Too often, silly laziness winds up costing me time, effort and even money.
Yesterday I was home looking for a pen. I checked the drawer, but saw only a pile of old crayons, markers and pencils. After moving one or two of them without finding anything, I wandered around the house in a futile search.
Finally I [...]
A few summers ago, my daughter and I were headed for an open-air concert.
We had tickets on the lawn, while much of the crowd — and the band — would be under shelter.
That meant that the show would go on, despite the wind, rain, thunder and lightning.
We could barely see as we drove. We [...]
For parents, few things rival the thrill of baby’s first step. The proud mom and dad eagerly await the event. They’re ready with the video cam. They call their friends to tell them the news.
No wonder! Taking that first step is a huge moment for any baby. It separates the past from the future, and [...]
Over the weekend, my family went for dessert at Holsten’s, the ice cream parlor where they filmed the final episode of “The Sopranos.”
It was my first trip there since the series ended, and, upon walking in, I asked the waitress, “Where was Tony?”
There were no more words needed. She knew that I was asking “Where [...]
Two teams work in the same office. You are allowed to spend as much time as you want observing them. Then you must choose: Which one will be more successful?
That question more and more is drawing the attention of businesses. In this Harvard Business Review article, researcher Sandy Pentland concludes that patterns of communication mean [...]
Sport columnist Joel Sherman makes the key point about Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera.
Writing in The New York Post after Rivera tore his ACL in a freak pre-game accident, Sherman says the relief pitcher is more than just a baseball player. He is the embodiment of greatness, not in the cheap, hero-a-day way so common today, [...]
My friend Gary Pritchard, whose coaching specialty is helping build unity on teams, sent this quote from Charles Dickens today.
“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”
Those words capture so much of what coaching should be about. The job of a leader is more than just giving orders or creating [...]
Scottish poet George McDonald said, “To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.”
This comes to mind because of a Geoffrey James article in Inc. titled “8 Things Great Bosses Demand from Employees.”
Top on the list is “Be True to Your Word.”
Writes James, “Your boss wants to trust you. Really. Therefore, whenever you accept [...]
Comfort is the enemy of growth. Navy SEALS know that, and they’re teaching it to U.S. Olympians.
“We’re going to re-set your baseline today,” a SEAL tells a group of athletes as they embark on a grueling session to test and expand their limits.
Olympians and SEALS are just like the rest of us. They have limits [...]
No subject intrigues me more than the question of “who will make it?”
In any given group — classroom, business, sport — which person will exceed expectations, which one will fall short, and which one will wind up just about where you thought?
We know the factors that won’t necessarily predict success. They include gender, income, race, [...]