When I was a teenager, I’d never heard of the concept of ‘mental health.’ I didn’t know there was such a thing. Occasionally someone’s parent would be rumoured to have had a ‘nervous breakdown’ but it was only hinted at, and the parent in question was just gone (to the hospital? The Gulag?) for a […]
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Little things matter. Like being nice. Recently the pastor of my church resigned and took a different assignment. He was with our church for 15 years and had many long-term relationships. Just before leaving he made the remark that all of the notes of thanks and encouragement he received after he announced his resignation were
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I took some of this past week with my wife to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We’ve been married 26 years. Or possibly 27. Could be 28. We’re not really sure. You know you have an old love when you aren’t really sure and neither of you really cares. Just so long as we get to
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The average teenager spends about 1/3 of their time with friends. Hanging out at school, after school, playing sports, or just whatever. One of my earliest friends (Reade) and I used to ‘ride around’ endlessly as young adolescents. We’d just meet in our little town and ride our bikes all day, doing various things along
Real Friends Or Just Work Friends? Read More »
Awhile ago I joined an executive team as they went horseback riding for the afternoon. When I facetimed home that evening to say hi to the family, my teenager’s response was, “Is the horse okay?” Little did I know that I would learn some valuable leadership lessons from Ol’ Paint. The truth is, he didn’t
Leadership Lessons From A Very Old Horse Read More »
How many times have you said, “ENOUGH! I’m changing everything!” And then you ate only buffalo tongues for 3 weeks or piled everything in the garage in a heap in the middle of the floor to finally get it organized, or marched into work and said “From now on, everything’s changing in this department,” only
The Right Way To Make Change in Your Life and Business Read More »
I read a book this month that reminds me that gratitude is the foundation of a healthy life. The book is called: “Nothing to Envy” by Barbara Demick, a journalist living in South Korea. In the book, she documents the stories of North Koreans who have escaped and requested asylum in South Korea. The title
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The Dunning Kruger effect is attributed to two psychologists from Cornell who did some research that uncovered results that are both humorous and unsurprising (to me): many people think they are great even though their work results are terrible. How the Dunning Kruger effect was discovered In 1996, Macarthur Wheeler walked into a Pittsburgh bank
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In 1938, Harvard University began a study that has now gone on for 80 years. They studied, “what makes a good life?” Only 19 of the original 500 cohort are still alive, but the study has branched out included their offspring as well. The original group studied was all male (yes, even Harvard professors were
How Good Relationships Make You Live Longer Read More »
In the past few weeks I’ve been approached or contacted by various people with a really tough question: What do you do if your boss isn’t an A player? Or if you have more ability or leadership skill than your boss? What if your boss is just an old fashioned jerk? It happens, believe me
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