Sheena Iyengar, Ph.D., has done interesting research on choice. It is very American to desire choice; to believe that choice ultimately is the greatest freedom. Dr. Iyengar has found that the desire for choice is not always a constructive desire, and that when there are too many choices we actually begin to make poorer choices.…
Read MoreI often hear people say, “I have no regrets.” Really? Seriously? Then I am weirder than I thought, because I have some regrets. Not self-loathing, oh what a worm I am regrets, just some things I look back on and wish I would have done or not done. There is value in the question ‘if…
Read MoreHe’s dead and there’s no doubt about that! Last Sunday night, as I was watching news coverage and the President’s brief speech, I felt a sense of relief. It wasn’t relief because I felt safer or because a dangerous person was out of the way. It wasn’t relief because I will sleep sounder as I…
Read MoreLast night I was at a party of speaker industry people. A speaker who is a paraplegic wheeled up to the four seat table where a friend and I were seated and asked if there was a spot for him. Of course there was. During our lively conversation, the subject of disability came up and…
Read MoreI was sitting next to a woman on a four and a half hour flight the other day. Turns out she was 80 years old. Not a withering little old lady 80, but rather a smart, well-dressed, very healthy 80. She got on the plane with a very unhappy little 10lb dog in a carryon.…
Read MoreThere are two factors in most decision making. Fact and Gut, when used together, lead to the best decisions. Sometimes they are in conflict, or one seems to be louder than the other. While many people seem to say, “just go with your gut”, others want all decisions to ‘make sense’. Which is better, smarter…
Read MoreThis week CVS Pharmacy made a decision to stop selling all tobacco products in their stores by October 2014. I posted to Facebook that I thought it was a courageous decision for leaders to make. My point was NOT about tobacco. I don’t really care if CVS was doing it for publicity. It was courageous…
Read MoreThe National Speakers Association decided to change their name and brand to PLATFORM recently. The decision stirred up so much anger that the President of the Association decided to put the change (two years in the making) on hold. Why so much anger, you ask? Three reasons: a perception by the membership that is was…
Read MoreMost coaches (executive, athletic, etc.) will tell you that playing up is necessary for real performance improvement. Playing up is how willing you are to spend time around those that are smarter, more talented or further along their development path than you are. Doing that stimulates you to play up to the higher level of…
Read MoreAll of us have times when we are faced with difficult decisions. The reasons for the difficulty are as varied as the decisions each of us faces. Perhaps the difficulty is because it might have financial consequences or maybe someone’s feelings are going to get hurt. Maybe the difficulty is because, regardless of the choice…
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