Communication

What is the True Lesson of “It’s a Wonderful Life”?

December 23, 2020

Like millions of others, I’ve watched the classic film, It’s a Wonderful Life numerous times and I see why many would say it’s the best film ever. It offers a sense of redemption and hope and love and the magic of Christmas. If we allow ourselves to remain at the surface level, we can walk away feeling uplifted. Never one to take things only at face value, I’ve been digging deeper and asking a lot of questions, and I’ve questioned some of the “lessons” of the film. What I’ve concluded is that there’s a very different message or lesson embedded in the film, at least for me. It’s clear in my mind, because we’ve just finished watching it. Here’s what I’ve drawn from it: It’s a meaningful life. Clearly, George

Retooling to Remain Relevant

April 7, 2020

They typed themselves out of a job Once upon a time, there was a typing pool at a university. This group of women was accomplished, professional, and could be counted on to get the work done. Whatever needed to be typed in the course of the University’s business, they took care of it; correspondence, documentation, course work, administrative… you name it, they typed it. Fast, accurate, thorough. There came a day when an official of the University came to tell the women of a new tool called a Word Processor. The school was planning to invest in a number of them and the women would all be trained in how to use them. The women balked. What a silly idea – to foolishly invest in all that newfangled machinery when

“FBLEMUR” is not a word; Lessons from playing “collaborative Scrabble”

March 23, 2020

It’s true: FBLEMUR is NOT an acceptable word in the Scrabble dictionary. I know. I checked. As I did with a number of other potential words. Like: Oahutua. Ibexslingo. On the other hand, there are a number of words that turn out to be acceptable in the Scrabble dictionary that I would have bet good money were not words. So, there you have it: The paradigms we’ve been using as the frameworks for how the world works are not necessarily sound. Big surprise – right?!! I bet you’re wondering how I’ve come by this precious and shocking wisdom. Here’s the story. Game Play and Competition I have a 13-year-old son. We play games. While I know that a little healthy competition is normal and can be a good thing, I’m

The Road to Success is NOT Paved with ESP!

May 20, 2019

Surely, you’ve had this experience: You have an expectation that someone will do something or something specific will happen… but it doesn’t. As a result, you may have become a little cranky, perhaps frustrated, or even angry. I’m confident you said, “Yes,” because I’m confident it’s happened to all of us at least once in our life. More specifically, I’m contemplating those instances of it happening as an adult because we’re supposed to have grown wiser as we’ve aged (this is not always the case, however, based on my experience!). The Salon I have a friend who is a hairstylist. She rents a space in a salon owned by another stylist. The salon owner recently decided to add a little retail shop in her salon. She is selling essential oils,

How to Ensure Strong Leadership in Your Business by Thoughtfully Growing Managers into Leaders

May 7, 2019

Once upon a time, there was a woman named Liz who held an Assistant Manager position in a male-dominated manufacturing operation. She was smart, driven, accomplished, and determined to move up in the corporate ranks of the company. She had a total of 10 direct reports, including a couple of Team Leads, all of whom had been with the company for many years. So, it was reasonable to expect her team to be fairly productive and have created an efficient workflow. That, however, was not the case. Her team, in fact, was a source of frequent, significant, and significantly frustrating bottlenecks in the organization. While her area was an administrative function, the work she and her team were responsible for actually touched every single employee in the 1,600-employee plant. Her

Win to the Win-th Power – Creating Greater Success Through Innovation and Collaboration

December 11, 2018

NOTE to Readers: Dear Friends — I was recently invited to write an article for the Dear Christian Radio blog and have decided to re-post it here, just as it was posted there. Obviously, it is directed to a Christian audience, so if that’s not your jam… please don’t keep reading! If you choose to continue, I encourage you to consider how these thoughts / activities apply to your situation, your team, your organization. Enjoy! Dear Christian Radio… “If the rate of change outside your institution is faster than the rate of change inside your institution, the end is in sight, the only question is: When?” ~Jack Welch, GE – Year 2000 Annual Report While Christian Radio is not a traditional business, I believe Jack’s quote is still relevant

Woman worrying about being her own worst critic and what it is doing to her life.

Are You Your Own Worst Critic? Here Are 2 Ways To Gain Control Back

March 27, 2018

Are you your own worst critic? Many times in my life I have been told that my expectations for myself are extremely high, and that is true. I’m sure I could tell you all kinds of reasons why that is, but in terms of Strengths, I attribute it to having Maximizer as a dominant theme. Folks with high Maximizer have high expectations and work hard to make something strong into something superb. Yet the truth is being my own worst critic often hurts my progress. I spend lots of time worrying about doing things “right” and lose the potential of the moment. Can you relate? Today, I spent time with a team of fairly young leaders from a company I’ve been blessed to work with for the last several months.

Selling Popcorn

October 27, 2014

At what point do we, as parents, begin to imprint our personal beliefs on our children? Arguably from the time we bring them home from the hospital; after all, we are teaching them about our values and beliefs simply as a matter of course in how we live life each day. The question is, when do we become aware that’s what we are doing and decide to be intentional about it? I’ve had this discussion with myself, and my husband, on numerous occasions over the past several years, and most recently 30 minutes ago…on the topic of selling popcorn! Our son is 7 and is a Wolf in his local Cub Scout Troop (or is it a den or a pack? Frankly, all those distinctions elude me, but I digress…).

The Mystery Envelope

October 26, 2014

A couple of days ago, I checked my PO box and found this letter. At first, I was delighted to get a real letter. There was no return address, and the handwriting looked familiar…I puzzled for a moment about whom it could be from, then realized (with chagrin!) that it was my writing. One of my coaches, Kary Oberbrunner, had finally dropped it in the mail…and now I was supposed to open it and read it. UGH! On May 2nd, I sat on the rusted base of a “bed” (I use the term lightly) in a cell in Shawshank Prison (Ohio Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio), and wrote myself a letter. The assignment had been given by my coach, Kary, as part of the Dream Job Bootcamp workshop weekend. I was

How long?

October 6, 2014

How long will it take? That’s the point in the conversation when it becomes painfully obvious, to me, at least, that the person in front of me truly isn’t ready to initiate change in her/his life. That’s the point when I realize the person in front of me is looking for the quick fix, the easy out — you know, the path that won’t take him/her out of her comfort zone. Because while this person recognizes something isn’t working in his/her life, and is aware of the lack of congruence — even if he/she cannot articulate it as such — she/he is not uncomfortable enough, yet, to make a change. One of my mentors shared a story with me a few years ago, when we were talking about pursuing dreams. He

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