Thinking carefully about significant thoughts will change your life. I can help facilitate that process. Once a week I post a short essay on a topic that will enhance your life and help you lead well. The theme is broad – reflections on life and leadership. I want to make important thoughts easy to understand, hard to ignore, and practical. And I want to help close the “knowing-doing gap” – that frustrating gap between knowing what to do but not doing it. The topics will apply to both individuals and organizations so if you’re a leader, these essays will help you be a better leader. Who’s Don? I am 65 years old. I want to live until I die. I’ve written 11 books on a wide-range of subjects from emotional health to a children’s book on Proverbs. I have a Ph.D. in classical music. I’ve traveled to 45 countries, most of them numerous times. I wrote and teach a leadership development course – Lead Well. I am a Certified Specialist of Wine and certified level 3 with WSET. I read one book every week. I create pedagogical art. I am a member of Mensa. My wife is Mary, I have two grown daughters (Lauren and Sarah), a son-in-law (Jonathan), and two grandchildren (Marin and Benjamin). I am grateful for many friends who continually enrich my life.
You’re a different person at different stages of your life. Ten years ago, when I started working at my current church, I met a man named Bob (I’ll use that name because that was his name). He was a delightful man. He arrived early on Sunday mornings to help prepare the sanctuary for worship; he…
Things won are done; joy’s soul lies in the doing. Shakespeare I’ve always been an advocate of goal-setting, for two reasons. Setting and achieving goals leads to progress; it makes us effective. If you aim at nothing you will always hit it. People who don’t set goals often just meander through life. Their lives resemble…
A restaurant in my neighborhood opens at 5:00 p.m.for dinner. Recently, when I arrived around 5:15, I was the only customer. I seated myself in a booth. The waitpersons were huddled together, talking and laughing. They didn’t even know I was there. I decided to wait silently until one of them noticed me. I waited…
First who, then what. Jim Collins Twenty years ago I interviewed a friend who started and now manages a large company. He has 200 employees in the U.S. and about 15,000 in China. He designs and manufactures those obnoxious inflatables that you see in people’s yards on holidays – Santas at Christmas, scarecrows at Halloween….
Last week I wrote that a leader’s most important job is choosing great team members. It’s the sine qua non of leadership. This week let’s think about how to choose great team members. 1. A leader should be involved in compiling her team. A leader should have the authority and responsibility to choose her team…
Do you remember the cartoon character, Popeye the Sailor Man? He was long-suffering and took a lot of abuse from bullies. But there would come a time when he had endured all he could. His patience exhausted, he would say, “That’s all I can stands, and I can’t stands no more.” Then he’d crack open…
According to American business historian Robert Sobel, the British government created a civil-service job in 1803 which called for a man to stand on the white cliffs of Dover with a spyglass and to ring a bell if he saw Napoleon coming. Napoleon died in 1821; the job continued until 1945. Insanity surrounds us: Arizona…
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