Being Smart Has Little To Do With Your IQ

May 12th, 2012

Living today requires a whole new skill set. It was once enough to have a college degree and show up for work, do your job, maybe do a little extra and success was achieved. Not anymore. There are so many college degrees floating around that they are no longer a ticket to a paycheck. The saying “It’s not who you know–but who knows you” still applies to some degree, though once the job is secured–performance must follow. Read more »

Home is Not a Street Address

January 4th, 2012

“A man should never neglect his family for business.”-Walt Disney

Home is not a just a street address. Home is a shelter from life’s storms. It is a place to begin again. Home is a place, not where they HAVE to take you in, but a place where they WANT to take you in. Home resides inside your heart, and that awareness evolves throughout our lives. An emotional “home” is created when someone loves us on our “being” and not our “doing”–even when we miss the soccer goal, don’t hit our numbers, or aren’t on top of our game. Home is a feeling within that “everything will be ok.” This doesn’t mean bad things won’t happen. Read more »

Profit, Inspiration, and the Future

November 23rd, 2011

Traditionally, CEOs focus primarily on growth and profit, and understandably so. This book offers an inside look at uniquely inspired leaders who live by their values to achieve growth and profit in their own unique way. As Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Less Traveled,” so beautifully depicts, we live in a life of difficult choices. In all of our decisions, in life and business, there is always a consequence of choosing which fork in the road to take:

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” Read more »

Let the Game Come to You

November 10th, 2011

Living here in Atlanta I am a huge baseball and football fan. The Atlanta Braves were doing well this year and leading by 8½ games in early September.  It looked like the playoffs were a sure thing! Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. They lost the lead and a chance of playing in the post-season.

Before the demise of the Braves was certain, Chipper Jones, who plays third base, said something to the team. Chipper is a 15 year veteran of the team and the young players look to him for counsel, advice and leadership. He commands a lot of respect and has shown himself to be a leader with his history of success. At one of the team meetings, he said, “Hey guys, we’re trying too hard. You have to let the game come to you.”

I was intrigued by the fact that a baseball player, Read more »

3 Lessons Learned From a Brilliant Executive: Steve Jobs

October 25th, 2011

I recently heard about a book called “The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth”. The premise is that the Geeks, the Nerds, and the folks that were not very popular in High School have often become very wealthy. You can think of numerous examples: Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, the Google guys – Larry Page and Sergey Brin. These brilliant minds are behind numerous tech related, web-based, social networks, programs and software that have really changed our lives. Generally, those that are the most successful in life are like most of us. They have played by the rules, done the right thing, and had a few wild ideas or occasional experiences along the way. Read more »

Gratitude in Action

October 4th, 2011

I love the change of seasons. I love the cooler weather. Change of seasons – especially the fall – remind me we can begin over and over again throughout the year as well as in our lives. This is the time to reflect on how you and your business are doing and plan for what’s ahead. Forget about waiting until the New Year when things are cold and dark. There’s life all around! Football has started up, school is back at full throttle, and local Fairs and Farmer’s Markets display their beautiful, delicious fruit and crafts to consider for Christmas gifts.

Reasons Why I Am Grateful

As you can tell, lately I have been overwhelmed with gratitude. I have the most wonderful husband and child in the world. They love and accept me ‘just like I am’ with no requirements or requests to change. Read more »

Life is Out Ahead

August 30th, 2011

As we packed the cars and loaded up most of my son Justin’s personal belongings to head back to college, I reflected on how I really appreciate that there are seasons to life. For Justin and College Life it was about tuition, books, detergent and reconnecting with old friends and making new ones.

It wasn’t quite as sad this time (the second) as it was his first year. But, it was sad in another way. I realized Justin continues to move into adulthood and his own life creation that he will autograph with his unique signature. I wouldn’t have it any other way! We have spent his whole life giving him roots to grow and wings to fly. He has taken flight and is soaring with grace and ease. During this journey, I have loved every pencil, pen, package of notebook paper, and even those expensive Texas instrument ‘things’ I have bought him.

Sadly, there are fewer and fewer times where I will buy him ‘stuff’ for his school year. But with that sadness came a thought Read more »

Communication is Not Connection

August 18th, 2011

Today more than ever, there are numerous ways that we can communicate with one another.  For example, E-mail, Voicemail, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to name just a few. These electronic means of communication are sure to evolve into yet un-thought of methods. But, despite all the ways we have to communicate with one another, we are not feeling very connected to other people or to ourselves. To avoid this problem of communication without connection, we need to look at the ways we are communicating to see if we can find more life-enhancing, enriching, and inspirational ways to relate.

What is the objective of effective communication? Ideally, we would like our communication to lead to mutually satisfying relationships. This requires a give and take from each other. You feel like you are making a difference or connecting, and likewise the person on the other side feels the same way. For there to be true communication and connection it has to be mutual.

The following 4-step process will help you more effectively communicate and truly connect with other people: Read more »

Persistence not Perfection

August 12th, 2011

I think we all need to get over ourselves and the desire, need, and pursuit of perfection.  It’s really just a cop-out and a reason to not move or an excuse for not ‘getting it right’.  If we leave no room for spontaneity, creativity, and fluidity in our lives, we can lead pretty boring lives.  The pursuit of perfection often leaves us feeling depleted and deflated.   It’s just a never ending cycle of ‘raising the bar’.

Many people never start their own business, go for that promotion, write that book, or accomplish whatever their dream is because of their fear of failure or ridicule.  So what if you don’t get it right the first time?  Most successful CEOs and famous business people failed numerous times before they tasted success.  I once heard Ted Turner had 17 failed Read more »

Three Ways You Can POSITIVELY Deal with Grief

June 13th, 2011

I’d like to focus today on grief. I’ve had several significant events that have brought grief into my life. Interestingly, I wasn’t even aware of the impact they had on me until many months later. These events included a transition from one business to creating a new one, our son leaving for college within a week of my business changing, and then a very significant relationship that started professionally and grew into a personal relationship had a significant challenge and changed forms as well.

As I’ve gotten through each of the events above
and reflected on their impact on my life, I’ve thought of several ways grief can be good for us both personally and professionally.

Grief Reveals our Capacity to Commit

The first thing that is good about grief is that it shows us that we cared about, committed to, or were involved in something that was so significant that we miss it. We view it as a loss. This is a testament to our capacity for commitment. We committed ourselves to something or someone that it hurts that that they, or it, no longer exist in our lives. We need to celebrate the fact that we created something so significant that the loss has a real impact on our lives. That says something about who we are as a person. Read more »