Apr 20, 2023
“More coal, more smoke, more heat,more steam, more pressure, more speed. ― Martin R. Jackson I have operated with several gears for most of my life. Gears is my metaphor for my work/lifestyles that I move in with ease. Life and work require us to have a full range of...
Apr 18, 2023
“Kindness can transform someone’s dark moment with a blaze of light. You’ll never know how much your caring matters.” — Amy Leigh Mercree My recent health challenges have caused me to be even more reflective than I am normally. In sharing my experience with a...
Apr 12, 2023
“They’re funny things, Accidents. You never have them till you’re having them.” — Eeyore, “The House at Pooh Corner” When I tested myself today, COVID still registered positive. I will have to relearn how to mask — and take things more...
Apr 11, 2023
Drawing by Kei Acedera © Disney Productions “I’m late, I’m lateFor a very important date.No time to say hello, good-bye,I’m late, I’m late, I’m late” ― The White Rabbit March 27 had been circled on my calendar for months....
Mar 28, 2023
“A dog is the only thing on Earth that loves you more than it loves itself.” ― Josh Billings My Facebook page shares with me the posts from previous years. Each day I visit the label called ‘Memories’ to view what was happening in my life on this day from...
Mar 21, 2023
Many of us seek community solely to escape the fear of being alone. Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape.” ― Bell Hooks No — I am not building a dating...
Mar 14, 2023
“I used to think that the worst thing in lifewas to end up all alone. It’s not.The worst thing in life is ending upwith people who make you feel all alone.” — Robin Williams I have no experience being a married person. I have not yet fulfilled that commitment....
Mar 7, 2023
“Lunch should consist of at least1/3 relationship-building talk.If you don’t have time for business talk,it was a very successful lunch.” — Jeffrey Gitomer One of my favorite things to do is to connect with someone over a shared meal. Yesterday...
Feb 28, 2023
“Titles are but nicknames, and every nickname is a title.” — Thomas Paine What do you think about nicknames? Have you ever given someone a nickname? Did they know? Did that nickname carry a positive, negative, or neutral theme? What was your...
Jan 24, 2023
“The bad news is time flies.The good news is you’re the pilot.” — Michael Altshuler Do you find yourself having conversations that reflect on things in the past? Remember when we used the fax machine? Remember landline phones with cords? Can you remember your...
Jan 5, 2023
Time is the most undefinableyet paradoxical of things;the past is gone,the future is not come,and the present becomes the past,even while we attempt to define it.” — Charles Caleb Colton For years I have maintained this reflective habit. When given the gift of time...
Sep 15, 2022
“I like the pace of my world. It’s busy, but for me, the less I do the lazier I get.” ― Hoda Kotb This morning I found myself smiling as I bustled through the morning routines that have been made complicated by the acquisition of two new little French...
Sep 13, 2022
“Big stress or little stress—your body reacts the same way. The human body doesn’t differentiate between major or minor stress. Regardless of the catalyst, a typical stress reaction floods the body with a wave of 1,400 biochemical events. If this happens too...
Sep 8, 2022
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.” — Aristotle My Myers-Briggs-Type-Inventory personality style assessment is spot on. I am an ENFP. Let me explain for those who are not as enthusiastic about style assessments as I am....
Aug 23, 2022
“My father would tell me that there is a plan for me. My mother still tells me that all of my dreams will come true someday. Their hair is now as white as flames on candles. Wonder if they got everything that they wanted in life? Theirs is the greatest achievement of...
Jul 19, 2022
Mostly, it is loss which teaches us about the worth of things. — Arthur Schopenhauer Recently, I complicated my life again, but in a good way. My most senior dog and working companion, Buddha Bear the Brindle Boxer, developed a brain tumor. When his seizures...
Jul 13, 2022
“The ability for a group of people to do remarkable things hinges on how well those people can pull together as a team.” — Simon Sinek So, yesterday, I left you with a bunch of questions about what trends you’ve noticed recently. And asked how they...
Jul 12, 2022
“Unless commitment is made,there are only promises and hopes;but no plans.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson I meet with a group of colleagues each month. Recently we were discussing the trends we were personally experiencing as well as those we see developing...
