On the final day of October, 2005, I found myself on the long and very lonely highway that connects Corpus Christi, Texas with the city of Laredo. The speed limit is, for all intents and purposes, limitless, but it is casually posted at 75mph. In reality, except for a few small towns and the ever-present … Read more
Over my 40 year career in the world of business, I have slowly come to learn that you are hired for your technical skills, that is, what you know about your job and how you can perform it; but you are almost always promoted because of how you treat people. I consider this one of … Read more
Two of the most splendid and special words in the English language are “Going home.” Baseball players aspire to it as their goal every time they are at bat. College students long for it, even if it just means getting their laundry done. Thomas Wolfe wrote that we cannot go home again and countless musicians … Read more
As any teacher or trainer will certainly tell you, “Teachable Moments” are like gold. Teachable moments are those marvelous opportunities, when space and time seem to stand still and your students, much like sponges, anxiously pause, and more importantly, want to learn. These moments are also not very frequent and when they do arrive, need … Read more
One fine summer’s day, when the heat of the afternoon was just beginning to become a nuisance, Archie the mouse was out and about, exploring his favorite pasture, the one that begins at the edge of the forest and seemed to stretch on forever. He explored his usual route, seeking food and fun wherever he … Read more
When we were young our hope and dreams were as vast as the ocean. As we inevitably age, those same dreams seem to slowly shrivel to about the width of a tiny creek, aimlessly that meanders without direction trough neglected fields and abandoned farms. Why does this happen to so many of us and how … Read more
How often did we hear those wonderful words when we were growing up? It seemed that every fairy tale, every story we constantly heard from the lips of our parents and grandparents always ended well,with the hero and heroine riding off into the sunset, their futures assured. “And they lived happily every after.” If only … Read more
Over course of my life, I have slowly and often reluctantly, discovered just how important it has been to control what I think about. Whether my thoughts are positive or negative, good or bad, if my impressions of people are terrific or terrible, I have learned, the hard way, that I must control how I … Read more
There is a rather graphic, old saying that I have frequently referred to during the course of my 40 year career in business. The saying, and it is really an excellent piece of advice on how to manage your career, goes like this. “When you are up to your behind in alligators, it is difficult … Read more