Monthly Archives: December 2013

What is Your New Year’s Resolution?

“Out of our beliefs are born deeds; out of our deeds we form habits; out of our habits grows our character; and on our character we build our destiny.” – [Henry Hancock]

“The common denominator of success – the secret of success of every man who has ever been successful – lies in the fact that he formed the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do.” – [Albert Grey]

“Successful people form habits that feed their success, instead of habits that feed their failure.” – [Jeff Olson]

It’s that time of the year.  Time to leave the past behind and look ahead to the future.  With the New Year come new opportunities.  A chance to set new goals.  A chance to change bad habits.  A chance to do something different. Continue reading →

In Need of Some Down Time!

“I don’t know – he travels a lot and talks to people!” – [My daughter, Amanda Wright, when asked at school ‘what does your father do for a living’]

I’ve been called a lot of things in my professional career, but a “Traveling Talksman” is not one of them.  And as wonderful a job as that sounds, it’s nothing like what I do.  But it does send a clear message to me – I’m spending too much time on the road and too little time with my family.  Time for a much needed break!!!

You’ve often heard me speak of the importance of work/life balance.  The problem is I’m the worst hypocrite on this topic.  I spend nearly every week traveling somewhere (and no it’s not just to talk to people).  That takes me away from my family.  And that is not a good thing. Continue reading →

The ‘Softer’ Skills are Just as Important…Maybe Even More

“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think” – Albert Einstein

“No great improvements in the lot of mankind are possible until a great change takes place in the fundamental constitution of their modes of thought.” – John Stuart Mil

As I write this week’s leadership message, I sit 30,000 feet above the ground on a flight to Washington D.C.  I’ve been invited to participate in a series of workshops tomorrow with The Hope Street Group, an initiative chaired by the U.S. Department of Education that strives to bring together the right institutions towards the common goal of developing tools and solutions at the complex intersection of workforce supply and demand.  In other words, The Hope Street Group wants to develop a better way for our country to both understand the specific skills needs of our employers while bridging the gap for the development of the proper skills of potential job candidates in our communities. Continue reading →