A Tribute to Dad and Excellence

Dove of Peace painting

I sit in my ergonomic office chair gazing out my window at a beautiful tree line. It’s a welcomed mental break from considering a particular client’s challenge and outlining a new book. My eyes catch my favorite painting of my father’s, the Dove of Peace, neatly placed under an arched window. This painting makes me…

The 1 Sure-fire Way to Ignite Your Team’s Passion

Engaging the heart tends to be more challenging for leaders than engaging the mind. It's the softer side of leadership, and it's harder to get your head around. Traditional leadership development programs don't emphasize the skills necessary to engage employees' hearts. As a result, most leaders tend to be less comfortable with this side of…

Bowling Alley One-liners

Bowling

With two kids home from college and a full family of five back in the nest, we have been enjoying several family activities to kick off the summer.  One of them included a trip to the new bowling alley on a rainy day this past weekend. The genius bowling alley designers decided to help players pass…

2 Uncommon Responses to Tough Times

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Leading a business through the inevitable roller coaster of change has plenty of challenges. Organizational change is just a concept. Organizations do not change - individuals change. If enough individuals change then you start to reap the benefits of organizational change. Here are two common vs. effective responses to tough times. Control vs. Involvement The…

4 Steps to Motivate Millennials

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My late father grew up in southern Italy. I remember him singing Italian songs, particularly this one, O Sole Mio (My Sun). He loved the Three Tenors, but now there is a new generation or young talent with their own twist on this classic. Three Italian teen boys called Il Volo are enthralling a new…

My Surcee

A surcee (sir’-chee) is a small unexpected gift.  It’s a southern word that is infrequently written but spoken by my dear friend, the late Jan Miranda.  Jan always brought a token of friendship to our lunches.  Little did I know that the Monday before her passing, we would share our last lunch, precious conversation and…

Live Your Legacy

kite

Stop worrying about leaving your legacy and start living it. You don't have to become an industrial baron and make a billion dollars to live a life of significance. All you have to do is share the resources you now have. However insignificant you may think they are, your resources are often of greater value…

3 Steps to Move through Adversity

Sharks

Adversity is not reserved for day-time soap operas. Even the most fortunate of us has experienced adversity of some type: loss of job, health problems, failed relationships, disappointments at work, financial difficulties, death of loved ones, etc. We intentionally used the word move since adversity has an uncanny knack of paralyzing us. If we do…