Football and Business
Bless Your Holiday Stress, Part One
Here it comes again –the season of giving AND receiving. You know how you’ll be “receiving” some family and friend obligations you never receive except during the two months ahead? Once you CHOOSE to receive, you now get to choose your attitude and behavior. In my book, Bless Your Stress: It Means You’re Still Alive! I define “bless”: to…
Read MoreHow Patient Are You? Gaining Perspective in Brazil
Just returned from a week in Brazil! I keynoted for over 400 Procurement Officers in Sao Paulo (spoke the beginning and ending in Portuguese, and was simultaneously translated into the headsets they wore), and then some vaycay in Rio. Some of you know two of my biggest passions are flowers and jewels. Looking at their…
Read MoreRiveted to “Roosevelts?”–the Power of Resilience
I’ve been riveted to “The Roosevelts”—the PBS series by Ken Burns—have you? Eleanor Roosevelt famously said, “You must do what you think you cannot do.” After watching that episode, I awoke in the middle of the night, sat up in bed, and said aloud, “If you say you can’t, you won’t. If you think you…
Read MoreWomen Leaders Improve Companies
Here we are – between NBA Finals and the kickoff to the NFL season. For the past 3 years, in August, I’ve blogged in this space about the NFL Hall of Fame and the NFL Preseason. I’m angry at the NFL for not stepping up against violence to women. So this August, it’s time to…
Read MoreMasterful “Shaking It Off” at Wimbledon
I tried to write about the World Cup, I really did. But, like the line from that song in “Chorus Line”: “I dug right down . . . and I tried, I tried . . . and ‘Nothing—I’m feeling nothing—‘ ” It looks like just soccer to me, (and I didn’t even like watching my…
Read MoreNBA finals: Are You an Unselfish Teammate?
It’s the triumph of the phrase, “there’s no ‘I’ in ‘team.’” As a Human Resources professional, it warms my cockles that the teams in the NBA Finals starting Thursday night are most known for unselfish play: most willing to pass or defer shots to a teammate better positioned to get it done. The Miami Heat,…
Read MoreNFL Draft: Patience as a Spectator Sport
The greatest hiring event in sports took place last week. Millions tuned in to watch hours and hours over three days of the NFL Draft. Last Thursday night’s first round drew a total viewership of 32 million viewers — a new record. That’s up 28% from the Draft TV audience in 2013. Why? Much of…
Read MoreHow Quickly Do You Make Decisions?
As a speech coach, I think of “thinking on your feet” in the verbal context: thinking quickly and responding appropriately with words. But—watching the NCAA Final Four and the Championships—both men’s and women’s—gave me a whole new appreciation of thinking on your feet—and reacting. We saw young athletes bringing pressure on the decision-making process. This…
Read MoreDon't Let Your "Offense" Get Beaten by the Noise!
Super Bowl 2014: My man, Peyton Manning, goes down in spectacular fashion. After breaking all-time offensive records in the regular season—touchdowns thrown (55) and yards thrown (over 5400), it didn’t matter. He gets rattled and rolled by the best defense in the NFL, and one that may go down in history as one of…
Read MoreComeback Time! Find the Fire
How cool is it that the NFL Playoffs and the College Championship and Bowl games happen for New Year’s? Just when we are fighting our tendency to hash over last year’s regrets — the unfulfilled expectations– the thwarted intentions, here come my favorite sport’s biggest contests to remind us how to start fresh. Someone recently…
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