The World Class Butthole
I was coming up on my first annual performance evaluation as an officer in the Navy and, as the day approached for my debrief, I wasn’t really worried because I…
Mess Creates More Mess
I just saw “The Great Gatsby” with my youngest son, Ben, last night. One of my favorite quotes from the movie (and the book) came from Daisy Buchanan. When asked…
Common Sense Isn’t Common
The ocean swells were so large I thought I was reliving the beginning scene of Gilligan’s Island. I had only been in the Navy for six months and out to…
Teamwork Is ALL About ME!!
Whenever I teach a class or share my thoughts with an audience on teamwork, I always give the old adage of “There’s no ‘I’ or ‘U’ in the word TEAM.”…
SHUT UP!
He was trying to be patient. I know he was. I was excited to be at my first duty station and learn my trade. I had just gotten finished with…
Value Leads To Engagement
Recently, I was in a meeting and heard a CEO say, “All units of work have the same value.” I’ve known this and have practiced it but had never heard…
Leading Through The Zombie Apocalypse
Beware, it’s coming….the zombie apocalypse! Ok, probably not, but 2017 is sure to throw you a challenge or two in leading others through change. On this past season of the “Walking…
Six Things NOT TO Share With Your People
“Sweet, Lord! Please do not share ANYTHING else with me!” is what I thought as she droned on about everything that was going on in her life. As a new…
Father Knows Best
I had hit a brick wall and didn’t know what to do. As a military person, I had never dealt with unions before. We had a ton of changes to…
Do Ask, Do Tell!
Dave knew that when he told me I couldn’t do something, I’d work even harder to prove that I could do it. He was a great supervisor. It was easy…