Veterans Day on November 11^th is coming up soon. How will you acknowledge it … or … show appreciation to a veteran?

Let’s start with “What is a Veteran?” Basically it is “a former member of the armed services”. There are five branches of the United States military (armed services). They are: Coast Guard, Air Force, Marines, Navy, and Army. You’ll notice that this definition does not include the men and women who are currently serving. That’s called “active duty”.

Here comes the next big dilemma. For both employers and employees.

August is the last month of summer vacation. Some schools restart before Labor Day. Others start after. There are many issues to consider – from both sides. A lot of that has been covered by other articles. I’d like to look at it from the psychological point of view:

Recently the Governor of Virginia made returning to the office mandatory. After that, more than 300 of his state government employees resigned.

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.

June 14^th 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

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.

Today, March 1^st, 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:

“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.

In companies that don’t execute well, there isn’t a lot of truth telling.

Tim Stratman

Just how does an organization build a culture of truth-telling.   Jim Collins, author of  Good to Great, gives us a four-part approach to answer this question: