Yeah, it’s getting real up in here — Somehow the spam call made it through my iPhone’s Do Not Answer Unknown Numbers feature. Apple, see me after this about that. So the number was H&H Motors in Wichita, Kansas. Never been there, never heard of them. They were selling United Health plans, a new offering. …

I used to have road rage although not to the point of violence. I honked and sometimes waved at drivers, not using all my fingers . . . Stephen M. R. Covey wrote in his book, The Speed of Trust, (paraphrased) we judge others by their actions but we judge ourselves by our intent. Shortly after I read this, I had two encounters on the interstate near Atlanta. The first one was a guy cutting me off in traffic. The second one was me cutting someone off. The difference? I was heading home because my son was injured. That other guy? He was just a jerk. Or maybe he was rushing to get to his kid. I have no idea.

How do you know about yourself? — Something I struggled with as a young leader was a complete lack of self-awareness. Part of that goes hand in hand with self-confidence but they aren’t mutually exclusive. Part of that also goes with youthful inexperience. …

Disrespected . . . — Maybe it’s the way I was raised, or maybe it’s where I was raised, or maybe it’s just me, but my default response to being disrespected is anger. Not tweaked, not irked, not annoyed — angry. It might be a driver cutting me off in traffic or something more personal…

Planning. Is it hard? Yeah. Is it worth it? Yeah. — High school football is officially underway as of July 31st. We had a parent meeting on July 30th and the coach seemed so organized. He laid out the schedule until school starts: practice 5:30 a.m. M-W-F; 6 p.m. M-T-W-T-F along with two exceptions. New coach, new way of doing business…

Sowing seeds of leadership. — So, there I was, sitting in church this morning and listening intently. They read a portion of Matthew, Chapter 13. That’s when Jesus shares a parable about planting seeds. Some seeds will fall on the pathway, some will fall on rocky soil, some will fall in the thorns, and some…

Why I do what I do. — As a career Army officer for over 22 years and in talking, teaching, and training leadership for the past ten years, I’ve helped people learn and grow which allows them to make their organizations better. Those experiences enable me to present leadership in a host of settings and stories and…

Confidence ≠ Right. Evaluating a leader. — My son challenged me today. He’s 15 and like that. He’d stumbled across a Saturday Night Live skit and shared it with me. It’s about a very confident schoolgirl named Shallon who gives guest star Edward Norton fits. Hilarious! Watch it here. We were laughing and I joked I should…

Workplace Imbalance of Power — Why are labor unions on the upswing in America? The answer is pretty simple: lousy leadership. I am NOT anti-union, not at all. I grew up in West Virginia and when I was a kid, the coal miners and coal owners were still shooting at one another. Literally. West Virginia…