The book, Stick with It: Mastering the Art of Adherence, describes how reinforcing rituals creates connections that ignite passion for any team or family. Rituals help ignite passion, which is one of three components in the Adherence Equation: For years, I have written personal “Letters from Dad” to my wife and each of my three…
The holiday season is hectic, so I will keep this post even shorter than usual. Here is my favorite poem that keeps things in perspective for me. I hope it does the same for you . . . Yesterday is History,Tomorrow is a Mystery,Today is a Gift,That’s why they call it the Present. May you…
My father was an artist, so we never purchased holiday cards. Instead, he painted this Dove of Peace. At the bottom right, he added in elegant, white script, "PEACE from The Colan Family." It became our family's signature holiday card for many years. So today I wish you peace in your heart, peace in your…
Although we look forward to the holidays, it can be a time of overwhelming stress at work and at home. This address given by Wallace A. Kennedy, Professor of Psychology at our alma mater, Florida State University, is powerful and practical. He was talking to the students of Maclay School in Tallahassee. One of their…
The holiday season rush, year-end crunch, New Year's expectations - they all place heavy demands on our minds and bodies. This acronym can help proactively manage your stress during the holidays or any other time: H.A.L.T. Avoid getting too: Hungry. This might sound goofy around the holidays, when you make good use of the extra hole in your belt, but…
Customer service initiatives tend to resurface with new packaging every so often as leaders re-learn the importance of the customer to their businesses. Although the environment changes, the fundamentals of leading a great organization have been stable for decades, and some would argue even centuries. For example, here is a poignant quote for today’s leader…
Here are 10 lessons Julie learned from her mom, Grace Davis. Julie shared these lessons at her mom's memorial service on Nov. 15, 1994, and we wanted to share them with you now: Always know how very special you are - God only made one of you. Believe in yourself.Make connections, touch lives. Everyone is important.Behave…
About 350 years ago, a shipload of travelers landed on the northeast coast of America. The first year, they established a town site. In the next year, they elected a town government. The third year, the town government planned to build a road five miles westward into the wilderness. In the fourth year, the people…
In an age when much more is being written than spoken, appreciation for the tone of the written word is being lost. For example, a typical cryptic text or email relies on emojis to communicate a serious, sarcastic, or playful tone. Even the craftiest emoji user loses subtle intended meaning. When you are speaking, the…
A few summers ago my family vacationed in beautiful St. Lucia. One of our adventures included climbing Gros Piton (meaning "Large Peak"). It was billed as a casual 2-hour hike to the peak at 2,619 feet. As the photo above shows, we quickly found out that it was more like climbing steep boulders. Think of it as a…
