The Freedom from Religion Foundation has sponsored some billboards across the U.S. that say “Imagine no religion.” That’s pretty easy. Imagine millions of hours of effort and billions of dollars of aid donated by faith-based organizations suddenly gone. Imagine tens of thousands of homeless people with no shelter because missions are closed, and as many…
We often use “voice” to refer to a leader’s message and style. Today I’m referring literally to your voice as used in your ability to speak. One of my dearest friends has lost his voice. He is a professional speaker in the advanced stages of cancer and side-effects from the disease have left him unable…
Now that it appears Obama has locked up the democratic nomination, it is important to give careful consideration to his qualifications, not just his ideas (and the same is true for McCain). Although a political activist prior, he was first elected to public office in 1996. From first elected office to president in 12 years?…
I’ve had the worst cold/mutant virus from hades I can recall for many years; the kind of miserable affliction where you feel rotten awake and you feel rotten trying to sleep. I’m not going into deep theology here, but one upside to such a condition is that is reminds us how good we feel most…
I stopped by the grocery store and as I was parking my motorcycle in the parking lot, some slouchy rider pulls his bike onto the sidewalk near the entrance to park. What’s that about? Maybe he wants the attention. Maybe he’s lazy. Almost certainly he’s self-absorbed. Why does everybody need to walk around his vehicle while…
Improvement without change? It doesn’t happen. Not all change is an improvement, but all improvement requires change. I’ve been involved in an effort to improve some significant processes within an organization. Most everyone want to improve the processes; few are willing to actually change them. Recently someone threw up the old “change for the sake…
Our family just returned from a trip to Mexico where we’ve visited many times before. This time we stayed at the Princess Resort near Playa del Carmen. Our experience was extremely disappointing despite the beauty of this new hotel. As Darla and I reflected on our disappointments, we realized that probably 80% of the problems…
My friend John Maxwell has another excellent book just out called Leadership Gold. In it he contradicts a popular leadership myth: if it is lonely at the top, you’re not doing it right. Effective leaders should be surrounding themselves with good people and building strong relationships. While there are decisions that ultimately the leader must…
I was reminded of that recently. Sometimes despite your best preparation stuff happens. Life, as we are all too often reminded, isn’t completely within our control. When bad and unexpected stuff happens, the mark of a professional is his or her ability to recover; or to use an overused metaphor, make lemonade out of the…
With all the gloom and doom we’re surrounded with these days, this video clip from Harley Davidson should provide you a little encouragment: Screw it, let’s ride.