As a young man, Dr. Seuss was bullied over race and religion. As an adult Dr. Seuss wanted to write a book that would send a message to children (and anyone else who read it) that all of us are equal. The book he wrote is called The Sneetches. The book Sneetches is about the […]
“A lot of problems in the world would disappear if we talk to each other instead of about each other.” Misunderstandings, hurt feelings, anger, frustration, sadness….so many of these negative emotions all stem from the fact that two people don’t talk to each other about things. It happens in the workplace, it happens in friendships, […]
I was recently interviewed for the Erin Stewart Radio Show. We did the interview over the phone so I was curious as to how it would go but she asked me some really great questions during the interview and I appreciated what a good job she did as the host of the show. The interview […]
I feel like a five year old kid on Christmas Eve night! I am so excited for tomorrow that I am jumping out of my skin! MY SON COMES HOME TOMORROW! After two LOOOONNNNGGGG years of only being able to write him once a week and only being able to talk to him on Christmas […]
Throughout my career I have encountered many people in the business world: Some are honest and good, and some are not. The most important thing to recognize is this – when someone shows you who they are through their actions and their behavior – BELIEVE THEM! If someone has shown a track record of honesty […]
All of us have days we struggle. Most of us have days when we just don’t feel as happy as we would like to feel. We get anxious or stressed or discouraged some days. There is a treatment method that Psychiatrists use to help people who are struggling with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and a […]
“Genius is the ability to reduce the complicated to the simple.” C. W. Ceran I consider myself to be a somewhat intelligent person, but when someone explains a new concept to me in terms that are overly complex and unfamiliar, I struggle to easily grasp it. To learn a new concept, I need things described […]
So much to do, and not nearly enough hours in the day to do it. I get so frustrated when I work my guts out all day only to come to the end of the day feeling like I have barely scratched the surface of what I needed to get done. When that happens day […]
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. […]
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of it.” -Victor Hugo Do you remember back to when you were a kid? When you blew out the birthday candles to make a wish with the belief that it would actually come true? Or when you pinned a towel to your shoulders and played […]
It is a fact of life that we cannot control what other people do. We can’t make someone else act with integrity, or make someone else do the right thing, and we can’t make someone else be a good person. All we can really control in life is ourselves. When someone else does something bad […]
As a business leader, one of the many lessons I learned was that employees often viewed the world around them in ways that were completely different from what was actually going on. I observed time and time again employees who interpreted something one way when the reality was actually totally different. I learned that when […]
I was down sick again today, but I wanted to share a story with you that I came across a few years ago that touched my life in a major way. I shared the story years ago in a company blog, but I am reposting it again today for all of you to read as […]
I am in New York City this week to attend the Women Moving Millions Conference, a conference to bring together charities which focus on helping women succeed. The conference was assembled to allow these charities to discuss best practices and share ideas of what things are the most effective to help women. I am here […]
September 11th is always a tough day to write my blog because there is so much emotion when I think back to that day in 2001. I can remember exactly where I was standing when I saw the news station as it showed the tower that the first airplane had flown into, and I remember […]
I was interviewed on Real Recognition Radio by Roy Saunderson and S. Max Brown and the episode aired earlier today. During the interviewed we discussed questions such as: Are there differences in the way men and women lead? What makes a great leader? How important is communication in a company? How to build a culture? How to […]
Do you ever feel like you are suffocating at the very thought of trying to get everything done that you need to? Yeah, I pretty much feel like that every day of my life I have decided. And yeah, yeah, I know, try to delegate more and say yes to less and cut out the […]
“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.” – Stephen Hawking When an individual believes they know all the answers, they shut themselves down from the possibility that there is more they might learn on a subject. They limit themselves from experiencing personal growth and gaining intelligence. They are […]
I have a great story to share with you today – it is a story that was shared with me tonight and it totally inspired me to want to GET MY SPARKLE ON! Hopefully sharing it with you will inspire you to GET YOUR SPARKLE ON too! Going into this school year my daughter set a goal for herself […]
When my kids were little time-out at our house consisted of sending the kids to sit in the “happy chair” where they would have to stay until they were able to be happy again. Our “happy chair” was a bright yellow chair with a sunshine and happy kids painted on it – all designed to […]
Attracting the best and the brightest people to join your company is the goal of any good leadership team, but finding those people requires serious creativity in your recruiting efforts. Typically the strongest talent out there is going to be gainfully employed somewhere else. So the challenge becomes finding the people who are not out […]
When someone isn’t performing well at their job; or when they aren’t the right fit for a particular position; or when their personality isn’t a match for the company culture, one of the biggest disservices you can do to them is to not tell them the truth. As a CEO, I found that one of […]
Life is full of unexpected events, changes, and uncertainty. Sometimes those changes are exciting and wonderful, and sometimes they are devastating, painful and hard. C.S. Lewis is my favorite author. I have learned many important life lessons by reading his books. One of his quotes that has helped me tremendously as I have dealt with […]
When is the last time you allowed fear of failure to stop you from doing something? I love the quote in today’s title: “Instead of worrying about failure imagine what you miss out on by deciding to not even try.” I love it because it is so simple yet so impactful. It’s true, when you […]
Nothing can lift the spirits of a crowd faster than putting on some great music and having an impromptu dance party! The last few days I have been attending a Girls Camp for the Young Women in our church group ages 13-17 and after a long, hot, uphill hike, the girls were worn out and […]
Every day we hear of amazing new business ideas that some enterprising entrepreneur stumbled on and we find ourselves saying, “I wish I would have thought of that!” That comment is typically followed by a few moments of deep thought as we look in the deep recesses of our minds to see if that next […]
This week we celebrate the Fourth of July, a day to celebrate Independence and Freedom for all people. July 4th, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by Congress. What an amazing event in the history of the world. And how much has taken place since that day. According to the US Census […]
People ultimately choose to do business with people they like, and everyone likes someone who appreciates them. I once read a quote by the ever so brilliant writer known as Anonymous. It states, “People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.” […]
Today I was reminded of the importance of the smallest kind act: a simple smile, holding the door open for someone, saying hello, giving a compliment, lending a hand, being a friend. So many times we think to ourselves that we want to be a good person and do something kind for someone, yet when we […]
By the time I finish a long day of work my mind is pretty shot and my A.D.D. meds have started to wear off for the day – inevitably there always comes a point each evening where that combination leads to no chance of my being able to sit still and focus. Tonight I had […]
