Lessons to Live & Work By

“DON’T SPEAK TO ME IN THAT TONE OF VOICE!” This is a clear message, isn’t it? You’re reading it, yet you know it’s a reprimand. How about these… “The interaction we had was productive. I welcome the opportunity to address new issues on a future date convenient to...

Can you think of a colleague who punches the clock on time but daydreams the hours away. Or a kid who shows up for school every day but makes museum-quality doodles during class? How about someone who goes to the gym routinely but doesn’t work hard enough to break a...

Have you heard this phrase: “Do as I say, not as I do.” I sure have, and it makes me shake my head every time. This dictate never works for long. Here’s a story that teaches a lesson about the importance of behavioral congruence. That’s a phrase which means “there is...

Doesn’t it amaze you that two people doing the same job can affect vastly different results for an organization? Even though job responsibilities are the same, they can pull an organization together, or they can dismantle it one interaction at a time. I was a longtime...

Let’s imagine you’re scheduled for surgery. The operating room has been prepared for your procedure. The room is cool, brightly lit, clean and organized. All instruments are sterilized and laid out on a tray the way the surgeon prefers. All monitoring equipment is...

You’re enjoying a delicious bowl of hot, flavorful soup at your favorite restaurant. As you enjoy spoonful after spoonful, you suddenly discover hair in your mouth, and it’s not yours. You stop chewing immediately, swish your tongue around to locate it, poke around...

One of my first summer jobs was waitressing at a local well-known hotel chain. Though the establishment closed long ago, I will always remember the staff: the condescending owner who was a masterful humiliator, the bartender whose sense of humor was miserably twisted,...

For many years, there was a regional director of operations who sporadically visited communities in her territory of the country. I could tell what state she was in because I’d get frantic calls from her teams, scrambling to make sure all their marketing materials...

Imagine two attractively wrapped gift boxes. Color schemes are striking. Bows are shaped well. Corners are crisp. Tape is discreet. They both look good. Upon opening, one box contains rich, perfectly shaped truffles, each sprinkled with edible gold shavings, dusted...

Credentials are impressive. A few letters at the end of a name look prestigious. Fancy titles are impressive, too. They command authority when read. However, no amount of letters at the end of your name or no lofty title will serve you well if you are leaning on them...

It takes a minority of only 5% to influence the direction of a group. The other 95% follow without even realizing it. So when one employee is disgruntled, negative, combative or manipulative, it is possible for that singular individual to ruin a team’s morale or to...

Buying a car is one of the tasks in a lifetime I would rather do via mail order. Or instead, maybe hire someone to handle the transaction for me! Like many people, just thinking about dealing with car salesmen makes me shudder. Recently, I approached a dealer in...

Let’s say you’re the brains of your operation. You’re the bright mind behind the monitor. Or the strategic wizard in the conference room. Or the innovative thinker in the lab. Naturally, you’re invested in the success of your product/service. And you believe no one...

Defined, “ivory tower” is seclusion or remoteness of attitude regarding real problems, everyday life, etc. When the executive leaders of a business isolate themselves from the daily goings-on of what it takes to keep their business flourishing, they set a tone of...

When I was a kid, I was playing with friends on my neighbor’s lawn. Toys—including a golf club and ball—were strewn all over the grass. In the flash of a moment, another neighborhood kid picked up that golf club, teed up the ball, swung with every bit of his strength...

It’s hard to believe a lightweight rope tied to a stake can confine an elephant to a small perimeter. A creature that weighs about 7,000 tons could pull that stake up in an instant and go wherever he pleases, yet the repetition of training teaches him he can only move...