For several years, I had the unique privilege of working with my friend and colleague, Dr. Shirley Garrett, as an adjunct faculty member at the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, VA, a facility that provides leadership training for high-level government executives. I was fortunate enough to be Shirley’s assistant in teaching a class on executive communication. One of the benefits of that experience was getting to interact with government executives from every department – from Agriculture to Transportation and the Treasury to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Through our interactions and each person’s presentations to the class, we learned about fisheries, education, energy, food and drug safety, healthcare, weather, Medicare, national parks – almost every US government agency. The… [Read More]
Burned Out?
For almost a year now, we’ve been dealing with a pandemic that has drastically changed the way we work, shop, worship, socialize, and learn, i.e., it’s changed our lives. From nursery schools to nursing homes, people in every sector of the population have been affected. It’s put a strain on our relationships, finances, businesses, health. Most people I talk with say that they’re just tired. Maybe not physically tired but emotionally tired. People are running on empty – burned out. With the emergence of the Covid-19 vaccine, there’s an inkling of optimism, a hope that maybe, just maybe, we can return to some semblance of normalcy. But most of us aren’t naïve enough to believe that we’ll ever return to… [Read More]
Just One Thing
In what has become a classic scene from the movie City Slickers, Billy Crystal’s character, Mitch Robbins, is riding the range with a Curly Washburn, a crusty old ranch hand superbly played by Jack Palance. Their conversation turns philosophical when Curly begins to talk about “the secret of life” and tells Robbins that it’s “one thing – just one thing”. “What is the one thing?” Mitch asks. To which Curly replies, “That’s what you’ve got to figure out.” As we begin a new year, perhaps it’s time to get a little philosophical, and while we may come to no conclusion regarding the secret of life, perhaps discovering your “one thing” could impact your life in 2021. What is your “one… [Read More]
An “A” Player
Our oldest grandson Jack, age 10, plays on a 4th grade football team. Having played flag football for a couple of years, this is the first season in pads, and it’s a whole new ballgame. His position is wide receiver – out on the fringe. At this level, hand-offs are more successful than passes, so he doesn’t see a lot of action and has few opportunities to touch the ball. In spite of this, Jack loves the game and loves playing with his teammates. The first game of the season, his team won handily, defeating the opponents by more than three touchdowns, and Jack was excited! He called to give us the play-by-play. The exhilaration in his voice made us… [Read More]
Stop It!
How quick we are to criticize. How quick we are to seek out a weakness in someone in order to shine a light on it or become defensive when our own weaknesses are pointed out. How quick we are to find fault rather than look for what is good and right and positive in others. How quick we are to judge without knowing all the facts. Maybe we think that by tearing down others, we elevate ourselves. Maybe our own feelings of self-doubt create such insecurities that we try to make ourselves look good by making others look bad. Maybe it’s human nature, or maybe we’ve been influenced by those in the public eye who take the faultfinding, disparaging approach… [Read More]
