Posts by Joe Schum
The Burnouts
Simon Sinek says the quality of your relationships determines the quality of your life.
“It’s not the years in your life, but the life in your years.” is generally attributed to Abraham Lincoln (although Adlai Stevenson really made this thought popular).
Both point to something deeper than today’s favorite corporate buzzword: burnout. This morning I counted almost 20 emails, blogs, comments or courses that referenced burnout. I may need to take PTO just to recover from seeing and hearing it this much.
Read MoreOn Change
On this Columbus Day, it’s important to remember what Columbus actually achieved. It wasn’t just that he discovered new worlds. He also asked others to do the same.
Read MoreOn Politics
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death, we’ve long recognized evil’s presence and persistence. We are naturally political, and politics can be a powerful and corrupting force in our lives. Beware the diversions from what’s good.
Read MoreFrom Chaos to Clarity: Lessons from Mom’s Estate Sale
There is always a place for transactional exchanges, it’s how we wrap things up, finalize the paperwork, decide on the next appointment, and make decisions for which we can be held accountable. Our learning however remains very superficial. It’s the shallow end of the pool.
Read MoreOn Neighbors
Moving back into our house after nine long months of displacement and repair, this quote struck me as extremely powerful and true. Here’s my new take on the impact being neighborly directly affects all of us!
Read MoreOn Complaceny vs. Taking Risks
“The opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference.”
– Elie Wiesel
On this Independence Day, I think about this powerful quote and the idea of what the world would be like if those first explorers to the new world decided to remain home. To take the road of indifference, to embrace complacency.
Read MoreMy Favorite Questions
There is always a place for transactional exchanges, it’s how we wrap things up, finalize the paperwork, decide on the next appointment, and make decisions for which we can be held accountable. Our learning however remains very superficial. It’s the shallow end of the pool.
Read MoreOn Being You
“If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness.” ~ Therese of Lisieux
I love this quote because it teaches us to be us.
Read MoreFocus 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.
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