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Over a decade ago, I found myself wrestling with a challenging business decision. A customer, experiencing rapid growth, requested additional services to scale their infrastructure. However, they could not immediately afford it, and they were not entirely sure they would ever be able to afford it. They were in the process of securing more fundingContinue…
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Nestled along the Mississippi’s graceful arcs lies Saint Louis, Missouri. A city I almost left, yet a city that tethered my heartstrings with invisible threads. My wife’s love of the city and the idea of raising a family (near our families) were driving factors in staying. Yet, the very duality I witnessed here – ofContinue…
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Recently, Gabe asked me if I had any advice before he headed off to college, a question almost every parent looks forward to. After reflecting for a moment, I told him to say, “Yes,” to as many things as possible as he was entering a stage of expansion. I shared with him a belief thatContinue…
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A few years back, a peer saw a copy of a Board of Directors report I submitted as CEO of a company. A Powerpoint presentation accompanied the report, but the report itself had piqued her interest. She specifically wanted to know the reasoning behind the order of topics. Clarity and precision are paramount when communicatingContinue…
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Breaking the Ice: Bridging Dissent and Loyalty If you’ve ever found yourself holding back a contrary opinion at work, or biting your tongue during a heated family dinner, you’re not alone. The idea of dissent is often shrouded in fear and misunderstanding. However, when I read Ozan Varol‘s telling of Netflix’s 2011 Qwikster saga regardingContinue…
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Every year, the holiday season rolls around, and with it often comes the daunting task of annual strategic planning. Traditionally conducted in December, this practice, upon closer examination, may be less than ideal. Let’s dive into why a rethink may be in order (aka. Why I hate this practice and your team probably does, too.)Continue…
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You don’t wanna know my hurt, yeahLet me guess, you want an apology, probably – “Let You Down”, NF Recently, our family was having a conversation on forgiveness, earning an apology, and accepting an apology. I was making the case that these are related but not synonyms. It opened a discussion about what each isContinue…
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I have read Simon Sinek’s book Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action and watched his Ted Talk a dozen times. The heart of Sinek’s message is that purpose drives people in an organization. Organizations succeed by clearly defining their purpose and deeply aligning people to that purpose. Despite the numerousContinue…
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The world is on lockdown. The stock market is volatile. Unemployment has set multiple records and not in a good way. Politicians are acknowledging death. None of that might compare to the deprivation of human connection. We are socially distancing from people we love… or even like. We yearn for human connections beyond those displayedContinue…
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In 2016, neuroscientists published a paper entitled, “Social Transfer of Pain In Mice” in Science Advances. The experiment tested pain experience and tolerance in three different groups of mice. The first group underwent controlled changes to have a more acute feeling of pain. The remaining two groups were unchanged. Researchers then conducted a series ofContinue…