Jun 28, 2022
Jun 21, 2022
“There is no elevator to success.You have to take the stairs.” — Zig Ziglar My intention every day is to be my best self in every interaction. I don’t always succeed in my goal.At the end of this week, while I was talking on an early morning call...
Jun 14, 2022
Jun 7, 2022
The World Wide Web is another interwoven network and a well-named one.It is truly a web of almost endlessly interconnecting nodules (of which this page is one)linked together by invisible strands of electronic connectivity.This page has existed, waiting for you. You...
May 31, 2022
May 3, 2022
Apr 19, 2022
“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being.We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” — Albert Schweitzer Recently, I was honored to...
Apr 5, 2022
“You have to come to your closed doorsbefore you get to your open doors.”— Joel Osteen I have started to travel again. Though I am rusty in my pre-trip preparations, I am like a kid in a candy store with the discovery of the changes that have...
Mar 16, 2022
Mar 15, 2022
Mar 8, 2022
Feb 24, 2022
“It is only through shadows that one comes to know the light.” — St. Catherine of Siena Do you have someone with whom you can talk without restraint? Someone with whom you can sort your thoughts, share your frustrations and unfiltered concerns? Does...
Feb 22, 2022
“Learning is the antidote to fear, prejudice, bias, and to becoming obsolete.” ― Kate Nassar Life is a journey of highs and lows, gifts, and sacrifices — and the many planned and unexpected events. When I talk like this I sound like my mother and grandmother....
Feb 17, 2022
You can still make new friends when wearing a mask. Your eyes carry your smile. — Leslie Yerkes On my recent first plane trip since the onset of the pandemic and my first trip out of the country in over two years, I found the world waiting and people willing to...
Feb 15, 2022
“Sometimes it takes a total break to lead to complete healing and restoration.” ― Karen Pennington I took myself to a different place and discovered all sorts of things. After two years of no plane travel and many canceled trips and engagements, I boarded a...
Feb 8, 2022
“Rescue me,Oh take me in your arms.Rescue meI want your tender charms.’Cuz I’m lonely and I’m blue.I need you and your love, too.Come on and rescue me.” — Raynard Miner & Carl Smith Some people would tell you that I have dogs,...
Feb 1, 2022
“If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet;how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of.There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.” — Fred Rogers ...
Jan 25, 2022
“Never be a prisoner of your past. It was just a lesson, not a life sentence.” — Anonymous I really appreciate it when one of my blogs sparks a reaction. I write from what I observe and hear. So, to add to that collection of themes really broadens...
Jan 18, 2022
“Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.” ― Niels Bohr Never has the challenge of finding the skilled talent, filling and fitting positions, and retaining good people been as difficult — or as much as of a concern — as it is...
Dec 28, 2021
“Normal life is highly structured for most people. This is because of the routine ofgoing to work, social interactions, and the like. The loss of these rhythms means thatwe are almost lost in time because we don’t have our usual cuesto what day it is, or...
Dec 7, 2021
“We use narrative to label the lens through which the storyline is told.I hear about narratives everywhere I go.” — Leslie Yerkes When I was in school, a narrative was a literary term associated with the storyline of a book. To be a narrator is to be the...
Nov 30, 2021
“When we are no longer able to change a situation,we are challenged to change ourselves.” ― Viktor Frankl This morning I succeeded at maintaining a commitment to myself that I had previously let fall off my schedule. For the first time in many months, I...
Oct 27, 2021
“In the darkest of times, have faith and ask for support,and the light of hope, friendship, and help will appear. “ — Leslie Yerkes I don’t have too many seriously emotionally hard weeks. I am not afraid of hard work or challenging situations. This week,...
Oct 19, 2021
“We can wait out the stormOr we can stand in the rain.Gonna have to mournOr hide from some pain. It weighs heavyOn my mind.So heavyOn my mind.” — “Heavy on My Mind”Mavis Staples I know, what a silly question to ask as we are eighteen-plus...
Oct 12, 2021
“The mind can go either direction under stress— toward positive or toward negative: on or off. Think of it as a spectrum whose extremes are unconsciousness at the negative end and hyperconsciousness at the positive end. The way the mind will lean under stress is...
