Guts and Authority I was working for a silicon wafer company in South Carolina, sitting with a group of management and young engineers as the VP of Manufacturing visited our plant and was taking questions. Lots of good back and forth discussion, then an engineer a couple of years out of school asked, “Why haven’t…
Category: Work, Writing. Reading, Watching
Stories from my prior life in the corporate world and now as a writer
T -42 Days: First attempt story
An old friend sent me this suggestion for something I should try next year. I laughed hard. It would take me a lot more than a year to be able participate in something like this. My first goal is to be able to hike over the dunes. But my friend has been doing these for…
T -44 Days: In the flow
In the flow Watching my Purdue Boilermakers claw their way into the Sweet 16 in the NCAA basketball tournament today, I thought of their seniors, getting to play at least one more game, hopefully more. The pull to keep playing after this March will be fierce… even if it is in some European league far…
T -50 Days: Ten mistakes of a terrible manager
Sometimes you read something that absolutely should be shared with everyone. The teaser… Many managers lack fundamental training in managing people. But, even more importantly, managers lack the values, sensitivity, and awareness needed to interact effectively all day long with people. Skills and techniques are easier to teach, but values, beliefs, and attitudes are much…
T -53 Days: Shangri la
Snowboarding to Tibet…. What a dream I had last night. I was snowboarding down our street where we used to live in Beaverton Oregon. An extremely steep hill, that morphed into snowboarding down Mt Hood, then back to residential areas, magically going down and up streets, mountains, hills. It was a dream, so I went…
T -56 Days: Off at the next stop
End of the Line “What a crazy way to run a railroad, but at least I am getting off at the next stop” — Me (today) I said that today in response to some latest work craziness, and then I thought, “Oh, I like that!” And then carrying forward the railroad analogy, I thought of…
T -57 Days: Courageous… Part III
Courageous… (Part III) One last football story. This time with my youngest daughter who decided to play football. She was the only girl in the youth league in Beaverton, Oregon. Fastest and most coordinated, the coaches wanted her to play quarterback. A couple of mothers decided that wasn’t a good idea… didn’t like the idea…
T -58 Days: Courageous… Part II
Courageous… (Part II) Another football story, this time with my oldest son when he was a 6th grader in Spartanburg, South Carolina. His team was playing the Salvation Army that Saturday. The Salvation Army pulled in players from all over the area and hadn’t lost a game in years. That morning, my son woke up…
T -59 Days: Courageous
Courageous… Someone yesterday again said I was courageous for quitting my job and pursuing our dreams. I thought, when was the first time in my life that I was “courageous”? Perhaps it was way back as a freshman in high school. I was on the football field, last game of the season, playing tight end,…
T -64 Days: Creative coaching
Another Coaching Example Yesterday’s post reminded me of my old high school coach when I was a just a freshman. He required all of his players to go through referee training and then referee elementary/junior high and intramural high school games. A great idea I have rarely seen duplicated since. The benefits were many: Actively…