Focused: I am finding it more challenging to stay focused these days. There are numerous interruptions from multiple devices—PC, Laptop, Phone, and text messages on several of those devices. In trying to stay focused on this blog post, for example, I am contending with text messages from my auto repair technician, my wife out shopping, and notices of arriving e-mails …
Surprise: It was time. The pandemic shutdown notwithstanding, I had to get to the dentist for a cleaning that I had been putting off far too long. So, I called for an appointment. I have been going to this dental office for many years. I was quite happy with the hygienist and the conservative way the dentist handled my teeth. …
Inspiration: The voters believed that President George H.W. Bush had the experience, judgment, integrity, and a steady hand for his office. He knew “how” to get things done. However, he struggled with, in his words, “the vision thing.” Every leader knows that to inspire people to follow them, they need a compelling vision. Simon Sinek called it the “why.” Nietzsche …
The CEO’s Job: Leadership guru, David Marquet, notes that the only effective way to change human behavior is to change the environment. The environment is how things get done, the decisions that get made, and how we treat people. That is the culture—and we create a culture based on shared values. I believe that the CEO has one primary task: …
Ocean View Many years ago, we lived in a condominium high on a hill. It was a two-level condominium with two balconies. One was off of the dining room upstairs and one off the master bedroom downstairs. They had almost a one-hundred-eighty degree view of the ocean. It was beautiful many days out of the year but fogged in on …
Time Management Even though I have been in the technology business for more than five decades, I have never been a “gamer.” I chose other things to do to fill my time. There was my career, of course, and I so enjoy the work I do that it’s hard to take time out to do non “work” related things. When …
Blog Comments: Back in 2002, as I was first going out on my own, one of the first things I did was build a website. It wasn’t terrific, according to today’s websites. It was mine, though, and it carried the messages I intended. It also allowed me to do some writing in the form of Blog Posts. I set things …
Clarity of Values and Vision: A community is a group of animals living in the same place or having particular characteristics in common. In the case of human beings, we create communities inside our organizations as well as in our living spaces. When we speak of building community, we generally mean the specific action of purposefully bringing people together around …
Competing was always around in my childhood. My father, for example, rarely played golf without there being some contest conjured up. I was also taught that how you play the game counts. In other words, play to win but play fair, respect the opponents and teammates, and no temper tantrums. He treated all people with respect. If they didn’t deserve …
The Work Goes On: Like many of you, I serve in a not-for-profit organization. In a recent meeting, we went over how there is a negative impact on revenue from grants, events, and donations due to the pandemic. Many not-for-profit organizations are struggling. Yet, the group quickly changed to a discussion of how to continue delivering the services over video …