Over the years, the recommendations of my friend Phillip have led me to work with three of my favorite clients. I am certain that my relationships with these three clients have helped me meet many other wonderful people. Needless to say, I owe Phillip—a lot. Without him, these relationships wouldn’t have happened.
Phillip is bright, friendly, and inspiring. Sometimes his ideas pay off in a … [ Read more ]
Subject: Personal Improvement
There’s a story that’s going around about the janitor at Carnegie Hall who had been there for 20 years. He’s 45 years old. He was cleaning up the restroom, and a guy in a business suit went up to him and said, ‘You seem to be an intelligent fellow. For 20 years you’ve been cleaning the toilets. Why don’t you do something with your life … [ Read more ]
Subjects: Organizational Behavior / HR, Personal Improvement, Purpose / Meaning
An exercise and known as ‘Stephen Covey’s Big Rocks’. Imagine a bucket. Put three or four big rocks in. “Is the bucket full? ” “No” you reply. “Of course not” I say and put some smaller rocks in it to fill in the gaps. “Full now? “, “No”. I put in some sand, then some water. It’s full.
So, what’s the learning here? It’s to … [ Read more ]
Subjects: Career / Employment, Organizational Behavior / HR, Personal Improvement, Purpose / Meaning
In Ability Development from Age Zero, Shinichi Suzuki describes telling a violin student:
‘”Stop playing the violin for one week. There is something you must learn besides the violin. It is the spirit of doing things for other people. … To begin with, pick up your friend’s books when they have fallen…. Live by looking for things to do for other people. This is your homework … [ Read more ]
Subjects: Career / Employment, Personal Improvement, Success / Failure / Achievement
It is amazing how malleable memory and perception can be – much more than we think. For example, in one research study subjects were standing at an airport ticket counter. The ticket agent pretended to drop something, ducked behind the counter and a different person finished the transaction. Many of the subjects didn’t even recognize the change had been made. We tune out big chunks … [ Read more ]
Subjects: Organizational Behavior / HR, Personal Improvement
U Thant was secretary general of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971. “He was a great and spiritual man. Dag Hammarskjold had just been killed. There was a possibility of nuclear conflagration over a surrogate war being fought in the Congo, in which the West and the East were actually at war. U Thant was locked in a last-ditch meeting to avert disaster when … [ Read more ]
Subject: Personal Improvement