Blog

In late October, I had the privilege of speaking to 300 leaders employed by the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) in Nova Scotia.

I vividly recall a conversation I had in 2002 about a training company called ELI.

The 2008 SHRM conference held in the windy city of Chicago was a glowing success.

Recognizing that unprofessional, disruptive workplace behavior can adversely affect patient care and safety, JCAHO (the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) announced new accreditation standards this month for healthcare organizations and their leadership.

Last Friday I dead-lifted 260 pounds. In other words, I picked up a 45-pound bar with 107.5 pounds attached to each end and stood it straight up. It was heavy. It was also one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done in my life.

I’ve thought a lot about leadership over the past few years – it’s what every firm says it needs to build better, more efficient, inclusive ethical and lawful workplaces. Go to any bookstore and the shelves will be lined with first-person or biographical accounts of epic leaders –Washington, Lincoln, King, Patton, Schwarzkopf, Welch, Jobs, Gates. Those leaders are few and far between, and most of us read about them hoping to find nuggets of wisdom we can apply.

Our training sessions with Memphis, our German Shepherd pup, have continued.

Memphis Rae, our newest family member, is an 8-month-old German Shepherd puppy who we found through the Georgia Shepherd Rescue. She’s a great looking dog, very bright and mostly friendly, and gets along with our whole family, including Monroe, a gentle, regal Shepherd also from Georgia Rescue, who is about 2 1/2.

The Falcons are 3-11 having just lost to Tampa Bay. They may well lose the rest of their games -- an awful season. But the wins and losses are not what will be remembered.

With millions watching a game that will make football history, the Super Bowl is a high-stakes event – the very definition of stress, tension, and intensity.