Life success
02Jul 2013
This past week headlines of newspapers, website posts, and the talking heads on TV screamed about how U.S. employees hate their jobs (and that it is the fault of their managers). Here are some actual titles: Millions of Bad Managers Are Killing America’s Growth (The Chairman’s Blog) Workplace Morale Heads Down: 70% of Americans negative about their jobs (Subtitled:
19Jun 2013
Friends, I had the opportunity to be interviewed by David Hassell of 15Five.com for his blog. David is a young entrepreneur and sports enthusiast who was recently on the cover of Forbes magazine and cited as “the most connected man you don’t know in Silicon Valley”. I was able to share some of the lessons we have been learning about
10Feb 2013
One of the benefits I receive from the work I do with family-owned businesses and successful business leaders is the opportunity to hear their life (and business’ life) story, and learn from them (hopefully!) . One of the questions we typically ask in our interviews is: “To what do you attribute your financial and business success?” Common answers are “perseverance”,
13Jan 2013
I have been working with families, kids, teens and young adults for 30 years now. One of the most common challenges I see individuals experience is knowing when to let their family members experience the results of their choices and when to intervene and “rescue” them from the negative consequences they will be facing. (Interestingly, the situation often occurs with
26Aug 2012
Recently, I was privileged to hear Patrick Lencioni speak at the Willow Creek Association Leadership Summit, and I have also been reading his excellent book, The Advantage. Patrick believes that, while most companies and organizations have the technical and knowledge aspects of business down, “the advantage” the more successful organizations and businesses have is being a “healthy organization”. He defines
05Sep 2011
Labor Day used to be a day to recognize the benefits of organized labor and, more broadly, celebrate the American work ethic. More recently, however, it serves as a painful reminder of the deterioration of the American workplace. The national statistics, with unemployment between 9 percent and 17 percent depending on whom you ask, are bad enough. But even for
24Jun 2011
This past week I had the privilege of taking a short vacation to the mountains in Colorado with my wife. We had a delightful time (just the two of us, our four kids are ‘out and about’.) We were in awe of the majesty of the mountains; we couldn’t believe how many trees there were (alive and dead); and we
12Jun 2011
Businesses are primarily focused on selling their products or services to customers and making the profit (or creating value in the business to be captured when the business sells). That is the essence of business. And that can be done in lots of ways — by treating your employees well or “using” them, by providing quality products or by scamming
26Apr 2011
The importance of perspective is becoming more clear to me all the time. Perspective implies a viewpoint — a place from which we are looking at our lives and the world around us. Pick a specific spot, a physical location, that you have been to in your life. It could be a beautiful vista overlooking the Grand Canyon, the top
26Mar 2011
Most individuals and families I talk to report that family relationships are important to them. This includes their marital relationship, their relationships with their kids, and also extended family relationships (grandparents, aunts & uncles, nieces & nephews, and cousins). But like anything that is important to us, ultimately it comes down to “taking the time”. (This can be true for