Category: Blog

I was doing some research for a talk I gave recently – OK, research is a strong word – I was looking up stuff on Google. I searched for lists of common things that make people uncomfortable. As you can imagine, a lot of the same stuff showed up on different lists: heights, snakes, confrontation, public speaking,…

If you were fortunate to have living grandparents or great grandparents as a kid, do you remember your parents telling you to spend as much time with them as possible? They said “You can learn so much. They won’t be around forever. It’s important to know your family’s history.” And of course there was the…

Some thirty years ago I stood at my then girlfriend’s refrigerator trying to find something to eat. I located a single piece of cake toward the back and ate it in three bites. No piece of cake is complete without some milk to wash it down, so I grabbed the carton; made sure the coast…

I had lunch with a friend a while ago and he introduced me to his fiancé’ – who I’d heard much about – so I felt like I should hug her. After we hugged, she said “Oh, you’re one of those people that really knows how to hug.” I’m not sure it was a compliment,…

My Sunday school class was discussing generosity recently and we talked quite a bit about what motivates us to be generous or helpful to others in need. Why do we decide to get involved in some areas and not others? Do we need a personal connection to the situation? Do some things tug on our…

I write and speak a lot about customer service because I am fascinated how some companies and individuals excel in this area and others fail miserably. What’s the difference in success or failure when it comes to taking care of your customers? There are many things that make up great customer service, but in my…

I’ve become somewhat of an expert on ceiling tiles in commercial-type buildings. I’ve spent a lot of time on my back looking at them. Wait … that didn’t sound right. What I meant to say was I’ve been in lots of situations where my view was nothing but the ceiling … nope, still sounds nasty.…

I miss Patrick Swayze. I mean, who hasn’t seen Road House a million times, right? Twice a week it shows up on some channel and is clearly a classic, albeit terrible movie that has endured for almost 30 years. Throw in some Sam Elliot, classic fight scenes, awesome 80s hair, and you’ve got movie gold. Interestingly enough,…

I was standing in line at a smoothie shop recently and watched how the employees interacted with the customers (as I always do). Most of the transactions were just that … transactions. Employee hands customer product and customer pays for product. Next… I noticed a couple of situations when a customer needed “help” with something…

I don’t put dates on my blog posts because I want most of what I write about to be somewhat “evergreen” so they could be applicable regardless of when a person might be reading it. This one is different. It is April of 2018 and I’m pissed. I’m scared. I’m hopeful. I’m faithful … but…