An entrepreneur called me to seek my advice. His business was deeply in debt, cash flow had evaporated, and he needed to decide whether to persevere or close the doors. This situation required some unconventional questions. So, I asked him, whether he believed God called him to start the business, and what did his wife think? He began crying as […]

We all have blindspots. The point of seeing blindspots in others is not to understand how to help them, but to understand we have the same blindspots. Here are four steps to help you identify some of your most glaring blindspots. Ask your friends to tell you of your blindspots. Spend time away from your comfort zone. Spend time alone […]

Recently, my wife, Kathy, and I were discussing a scheduling conflict when Kathy began raising her voice loudly. It was out of character and seemed unprovoked. After Kathy had a chance to process her emotions I learned what was really bothering her. Through teary eyes, Kathy apologized and informed me she was missing her mother. Kathy’s mother recently passed away […]

As a young banker I took a Dale Carnegie course on “Effective Public Speaking.” The first night we were asked to share why we were taking this course. One person who spoke was a newly appointed union president. Through clenched teeth, and with rising intensity, this man said, “I’m taking this class because when I speak to the members of […]

Harland Sanders had a life full of challenges. Vocationally, Sanders tried the Army, being a blacksmith, a life insurance salesman, and even as a lawyer. Sanders started multiple businesses, but most failed. At 65 years old, Sanders persevered to make one last attempt to use his God-given gift of cooking! By the time he was 73, Colonel Sanders had 600 […]

My son, Jeremy, works at a sheltered workshop. If you think working with your staff takes patience, imagine managing an entire team of adults with special needs who all have individual quirks and challenges! We are so blessed that Jeremy has an amazing boss named John! Due to Jeremy’s autism and obsessions he can be moody at times even to […]

Edith Onderick-Harvey wrote in Harvard Business Review about five behaviors of leaders who embrace change. Since change is constant, we’re discussing these five behaviors this week. The fifth behavior is to “look for boundary-spanning partnerships.” Many businesses have departments or silos that hinders a unified approach to advancing the business. A large bank had a technology change that was going […]

Edith Onderick-Harvey wrote in Harvard Business Review about five behaviors of leaders who embrace change. Since change is constant, we’re discussing these five behaviors this week. The fourth behavior is to promote calculated risk taking and experimentation. When confronted with risky opportunities, many organizations tend to ask, “Why?” Companies that handle change well tend to ask, “Why not?” Without the […]

Edith Onderick-Harvey wrote in Harvard Business Review about five behaviors of leaders who embrace change. Since change is constant and necessary, we’re discussing these five behaviors this week. The third behavior is to seek out what’s not working. There’s always a need for discovering problems, but especially when major change is happening. I once worked for a CEO who began […]

Edith Onderick-Harvey wrote in Harvard Business Review about five behaviors of leaders who embrace change. Since change is happening everywhere, we’re discussing these five behaviors this week. The second behavior is to look ahead and see opportunity. The author contends that all employees should be encouraged to look forward and help surface opportunities. Marion Laboratories founder, Ewing Kaufman, understood the […]