Had the Best Value Inn I was camping out in been in town even half the size of Harrisonburg, the casual observer could have easily justified sending me for a reasonable suspicion drug screen. Since Cozad, NE may have had a population of around 2,000 people at the time, I was thrilled that I didn’t h...
I previously mentioned receiving a call from Cindy while I was in Cozad, Nebraska, telling me about yet another car issue. I can’t remember what the problem was that time, but I don’t remember it being significant - at least not mechanically. At that point, though, even the most minor issue created ...
While the challenges we faced in navigating Matt’s seizures and school changes were nowhere close to resolved, we did build systems for dealing with both. And modest pay increases came with each new professional opportunity we earned. I’ve often heard folks comment on how much better everything will...
Two different but equally meaningful experiences drove me to write What’s KILLING Your Profitability? (It ALL Boils Down to Leadership!): all the years that Rod Little expected my work in behavior-based safety to make a positive impact on the facility’s productivity and all the executives I’ve heard...
Even with our careers seemingly taking shape, realizing what Matt was dealing with and what he’d need our support to work through in the years that followed was a gut-punch. More than any other thing I’ve encountered, that forced me to learn what practicing empathy was all about. I had always been w...
During a recent conversation about an idea for a chapter in a book she’s working on, Cindy shared how she often hears folks confuse explanations with excuses. She detailed how someone she coached was hesitant to go into any specifics about a particular issue because they knew “leaders didn’t make ex...
As I think back on Matt’s first few years of elementary school, I can point to far more things I did wrong than I did right. In complete transparency, I continue to sift through those scenarios today for seeds that can help me continue building the empathy I just didn’t understand at the time. And w...
In Leading With A Clear Purpose, I shared about the only time in my professional career where I remember feeling completely exhausted. I was routinely working 50+ hours each week in what ended up being my last full time job and nearly as much in our new (at the time) business. I stressed that sharin...
During a session with John Maxwell a few years ago, I heard him share the approach he frequently took when any group he was part of had an idea that concerned him. Rather than squashing the idea outright, he would gently suggest that those most interested for a committee to analyze all the details f...
When I threw my name in the hat for the 5S implementation role, it was far more about getting anything that resembled climbing the company ladder and had very little to do with improving the productivity or profitability the process was geared at achieving. Truth be told, my interests in behavior-ba...
Through sheer work ethic, I was able to build some solid career momentum in my late teens and early twenties. Never one to pass up an opportunity simply because I didn’t have the qualifications listed as required on a job posting, I took some chances that I was far from capable of - at least in the ...
I chose not to go to college for two primary reasons, with a third that could arguably make that list if I’m being honest with myself. I hated sitting still during class all through high school and had zero interest in paying for the opportunity to do more of it at the next level. Since my natural b...