Oct 5, 2021
“Pets are humanizing. They remind us we have an obligation and responsibility to preserve and nurture and care for all life. — James Cromwell Before the end of October, I will be adding a new responsibility to my life. I don’t need to make this life change, but...
Sep 28, 2021
“She tugged and pulled and pulled and tugged and slowly, slowly, slowly, they started off.” — Watty Piper “The Little Engine That Could” Today I will be making my first speech since the onset of the Pandemic. I trust that the venue and protocols...
Sep 7, 2021
“We learned that trying is not nearly as good as doing. So I don’t settle for “I’m trying.” But the most important lesson was this: When you make a promise, keep it.” Beej in “Lost, Found, and Forever.” Leslie Yerkes & Randy Martin Are these the dog...
Jul 27, 2021
“Anyone who stops learning is old,whether at twenty or eighty.Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” ― Henry Ford This reflection was written in the winter of 2020 pre-pandemic when life seemed simpler and I was on a vacation to beat all vacations. Yet, the lessons...
Jun 8, 2021
“Don’t wait for anyone to push you up, push yourself up; don’t wait for anyone to pull you up, pull yourself up! — Mehmet Murat ildan While walking my dogs, first on the shores of Lake Erie and then back along the sidewalk, I noticed something. The...
May 25, 2021
“Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.” — Deepak Chopra After college, I was working in a field I loved, doing what I loved. I enjoyed every day of work...
May 19, 2021
“Self-reflection entails asking yourself questions about your values, assessing your strengths and failures, thinking about your perceptions and interactions with others, and imagining where you want to take your life in the future.” — Robert L. Rosen I spent the last...
Apr 15, 2021
“My goal in life? Be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am. ” — Unknown I was raised in Pittsburgh and we watched “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.” So I’m certain his counsel to “Be a Helper” entered my psyche over time. However, I believe...
Apr 13, 2021
“The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg,not smashing it.” ― Arnold H. Glasow This week, I shared with several clients my observation that right now people are like papier-mâché eggs. While this concept does...
Apr 8, 2021
“Rescue meOh take me in your armsRescue meI want your tender charms’Coz I’m lonely and I’m blueI need you and your love tooCome on and rescue me.” — “Rescue Me” by Aretha Franklin What experiences of your life...
Apr 6, 2021
“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” — Henry Ford Today at breakfast — while coaching a friend and former client — I found that what I had been discovering in my life...
Mar 30, 2021
“Spring will come and so will happiness. Hold on. Life will get warmer.” — Anita Krizzan We are emerging from the short, dark days of winter. With each day — which is now lighter, longer, and warmer — we are reminded of our resiliency. In my...
Mar 23, 2021
“In a wicked world, relying upon experience from a single domain is not only limiting, it can be disastrous.” — David Epstein For my entire career, I have been working to create, nurture, and reclaim the cultures of the organizations and leaders whom I...
Mar 16, 2021
We all wear different hats, wear various face-masks, every day under different situations and variable environments. Deep down, we all want the grasp of the hats and face-masks to get loosened so that we ourselves can find our true existence. — Subhashis Biswas ...
Mar 9, 2021
“Slow down, you move too fast You got to make the morning last Just kicking down the cobblestones Looking for fun and feeling groovy Ba da-da da-da da-da, feeling groovy.” ― Paul Simon “The 59th Street Bridge Song” As you make your way...
Feb 9, 2021
“When the wind blows in your face, when you feel you are losing your head, when the going gets tough, and when all else fails, look inside you, you are not alone.” ― Malak El Halabi I live alone. And I am occasionally lonely. During this pandemic, I have spent...
Feb 2, 2021
” Who am I this time?” — Harry Nash, in Kurt Vonnegut’s short story of the same name I have never been attached to having a title. We as people are always labeling people by their age, gender, hometown and so much more. The power...
Jan 25, 2021
“In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus Did anyone else run out of steam towards the end of the year 2020? Did you struggle to find the holiday cheer during a social distancing pandemic?...
