Yesterday was a long day for me, like most of us experience on a regular basis. It started at 5 a.m. to finish preparing for a meeting at eight. It ended with being a timer at a youth swim meet for three hours; then at 10 p.m., accompanying one of my kids to a neighbor’s

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Ever Get Tired?

I was having a discussion with a family member about how to improve schools, and his answer was to improve the “basics”…math, reading and writing. What’s the evidence this could be true? He cited how much parents spend on tutoring nowadays to help their children get ahead. The city where he lived ranked number three

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Nailing Jell-O

I can’t think of a school or youth organization that doesn’t espouse “success habits” in one form or fashion, including those I grew up in. I never understood very clearly the connection between WHAT I was told to do, HOW I was to do it, and WHY. In fact, I was rarely told why; I

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Success Habit Charades

I’ve shared that leadership is executing mission and building strength to execute it more successfully. The unique metrics of gauging our success in leading are practicing the success habits of greatness and service simultaneously – otherwise known as magnanimity and fraternal humility.  A few years ago, a friend of mine said, in no uncertain terms

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Stop Using THAT Word!

Last week, I had a chat with our 16-year-old about his plans for studying for his final exams…here’s the lesson I learned during that chat: After asking him to share his plans with me he remarked, “Dad, you only care about the grades on my report card, because it makes you look good!”  OUCH!  Yeah…that stung! Then, I

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This is Going to Sting a Bit!

I know I’ve written a lot on defining words we use in leadership strength training. This is because, in the words of my colleague Pierre Koshakji, “Definition is everything.” This is what leads me to the point of this post. I was asked last week: “What is peace?” I have to admit, I didn’t have

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What is Peace?