I’ve always admired people who keep their cool under pressure. This ability allows for graceful navigation of even the most intense circumstances. I’m sure you’ve also noticed that it also affords those who possess it a little more time to process, decide and act, which, in turn, makes them generally more effective in handling the …
Every once in a while you go through a phase where everything intensifies, where you go from managing the normal daily details to juggling what feel like elephants. It typically goes something like this: your workload increases, you feel the weight of the world on you and things seem to come at you from every …
People generally reveal themselves over time. That said, the time it takes to get to know someone can be greatly shortened given the right mix of circumstances. Emergency situations, times of high pressure and even particularly intense games or sports can demand enough conscious energy and focus to let you see what is under the …
In a staff meeting today we considered the matter of extraordinary service. We're all familiar with bad service and we occasionally stumble across good service, but providers of extraordinary service are few and far between. In my experience, extraordinary service seems to come in part from extraordinary people who are given a safe space in …
"A multitude of causes unknown to former times are now acting with a combined force to blunt the discriminating powers of the mind, and unfitting it for all voluntary exertion to reduce it to a state of almost savage torpor." ~ William Wordsworth Reactions to challenging those within your sphere of influence to think outside …
"Reputation is what the world thinks a man is; character is what he really is. Anyone can play shuttlecock with a man’s reputation; his character is his alone. No one can injure his character but he himself. Character is the sword; reputation is the scabbard. Many men acquire insomnia in standing guard over their reputation, …
"Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result." ~ Oscar Wilde A perfectly aligned set of circumstances is more often the exception than the rule. Resources are frequently insufficient, tools are disorganized, agreements are not set and objections stand in the way no matter what you undertake, so one of …
"There is but one quality necessary for the perfect understanding of character, one quality that, if man have it, he may dare to judge—that is, omniscience. Most people study character as a proofreader pores over a great poem: his ears are dulled to the majesty and music of the lines, his eyes are darkened to …
"How few there are who have courage enough to own their faults, or resolution enough to mend them." ~ Benjamin Franklin Of all the words that come to mind in relation to personal faults, I can't imagine that "ownership" would top the list in the minds of most people. The majority, I imagine, would claim …
"The winds and waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators." ~ Edward Gibbon Wise is the man who uses every type of circumstance to greatest possible advantage. When others complain, he handles the discomfort quietly while looking for the openings. When others curse he gives thanks, no matter how grim the outlook. …
Gregory Hake 