Nov 17, 2020
“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness?” – John Steinbeck The end of summer meant the end of endless play. No more picnics or swimming or traveling vacation. And that meant it was time for school. Which of course meant...
Nov 5, 2020
“If you have gained the trust of a horse, You have won a friend for life.” — Equestrian Co. Ask and you shall receive. (That is if you are open to it and willing to be receiving.) I am more comfortable with giving than I am with asking for help and...
Nov 3, 2020
If you can’t fly, then run;if you can’t run, then walk;if you can’t walk, then crawl.But whatever you do,you have to keep moving forward. — Martin Luther King, Jr. I have had the great fortune in my life to both to mentor and be mentored. In all cases I always...
Oct 29, 2020
“You may think your light is small, but it can make a huge difference in other people’s lives.” — Anonymous Though we are related, I did not grow into a relationship with my cousin or his wife until I started to visit my uncle as a surrogate for my mother who...
Oct 27, 2020
“Your path is illuminated by the light, yet darkness lets the stars shine bright.” — J.L.W. Brooks As I interviewed my friend and colleague, Ralph Febbo, I learned that he had run ten marathons and so understood my use of the metaphor immediately. Ralph has been...
Oct 22, 2020
“Give light, and the darkness will disappear of itself.” — Desiderius Erasmus My clients have learned to expect that I come to our conversations with as many questions as I do recommendations. I love how a good question can open up space, awareness, and...
Oct 20, 2020
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear,and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” — H.P. Lovecraft In late winter we watched a virus migrate around the globe. We saw our lives became more complex but at the same time...
Oct 13, 2020
“What matters most is how well you walk through the fire.” — Charles Bukowski I use metaphor to soften the impact of words and make sense of complexity. Words shape worlds. And if I had attached too many negative adjectives to describe what we were...
Oct 6, 2020
“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come.” — Joseph Campbell Is anyone else tired or feeling overwhelmed? Have you learned to have boundaries...
Sep 29, 2020
“Who shall tell the lady’s griefWhen her Cat was past relief?Who shall number the hot tearsShed o’er her, beloved for years?Who shall say the dark dismayWhich her dying caused that day?” — Christina Rossetti Everyone has a different reaction...
Sep 22, 2020
“Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.”― Ralph Waldo Emerson I do know that life is a series of experiences with lessons attached so I have learned to ask myself, “What am I supposed to be learning from this situation?” I have...
Sep 15, 2020
“Don’t walk in front of me… I may not followDon’t walk behind me… I may not leadWalk beside me… just be my friend”― Albert Camus In a world that feels like we are fracturing into pieces, and conversations that focus more on difference than commonality, I had a...
Sep 2, 2020
“If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. — Lao Tzu Recently, my life has been filled with many passages. Now that I think about and reflect upon them, I realize that life is a series of voyages like these. From dependence...
Sep 1, 2020
are “Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You...
Aug 25, 2020
“It’s a gift to exist, and with existence comes suffering.” — Stephen Colbert If someone said to you, “I will give you six months to work from home, be with your family, discover new ways of working and relating” would you...
Aug 18, 2020
When good intention is met with resistance, what do you do? “You have been called to heal wounds, to unite what has fallen apart, and to bring home those who have lost their way.” — St. Francis of Assisi Have you ever been hijacked by a use of force? Even...
Aug 11, 2020
“We are not perfect, we are learning. That’s the beauty in our specific journey.”— Alex Elle I asked a friend for feedback on my Secrets blog. I am anxious that what I write is responsible and relevant. As the fog and weight of grief and physical...
Aug 4, 2020
“Your family and your love must be cultivated like a garden. Time, effort, and imagination must be summoned constantly to keep any relationship flourishing and growing.” — Jim Rohn While a colleague and I were talking business on the phone, he shared that he...
Jul 30, 2020
“The deeper we try to dig into space, time, and the unknown, the closer we get to where we originally started.”― Rajesh, “Random Cosmos” I am showing my age. This reference is to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Yes, for those of you who are up on...
Jul 29, 2020
“Adulthood is not an age, but a stage of knowledge of self.” — John Fowles From an early age, I knew that numbers and formulas was not my path to success. I knew, however, that I was good at observing, interpreting, and quickly understanding the...
