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Recharging

June 2022 is over. Now we have officially had 2 ½ years of tough times. 

Even though we are starting to come out of the pandemic, there are still struggles – health and safety (several angles), uncertainty, political, not enough time. Employers have difficulty hiring, gaining commitment, and keeping qualified people as well as getting new business. Employees’ lives are complicated with more choice, telework decisions, child care, finances, etc.

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Trumpet and Flag Day

June 14th is Flag Day in the United States. 

                Do you know that? I would suspect that a lot of people don’t.

Flag Day comes just about two weeks after Memorial Day. Both have real significance for us.

Memorial Day is for honoring those military members that gave their life for our country.

Flag Day was created to observe the anniversary of the 1777 approval of the design of the first American Flag. Since then, the flag has evolved, but the colors remain and have the same meaning:

Red: Hardiness and Valor

White: Purity and Innocence

Blue: Vigilance, Perseverance, and Justice

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Customer Delight from a Client Bill of Rights

We believe each Client has the right to:

  1. A sense of TRUE VALUE.  We will always have your “best interests at heart,” and deliver the best result(s) possible.
  2. Open, honest, and CLEAR COMMUNICATIONS.  We will always pay attention to what you tell us, ask probing questions to learn more, tell you what we think/feel and not what you want to hear, ensure a sense of urgency and attention to detail in all we do, respond promptly to any questions you may have, and provide you with regular status updates about your projects.
  3. MUTUAL TRUST.  We will always preserve your privacy, respect your confidentiality, and promise not to disclose Client information or results without your approval.  We will always keep our commitments.
  4. PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR.  We will treat you and your employees with courtesy, respect, fairness, integrity, and ethical and professional behavior.
  5. Seasoned, experienced, and PASSIONATE PROFESSIONALS.  We promise you    no novice coaches, no junior consultants, and no neophyte trainers.  We will always provide you with seasoned professionals who are extremely experienced, possess proven expertise, and have demonstrated proficiency in their field.
  6. “WIN-WIN” SOLUTIONS, not excuses.  We will always collaborate with you to find logical “win-win” solutions to accomplish your needs.
  7. DEVELOP THE CAPACITY to do the work yourself.  We promise to not “hang around.”  We will equip you with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to move forward without us.
  8. BEST PRACTICES.  We assure you that we will stay current with the industry’s and/or topic’s body of knowledge and best practices, so that we do not provide you with outdated or obsolete information or skills.
  9. QUALITY and CREATIVITY.  We will instill quality and creativity in all we provide, ensuring your requirements are met with creativity, vision, innovation, ingenuity, and resourcefulness.  Furthermore, we promise that participants in our workshops will always be engaged, feel challenged, and never be bored or apathetic.
  10. CLIENT DELIGHT!  We will always strive to exceed our clients’ expectations, and not be satisfied merely meeting them.  You—the Client—are our focus. We know that without you, we would cease to be.

March Madness and Excellence

This is an exciting time of year. Spring has finally arrived with better weather, flowers, trees, etc.

We get outside more than we’ve been. AND … March Madness.

Most of it happens in March, but it always ends in April. Nevertheless, I feel it’s when we see the most drama and thrilling basketball all year. Tons of nail biters and overtime games. 

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Celebrating the Women in Our Lives

Today, March 1st, begins the celebration of Women’s History Month.  No doubt there will be a lot of press on the women who made history in our country, across the world, and over the span of time.

BUT …  I’d like to use this month (and forum) to acknowledge the women who have made a difference

in my life.  In my coaching, I ask folks:

“What one thing did you learn most from ….. ?”

With that in mind, here’s mine:

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Love and Openness to Others

“All you need is love”. That’s what the Beatles said. Boy oh boy do we need that now.

Over the years, I’ve learned that there are a number of types of love – intimate love of spouse, strong love of family, teammates expressing real affection, love of your work/craft, game show hosts saying “I love you”, etc.

February is the month of love … and chocolates. Valentine’s Day is obviously the centerpiece of that celebration. But, I also think that love should extend to being open to (and even embracing) each other – especially if they are of different cultures or ethnicities.

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Mega Planning

It’s January !!  That means that most everyone (organizations, teams, and individuals) talk about their plans (professional and personal) for the new year.  For this article, I’ll focus on a different kind of planning – Mega Planning.

MEGA PLANNING: Dr. Roger Kaufmann (a dear friend and mentor to me and many of my Coast Guard brethren) coined the term. It refers to taking Macro and Micro Strategic Planning up a level to make meaningful contributions to society and the planet.

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Celebrations. What do YOU and YOUR ORGANIZATION celebrate?

It’s December … and the holiday season … for many kinds of faiths. I was humbled by the reaction and feedback to last month’s gratefulness article.  Thank you.

Celebrations and gratefulness are pretty intertwined.  In my mind, celebrations are an expression of gratefulness.  I think of celebrations from both an individual and organizational perspective. December is a good time to “take stock”. 

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Gratefulness: My story and how to use it

Thanksgiving is almost here.  We all know (and most of us practice) this time to pause, reflect, and put our gratefulness into action. 

I have had a difficult year.  Been in the hospital four times for a total of almost a month.  I have  had cancer (a GIST) for six years now and we have that under control.  But this year, that tumor caused blood clots in the lungs and sepsis (bacteria) in the blood.  Separately, I have had significant hip and back pain necessitating injections and strong pain medications.   Finally in October, I had that hip replaced, but the recovery included a lot of pain and an intestinal blockage from the opioids (which I had really tried to keep under control). 

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The World Series and Best Teams

October is here.  That means the baseball/MLB playoffs (starting on the 7th) culminating in the World Series (in late October).

The World Series causes me to think about the best teams ever. In sports there are multiple. Baseball (as much as it pains me to say): New York Yankees Football: Green Bay Packers; then Dallas Cowboys; then San Francisco 49ers, then the New England Patriots. Basketball: Boston Celtics; Los Angeles Lakers; the 1992 Men’s Olympic Dream Team; and the UCONN Women’s Basketball Team (111 wins in a row). Soccer: US Women’s National Team.

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