I was in an airport and I needed coffee. I was with colleagues and I walked up to the coffee stand. In my mind I saw the Starbucks symbol and I was approaching. I never look at the menu I always get the same thing – medium (I don’t do the grande, tall stuff) room for cream. I see the same type of breakfast sandwiches in the cooler. I order. I ask, “Do you take this?” handing her my my Starbuck reward card. She said, “No we don’t take that.” So I am still thinking I am at a Starbucks, some airport or mall kiosks don’t take them. Then my friend says, “you really want this to be Starbucks.” I didn’t really, I just had it in my mind that was where I was. It was my perception….
Cat: Where are you going?
Alice: Which way should I go? Continue reading
Category Archives: Leadership
Superpowers: Motivation
Filed under Leadership
There’s no place like home
I took an opportunity to re-register with the Boy Scouts and I am planning to help with some projects that seem to be forming. The prospect of contributing is very exciting, but this begin-again is a little scary. I had once belonged (I was active for almost 20 years) and I was quite active. Then I didn’t belong, and now I can go again. Recently I attended a leadership training event. It has been a long time since I have put on my uniform and headed into a camp. I was excited and nervous at the same time. I knew things would be ok. It’s like riding a bike, right? This boy scout stuff is part of my DNA. At this point in life it is hard not to think from that scouting foundation. These programs are part of my formation as a person, and I like to think – part of my formation as a leader. Continue reading
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The Alpha Dog in the mirror
There is a student development theory that we call Challenge and Support (by Nevitt Sanford). The balance between too much challenge and not enough was just as important as the balance between too much (and not enough) support. There is a fine – imaginary – line between the two and sometimes the application of each/both is an art…or well maybe a guessing game.
One of my favorite careers was as the Greek Leadership Coordinator on a college campus, about 15 years ago. I worked with a fraternity and sorority community of ~700 students. Continue reading
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Eliminate the Negative to Accentuate the Positive
While we are working on being the best at being me it is important to remember one mantra: No negative self talk. At the beginning of this school year I was introducing myself to a new group of students. I was discussing how difficult grad school can be at times. Throughout the process there will be times you want to give up on this. I asked them to refrain from negative self talk. The “I can’t do this” and “I am so stupid” (this is one of the most detrimental). It is dangerous to put those thoughts in your head. They just sit in the corners of your mind and grow, like mold. It is a dark warm place hidden away from the lighter parts of your brain. Before you know it this mold has creeped into your outlook on life. Danger! Danger! Red Alert…Move away… Recently a student pulled me to the side and told me how important that message (No negative self talk) was to her. She showed me where she wrote it in her journal. She uses it with her kids and her own students. There are enough negative messages out there, we don’t need to create more. Continue reading
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Just Trying to Be the Best Me I Can Be
I was chatting with a friend the other day. Our conversation was a mix of a mutual project and we eventually turned towards life in general. We started to chat about the characteristics we inherited from our parents. Some of those characteristics are things we would rather not have, and of course we acknowledged the fact that we got some good too. Why is it so much easier to focus on the critical?
At one point she said, “I am just trying to be the best me I can be.” I thought, “That makes sense.” But…my brain took over. Continue reading
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UNcooked Ability
I was looking into buying the domain of RawAbility dot com. I went to the online website store to check it out. It wasn’t available. Actually, it was available for a fee. So I am still thinking about that. A funny thing happened on the way to the checkout stand. Since the domain wasn’t available for immediate use the website I was on provides a service. They provide optional names that you might consider for your site. There were a few names that could work, but the best one was – uncookedability.com. I chuckled. I thought (in the sarcastic little voice in my head), “Oh that’ll work…uncookedability!?” Those that know me would probably say that sarcastic voice is more than just in my head. Continue reading
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Objects in mirror
“How did you go to get here?” “What route did you take?” These are common questions upon arriving at a destination or meeting point with friends. As one of the new members of the Southern California driving set this is a common question of mine as well. My goal is to see if there was a better route. A more direct route. Or, if there is some super secret shortcut that nobody told me about. A friend here in Los Angeles told me I need to watch the movie LA Story now that I am part of the culture.
Speaking of culture… the SoCal way Continue reading
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Jokers’ Wild or Jokers Worthwhile
We meet people throughout our lives. We make impressions on others by what we say, do, act, and react. Some people we see or know for a short time, and others we just click with and feel a bond. Some years ago I taught a freshman year experience (FYE) class. The experience was a class with a special theme or topic, mine was leadership (of course). Throughout the class we would take field trips around the city, ride the El, and integrate study skills and resources for the students. It helps with the transition into college. Wouldn’t life be grand if we had FYE for many things that happen to us? But, I digress. Continue reading
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Sad aint bad
When I was seven years old my little Pekinese dog, Whitey Ford, died. I was devatated. I had to take a personal day from second grade to mourn. I remember the ride home from the vet. I was sobbing. My little brother was trying to console me. He said, “It’s ok Richie. Whitey’s in heaven now with grandpa…I am sad too.” I responded, “Well you aren’t crying.” He said very plainly, “Well I’m not THAT sad.” My mom retold that story over and over (and over and over). She aid she was trying not to laugh at the conversation and my brother’s response. Continue reading
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A glowing excursion
A few weeks ago I visited Puerto Rico with my cousin’s family, it was a trip of a lifetime. It was the celebration of their 30th wedding anniversary. We had a blast. Puerto Rico is an amazing place with some of the nicest people I’ve encountered. Most of the time we could use English, there were a few times we had to resort to Spanish. It was fun to see how much of my high school Spanish came back to me, so now I have a new New Year’s resolution (I know, I know it’s May). We took the usual tourist trips around the island – Old San Juan, the Bacardi distillery, Costco, Snorkeling, museums and the Bioluminescent Bay.
It burns!
Snorkeling was fun, and a new experience. Continue reading
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