Trust is Relevant for all Presidential Candidates

In Oregon, Senator Obama was asked “How do I know I can trust you ?” That is a pretty blunt question, to the point, and one that we all want to ask our prospective leaders. We would ask our leaders and leaders-to-be the following:
Give me specific reasons why I should trust you.
In what [...]

Most Men are Not Animals Like Eliot Spitzer, or David Paterson, Either

So, the vast majority of animal species aren’t monogamous, as noted in this New York Times essay today:
It’s all been done before, every snickering bit of it, and not just by powerful “risk-taking” alpha men who may or may not be enriched for the hormone testosterone. It’s been done by many other creatures, tens of [...]

I Found My Mate as a Date in College

Although”officially” Karen and began dating the summer before I went off to college, we dated each other throughout college and she was my “steady” (a term probably unheard of on today’s college campuses. So once again, I felt like I was a Neanderthal when I read this in today’s Wall Street Journal:

College life has [...]

What are the Spending Rules in Your Household?

An interesting column in today’s Wall Street Journal by Terri Cullen reminded me yet again as to why I call Karen the “Budget Officer.” I’m a spend money to make money person, and Karen is the frugal, disciplined one when it comes to spending. (We both have agreed to continue to spend money [...]

A big benefit of a coach: your own personal listener

It takes time and energy for others to listen to our concerns. It takes even more effort for them to listen to us carefully and help us reflect on what we are trying to say. This is where a coach can be helpful to you. A good coach is a good listener.
A [...]

Talk Turkey with Your Surgeon So You Don’t End Up as Hamburger

Today’s Wall Street Journal column, The Informed Patient by Laura Landro, was a great reminder of the critical importance of patients working closely with their surgeons and physicians in order to get the proper treatments and healing:

To help patients be more pro-active, health-care groups, hospitals and medical specialty societies are offering new resources, including Web [...]

Be Cautious and Wise in Giving Free Advice or Favors

As professors, colleagues, and consultants, we are often asked for for free advice, mentoring, and favors (e.g., recommendation letters). We believe we have been generous in granting these requests over the years, and we’ve certainly never charged for these. However, as we have matured in our experience in these roles, it has become [...]

Is there a sex difference between softies and curmudgeons?

Update, 10/16/07:
In today’s Wall Street Journal, there is a commentary that may help to explain why there are more men than women among Thinkers, and more women than men among Feelers, in the Myers-Briggs personality assessment:
Another speaker, Richard Haier, professor of psychology at the University of California, Irvine, acknowledged the long history of prejudice, then [...]

Madeleine L’Engle was a treasure…

Madeleine L’Engle died this past week and when I heard about her death, I felt like I had lost a friend.
I had the good fortune to meet her at a church retreat in the early ’80s where she shared her wisdom and her theology with our group. I had read many of her books [...]

In Praise of Praise and Recognizing Recognition

I am currently using a book with my MBA students entitled First, Break All the Rules by Buckingham and Coffman. In discussing the book so far, one of the questions we are wrestling with is whether an organization’s employees have to receive regular praise and recognition for doing good work if their organizations are [...]