The Best Way to Be Authentic, Even Within a System

Several years ago, Cindy and I were leading a group through a fairly in depth study of John Maxwell’s Everyone Communicates, Few Connect when one of the folks in the group expressed concern about how applying the five principles and five practices outlined in the book could be viewed as...

Continue Reading...
More than Readin’, Ritin’ & 'Rithmetic!

It seems like for every year older I get, there’s at least a half dozen new tasks that are added to my daily routine! While that may not actually be the case, I’m guessing you can relate in one way or another… And what if we’ve accepted responsibility for leading others?...

Continue Reading...
The Importance of SOP’s

Building on what we looked at last time about our cultural obsession with productivity, I’ll share an example of something I learned as I was working to implement Lean Manufacturing initiatives in the facility I worked at for nearly twenty years…

We all tend to have our own way of...

Continue Reading...
How to be More Productive - at Work or at Home!

One of the first things I saw the other morning as I checked my LinkedIn notifications was a post from a friend who has a whole bunch of children, many of whom he and his wife adopted, showing the clean and organized kitchen he came home to the evening before. Now even if you’re single and...

Continue Reading...
Don’t Make Jack a Dull Boy...

Through the last several posts, we’ve been working through the importance of enjoying each step of the journey rather than resting on the hope that fulfillment will come once we reach that ever so important goal we’re chasing. I even used the last post to share an example of just how...

Continue Reading...
LA via Omaha...

If you were a fan of the late Charlie Daniels, the subject line of this message may ring a bell. While I often reference my taste for guitar solo-laden tunes by 80’s hair bands, I always enjoyed CDB (the Charlie Daniels Band), not to be confused with all the hype today around CBD - although...

Continue Reading...
Control the Effort We Put In!

As we consider each area that we can take responsibility for controlling that we’ve worked through to this point, there’s one thing that ties back to every single one… And without being very intentional about how we control this final thing, the control we’ve assumed for...

Continue Reading...
The Hardest Person You’ll Ever Have To Lead Is...

Before I dive into how we can handle the hardest person any of us will ever have to lead, I want to share a link to a video I posted on our social media channels a few hours ago calling attention to the amazing work that’s done by the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and why we’re so excited...

Continue Reading...
Kind and Reassuring, or They’ll Disappear!

Unlike the last two groups we looked at who like to see things moving along fast, this more Reserved group won’t appreciate being rushed through the process - especially when tension is building! While we can expect confrontation from the DRIVEN group and often a sarcastic comment (or...

Continue Reading...
Doing It and Making Sure It’s Done Are Two Very Different Things!

In the last blog, I shared a story with you that still makes me squirm a bit. It seemed like every minute of every day was packed as full as I could possibly handle. From the time I walked in my office, usually around 6a, until I left for the evening around 6:30 or 7p, I ran as hard as I could...

Continue Reading...