I volunteered at our local food bank this past weekend. A friend of mine and I coordinate the event for kids at our school and church to get service hours. It always puts things into perspective when I hear about how many people don’t know where their next meal is coming from in our county. What I like about the program is that it teaches kids and adults how the food bank works, where they get their food, how volunteers…
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Today is November 11th, which is a day known by different names ( Veterans Day, Remembrance Day, Poppy Day, Armistice Day, etc.) depending on where you are from as a day to remember all those in the armed forces who fought for our freedom. Thank you all for your service. Picture yourself getting together with a bunch of friends or family. At some point, you will probably hear a story or two about a recent event that happened to…
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Generally when people talk about “firsts” they refer to babies and toddlers. She got her first tooth today, she rolled over or she took her first steps. The truth is that you go through a million firsts in your lifetime though. First day of school, first time you go on a date, first time you drive, first job, etc. Each time you go through the next big “first” it brings a little anxiety, a bit of fear, but it also…
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Back in 1992, I was getting my MBA in Georgia and had class at night after work. I went to vote in the 1992 election before I had to go to school. There was quite a line to vote that night, but I was naively optimistic and thought it would move quickly. 3 1/2 hours later, I was finally able to cast my vote. I don’t remember if they offered early voting back then that I could have done instead….
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How many of you have thought about changing jobs or looking for a whole new career? I think that we all consider it when we are having a bad day, but how many people actually do it? I will share with you a bit about my story. I worked at the same company for 20+ years and had created a good reputation for getting things done, bringing teams together and as a leader who was a good people developer. I…
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“You cannot be really first-rate at your work if your work is all you are.” – Anna Quindlen I saw this quote and it made me think about how much balance we have in our lives. In my past, I had been known to have some (okay more than some ) workaholic tendencies at times. This caused challenges when I had issues at work to deal with and my child was playing in a volleyball tournament. I know you are…
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It is the final game of the World Series tonight. The Chicago Cubs led for most of game 7 and then the Cleveland Indians tie it up 6-6 in the 8th inning, which forced them to go into extra innings. This could have caused the Cubs to wonder if they had it in them to come back from this adversity. Their usual closing pitcher is worn out due to all the pitches he has thrown over the last three days. Then…
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I am a big sports fan and wanted to share that two sports teams in Chicago had two big days this week. My Chicago Bears won on Monday Night Football. They have not had the best record this year, but I am happy that they did well and it helped me win in fantasy football this week. Tonight’s big event was seeing the Chicago Cubs Baseball team tie up the World Series! I am so excited for them and hopefully…
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I was listening to a podcast today that was talking about ways to get visibility as a leader. It was very interesting to hear the guest speaker on the podcast truly practicing what he was preaching. He was sharing helpful strategies for leaders to get more visibility and build connections. At the same time, he was working into the conversation what he has done himself and how he connected with influential people to make it happen. Visibility and self-promotion go…
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Since it is Halloween, I thought it might be good to talk about things that are scary. No, I am not really talking about ghost and goblins, but what are the things that scare us and hold us back from moving forward? It is pretty common to be scared when you are trying something new. For example, I remember when I was little and I rode a bike without training wheels or swam in the deep end of the pool…
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