A Father’s Letter to His Sons

A Father’s Letter to His Sons

With Father’s Day coming up, I decided to write a letter to my sons about how to play the “man game.” I call it the “man game,” but, really, being the best man you can possibly be is serious business. I wanted to write down my advice right now in case God pulls my...
Vacation

Vacation

Summer’s here, and it’s time again to go somewhere with your family/friends and do something fun away from the office. I recently had an executive confide in me that he hated to go on vacation! It’s not that he didn’t want to be with his family and his friends. It was...
The Story of Two Wolves

The Story of Two Wolves

I recently attended the 58th annual Greater Birmingham Mayors’ Prayer Breakfast. It’s held on the first Thursday in May each year, which also happens to be the National Day of Prayer. At the local event, mayors from around the Birmingham area come together to promote...
Company Culture

Company Culture

As we discussed in our “When Too Much is Not a Good Thing” blog, these days, employees often have the upper hand. Labor shortages mean they can ask for more (pay, benefits, flexibility, etc.) and they expect more from their companies in other ways, too. They want to...
When Too Much is Not a Good Thing

When Too Much is Not a Good Thing

Recently a manager came to me for career advice. He had worked at a well-respected company for more than a decade. While this company was not one of my clients, I knew he had enjoyed working there. But now he was deeply unhappy.  Over the last couple of years,...
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...