I’ve been re-reading Dale Carnegie’s 1930’s classic, “How to Win Friends and Influence People” because the speaker coming to my Vistage CEO group this month uses it as his trusted guide on how to deal with people and I want to get every bit out of the presentation. I’m amazed at how timeless Carnegie’s principles are. Principle #2, “Give honest and sincere appreciation” is so pure and simple. Read More >

In a heated, conflicted moment recently, I heard a voice inside me asking, “how did I get HERE?” and realized I was spending more time trying to figure out why the situation was happening than I was taking action to the change direction—to the detriment of the conversation. Read More >

Last week I read The New Globalist is Homesick in the New York Times about the persistent feeling of homesickness among immigrants and migrants. Susan Matt writes, “The global desire to leave home arises from poverty and necessity, but it also grows out of a conviction that such mobility is possible. People who embrace this cosmopolitan outlook assume that individuals can and should be at home anywhere in the world, that they need not be tied to any particular place. This outlook was once a strange and threatening product of the Enlightenment but is now accepted as central to a globalized economy. It leads to opportunity and profits, but it also has high psychological costs. In nearly a decade’s research into the emotions and experiences of immigrants and migrants, I’ve discovered that many people who leave home in search of better prospects end up feeling displaced and depressed. Few speak openly of the substantial pain of leaving home.” Read More >

My Grandfather always said this was the best month of the year—“Great people were born during February!” he’d say. His list would often be different but might include Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Ayn Rand, Hank Aaron, Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, Michael Jordan, Smokey Robinson, Ansel Adams, Victor Hugo, Henry Wadsworth, Norman Rockwell, Thomas Edison, “and of course you and me.” Not to forget Valentine’s Day on which he not only had his Birthday but also his anniversary.” His words always made me feel proud, special and in good company. Read More >

Last week hiking out of the Grand Canyon I was struck by how formidable the way up appeared even though I knew I had just descended on the same trail. All I could see ahead of me was a rock face going straight up thousands of feet. I couldn’t see any trail or even get a sense of the way out.  Read More >

Why is it that relationships thrive or falter? I believe that relationships, organizations, and more broadly - systems - fail slowly and then quickly because of conversations that aren't happening.  I've heard it said that the Queen of Denmark once commented that all the wars that have ever been fought were a result of a conversation that hadn't taken place. Why don't we have those conversations? Read More >

I have a love affair with owls... and they seem to have a love affair with me. Read More >