Jan 18Wider seeing, deeper truths.Ever since I began learning, around the dinner table and in elementary school, about the American system of government, the concept of separation of church and state made abundant sense. After college, I took this context into the workplace, where I was fortunate to work for Arthur Andersen, a partnership…3 min read3 min read
Jan 13Détente.It is important to remain open to opinions that may appear counter to ours, because understanding them can help to strengthen logic and resolve as well as invite discourse and détente. In the workplace, work — ethic, output, collaboration — is the equalizer. Or should be. So while we may…3 min read3 min read
Jan 4The beginner’s mind.We probably all agree that smugness is, at minimum, irritating and, at maximum, a deal-breaker. Too much humility is not good, either. Today’s articles suggest that openness to everything — new data, new players, new strategy — is the ticket to navigating between too much self-satisfaction, self-promotion and self-sabotage. …3 min read3 min read
Dec 28, 2022Opportunity time.Virginia Governor Linwood Holton, a boy from Big Stone Gap, titled his memoir, Opportunity Time, his life’s mantra. He considered every day an opportunity. Days ago, Virginia Rogers Holton, Governor Holton’s wife, departed this world, following his passing in 2021. There have been eloquent tributes to them, in conversation and…3 min read3 min read
Dec 21, 2022Packing a wallop.Reports of economic development news seem lopsided around so-called influencers and anointed flunkies who masquerade as power players. Typically, the reports are generated by announcements from the offices of elected officials and corporate titans, some of whom cut deals in rooms most of us will never visit. The reports arrive…4 min read4 min read
Dec 14, 2022Nerves of steel.The great thing about constancy of purpose is that it can stoke a broad world view — whether that world is one’s family, community, workplace or nation, or all of the above. A state of personal constancy also helps with the anxiety that can accompany change. The lessons of human…4 min read4 min read
Nov 30, 2022On what constitutes a win.Outside of a game — be it chess, or sports, or poker — presuming victory is a risky proposition. Thumping one’s chest is even worse. It is annoying to others and it usually backfires anyway. When winning and losing seem to be the only outcomes, we confine ourselves to arbitrary…4 min read4 min read
Nov 23, 2022Borrowing genius.Richard Rohr: All the truly great persons I have ever met are characterized by what I would call radical humility and gratitude. They are deeply convinced that they are drawing from another source; they are instruments. Their genius is not their own; it is borrowed. We are moons, not suns…3 min read3 min read
Nov 16, 2022The walls of Jericho.It should not have happened that night. Yet Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night swept one of the earliest Academy Award competitions and was the first of only three films in American history to do so. Significant on its own, the win opens up a conversation about professionalism in the…3 min read3 min read
Nov 10, 2022Sopravvivenza.Survival. Some of us may think we need to hunker down into whatever is ahead — if we listen to the predictions of the pundits. Why not take it in the other direction, empower ourselves and participate in destiny? We can begin with chopping our own jeans. ‘Chop Your Jeans…3 min read3 min read
