Compassion

Eulogy Virtues

2023-11-03T14:50:08-05:00November 29th, 2023|Tags: , , |

Columnist David Brooks has written in the past on the difference between resume virtues and eulogy virtues. Resume virtues are the jobs and career accomplishments you’ve held in your lifetime.   Eulogy virtues, however, are your character traits. Brooks concluded that eulogy virtues have longer term value than resume virtues. This became clearer to me at a recent funeral I attended.   ...

Spreading Joy

2023-05-26T10:52:45-05:00June 16th, 2023|Tags: , , |

For about a decade, I spent each Father’s Day alone. My wife and kids went to Autism week at camp each year during Father’s Day.   Kathy was a volunteer camp nurse, and my kids were campers. The dates were uncontrollable, but I still felt lonely and unappreciated at times on Father’s Day.  Finally, the year came when no one went ...

A Changed Man

2023-04-30T10:19:38-05:00May 19th, 2023|Tags: , , |

Years ago, when I was in banking, a CEO named Sam was a customer who was brash, demanding, arrogant, and selfish. Every negotiation ended with him winning and me losing.  Years later, when I left banking to start a consulting practice, Sam wanted to meet with me. Reluctantly, I met with Sam.  It felt like I was talking to a ...

Courage and Compassion

2023-02-10T21:11:35-06:00February 10th, 2023|Tags: , , |

A challenge in counseling a troubled business is to recognize the gap between theory and reality. It’s one thing to develop an aggressive action plan. It’s another to confront past due creditors and frightened employees. It takes courage to communicate pay cuts to employees. It takes compassion to recognize the impact your decisions will have on those employees, and ...

Avoiding Favoritism

2022-11-29T20:45:28-06:00December 6th, 2022|Tags: , , |

Students for Fair Admissions sued Harvard due to their belief that Harvard’s student screening process has discriminated against Asian Americans. The Supreme Court is reviewing the case.  Harvard’s desire to give African Americans and Latinos a better chance in society may have been noble, but it has left Asian Americans applicants feeling discriminated against. Favoritism is now being given to ...

An Affirmed Graduate

2022-05-05T19:31:43-05:00May 13th, 2022|Tags: , , |

At my college graduation the emcee requested that the audience hold their applause until all graduates had walked across the stage. When I crossed the stage, however, I saw my father leap to his feet and yell, “Way to go, Rick!”   During my youth, my father wasn’t someone who gave much affirmation, but in that one moment, I knew my ...

A New Workplace Culture

2022-04-01T22:11:49-05:00April 5th, 2022|Tags: , , |

The nature and culture of the workplace has changed dramatically since 2019. In 2019, only 4% of professionals worked remotely, today it’s 15%. Inflation was only 1.81%, today it’s 7.9%.  Pre-Covid, only 10 million people knew how to use Zoom; today that number is 300 million. With the stress of the pandemic, racial tensions, and political polarization, 40% of employees ...

A Compassionate Team

2022-04-01T21:50:45-05:00April 1st, 2022|Tags: , , |

When Russia attacked Ukraine, the world quickly saw the injustice of this unprovoked attack and rallied to condemn Russia while providing support to Ukraine. Hearts all over the world were heavy for the people of Ukraine, causing thousands to show compassion in a variety of ways.  In business, there are also times when a team member is going through a ...

Valentine’s Day Challenge

2022-03-19T17:46:44-05:00February 14th, 2022|Tags: , , , |

Valentine’s Day has historically been the 2nd busiest day of the year for restaurants after Mother’s Day. This year will be challenging for restaurant owners due to Covid and staffing issues. To make matters worse, when staffing is limited, that’s the most likely time for restaurant workers to receive complaints. A local fast-food restaurant near me has proactively addressed this ...

Pleasant Words

2022-03-19T17:05:25-05:00February 8th, 2022|Tags: , , |

My wife, Kathy, makes it a habit to stop people in a military or police uniform and thank them for their service. Lately, she has begun doing the same thing with waiters and waitresses. I’ve noticed many restaurant employees seem overwhelmed lately, resulting in more opportunities for Kathy’s gift of encouragement. After she thanks a server for their service, Kathy ...

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