A Great Lesson on Stress

A Great Lesson on Stress

I think everyone on the planet would agree that during the last two years our stress has increased. Exponentially. And in just about all areas of life. The Covid-19 pandemic impacted us all in lots of different ways. We’ve changed how we work, shop, parent, learn,...
Buckets and Dippers

Buckets and Dippers

Some time ago, while working with a company during their annual conference, the topic of “motivation” came up over dinner. It was a lively discussion with lots of opinions. The question — Can you truly motivate someone? — has been thrown around for, I’m sure, hundreds...
Arthur “Spud” Melin—American Role Model

Arthur “Spud” Melin—American Role Model

I bet very few of you have heard of Arthur “Spud” Melin, but I know all of us have seen his products. Many years ago, Spud and his boyhood friend Richard Knerr were raising falcons and training them to hunt.  They made wooden slingshots to hurl meat into the air...
Walking the Talk

Walking the Talk

We’ve all had at least one salesperson call us about life insurance. It is the product that just about everyone needs but no one wants to buy. I happen to love life insurance. When I initially started coaching, one of my first clients sold insurance, and I saw the...
What Do You Do for a Living?

What Do You Do for a Living?

As a part of growing one of my Vistage CEO peer advisory groups, I met with a prospective CEO to see if we were a right fit for each other. Before meeting with me, he said he wasn’t really interested in membership, but since we had so many relationships in common, he...
Leadership Lessons from the Basketball Court

Leadership Lessons from the Basketball Court

Basketball season is upon us. I’d like to consider the game for more than just its entertainment value. My favorite movie of all time is Hoosiers. I’ve seen it dozens of times, and it never gets old. Here’s the storyline: In 1951, washed-up college basketball coach...
The Father of the Veterans Day Parade

The Father of the Veterans Day Parade

The very first Veterans Day parade in the entire country happened right here in Birmingham. That’s remarkable, I know, but so is the story behind this accomplishment. It happened on November 11, 1947, thanks to a man named Raymond Weeks. Weeks was a Navy veteran from...
All Souls’ Day: 5 Regrets of the Dying

All Souls’ Day: 5 Regrets of the Dying

Today is All Souls’ Day. It’s the day many Catholics and other denominations dedicate to remembering deceased loved ones. It’s observed in a variety of ways, but regardless of whether it’s a somber occasion or more of a celebration like Día de los Muertos, it’s...
Getting Uncomfortable

Getting Uncomfortable

I recently was working with an executive manager who needed his salespeople to increase their social media presence professionally, especially on LinkedIn. The company invested in LI training, created instructions on how to set up a profile, shared best practices,...
Positively Optimistic

Positively Optimistic

There’s a lot wrong with the world right now. A global pandemic, for one thing. Division within our country over, well, all kinds of issues large and small. Wars and poverty and homelessness and inequality. But … there’s a lot that’s right about the world right now,...