Blog

Looking For Light At The End Of The Tunnel.

"When it is dark enough, you can see stars." Received this in a fortune cookie Friday night at our favorite asian restaurant in downtown New Haven (date night with my beautiful wife, Silvia).

After a small amount of research, I found it's attributed to Charles Beard, one of the most influential American historians of the 20th century.

How To Think Creatively.

What once was a decaying NYC eyesore is now a hugely successful financial engine. The High Line, an old elevated rail-bed turned world-class park, has generated $2 billion in private investment and 12,000 new jobs in the area, including 8,000 new construction jobs.

Who would have thought?

Hate Your Job? Here's How To Love It.

How much love is there in your life? You probably love your parents, your spouse/partner, your kids . . . but what else do you love?

Do you love any of your friends? Colleagues? Nature? A beautiful day? A good book?

How about work? Do you love it? Hate it? If work was a long spectrum from Totally Love to Uncomfortably Despise, where would you fall on that line?

How To Deal With Pessimists & Obstructionists.

Ever read something that so truly resonates with your soul? Something that clearly explains all the obstacles you had at work? Something clearly defining and segmenting out those people that waste your time? I did. This past weekend, I caught up with some reading that I've been putting off lately.

When The Worst Thing You Can Imagine Happens.

Yesterday, I wrote about fear. Sometimes our fear of the worst that can happen paralyzes us. We don't move. We do nothing. Here's the reality — the worst almost never happens. Maybe 1 time in 100 or 1000. But we act and react as it it's right around the corner. We act as if it's a certainty.

The One Mistake We All Make.

"In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you." — Warren Buffett

Why Bad Things Happen When We Least Expect It.

For many years, I felt bad things just happen in our lives. I'm not talking about a sudden death in the family, or a severe illness. That's truly unfortunate. I'm talking about a bad boss, a missed job offer, or a client who got away at the last minute. These are situations thrust into our lives to not only teach us to appreciate the good times, but to also clearly understand something better is probably around the corner.

Motivation Is Your Worst Enemy.

Bosses suck. Motivational speakers are awful. Business books are boring. Your spouse/partner are wrong. I know you sometimes feel this way. I do.

Do you sometimes feel those forces in and around you are just pointing you towards disparate directions? Is it's just too much work to start . . . or if you start, the cavalcade of work will overwhelm you?

How To Reward Your People.

Fact: We don't regularly acknowledge the people who make our career machine run. Everyone who works so hard to make us look good to our clients and management. So here's a little tool to help you remember. It's called R E W A R D S.

Two Secrets From Leonardo da Vinci That Will Rock Your World.

"I have been impressed with the urgency of doing.Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do." — Leonardo da Vinci

That da Vinci character was a pretty smart guy. These words, uttered over five hundred years ago, are still true today.

What Motivates You? A Simple Checklist.

An individual can't do their job effectively without being aware of what motivates them. A supervisor/manager should be cognizant of the fact that good performance is dependent not only on the abilities of team members, but also on how well team members are motivated to perform their tasks.

It's Friday The 13th - The Most Popular Posts.

Today I just hit 400 posts on my site. It's especially momentous when it happens on Friday the 13th. (Oh my!) Here are some of my most popular posts over the past three years:

How Not To Get Angry On The Job.

"I've had a few arguments with people, but I never carry a grudge. You know why? While you're carrying a grudge, they're out dancing." - Buddy Hackett We all get angry. It's normal.

The real question is WHY we get angry. As I tell my clients, to be happy, we need to have a certain amount of control in our lives. Not totally, but we have to have a handle on many situations to ensure that we don't go quietly insane.

How To Add Style To Everything You Do.

Yes, I woke up at 4:00 this morning to catch the royal wedding. Just finished watching the new couple make it to Buckingham Palace. What impressed me was their personal style. All of the commentators profusely exclaimed about how the couple present and comport themselves today. Kate especially. Think of the pressure she must be under to act and perform according to many rules and royal mandates. So far, she's done an incredible job. She was cool, calm and confident.