1: Scott had been diagnosed with prostate cancer several years before. But now the cancer had returned to his lymph nodes and bones, and he was in constant pain.

Scott’s wife, Susan, reached out to Diane Button, an end-of-life doula—someone who provides emotional and practical support to people who are dying and their families. This role is similar to that of a birth doula, but for end-of-life care.

“Scott didn’t … continue reading

1: Floyd Barker was 88 years old. He lived alone in a rustic farmhouse he had shared with his late wife Ruth, who had passed away six years earlier.

“You couldn’t tell from his gregarious smile and inquisitive eyes,” Diane Button writes in her wonderful book What Matters Most: Lessons the Dying Teach Us About Living, but “Floyd was lonely. . .

“He was also dying from kidney failure,” … continue reading

1: What happens when we try to control the uncontrollable?

Nothing good.

“The Genius Move,” Gay Hendricks writes in  The Genius Zone, “is when we let go of our effort to control the uncontrollable and feel the new space of creative aliveness open up inside us.”

Yesterday, we reviewed the specific five steps of what Gay calls “The Genius Move:”

Step 1: Notice we’re feeling unhappy, … continue reading

 1: The call came in at 8:30 a.m. A robbery at a Chase Bank in Brooklyn had gone south. Three bank employees were being held as hostages.

Chris Voss and the FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit had been called to the location. The Negotiation Operation Center (NOC) had been set up in a building across a narrow street from the Chase branch. 

“The word when we came on the scene was … continue reading

1: “Becoming a better leader (or a better person) is a process, not an event,” Marshall Goldsmith writes in What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.

Marshall is one of the top executive coaches in the world. Historically, the focus in executive development has been “an event—a training program, a motivational speech, or an intense executive retreat,” he observes.  

The only problem with that approach? It doesn’t work. … continue reading

1: Perhaps you have a friend like Jane.

“She is funny and social, a talker who uses her eyes, face, hands, and voice to pull you in and keep you listening, no matter what the topic,” Esther Choi writes in her book Let the Story do the Work.

Jane is a great talker. Not so much when it comes to listening.

“The rare times when I’m doing more of … continue reading

We all want high trust relationships.  Our lives are so much better when we are surrounded by people who trust us and we trust them.  So much better.

In his excellent book, The Speed of Trust, Stephen M.R. Covey outlines ten high trust behaviors that we can work on to increase our trustworthiness.  In my experience, trying to get ten things done is a great strategy to get nothing … continue reading