“Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming…”
I love movies; someday I’d like to write some screenplays, or even produce a movie. Likely, this is among the (too many) things I dream about but will never get around to doing. If only I had 10 lives, or even get by on a few hours sleep each night, then perhaps. But, for now, [...]
A Little Help from My Friends
“Correction does much. But encouragement does more.” -Goethe I have blogitis again. The origins of which are complicated, but the clinical presentation is always the same: an absence of compelling blog posts. But from last week up until just an hour ago, three people sparked me to blog right now about, well, what’s compelling me [...]
Fedora Wearing Poetry Guy
Amongst the longest of all hiatuses, it’s finally time to resume writing. Lots has changed in my life in the last few months, though I’ll save my personal update and whereabouts for another blog entry. But as a result it’s put me majorly behind my writing eight-ball. Because I’ve been traveling all day and the [...]
Can You Be Coached?
Last night I had the opportunity to speak/facilitate a small group discussion around Coachability and Listening. So the guys didn’t need to take notes, I promised I’d circulate the culmination of ideas and discussion points captured as we shared the dialogue. I thought it might be a good blog entry, so decided to simply publish [...]
Goodbye, Univera
As many of you now know, yesterday with the internal team and today with the entire external field organization I announced publicly my resignation from Univera as the CEO of International. I’ll be wrapping up my time at Univera through the end of May. I have nothing but the greatest things to say about my [...]
Happy 5th Birthday Buddy
Here’s my annual disclaimer: The reason I write in my blog is to connect with people. Not just from one segment of life, but from many. Usually the focus revolves around finding your purpose, passion, and renewal. And as part of the thread of stories I try to share experiences and observations in leadership, volunteerism, [...]
Jake Shimabukuro
A simple song brings a simple message. Find your passion. Watch this guy, Jake Shimabukuro, play the Uke and ask yourself if this guy isn’t just amazingly passionate about what he does? With 50-years of training, I couldn’t do what he just did on this YouTube video. But, the point is that he couldn’t do [...]
I Hate Museums
Okay, that opening title is a bit dramatic. First, as my wife reminds the kids–and me–we don’t HATE anything. Second, even if I DID hate something, I don’t REALLY hate museums. At least not all of them, just certain kinds. But what was valuable is that I learned something this week about myself. And, Pascal [...]
Coachability
Here’s a short entry that, I believe, is a key success factor in life…Maybe one of the success factors for YOUR life. And this will also help me break my complete absence of blog posts in the last ten days. I also read the leadership books, magazines, listen to the stories and the speakers, and [...]
From NBA to Mayor of Detroit
When he reached retirement age, Dave Bing got himself a job he never wanted. Mayor of Detroit? He wanted no part of it. “I really didn’t want him to do it,” his wife, Yvette, says. “None of us wanted him to do it,” adds one of his three daughters, Cassaundra. For years Bing’s old Syracuse [...]
3 Rules of Success
A great drill down into THREE SIMPLE RULES for success. Too often we overcomplicate. Thanks, William Green, for breaking it down… “I’m a proud plumber’s son from Western Massachusetts. In my family, working with tools is the highest honor. It isn’t how many degrees you have. It’s what you can do. So that had a [...]
Happy New Year! Now, Let’s Just DO IT!
I used to scoff a bit at the New Year’s resolutions. But no more… Everybody needs a “restart.” It’s one of the things that made high school or college so great; every year, or ever Semester, you got a do-over. But once you get into working adulthood, the do-overs are a LOT less frequent, and [...]
The October Road Tour: LA, PHX, CHI
I had so much fun on the road the last week of October, and even since then so much has happened–including a SOLD OUT EBI in Lacey w/ nearly 300 attending the Corporate Office, along with a road show this week where we’ve been to about 20 cities. I am sitting in the Seattle airport [...]
Slow Food, Slow Money
Those of you who’ve been checking in with me through my blog over the last two years are probably aware of my ongoing personal mission to achieve better health not only through regular exercise but also through good food choices (btw, I said it’s a “mission”, I’m nowhere near the destination!). I’m a fan of [...]
The Fun Theory
Contrary to the title of this entry, I don’t think it’s a very deep or profound concept at all that people like to do things that are fun. When you’re able to take onerous chores and tasks and make them fun, everyone wins. I found this contest that the Volkswagen company is running called ‘The [...]
Leadership Lesson from WHO?
A symphony. Specifically a conductor of a symphony. I didn’t think it’d pique my interest, but two minutes turned into five into ten turned into the 23 minute lesson which I’ve thought about quite a few times this evening. It’s a great lesson. Entertaining. Thought provoking. Educational. Inspirational. Convicting. I think in each of us [...]
Winning Big in a Down Economy
It’s tough to win big in business even in a good economy. It’s competitive and challenging, but it sure is easier in a boom marketplace than in a down economy. There’s never been a more difficult business environment in most our lifetimes than what we’ve experienced this past year. But what IF, in a down [...]
A Great Fall Weekend at Xpand Your Business
You could not ask for a better place to spend this past October weekend than at the Alderbrook Resort in Union, Wash., reveling in the great achievements of our newest Gold and Platinum Associates this past year. Between enjoying the crisp, cool fall air, the turning colors of the trees, and the magnificent view of [...]
Do what you Love, Love what you Do
I get inspired watching someone who is an expert at whatever they do, doing it and doing it well. And it is simply icing on the cake when it is clear that they also love their jobs. Jack Borden is a 101-year-old attorney. He clearly doesn’t need to continue practicing law at his age, but [...]
10 Tips from Happy People
This one requires little intro or explanation. 10 Tips from Happy People Are you happy? It’s a simple question, but with numerous variables underlying it. What makes someone happy? Is there more than one route to happiness and more than one way to measure it? If you’re an economist or a social scientist, you may [...]
Without a Job
Purpose, a feeling of belonging, “doing what you’re destined to be doing.” It’s interesting in that, the current economic environment, while making I expect all of us more content with the blessings we have, has also prompted a question about the meaning and purpose behind what we’re doing. Is it meaningful? Making an impact? Of [...]
With Dad Laid Off…New York Times
This “With Dad Laid Off” New York Times article one isn’t easy to read, partly because it’s so familiar. And while reading it I was reminded of a quote “When one person dies it’s a tragedy, when thousands die it’s a statistic.” I don’t think the current economic environment is quite as difficult as death, though [...]
The Real Heroes are Dead
There are certain people that I think about at least every month who have made an impact on my life, what I think, and who I am–from those who are close to me and others are famous figures. Some are obvious, like my family. The next genre, perhaps, is unsurprising. People like Levi, Mother Teresa, [...]