by Paul Quinn | Jun 19, 2026 | Asking - Business, Asking - Empowerment, Asking - Entrepreneurs, Asking - Opportunities, Asking - Professional Development, Asking - Relationships
What happens when we trust our intuition and, despite obstacles, keep pursuing what it calls us to do? In my conversation with entrepreneur Sterling Lentz we explore that question—and the one “big ask” that carried him 8,000 miles from home. Sterling is...
by Paul Quinn | May 21, 2026 | Asking - Business, Asking - Empowerment, Asking - Professional Development, Asking - Workplace, Personal Development
Arriving in Denver one spring day, I wheeled my suitcase to the cabstand. The fare to my hotel, I learned, would be $70, so I opted to save $30 and take a multi-passenger van instead, the kind that stops at each passenger’s hotel. A purely frugal decision,...
by Paul Quinn | Feb 7, 2025 | Asking - Business, Asking - Professional Development, Asking - Workplace, Communication Skills, Workplace Etiquette
When it comes to making requests, we’re most persuasive face to face. Even when asking something of someone we don’t know, we’re 34 times more likely to get a yes in person than by email (phone calls are the next most persuasive). Trouble is, in the worlds...
by Paul Quinn | Oct 10, 2024 | Asking - Business, Asking - Professional Development, Asking - Workplace, Communication Skills
In an episode of the classic sitcom I Love Lucy, Lucy wants her husband, Ricky, to ask his boss. Mr. Littlefield, for a raise. Ricky dreads the idea. Lucy invites him to rehearse his “ask” with her, as if she were his boss. In the role play, the reluctant...
by Paul Quinn | Jan 24, 2023 | Asking - Business, Asking - Leadership, Asking - Professional Development, Asking - Workplace, Presentation Skills
After a morning coaching several McDonald’s presenters for a company-wide conference, I left the rehearsal room to grab some lunch. On my way back, an admin staffer informed me that Paul Schrage, then McDonald’s senior executive vice president and chief marketing...
by Paul Quinn | May 17, 2022 | Asking - Business, Asking - Cultural Attitudes, Asking - Professional Development, Asking - Social Impact, Asking - Workplace
A few years ago, after I gave a talk at Northeastern Illinois University on the subject of asking as a life skill, a student of Asian descent raised his hand and asked if I had any stories in my book from Asian people (at the time I didn’t). When I said no, he...
