Category Archives: Plain View
Seth Godin Slams Leadership Bonehead Moves
Bonehead moves! That’s my term for all the crazy things companies do to drive customers and profits away. Bonehead moves are all the bizarre bureaucratic boo-boos that makes you think we live in a world of nut cases. Now that I have my 4G phone and great picture taking ability, I am going to start capturing what [...]
Imagination Rules The Weekend
The Tall Ships entered Dana Point this weekend. How fun to see adults get into character and become heroes and villains from another era. The romance of sailing vessels sparks the day–until one recalls the incredible hardships endured tot trade, to flee a country, to explore. We have it so easy today. A click on [...]
Retreat To Advance Into A New Decade
From my second floor bedroom, I look out at a massive 150 year-old eucalyptus tree that almost overpowers the expanse of the Pacific and the Channel Islands. Starlings, crows, doves, and woodpeckers dart among the withered arms of ancient oaks. My window opens with a rusted hand crank and a hand-hewed teak starburst looks down [...]
Life Leadership Lessons – In the Death of a Dog
Every once in awhile, there comes a story that reminds me that I must learn new skills despite loss and also discover better responses to the vagaries of a world that often seems upside down. Max came to my brother and his family five years ago from the Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue League. Max was [...]
Are You Eager For Change?
Employees have been downsized, laid off, given reduced benefits, forced to work longer and longer hours without additional pay. Will anyone be surprised when thousands of these employees ditch their unhappy work circumstances as soon as the economy shows a strong recovery? Anyone who has read the news can see that many companies treated employees [...]
Terrorists Win if We Fail to Talk and Listen to Each Other
Have we learned nothing from the disasters that hallmarked this last decade? Beginning with the horror of 9-11 through the disaster of Katrina right up to the Bernie Madoff madness (despite a 10-year warning from securities executive, Harry Markopolos). The information was there all along but the agencies did not share information. Egos got in [...]
Happy Thanksgiving! Run Your Own Race-At Your Own Pace
On Thanksgiving Day, dawn spills over Dana Point Harbor where thousands of runners gather for the annual Turkey Trot. The largest holiday race in California beckons folks of all ages, sizes, shapes, and abilities. Waiting at the starting line for the 10-K, I talk to a Dad and his 7 year-old daughter. Around me, I [...]
Are we becoming obsessed with notoriety?
The restored barn perched on the hilltop overlooking the Ohio River. Piles of leaves swirled around the base of bare-armed trees. Although almost the end of November, the bright blue sky and crisp air still spoke of Autumn. I noticed what appeared to be a bronze historical marker nailed to the side of the door. [...]
Meeting Trends Move Markets in Tough Times
Meeting Planners International (MPI) commissioned the largest and longest running annual survey of corporate sales and marketing executives to determine trends in 2009. Despite the anti-meeting backlash that started with the AIG meeting at the Montage, senior sales and marketing executives in North America report the following: (1) Fifty-three percent of respondents chose event marketing [...]
Today’s Economy DEMANDS A Critical Skill: Optimism
Global warming. Water shortages. Terrorism. Failing health care system. Wars around the globe. Gas prices. Severe economic downturn. Look at the headlines and it’s enough to make you stay in bed. But wait! There is hope. It’s not the cock-eyed optimism sung about in South Pacific, the hottest show on Broadway. Rather it’s what psychologists [...]