Thanksgiving Day has always been my favorite holiday, a special day of being thankful for my family and friends and the love we share, celebrated by a great feast. When I was a boy, we always celebrated Thanksgiving Day with my mom’s side of the family. Mom was one of ten children born to Georgia and Randel Gholson. They lived … Read More
Your Humble Servant
My son and I both love football. We agree on many aspects of the game, but one area where we disagree is centered on players’ arrogance versus humility. I do not like flamboyant players who perform attention getting celebrations every time they do their job. If you watch the game, you’ve seen it. A defender makes a tackle on a … Read More
Posthumous Leadership
We all have heroes living and past. My dad was a hero of mine, a great influence on me and he had a huge impact on my core values. Because of that, my philosophical foundation of leadership is built on lessons I learned from him, as well as others. My dad passed away over 20 years ago, but that does … Read More
Habit #7 Speaking When Angry
I worked with a guy once who was known for his anger. When things were going the way he wanted, he was one of the nicest guys you could know. When things didn’t go according to his plan, DUCK! He could rip your head off with a tidal wave of angry exclamations with every third word being the “F” word. … Read More
She’s a Great Leader, Always Smiling…
Have you ever been around a person who is always positive, always smiling? When you interact with someone who’s in a good mood, a leader or otherwise, it’s contagious. Emotions are shared thru verbal and non-verbal communication. Being engaged with someone in a good mood will cause you to subconsciously begin to copy their body language, their tone of voice … Read More
Bedside Manner Leadership
Anyone who has worked in healthcare for a period of time knows that some physicians have a fantastic bedside manner and other physicians can have terrible bedside manner. The incredible phenomenon that results is that a physician with great bedside manner can have a great reputation even if their skills as a physician may be limited. The opposite of that … Read More
Leadership, Money & Happiness
We’ve all heard the expression that money can’t buy your love. I have a different take on that expression; money can’t buy you love, but neither can poverty. I always thought that regardless of whether I was happy or sad, it was better to have a few of the comforts that money can provide. I have witnessed first-hand individuals moving … Read More
Nice Guys Finish Last…And First!
Have you ever participated in volunteer work that left you feeling great? Delivering meals to shut-ins and those less fortunate left me feeling great recently. It also left me with a feeling of appreciation for what I have in life. Research backs up the warm fuzzy feeling you can get from giving to others. Michael Steger, Ph.D., conducted a study … Read More
Snob!
I’ll never forget the conversation I had with the young man who had been selected to take my position as the regional director. He was telling me what a “big deal” it was for him to be promoted into this position. He said to me, “you have to realize that I come from a hard-working blue-collar family. I’m not a … Read More
Reversing the Brain Drain
Before my maternal grandmother passed away, she had thirty-three grandchildren along with a few great-grandchildren. When I would go to see her, she would go through several of my cousin’s names before “landing” on mine. She would say something like, “Well hi Mike, Gary, Jimmy, Terry, I mean Billy. It’s good to see you!” I always thought it was pretty … Read More
Game On!
Oh the games people play now, every night and every day now, never meaning what they say now, never saying what they mean. While they wile away the hours, in their ivory towers, till they’re covered up with flowers, in the back of a black limousine. These were the lyrics of a popular song sang by Joe South in my … Read More
Coloring Outside the Lines
I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in kindergarten. Mrs. Carlton, our teacher, gave us an assignment. She gave us a piece of paper with two columns of rectangular boxes. Inside each box were drawings of 6 objects, three objects on the left side of the box, the other three objects on the right side of the box. … Read More