Like the many businesses right now, Group Dynamic is also changing. Yesterday, the current Group Dynamic staff met to talk about what the business will look like in 2022. Specifically, we discussed what we need to keep and what we need to change. For many years, the old model of Group Dynamic staffing included: Alan … Read more
While it may be cliché to write a blog post about gratitude the week of Thanksgiving, it’s also a good reminder as we move into the holiday season. For many, November and December bring additional stress, frustration, and hardship. The last two years have been difficult. It’s human to dwell on our struggles. In fact, … Read more
My daughter Mara makes astute observations. During a conversation about the importance of self-care, she said, “Even when you do something in your time off, it’s focused on reaching goals. “Do you ever just do something to do it?” I proceeded to give her examples of how I practice self-care. Reading Crossword puzzles Exercise Learning foreign languages Cooking … Read more
Leaving a good job isn’t easy. You’ve built relationships, learned valuable lessons about yourself and others, and developed new skills. Your job becomes part of your life story, whether you were there for one year or for ten years. Therefore, when it’s time, leave your job with respect, dignity, and gratitude. As I reflect on … Read more
I used to have a slide in my leadership presentations which read: The clear path to greatness: Deliver (both what’s expected of you, and what you’ve promised) Be your own source of accountability I even wrote a blog post about this a while back. The premise is straightforward and mostly true for many people: So … Read more
One of my favorite speakers is Pat Lencioni. I love him as an author, but he’s an even better speaker. Something I don’t think he’s written, but that I’ve heard him say a few times, are these inspiring words, which I’m paraphrasing for you: So many of us want to make a difference in the … Read more
Recently, I chaperoned a large group trip for a bunch of teenagers—over 300 of them. I had to keep track of about 35 of them myself, and punctuality was the most pressing issue of the trip. If any one person was late for the bus or the meeting point, it held up all 300. While … Read more
My wife, Julie, turned me on to a web-based app called RescueTime. The app tracks your activity during the day to see how efficient and effective you are, and how much time you waste. One thing I’ve learned is that I spend a stupid amount of time on email. Many days, one third of my … Read more
I’ve written a lot on this blog about being others-focused instead of being self-focused. If I asked, I’m sure you could come up with a list of outward behaviors for each of the two categories. On the self-focused list would probably be words like tardiness, frowning, complaining, ignoring others’ needs, and declining to help. Words … Read more
At 90 Ideas, Tej Dhawan started off with a key idea: Give first. He was mostly talking about the ethic in the start-up community, how entrepreneurs help each other out as a habit. A great Iowa example is EntreFest, an annual program for entrepreneurs with dozens of sessions led, pro bono, by entrepreneurs who are … Read more