Good leaders ask, “How do I tell better stories?” Great leaders ask, “What stories do I need to tell?” Will you be a more effective leader if your stories are well-crafted and delivered? Of course. And I spend most of my professional time teaching leaders exactly that. But the truth is, the story you tell [read more]
Unto the Least of My Brothers: The Unforgettable Stranger I Met in a California Hot Tub
May 10, 2017 By 2 Comments
Podcast (parenting-with-a-story-podcast-series): Play in new window | Download | Embed
It wasn’t the experience I expected twenty minutes earlier when I stepped into the hotel hot tub. I stopped to pause on each step for a few seconds to get used to the heat. I looked up at an almost full moon and a cloudless, starry sky. It’s 8pm in Carpinteria, California, just outside of [read more]
13 Rules for Being a Grown-up on Facebook
March 9, 2017 By 2 Comments
Contrary to conventional wisdom, it is possible to have intellectual, adult conversations on Facebook. In fact, I think it’s imperative that we do. Because while social media has reunited old friendships and provides a seemingly limitless variety of amusement, it’s also been used to spread conspiracy theories and fake news like wildfire through partisan echo [read more]
How to Turn a Reorganization Into a Leadership Disaster
July 20, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Today’s guest post is by Mike Figliuolo, co-author of Lead Inside the Box: How Smart Leaders Guide Their Teams to Exceptional Results (you can get your copy by clicking here). You can learn more about Mike and the book at the end of the post. Here’s Mike: Quite often, departments are combined, split, or a [read more]
“Papers please.” A John Ray birthday lesson worth remembering
June 10, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho once said, Everything will be okay in the end. If it isn’t okay, it isn’t the end. It’s become one of my favorite inspirational quotes, for a number of reasons. I’m enamored with the reassuring persistence it promises when offered by someone committed to helping his or her fellow human beings. [read more]
Top 10 most inspiring moments from robotics in 2015
April 28, 2015 By 4 Comments
As follow up to my article on the Top 10 Differences in High School Sports and Robotics – and just home from the FIRST World Championships in St. Louis – I thought I’d share the top 10 most inspiring moments from my first year as a parent of a robotics team member. Thank you to [read more]
The Banking Exchange reviews Parenting with a Story
April 7, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Mallory Barbee, AVP at CBC National Bank in Beaufort, South Carolina, wrote the most insightful review of Parenting with a Story I’ve seen to date. It’s encouraging to an author for someone to notice all the things we hope come across to the reader. Well done, Mallory. See her review here.
Daddy’s last dance
April 6, 2015 By 5 Comments
Podcast (parenting-with-a-story-podcast-series): Play in new window | Download | Embed
I don’t remember exactly how it started. But at some point when my first son, Matthew, was two or three years old, we developed a lovely habit every time we went to the movies. At the end of the show, as the credits rolled and the theme song played, we walked down to the front [read more]
Book Review: The Relevance of Good Parenting in Business
January 15, 2015 By 1 Comment
Posted on January 6, 2015. Book Review from Footdown. A collection of one hundred and one stories from around the world, Paul Smith’s latest book ‘Parenting with a Story’ transcends cultural difference and defies its narrowly focused title in its narrative exploration of 27 moral values. Avoiding the self-righteous disdain of a critical parent, the [read more]
A Christmas Compromise: The fight every couple should have
December 19, 2014 By Leave a Comment
On December 16, 1961, twenty-one-year-old Aquiles Sanchez married nineteen-year-old Carmen Rodriguez. Six days later, just three days before Christmas Day, they had their first fight. On that day the young couple moved into a small studio apartment and began setting up Christmas decorations. That’s when they discovered that the Christmas traditions held most dear in [read more]
