The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision – Helen Keller Max Lucado shares a story about Bob Edens. For 51 years he was blind and could not see a thing. His world was a black hall of sounds and smells. He felt his way through five decades of darkness.…
The business world is a different animal than it was 20 or 30 years ago, and for the most part that’s a very good thing. Corporate social responsibility has become a buzz phrase, and many large companies are rising and falling in relation to the way that they treat both their employees and their customers.…
They say Wayne Gretzky was a step ahead of other players because he skated to where the puck was going to be. Are you developing your up-and-coming leaders for where your markets and your environment are going to be? Will your leaders be prepared for the daunting complexity that’s coming? Or are you preparing them…
This is a sign that Jeffrey put up in his cubicle at ADP a few years ago to remind himself what his business goals should be – and what he can accomplish through promoting the growth of others. From sales to leadership to operations, the rock stars of business multiply the value of everyone they…
Research by TowersWatson has revealed that to generate a climate where your employees contribute a consistently high percentage of their capacity you need more that just “engagement.” You must add into the mix enablement (a better term for what used to be called empowerment), and employee well-being. Here, very briefly, is what constitutes each element…
Are you tired of the political discussion? Now that the election is over, there’s nothing left but celebrations and grousing. Most of us had our fill of it a month ago, but it drags on. We react by covering our ears, unfriending people and pushing back. Then we go to work, and a different kind…
If you were anywhere near La Pera Circle in the 80’s you would have heard the echoing of a ball bouncing. I played basketball for hours in my early years. I didn’t play pick up games nor did I play organized basketball; I just shot for hours…on my own. I would play out games in…
Life is a long process of getting used to things you started out to change. – Frank A. Clark As the story goes, it was on June 4, 1783 at the market square of a French village of Annonay, not far from Paris, that a smoky bonfire on a raised platform was fed by wet…
People in the business community love their clichés. “There’s no ‘I’ in team,” “work smarter, not harder,” and my personal favorite, “think outside the box”. Ugh. When it comes to describing a workplace culture, clichés are abundant here as well. With our open-door policies and expectations of giving 150% (how is this even possible?). These general statements…
“We’re all in sales” says author Daniel Pink. In fact, in a Gallup study people reported spending 40% of their time working in what Pink calls “non-sales selling,” convincing/influencing/moving people to decide or do that does not involve anyone making a purchase. Dan Pink is always intriguing. Let’s look at a few things his book…
This October, I’m reminded of a company effort to battle breast cancer, started by a handful of passionate people in Canada. We focus so much on the power of one person, super-woman, but forget that more often than not it takes a core group to really move the needle. This is why Margaret Mead once…
I would like to be remembered as a player who was there for others –Mariano Rivera In announcing his forthcoming retirement from Major League Baseball at the conclusion of the 2013 season, Mariano Rivera will certainly be bound for Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame. By the numbers Rivera has no equal. His stats…
Nothing last forever – not even our troubles. – Arnold H. Glasow In Bits & Pieces, a story is shared about Somerset Maugham, the English writer who once wrote a story about a janitor at St. Peter’s Church in London. One day a young vicar discovered that the janitor was illiterate and fired him. Jobless,…