My life was based on a great lie. It was fashioned in my childhood, confirmed through my own selection bias, and whispered by an enemy set against my soul. It is part of the cultural religion in the state I call home and is a pretty big part of our national consciousness. It has been incredibly costly for anyone who has perpetrated that lie in their own life…

The Law of Triviality is based on the mythic story about a leadership team charged with discussing two investments: a nuclear power plant and a bike shed. The committee chose to spend more time discussing the bike shed to their great detriment…

I am a numbers geek. A childhood disability that required surgery and then long term therapy put me a bit behind the other boys at a formative age. I didn’t dream of being a baseball player, I dreamt of being a sports statistician. I memorized lifetime batting averages and other statistics from the baseball almanac.

My dad gave me a book on speed mathematics by a Swiss mathematician and my ability to get answers for pretty much any calculation gave me a great head start on any math discipline…

I used to avoid difficult conversations. I didn’t see that modeled in my home or pretty much anywhere else I have ever been. Who likes having those?

But some of my coach training showed me the incredible value of having direct and challenging conversations. I was actually taught that part of my job (that benefits my clients most) is to help them “mine” conflict. Not only I am not supposed to avoid it, but actually, go looking for it and use it as a mechanism to force teams to find uncover resolution to their problems. And I have gotten much more comfortable with this idea…

Conservative measures list the number of targeted items vying for our impressions at 5,000 a day. And money is being made on every one of those. If you want to understand that a little better or possibly become a bit terrified about it, check out the "Social Dilemma" documentary on Netflix. An incredibly well-done film about the age in which we live and the impact of technology on all of us…

There is an excellent story in the bible that redefines the concept of family. Jesus is hanging out with the disciples, speaking to a crowd, when his blood relatives (brothers and mother) show up and ask to see him. He turns to his disciples and says, “Here are my mother and brothers. For whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother….”

I had a conversation earlier with week with one of the most disruptive men I have ever encountered. He is quiet and unassuming but makes the boldest faith steps of anyone I have ever known. Each one shakes the others witnessing to their foundations…

We all like to go fast, right?

We work mostly with business owners, senior leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs. The only better idea than the one they have is the one they are going to have next. And as a coach who has run companies and teams, I always say:

“I’d rather spend my time bridling someone than kicking them in the tail to get them to move.”

I choose to work with these types of people because it is invigorating, fun, and they are the kind of people that change the world. (Cue Apple’s Here’s to crazy ones commercial from 1997). There is a tremendous multiplier effect. I like leverage…

After an exploratory trip to South Africa in the Fall, we agreed to conduct a virtual executive board meeting to determine the viability of launching additional groups in the new year. A dozen or so of the 60 leaders we worked with in the Fall met with us over Zoom for the four months beginning in March…

One of the interesting things I've observed during the pandemic is how many people, moms especially, have reflected on their pre-COVID life with utter confusion. They look back and wonder how they kept up the pace of life that they did. School, soccer practice, band practice, birthday parties, meetings, emails, church, carpooling, cooking, sleeping, working, etc. How were they doing so much and still functioning as humans? And to what end?

I used to take trains in Chicago with 5 AM type times on them. That got me to the office in a 6 AM range. It often felt like I was the only commuter headed to an office in a sea commodity traders headed to the exchange.

No one else was at the office when I arrived there. Most of them rolled in around the 9 AM timeframe and soon after went for a coffee break or breakfast…

It is becoming very complicated to be a human, much less a leader of a business or an organization. I feel like there is confusion, misunderstanding, and I seem to be dodging a new landmine with each subsequent step. I have become so fearful of saying the wrong thing that I am finding myself not saying much at all…

I remember originally reading the article “Leading Beyond the Blizzard: Why Every Organization Is Now a Startup”in late Marchby Crouch, Keilhacker, and Blanchard. It left me feeling both uneasy and hopeful. Rereading it surprised me by how prophetic it was being so early in the cycle.

In late March, many were still contemplating whether or not they were just going to continue, business-as-usual. This article served as a wake-up call for many of us. For me, it served as a convincing articulation of my worst fears…

One of the many coaching certifications our coaching team carries is my partner Paul’s PMP project management one. I have learned so much from him on this topic and one of the things I had to figure out from some of our earliest interactions was his term “chasing the constraint”.

We would be talking about our challenges or those of a client and it never seemed to bother him. There is an indomitability that he brings to every situation, but this is something different. It is the conviction that every organization has a problem or constraint that needs to be dealt with…

If you ask me how I am doing, I will say, “Great!” That is true in pretty much every area, most of the time. But I would be lying if I didn’t acknowledge that my fuse is a little shorter and my trigger finger a little tighter. Trying to manage these crazy times and the sometimes even crazier reactions of others does take its toll.

Old Paul talks about being hard-pressed on every side. I certainly am feeling that. One of the areas where my patience tends to run most thin is with my teenagers. After all the Zoom calls have stopped and I’ve pulled my mask from my face for the last time that day, I just want a little peace. Or at least some quiet…

We used to have this rule in banking regarding the taking of vacations. Even though you only had 3 weeks in the early part of your career, you were required to take two of those weeks at the same time. The idea was that if you were gone for an extended period of time, there would be ample room for any potential financial impropriety to surface…

Do you remember that precious moment when you first knew? Maybe it was from that boy or that girl who responded in kind with the heart you had for them. Perhaps it was in that kind gesture of one of your parents that seemed way beyond their parenting requirement. Or possibly that coach or teacher who extraordinarily offered their interest and invested in you…

Over the last few years, we have begun helping families of means chart healthier and more inspired futures. Now, we are not financial planners and we can’t help them with crafting trusts or legal structure, but there are essential things that have to occur before you can do those things if you are going to do them well.