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...

Without experiencing some of the challenges and barriers I fought through during high school, regardless of how insignificant they seem now, I wouldn’t have had the foundation to navigate my early career stumbles in order to make the necessary pivots. Even minor adversities can play a tremendous rol...

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...

The weeks and months that followed that heated 5S implementation session encounter involved less direct confrontation but they were far from smooth and rarely achieved the results or impact the corporate office expected. To that end, few were achieving the results even I expected - and I didn’t know...

I’ll be completely transparent here, the only things I had going for me leading up to that interview for the behavior-based safety facilitator role was that I was willing to work hard and I had been actively involved in a few aspects of the process. I hadn’t touched a text book since high school, an...

Still far from being the most talented in the workforce, or even in my home department for that matter, I built some solid career momentum through 1998 and into 1999. My role as bouncer for my former coworker’s sister had turned into far more than that initial evening of her driving and me being a h...

I can barely wait to push forward in sharing more about how impactful serving as bouncer for my friend’s sister was as well as how my working relationship developed with the maintenance supervisor who walked by my machine a few times each day. We’re not quite ready for that yet, though. First, we ne...

Even at fifteen years old and riding a bicycle to the job sites each day, showing up on time consistently and giving it everything I was capable of - even when I wasn’t capable of all that much - helped me earn moderate respect from the men I was trying to keep up with. Carrying that same work ethic...

Knowing that I had so much untapped potential academically stung a bit, even if that was only subconsciously at the time. If I was doing anything back then to intentionally grow just the slightest seed, it was through my role in the workforce. I produced solid results and had some great opportunitie...

Through the midpoint of my freshman year in high school, I remember very few report cards that so much as a C - and I don’t think I ever got anything lower. While I never did a ton of studying, I did carry books home as needed and completed homework assignments. When the second semester of my freshm...