Words of Wisdom

What Will Your Legacy Be?

This post is about what kind of legacy you would like to leave. The following are excerpts from the speech I gave about my father at his celebration of life ceremony after his death. It addresses the legacy he left me. I offer it in hope that it will ...

The Importance of How We Communicate Non-Verbally

This post is about exploring many different forms of communication and the importance of our non-verbal communication. I recall the year that we had visitors at our home from France, One of our guests didn’t speak English, and my French is very elementary, so it was challenging to communicate. I ...

The Miracle of Renewal and Suggestions for How To Do It At Work

I remember reading about the explosion of Mt. St. Helens here in Oregon that took place in 1980 and the regeneration that has occurred since then. On that day all those years ago, a column reaching 15 miles above the Earth pumped out volcanic ash for more than nine hours ...

The Value and Necessity of Succession Planning

This post is about the importance of succession planning. Succession planning is the process one goes through to determine who in your organization could take your place and putting a plan together to insure your replacements development. When you do succession planning, you’ve managed to hire and develop someone ...

Understanding The Concept of Ubuntu – A Road Map For How Life Should be Lived

This post was inspired by an article I read in The New York Times about the concept of ubuntu. In the small, faraway village of Maqongqo, South Africa, a school principal named Rita Mkhize is proud to talk about the concept of “ubuntu,” which in Zulu means “We are ...

How Joy Regenerates Us

Yesterday, after so many days of grey skies, hard rain and the kind of wet cold that you can never warm, the sun came out. There was not a cloud in the sky. I went outside. I stood in the sunlight. I took my first deep breath in days. ...

The Benefits of Having a Hobby

Recently, I was thinking about the benefits of having a hobby. Frankly, the idea has never appealed to me before. Maybe it’s just the word hobby. My only association with it is hobby horse, which also did not sound very desirable. Maybe it’s because no one in my immediate ...

Why We Hate To Be Wrong and Letting Go of Rightness

I think it’s safe to say that none of like to be wrong. I think this trait is pretty universal. Something in our nature finds being wrong painful and hard to get over. As often happens, just as I was thinking about this topic, I happened upon a newspaper ...

An Inspiring Poem about Abe Lincoln

In celebration of the 4th of July weekend, I am sending a poem about Abraham Lincoln that I particularly like, written by Vachel Lindsay. Lincoln Would I might rouse the Lincoln in you all, That which is gendered in the wilderness From lonely prairies and God’s tenderness. Imperial soul, ...

How To Conserve Your Energy at Work

This post is about good ways to conserve your energy at work and ways to renew yourself. In an issue of the “Harvard Business Review,” Tony Schwartz, the CEO of the Energy Project, published an article titled “The Productivity Paradox: How Sony Pictures Gets More Out of People by ...

The Benefits of Mini-Vacations

This post is about balancing work life and personal life. I’ve often gone on vacation only to find myself more stressed than refreshed when I return. Vacation has more to do with a state of mind and how we spend our time than with how much time we take ...

Praise For The Capable

This post comes from my good friend and former client Jan Foster. It’s a poem for all the capable people out there who every once in awhile dream about being irresponsible, unpredictable and a little bit bad. A Prayer for the Capable And as you stand there On time ...

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