Posts by Joe Schum
On Optimism
“Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you.” ~ Bishop Fulton Sheen
Seems simple and not always easy. Especially in today’s polarized world of politics, culture and technology.
Read MoreBoo Radley’s Front Porch
“Boo was our neighbor…he gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a knife, and our lives.” While watching the end to one of the 20th century’s great stories, I was captivated by a premise, a thing really, one that gets a lot of attention in today’s leadership circles – I’m talking about empathy.
“One time Atticus said, ‘You never really knew a man until you stood in his shoes and walked around in them.’ Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.”
Read MoreOn Prayer
“I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us, and we change things.” ~ Mother Theresa
In 1982 I had the amazing good fortune to meet Mother Theresa.
Read MoreMy Kind Of Nice
I am listening to a conversation about being nice vs. being kind and realizing a powerful message: these are not the same. Being nice is about being pleasant in a situation. The first definition in Dictionary.com is pleasing; agreeable; delightful: a nice visit. Kindness however requires much more active participation and deliberation. Kindness, IMO, is…
Read MoreOn Teamwork
“I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.” ~ Mother Theresa
Teamwork, co-creation, interests in a common cause for the greater good of something and someone.
Read MoreEpisode 63: Enablement Island
New Hire alert! We leaders, hiring managers have the unenviable task of finding, evaluating and eventually hiring new talent for our respective organizations. It’s a tough job, part science, part intuition. When it’s all over and we actually come to agreement with an individual the first thing we do is…send them away…to training!
Read MoreOn Practice
“Whoever wishes to rank first must remain the last one and the servant of all”.
~ Mark 9:35
Ambition, pride and hubris…among all the other ways we can channel our behavior; is human.
Read MoreLike.
There are 3 main definitions of Like with 34 nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions, across those three. And one interjection. It’s that one interjection, considered informal, that I’m here to rant about. It looks like this… Informal. (used in speech, often non-volitionally or habitually, to preface a sentence, to fill a pause, to…
Read MoreEpisode 62: Preppers: A Success Story
Okay, how do you think that big client call went? Not bad? Pretty good? Great? Or, it could’ve been better, there were good points, I didn’t see that coming, let’s regroup and set up another call. Or maybe, that really was not good…
Read MoreEpisode 61: Your Game Or Mine?
Hey sales leader? Are you coaching your team to greatness or to your specific desired outcome? What? What did you just say “yes” to…?
Read MoreOn Servant Leadership
“Whoever wishes to rank first must remain the last one and the servant of all”.
~ Mark 9:35
Ambition, pride and hubris…among all the other ways we can channel our behavior; is human. There’s so much talk about servant leadership today and still, rarely is it exhibited, even in the occasional way. I had an interesting exchange recently in a faith based setting that caused discomfort when I mentioned this was not only needed, and also demanded of us to live a truly righteous, fulfilled life. So even the most aware of these teachings struggle with this. Have you noticed that the greatest of us tend to also be some of the most humble, and giving? Servant leadership: It takes practice.
Read MoreIndependence Day v Groundhog Day
During the recent Independence Day celebrations that were all around us, the word or value that kept coming up for me was Freedom. A value that seems to lose its meaning and impact as new, younger generations emerge. While that topic is a whole other blog for sure, anecdotally I have experienced a serious lack…
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