Articles

Coaching Champions. . . Just Add Courage, Love and Discipline

During the Olympics we have the great advantage of seeing the final product. It ends with amazing performances - ones that defy history and even our paradigm of what is humanly possible. What we can't see are the years of preparation, the overcoming of fears, and perfecting of performances that will be compressed into one opportunity that will last only minutes or even seconds in competition.

Why Companies with Good Products Go Belly Up

During my hiatus from the working world I am diligently exercising and getting my body into athlete shape again. While I have no illusions that I can get into my 26 year-old form -- I know I can be a much better 56 year-old. Part of this process has been identifying the right elliptical piece of equipment to use in our home.  After some research we chose one and ordered it with confidence that it would be set up and in place before Christmas.

I Missed Out On My Dream Job Today

On December 31st the Green Bay Packers commemorated the 50 year anniversary of their Ice Bowl victory over the Dallas Cowboys. At game time a half century ago it was -36 F with the wind chill. As a young Wisconsinite I saw portion of the game on our black and white television (that had more snow in its reception than on the field of the game) but spent the majority of the afternoon organizing the neighborhood to play our own ice bowl in my backyard. From that young age I enjoyed planning, recruiting and successfully convincing friends and even non-friends to come out and play on my team even when it was colder than the surface on Mars. This art of managing a team was something I seemed to naturally do well.

The Cone of Shame

My wife Ann and I are empty nesters that refilled our home with a pair of very large Great Pyrenees dogs. Gabriel our male is the most majestic animal that I have ever been exposed to. Strong, smart, and fearless I can understand why this breed was named by Louis XIV in the 17th century as the royal dog of France. You can find YouTube videos of them running off wolves and bears but absolutely loving with small animals and children that they were created to protect. Simply amazing animals!

The Magic of Humility

For nearly the last decade I have been an evangelist of Patrick Lencioni’s idea that everyone we hire needs to be humble, hungry and smart. I believe it to my core. In his recent book “The Ideal Team Player” Lencioni outlines why these three traits working in harmony are so critical. He goes on to explain the gaps that are left when even one of the three elements are missing. Lencioni created tags for these gaps that seem to fit so well.


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Eagles Rest

Our dream for this space is that for several years to come conversations would be had, rest would be in abundance and laughter would be contagious.

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