One day, in Buffalo, New York, a substitute teacher was offered a position that all substitute teachers dream of….a permanent position. Well, sort of. The position was a fill-in for another teacher who just took a leave for the birth of her first child. The position was contracted for the entire school year. The former … Read more
Today, we will sit down to our Thanksgiving feast and recall the many blessings that have been bestowed upon us. We will pause, reflect and be grateful for our family, friends and memories of those who have gone before us. We will reflect on a year that has brought us both laughter and tears as … Read more
Back when I was first beginning my career, I used to listen to cassette tape recording of the great motivational speaker and author, Earle Nightengale.(It sounds so ancient to use the words, cassette tapes, but that is how I used to stay focused during long trips for my company.) I will always remember one of … Read more
Miracles do happen, in fact, I believe they happen all the time. I am not referring to parting of the sea, wine-changing- type of miracles; rather, I am talking about the little ones, the kind that you have to really be looking for to really notice at all. These miracles are the kind where you … Read more
Just recently, I returned to bowling, following the injury to my knee last year. As you might expect, I experienced some pain, my timing was off and I noticed a severe reduction in my ball speed. As might also be predicted, I had forgotten most of my marks and spares became quite an adventure. My … Read more
Many training programs simply do not work. Your employees attend a training program, either online or traditional classroom-style and when they return to their jobs, they still are just as ineffective and inefficient as they were before they went to training. Why does this happen? An even more important question is: What can I do … Read more
Over the course of my business career, I have had the opportunity to work for many different types of managers and leaders. Some have been good, some bad, a few really terrible and a select number who I can truly call leaders. Looking back over these individuals, I have identified a few important traits that … Read more
Many years ago, one of my first mentors had the above saying posted in a prominent position on the wall of his office. He was an on-the-job trainer and very good at his job. Hundreds of trainees passed through his store and every one of them left his program better for the experience. I was … Read more
There is a story that is often told about the Scorpion and the Frog. It seems that there had been a large storm and the creek that ran through their little part of the forest had become swollen with the rain that had been falling almost non-stop for over a week. Safety could be had … Read more