Risky Hires: Wall Street Journal Circa 1997
I saved this article for 12 years, and who knows how much longer I’ll hang onto it. But I remember my dad giving this to me, or rather snail mailing it to me (I was probably just starting my job at Lilly). We all had inboxes growing up, from a very young age. In fact, [...]
My Man, Mitch (Mitch Daniels)
Some of you may know that I had the privilege of spending some of my early work years at some really solid companies–Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson. I have nothing but admiration for these excellent organizations, and appreciation for all the great relationships formed as well as exceptional training, learning, and development. There are [...]
Free Hugs
I saw this video about Juan Mann, and his simple desire to change the world in a small way by offering people free hugs, and at first I even scoffed at it. Cute, I thought, but maybe it’s a front. Initially skeptical yet intrigued. But then I did a little bit more reading and research [...]
Just Do It…And Do It Again, And Do It…
Art Williams is fairly legendary in the Direct Selling industry; he’s a strong leader, a normal “everyday guy” (who also happens to be #843 on Forbes list of “world’s billionaires”!) and delivered a really strong message twenty years back that still makes its rounds on YouTube. I know not everybody is going to agree with [...]
The Speed of Leadership
I used to hear someone constantly repeat this expression of “slowing down to the speed of wisdom.” I’m not sure why I disliked that saying so much, but I did. Maybe it was the way it was said (with a tad–a heaping and overfloweth tad–of self-righteousness), perhaps it just sounds so consultant-speake, and, quite likely, [...]
The Physicist in Sonoma
Recently I took a trip to Sonoma, California, one of my favorite places to visit–and even more so when my wife is with me. So in touring lots of wineries there’s a lot more than “does the wine taste good?” It includes the atmosphere, the staff, the process they use, their focus, and a lot [...]
Evening Session
What a great assembly of folks from Univera North America and Univera Korea. The evening is going to be wonderful — just check out the crowd gathering around Bill Lee!
Saturday Morning
Thank you to everyone who spoke at this morning’s session. From Km to Florasterol to Rhythmatix to L’Initie, I’m so excited that we got to bring these products to everyone.
Information-packed Friday Afternoon
Thank you to so many Field and Corporate leaders for giving of your time and effort these last two days to share your experiences, advice, and insight into building and sustaining a successful Univera business! To John Ryan, Glen & Reagan Hubbard, Harry Mathers, Kenny Rossi, Teresa Molina, Renee Poindexter, Dr. Mike Kaufman, Andre Bedard, [...]
It’s Showtime!
(keep checking this blog for more updates throughout the day, as I’m adding video as the day rolls out…here are a few clips so far). What an great morning it’s been here at the Convention Center! I can’t even describe the amazing energy this morning from everyone who attended our morning General Session. Our guest [...]
The Day Before!
Here we are, the day before the big event. Lots happened today. All the preparation moments absolutely flew by, it’s like we’re on a locomotive and can’t slow it down. But it’s all good, starting with a fabulous Diamond leadership meeting earlier today, some exceptionally run workshops this afternoon, followed by a lot of fun [...]
Univera Convention ’09: The Day Before!
Here we are. Seattle, 2009. Ten Years, One Truth. And it’s all coming together. Today’s my first of what will be a daily blog all around the events of the day and exciting things that are happening. Most of today’s entry is a VLOG, but some of the highlights included countless hours of preparation, store [...]
Another Life of a Leader
For whatever reason, I feel like a I read a lot of tributes–perhaps because there are always at least one or two in most issues of Business Week, Newsweek, The Week, and the WSJ. And it’s a different insight to look at the life of a person whose time has past. Reading this short [...]
Why Seattle???
Today I’m reposting a video from a year ago as we prepare for a really exceptional event in Seattle NEXT WEEK! June 26th and 27th (though the 70′s celebration band/bash starts on Thursday night the 25th, as well as some great workshops earlier that afternoon) we’re going to be celebrating Univera’s 10th year anniversary, learning [...]
A Random Update
This has been the longest I’ve gone for quite a while without a blog update. I’ve missed writing, and am also a bit embarrassed for the time that’s passed. So as I was thinking of blogging topics I thought better might be a quick highlights from the past week. So this particular entry isn’t focused [...]
Hard Work at a Cutting Edge
This article really humbled me, for a few simple reasons. I gained a real appreciation for some of the very hard work that people do across the world, in this case in the States, to make a living. At times I think I’ve worked pretty hard in my life. And then I read an article [...]
Diversification
Here’s a great article about diversification…But not the traditional kind. It’s not like buying small, mid, and large cap stocks and seeing them all decline. Or Int’l and domestic funds and seeing them tank too. Or even diversifying into Real Estate and watching that crater. Side note: don’t sweat too much those who have [...]
Just In Case…
…you missed it and you’re a Univera associates (or interested in making some extra money), here’s a replay. Normally, I reserve my blog for topics related to leadership, service, and wellness–mixed in with some personal stories. Yet so much of my life is Univera and the related activities spillover continually–and this is one [...]
27 Years
“During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which [...]
Genius: The Modern View
Why do we love the “underdog” story? Susan Boyle. “Mine that Bird” (Derby this weekend). Slumdog Millionaire (brilliant fictional drama). To some degree, I think it’s because it represents more of “us.” Where we think we are, and what we hope to someday do or be. But the reality is that we’re less than an [...]
Energy (UPDATED WITH PICTURES!)
Starting this weekend I’m going to do a multi-part series of posts over the next week on Servant Leadership, specifically as it relates to some of the lessons I learned from my trips to Kolkata, India. Originally, I was going to start the series today, but today, after our most recent Univera Celebration Cruise I’ve [...]
Incredible, Neal Boyd
I said I couldn’t do three reality show blog entries in a row, so I broke it up with the Road Tour highlights. So here it is, for my third (but not consecutive) and possibly final reality show blog entry here is Neal Boyd (thanks to Mary Lou Kaiser for this reco). And what I [...]
One Last Look…
I know what you’re thinking… “Hey, Raz has yet another one of those Susan Boyle/Paul Potts videos for us.” Well, actually I do but not for today. Though as I’m on it, there’s another really great video with a super touching story about an American guy who has a special relationship with his mom and [...]
And to Paul Potts, too
So with all the fanfare with Susan Boyle and her amazing performance on “Britain’s Got Talent”, and my many many views of her performance in the last few days (to the point that my wife is teasing me), I’ve become captured with a few other great stories ofnormal people doing exceptional things that have been [...]