Posts by Joe Schum
Focus On Me
My wife has a t-shirt that literally says “Focus On Me.” Straight, to the point, simple. Welcome to my world. I love the message because it demands an outcome that is valuable to her, and ultimately to me.
There is lots of talk these days about the servant leadership model. The benevolent leader. The one who cares more about others than themself. It’s an honorable, important perspective and a needed one.
Can it always be good though, if leaders don’t focus on “me” once in a while? Or more often than once in a while? You’ve heard the ridiculous old business cliche “There is no I in team.” However there is a ME. Self-care is not being selfish and it needs to span multiple sectors of one’s life. If we think of our life as a wheel with many sections, each section must match the others to create the smoothest journey. Self-care can be applied to every section: your significant other, family, friends, career, finance, health and well-being, where you live and what you do for fun and recreation.
Read MoreOn Patience
“And endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”
Romans 5:4
Patience. An elusive and exhausting state of being for many of us. Living the past six months with my mother has certainly tested mine! Waiting it out, being clear, seeing beyond the emotions is a powerful thing. One thing I know about myself is that if I operate under a wave of impatience, my decisions are less effective. As a leader, we can become frustrated by things outside our control that do affect us and others, especially in today’s extremely fast and getting faster world. In today’s world, patience is long game performance.
Read MoreOn Sacrifice
Be devoted to one another in love.
Honor one another above yourselves.
~Romans 12:10
I have been thinking about sacrifice during this Lenten season. Both within the teachings and the wisdom of my faith, and also in life. This is a state of being (and behaving), much like ethics, has as many measurements as there are people. One’s sacrifice is another’s daily routine.
Read MoreCelebrating Eight Years A Hippo
As a reformed social media abuser, I have significantly reduced my need to check my very few platforms to view who sees me, likes me, even loves me. Now, I only look once or twice a month to see the activity taking place in my welcomed absence.
Last week, however, all of these notifications kept banging into me. The little number in the upper corner of the app kept growing and growing. Fast forward to the end of the week and I decide to take a peek. Lo and behold, people were commenting on my work anniversary for Soul Patch Hippo: Success Coaching. Eight years. EIGHT! Is there a ‘Y’ at the end of that number? (Maybe it’s my age I’m thinking about…) If it wasn’t for all of you – my friends, family, colleagues, and most importantly, clients – I might’ve missed this auspicious occasion.
Read MoreEight Years a Hippo
Last week Soul Patch Hippo: Success Coaching turned eight years old! Thanks to colleagues, friends and most importantly; clients, I was made aware of the auspicious mile marker. It has spurred creative thoughts about a much more lengthy story on how I got here so be on the lookout for that.
Read MoreSocial Hippo
33 days. That’s how long it’s been since I gave up social media and surprisingly I’ve lived to tell this tale.
Well, how did I get here? (Channel David Byrne’s voice)
Those pesky New Year’s resolutions — at least the ones we don’t abandon ten days after we make them – got me into this experiment. Among the changes I committed to start – and in some cases make permanent – was to give up social media for January. My version of Dry January.
Things I noticed so far:
Read MoreOn Truth
“There is nothing so powerful as truth—and often nothing so strange.”
– Daniel Webster
People have been manipulating the truth throughout the ages. In the present day, this manipulation is simply a way to move around the difficult decisions one must make in life to live it the way God intended us to live it. A justification of bad choices.
Read MoreOn Forgiveness
“Forgiveness is above all a personal choice, a decision of the heart to go against natural instinct to pay back evil with evil.” – Pope John Paul II
Start out the new year with forgiving those who have wronged you. The opportunity to release your transgressor and also yourself and start anew. To go and grow beyond where you are at this moment.
Read MoreOn Christmas
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
~ Romans 15:13
There is so much to say, so many ways to go discussing the spiritual nature and seriousness of the Christmas season.
Read MoreOn Time
“Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”
~ James 4:14
You “gained” an hour back in your life recently. What did you do with that wonderful gift? Did you prioritize your next moves, to build relationships and serve others?
Read MoreEpisode 68: Be A Dachshund
It’s the last video of 2024 and my trusty office mate Walter wanted to bestow his rules of longevity and survivability.
Read MoreEpisode 67: One Size Fits All?
Emails vs. cold call techniques don’t matter if you approach them the same way with the same foundational messaging and global approach. And frankly, conversations in general need to be approached with the appropriate level coinciding with type of sales opportunity you are pursuing! Take a listen from a non-email expert…
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