Character Development
02Sep 2009
This week my wife and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. Neither she nor I can believe we have been married that long — part of it is that we just don’t feel that “old”! (To keep the edge of reality a bit less sharp, we usually comment that we were only 12 when we got married.) But as we
16Aug 2009
When I talk to parents, either in family meetings, counseling sessions, or lectures, I always describe one of the main goals of parenting is: “to raise independent functional adults”. First, you try to keep them alive so that they will at least become an adult (e.g. avoiding fatal car accidents as teens). Secondly, you want them to move toward independence,
02Aug 2009
Part of my job as a psychologist is to observe — observe patterns of behavior, be attune to my own thoughts and feelings, and to derive some potentially helpful information form patterns I see. In recent months and weeks, I have observed some factors in life that really wear people down — they are not really hidden but are often
19Jul 2009
I like to learn from others who have been successful. In our culture, some people look to successful business leaders; others look to athletes or entertainers. I find some of the best advice from wise people from the past — from classic literature from previous civilizations and cultures. Here are some thoughts from a king and writer of literature from
09Jul 2009
I am not an economist (thankfully). But economists, meteorologists (those who try to predict the weather), and psychologists are somewhat in the same situation — our ‘sciences’ are not very “hard” — that is, they often are not solidly grounded in data and they lack power to predict. For example, last night there was no prediction at all of any
19Jun 2009
Recently, the reality of people losing their jobs has been hitting quite close to home. Living in the city where most aircraft are built in the U.S., and the struggles aircraft manufacturers are experiencing have made knowing individuals who have been laid off from work a personal experience. And the secondary job losses are significant as well — suppliers to
20May 2009
This past week I had the privilege in being involved in a number of school graduation ceremonies, in different roles. I had a daughter who graduated from high school (along with all of the receptions involved). I had a son who graduated from college, but who didn’t “walk” — not because he didn’t want to, but because he is pursuing
03Mar 2009
Often, when talking to senior generation members within a family, we discuss how to transfer one’s values to the next generations. Sometimes we are talking with parents in their 30’s, 40’s and early 50’s who are still raising their children and teenagers at home. Other times we are talking to 50-60 year olds with young adult children out of the
28Dec 2008
A much talked about issue in the area of wealth transfer and family business succession is the desire to “transfer our values to the next generations”. This is a valiant goal and one which should be true for every family regardless of wealth status — training your children and grandchildren in ways that they will instill values that are important
07Dec 2008
Almost all of us in the United States are now starting to personally experience some aspect of the global and national economic crisis. Whether it is through a personal or family job loss, friends and extended family members who have been laid off, a slow down in your business, or projected reduced sales for next year — the impact is