Jul 28, 2020
“My barn having burned down, I can now see the moon.” ― Mizuta Masahide 17th century Japanese poet and Samurai Part of this experience is a mind game. Difficult issues require planning, preparation, practice, and a solid mental mindset. In spite of what are...
Jul 23, 2020
“We sit silently and watch the world around us. This has taken a lifetime to learn. It seems only the old are able to sit next to one another and not say anything and still feel content. The young, brash, and impatient, must always break the silence. It is a waste,...
Jul 21, 2020
The world, nature, human beings, do not move like machines. The edges are never clear-cut, but always frayed. Nature never draws a line without smudging it. —Winston Churchill In a conversation this week a colleague so eloquently described all of the confluences...
Jun 23, 2020
“Coming home is one of the most beautiful things.” — Andre Rieu Life is about shouldering our responsibilities, making our way through the day in a positive way and fielding the problems that are tossed in our direction. Life is a form of boot camp...
Jun 11, 2020
“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity” — Albert Einstein Physicist & Nobel Laureate Early in the first weeks of the Coronavirus Pandemic I floated the metaphor of Marathon as a way of describing the collective event that we are currently...
Jun 9, 2020
Is this a divine ‘Time Out’ to interrupt our frayingand help us to find our footing? Twelve weeks into my first ever pandemic I am conforming to new expectations, reinventing how I work and relate, and finding ways to be relevant and contributing. For the most part I...
Jun 4, 2020
“Don’t squander this. Let it make you more tender. Let it rewrite what matters. Let it bring you closer to all you love, to all you could lose. Let it bring you to your knees.” — Heather Lanier The World is changing around me while I shelter in place. For more than...
Jun 2, 2020
“You can leave camp but camp never seems to leave you.” I had a thought this morning that there are some lessons from summer camp that can apply to our current situation. I try to draw inspiration from anything I can in an attempt to keep my mindset positive...
May 28, 2020
“Remember that your fans are your lifeblood. See that you know who they are,and give them a reason to follow you. Be sure to thank them, often,for caring enough to support you.They’re responsible for your success just as much as you are.” ― Simon Zingerman, “We...
May 26, 2020
“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe,a part limited in time and space.He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelingas something separated from the rest,a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.This delusion is a kind of prison for...
May 26, 2020
“Community service gives me a valuable opportunity to walk into a different community that is less familiar to me but just as colorful and most importantly, in need.” — Caroline Landry Once I have attended to my home and work responsibilities during this pandemic, I...
May 21, 2020
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” — Dr. Seuss As an homage to the book In Search of Excellence, which shifted our focus from the economic malaise of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, I would like to share...
May 19, 2020
“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” ~ Marcus Aurelius Out of bad things good can come. This has been a theme of our human...
May 13, 2020
Things end. People leave. And you know what? Life goes on. — Elizabeth Scott, “Perfect You” This is the last blog in The–Pandemic–as–a–Marathon series and I am circling back to ask myself what I have learned, what I will advance, and what I will be letting go of as I...
May 12, 2020
“Life doesn’t come with a manual. It comes with a Mother.” Facebook has a function that shares the posts of previous years on the day that you posted them. I look forward to seeing what I was doing in the last years. It reminds me of...
May 11, 2020
“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.” — Norman Cousins During the 2020 COVID 19 crisis, I find myself really missing my mother. I yearn to hear her perspective; I miss having her as my...
May 8, 2020
“She was unstoppable. Not because she did not have failures or doubts.But because she continued on despite them.” ― Beau Taplin, “Unstoppable.” This pandemic presents a preponderance of opportunities for teachable moments. When we encounter something...
May 7, 2020
“Something very beautiful happens to people when their world has fallen apart: a humility, a nobility, a higher intelligence emerges at just the point when our knees hit the floor.” ― Marianne Williamson I knew immediately that Miguel was a leader. I met Miguel...
May 6, 2020
“Maturity is achieved when a person accepts life as full of tension” — Joshua Loth Liebman I could interview someone every day to find out what they are thinking and feeling about our current situation, how they are handling their responsibilities, and how they see...
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