So often we give up today for tomorrow. Life is to live. It is not to plan. — John Michael Graff was his name. He taught me all I ever needed to understand about the proper way to live and how to establish priorities. No. He was not a guru or life consultant, teacher, mentor, author, or anyone that was educationally qualified to teach me the lesson. What…

Communication facilitates the flow of information, ideas, beliefs, perception, advice, opinion, and instructions. It is the baseline for understanding. Learning to communicate better helps facilitate even the smallest of business transactions. And even the smallest transactions can teach us to be better communicators. — Brett is my younger brother. I could say that he’s taller and better looking, has more charisma, was Mom’s favorite son, has more friends, and so on…but why state the obvious? We’ll stick with younger for now.

So much of life is approached on a trial-and-error basis because we are too proud to ask those who have walked the path ahead of us to share with us what they have learned. — When I was quite young, I worked for the Norfolk and Southern Railway System as a laborer. I hired on in mid-summer with temperatures of around 85 degrees F and humidity a normal “muggy” for an Ohio summer. I was young and strong and could hold my own laboring around…

Some people just get things done. It is the defining characteristic of their career. We typically don’t recruit based on an individual’s ability to accomplish things. Unfortunately, it seems too hard to accurately assess this attribute on a resume. The workplace needs more doers and fewer checked boxes on resume keyword searches. — Wayne and Gerry. Gerry and Wayne. They had a heckuva run together. Thoughts of the two of them bring a flood of memories wrapped in a smile.

There are “tried-and-true” techniques that are so simplistic that we doubt whether or not they will even work. We often try to re-evaluate, improve upon, and complicate them. An experience I once had while working in a hospital kitchen reminds me of how we try to make some things more complex than they really are. — I was new on the job in the kitchen of a mental health hospital. No, I was not a patient. I was on a work-study program associated with the Psychology Department of Ohio University. As a 17-year-old freshman, I thought I knew everything about everything.

It’s important to enjoy the trip of life. There are some individuals who manage their own trip thoughtfully and carefully enough to ensure others navigate successfully as well. These people are essential in every organization. — Rivers and life seem to go together. I am expert on neither, but enjoy them both. The metaphors and parallels and analogies of lives and rivers are plentiful. The headwaters of a river, much like the beginning of our lives, are often inconspicuous. Depending, of course, on what we do…

Every business relationship starts with an introduction. From there, we decide if the focus will be on transactional value or relational value. Ultimately, it shouldn’t be about us. Instead, if we focus on others’ needs, values, and what drives them, they will remember how we made them feel. — Wynne “Chip” Gulden put my team and me through one of the most thorough due diligence efforts I’ve ever experienced. It was worth it…at least, looking back on it.

The moment we say, “I can’t” or “it can’t,” we are correct. If we don’t try, we automatically fail. — My father was a provider and a teacher. He expected the very best from me and was quick to tell me when he didn’t feel like I lived up to those expectations. He believed in me and loved me enough to want the very best for me. So, he was…

You’ve likely heard a lot about servant-leadership. The theory seems simple enough. In practice, it requires a rare combination of devotion to people and commitment to the basics. Seeing servant-leadership in practice is an experience to be treasured. — There’s been a lot of talk about servant-leadership in management circles and classrooms for the last few decades. Some of the experts say it starts with your customers. Do good work for them and let that work overflow into society. Others profess that servant-leaders turn the traditional management model upside…