The Golden Rule was spoken by Jesus long ago, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In recent years the Platinum Rule has been added: “Do unto others as they would have you do unto them.” A nice twist, but a twist that can make us pause. And it may even run the risk of losing the intended message. For communicating in teams, I like the simplicity of the Golden Rule because...
Recently I was invited to be a keynote speaker at an event hosted in the War World II Museum - US Freedom Pavilion – Boeing Center in New Orleans. This venue is impressive. It has WWII planes hanging from the ceiling, a pageantry of flags on the stage and important historic memorabilia on display. I hope you will visit soon. The small, landscaped area outside was clean and sidewalks were well maintained. Inside, the floors were...
Something happened to our electric skillet this past week. It did not stop working, but it did start smoking at the heat control knob. Years before, I had noticed unusual hot spots and uneven cooking surfaces on it. Then I kept seeing food sticking to the surface and causing additional clean-up work. The quality of the cooking surface seemed very tarnished, effecting the quality of the food. After each use I would spend additional time soaking the...
In 1995 my wife, Suzanne and I experienced something for the first time: our first child birth. First in a long list of “firsts” in our first year of marriage. We were admitted into the hospital early that evening where the doctors said, “You’ve started, but you’re not ready.” The long night that followed consisted of periods of calm interrupted by incredible pain for my wife. ...
Steven Spielberg dropped out of high school in his sophomore year. He was persuaded to come back and placed in a class for the learning disabled. He lasted a month and dropped out of school forever. When Thomas Edison was a boy his teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything. Albert Einstein was four years old before he could speak. A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney because he had “no good ideas.” Winston Churchill failed the 6th...
The Atlanta Fulton County stadium, originally built in 1965, costing $18 million, took just under a year to build. And it took 27 seconds to bring it down with close to 1,250 pounds of dynamite and 350 pounds of charge. The explosives sent an estimated 140 million pounds of concrete and steel plummeting to the field the Atlanta Braves and Falcons once called home. The stadium was mighty in size and reputation, seating 60,000 people and...
“Our most successful leaders are people who put other people first … in the long run, that’s exactly what makes them successful.” ~Blake Roney, American businessman A worker was driving his company’s large commercial truck to the recycle station for emptying, when he noticed an older gentleman sitting on a bench on the side of the service road. The gentleman looked tired and dazed. The worker slowed down, stopped, and asked the older gentleman if he was okay....
“In a culture where people believe that working hard can overcome any obstacle, reality teaches us that we have limitations. We burn out.” ~Jay Wren It’s real and it can happen to even the best leader. Burnout is very common particularly in high performance leaders with as many as 72% of them admitting to it openly. In my experience, it is my best leaders I have to watch out for when it comes to burn out. They...
"Adaptability is about the powerful difference between adapting to cope and adapting to win." ~Max McKeown We all know the stress and frustration of having to adapt our personal and professional schedules due to an unexpected occurrence. Your team is no different. In our industry change is inevitable and happens at a moment's notice. During a typical workday how does your team deal with unexpected change or roadblocks, a.k.a. “zingers?” Did it come with a lot of...
“Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.” ~William Shakespeare Have you ever been asked to run an area you have never run before and have no idea how to do it? It’s a scary feeling…to know you DON’T know. You have to remember, you may not know how to do everything, but there is a reason why you were asked to over see it. If we...