My good friend Rick and I both graduated from the same school with accounting degrees. We also both started with respected CPA firms upon graduation. Rick dreamed of becoming one of his firm’s youngest partners and he began diligently working towards that goal. I also dreamed of being a partner, but soon realized that public accounting was not for me. ...
As the Chief Lending Officer of a small bank, I was trying to clean-up a lot of problem loans made by the previous CEO. My focus was on collecting the business loans we had, rather than trying to make questionable new ones. So, when a guy I knew from high school asked for a new loan, I was skeptical. When ...
When I began my banking career, I spent time investigating bank frauds. One of the frauds I worked on was that of a bank president who determined his significant pay wasn’t enough. This president began producing false travel expense reports, claiming that he was driving to headquarters, four hours each way, multiple times a month. His spending habits, however, continued ...
Stephen Covey in his book, Speed of Trust, says, “The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is today.” In business and in life, the fruit is the best part of planting seeds. Yet, fruit takes time to grow. In order for fruit to grow, it takes watering, tending, pruning and waiting. The ...
As the new Chief Lending Officer of a community bank, I was charged with controlling the lending activities of the former CEO of the bank. Fred had made so many bad loans that he was required to report to me on any loans made. One problem we encountered was that Fred would make loans to people who were already bankrupt. ...
According to Wikipedia, St. Patrick’s Day originally celebrated the priest who returned to Ireland in 432 AD to bring Christianity to his homeland. Ireland had been a polytheistic culture. One way Patrick introduced them to Christ was by using the 3 leaved shamrock to describe the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. He made a difference by communicating in cultural and ...
When I was 19, I was working construction to pay for college. One of my peers invited me to go somewhere with him after work. On our way, he stopped where we usually filled up the company truck and he filled up his car and charged the gas to the company account. When I asked about his action, he said, ...
Although it’s only one hour, the change to Daylight Savings Time in the spring often leaves me feeling deprived of sleep and rest. If this is true after losing one hour of rest, imagine the impact my body experiences when God’s design is ignored and I work seven days a week! When I worked tax seasons in public accounting, I ...
In his book, The Speed of Trust, Stephen Covey says, “The principle is simply this: We tend to get what we expect—both from ourselves and from others. When we expect more, we tend to get more; when we expect less, we tend to get less.” Expectations produce an undercurrent for a certain level of productivity. It’s an undercurrent that produces ...
When I graduated from college, I started working for a CPA firm just as tax season began. Working seven days a week for weeks at a time was exhausting and could surface short tempers and infighting. In the middle of March, the firm decided we needed an evening to relax. They hosted a fun evening of card games and refreshments. ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
