I am watching the situation in Ukraine unfold in horror. Many times I find myself in tears, watching people clutching their few belongings and leaving their home by any means possible, including walking across the borders to neighboring countries. I am astounded by the generosity and kindness of those neighbors and of people all around the world doing what they can to support the Ukrainians. To be fair, I also feel badly for the Russian people, whom I believe do not have accurate information about the war and who do not want this war but are tortured if they speak out against it. In part my heart aches because this was my family’s story many, many years ago. My mom →
Ethics Blog
This is a tale of a leader amassing too much power in an organization and the ethical consequences that shattered people, organization, and the public trust, just to “please the boss”. Ah, you thought I was finally going to enter the political arena, right? Sorry to disappoint. On the few occasions where I did write or discuss something political I got nasty, ugly, mean-spirited comments. I refuse to print those comments but let’s just say I choose my words carefully and my friends and clients even more carefully as a lesson learned from these experiences. Although there are parallels to be drawn with the current state of American politics, I’m talking in this article about Carlos Ghosn, former CEO of →
I finally have a name for how I write. It’s called “writing in reverse”. Yeah, it’s a thing apparently, something I didn’t even know had a name. I just do it instinctively after years and years of carefully crafting memos to supervisors who didn’t want to hear the truth about their monthly results. I finally found the name for it after reading an article I found through SmartBriefs, written by Justin Bariso for Inc. Magazine. Here is the link if you want to read it yourself. To summarize, it’s about writing your message from the point of view of your audience. It helps you avoid emotional diatribes that are too long and fail to be helpful or informative for your →
Truth and Consequences of CoronaVirus First and foremost, I hope you are staying safe, staying home, washing your hands, and taking care of your health. Do not underestimate the danger of the Corona-virus. It is important – and could be a life or death decision for you and/or someone you love. As I got on the airplane recently to get home to support my dad, I thought how quickly the world has changed. For the first time I recognized how my own actions could cause someone else to get sick or die. I weighed the options of whether or not to get on the plane and decided that my family needed me more at this time than ever before. And →
If you’re looking for insights as a result of my latest newsletter, thank you! For those of you who are here because you found me on the web somehow, I thank you as well. This blog is a continuation of my story about how I became a whistle-blower, and this is the part of the story I don’t often share. Those of you who have heard me speak publicly have probably heard my story. At least part of it. What I don’t usually tell people is the process by which I decided to report what I’d learned to the company… or the feeling I had when I found myself staring down the wrong end of the barrel of a gun. →
“You award a supplier a multi-million dollar contract for the main subassembly in your product. As a thank-you the supplier offers you 2 tickets in his company’s skybox for this year’s Super Bowl. If you accept this gift, how does this affect your company’s reputation and what are the potential consequences?” -e-Factor!® scenario Would you be tempted? I would! This is a good scenario to bring up at the water-cooler to see what your colleagues say. Why? After using this scenario in a workshop I was astounded to hear the variety of opinions on whether this was acceptable or not. The opinions ranged from “Sure – I worked hard to get that supplier on board!” to →
These are troubling times for ethical people. Especially in light of the history we are watching unfold before our eyes. Last week we watched a live Senate hearing for a sitting Judge who was accused of sexual assault. The Senate Judicial Committee is trying to determine if Judge Brett Kavanaugh is suitable to be confirmed to the Supreme Court – the highest court in the land. This court was created to provide checks and balances – a division of power between the other two branches of government. As such it is expected to have Justices who can impartially judge cases and apply the law objectively. We witnessed a miracle: Compromise from our elected officials. It is a Rare thing to →
An experiment on “joining a cult” leads to “AHA moment” on the key to closing sales.
15 years ago I was sitting on the couch, trying to decide if I wanted to start my own business or go back into a corporate job. I had been laid off and the company graciously paid for 6 months of outplacement services which was about to run out. And as I sat there staring at the ceiling, asking what I should do, the phone rang. It was my friend Connie, needing help and a friend to talk to. I remember the moment clearly, because that phone call was the answer to my question, and so my coaching business was launched. I told Connie what was going on and she offered to pay me. I did not even know what →
Our children spoke today – 3/24/2018. 1 million children descended on Washington DC to protest gun violence and demand that our elected officials take action to change the law. Were you listening? There were more people marching today compared to President Trump’s inauguration day. And the children didn’t just march in D.C. They marched in New York, Chicago, Florida, Los Angeles, and even here in Phoenix. Their voices screamed “Enough is Enough”. And they are right. As one young person said, it’s not a legal issue, it’s a moral issue. The children are demanding change. And they’re calling BS on anyone who is failing to do their jobs and represent the will of the people. We’ve been dealing with gun →