In 1978, four men broke into a home in Kansas City and killed three people. For over 40 years, Kevin Strickland has been incarcerated in a Missouri prison for those three murders, which he didn’t commit. Two men admitted their guilt, but both were adamant that Strickland was not with them. The only evidence that convicted Strickland was Cynthia Douglas, ...
Our local business journal will list restaurants that have been cited by the health department for infractions of food safety and health codes. Over time, I’ve noticed that many are repeat offenders. Before long, these repeat offenders are no longer in business. One local restaurant near us had been listed multiple times for rodent infestation. I might have had some ...
When Kathy and I married, we rented a reception facility from one of the wealthier men in our county. On our wedding day, I went to check on the reception hall and found a man dressed in work clothes setting up chairs. He looked like a custodian. When he told me his name, I was stunned! I blurted out, “Aren’t ...
Years ago in banking, my administrative assistant grinned when she said, “You’re going to love your next appointment.” Waiting for me in my office was a young man. When I asked how I could help, he said, “I need to borrow money to buy a Steinway Piano.” I humored him and asked how much a Steinway would cost and how ...
In his book, The Speed of Trust, Stephen Covey says, “we judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their behavior.” Intentions are often unclear through behavior alone. The greatest level of trust among coworkers comes from a desire to understand intentions instead of the result of behavior. Judging others by their behavior proves a shallow level of trust. Matthew ...
After my son was diagnosed with autism, a group of parents and I decided to start a school for children with special needs. Some professionals told us we could serve learning disabilities or autism, but we couldn’t serve both. As parents we fought that conclusion. It took several months, but eventually we concluded the professionals were right. We developed a ...
Brad is a CFO who believed that his CEO was being deceptive with an investor. Brad believed that since the projections for the project didn’t materialize as planned that the CEO was deceiving the investor. After listening, I suspected that Brad’s CEO was a big picture person that just viewed it as a missed estimate. While Brad’s rigid outlook assumed ...
Business leaders frequently make decisions that can impact many jobs and lives. Making good decisions is hard when facts are in short supply. Facts seem harder to come by lately. News sources and social media frequently report only a biased view, sometimes even editing content to manipulate the outcome. Even science has been politicized, leaving the public confused on what’s ...
Michele Assad, a former CIA operative, once had the opportunity to interrogate a self-proclaimed terrorist wanting to sell intelligence. He claimed to previously be part of Saddam Hussein’s core team of assassins. As Michele met with this man, she kept sensing that something was wrong. Over time she had learned to trust her intuition, because intuition is the unconscious mind ...
Years ago, at a loan committee meeting, a colleague presented a loan request that looked excellent. The borrower appeared to have great excess collateral and a strong financial statement. I, like many others, was shocked when our CEO said, “Something doesn’t smell right. Let’s pass on this one.” Months later we learned another bank had made the loan and regretted ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
