing Phrase #4

How you phrase a task says less about your obligation to perform that task, and more about how you feel about doing it. For example, would you say “I have to go to Hawaii for a conference”, or “I get to go to Hawaii for a conference”?

Power Robbing Phrase #6

You don’t need people’s permission to ask people a question. Yet it’s amazing how many people talk as if they do.

Power Robbing Phrase #5

People often make excuses for not having done what they need to do by using this phrase. While you shouldn’t do this as a manager, it’s equally important to make sure team members who report to you don’t do it.

When You Have a Moral Obligation to Face Conflict

Even if you’d prefer to avoid conflict and can do so without hurting your own credibility, sometimes you have a moral imperative to step up for others. In this example, Glenn tells the story of a soldier who risked his own career to do the right thing, even though he was told not to by his superiors in the U.S. Army.

Why “Smile, Smile, Smile” Can be Bad Advice

We’ve all been taught to smile. But in this lesson, Glenn explains when smiling can actually hurt you.

Why Cowards Love Social Media

This piece explores how hiding behind screens replaces direct conversation, encourages passive aggression, and weakens real-world assertiveness skills. Over time, people get better at posting and worse at speaking up, setting boundaries, and handling conflict face-to-face.

Being assertive does not mean attacking or ignoring others’ feelings. It means that you are willing to stand up for yourself fairly, without attacking others.

Confidence is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets.

Every time we speak, we choose and use one of four basic communication styles: Assertive, Aggressive, Passive-Aggressive, or Passive.

Assertiveness is your ability to act in harmony with your self-esteem without hurting others.