One of the signs of wisdom is the ability to apply what we've learned to the different facets of our lives.

For example, the negotiation skills you've been learning in our workshops and also in our recent articles can become an integral part of, and enhance your interactions outside the negotiation room. After all, in essence, they are skills that are bedrocked in emotional intelligence - in awareness, in the ability to adapt, and in empathy.   

To assist you in transferring and integrating those negotiation skills to other settings, this month we're asking you to assess the overall interactions you had with others last year with an eye to uncovering the areas that need reinforcing or change. Our article asks a number of questions designed to give you valuable insights.

The insights will serve you well, because in February we'll be launching a series of articles reflecting the newest in Change Practices. To do justice to this topic, we need to explore what drives human behaviour - what causes us to embrace and/or resist change, and so on. After all, it is said that the only universal constant is change. Truly, one of life's great ironies.

We are choosing this as a theme because I am nearing the end of a two-year investment in pursuing a second Master's Degree: an Executive Master in Consulting and Coaching for Change. I have had the privilege of participating in this program at the world-leading global business school called INSEAD (pronounced IN-SAY-AD), based in France, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi, with partner universities in China, Europe, and the US. INSEAD is little known in North America, but famous in the rest of the world.

This has given me the opportunity to be at the forefront of some of the best information the world has to offer about change - and more broadly, about what drives human behaviour. Even more, it has given me the great privilege of being able to pass that knowledge on to you.

Happy New Year! I trust that many of you had a chance to slow down and reconnect with family and friends over the holiday season. Here's wishing you a fruitful year in 2016, full of growth and gratitude.