Posted on June 13, 2025

In an environment where every team member feels truly valued, productivity goes beyond just output, it's measured by growth and fulfillment. Leaders no longer just manage but have a deep understanding of the unique strengths each individua…

Posted on June 12, 2025

Service excellence isn't just an ideal, it's a practice born out of intentionality and care for the client experience. Your impact on the customer journey begins the moment they interact with your organization, subtly shaped by every detai…

Posted on March 4, 2025

Whatever happened to good manners? Am I just old fashioned and out of style? (Don’t answer that!) In my day, we were taught to say, “Good morning” when we walked into a room, “Please” whenever you wanted someone to do something for you, an…

2/4/25

Laughter Laughed out loud this morning when I started my playlist. I laughed out loud because when I was in high school, there was no such thing as a ‘playlist’, we just turned on the radio hoping the DJ would play our favorite song. Or, in my case, I h…

1/21/25

 

The WK Kellogg Foundation declared today, January 21st, as a National Day of Racial Healing. Today's declaration is part of a bigger WKKF Project known as Truth, Racial Healing and Tranformation designed to address the historic and contemporary effects …

9/2/24

In junior high school, this saying caused students to go, "oooo-you are in trouble!". It was an invitation to a fight. Sometimes the challenge was made and the person who was being challenged had NO clue as to why they were the target of a beatdown or a b…

5/2/24

Okay, let’s talk OLD school for Day 3 of the Comedy Sweep!

Who said it? Which company had the slogan? See how many you remember. This is just a fun exercise to bring a smile to your face. Answers are at the bottom of the page.

1. Bet you can’t eat just 1!

…

5/1/24
 

Hello! The Comedy Sweep is on! Day 2, Just For You!

1. What stays in the corner yet travels all over the world? Answer: A postage stamp
2. What do you call a laughing motorcycle?
   Answer: A Yamahahaha
3. What goes through towns, up and over hills, but doesn’t move?
   …

4/30/24

Gallup (yes, the poll people) issued a report called, The Global Rise of Unhappiness. The report is mostly referring to the workplace, but I am hearing people speak about unhappiness in their lives who are not even working, so…

Anyway, for the next 3 d…

4/5/24

Everyone says they want quality, but most people do not want to do the job required for quality. Worse, some people don’t even know what quality entails, even though they think they do. For that, I must say we have been miseducated! Quality does not start…

3/14/24

Long ago, I was having breakfast with a good friend, and I was going on and on about something or the other. He grabbed his head and said, “Stop! You are making my head hurt!” I was stunned, but I realized I was talking non-stop.

Why do we do that to pe…

2/16/24
 

Getting someone else to help you with a project or initiative is often difficult. Not because the person might say “no”, but because we may not have the moxy to ask for help. Due to our reluctance to ask, we are likely to take on more than we should.

T…

2/7/24

My father could NOT drive! But, I rode with him everywhere, gritting my teeth, clenching my door handle, and grabbing at the dashboard. But, what an adventure! Not once did he flinch, get upset at people honking at him or scream obscenities back to those …

2/4/24
 

Innovation is one of those words that many people use to brag about their new idea. It is a spin-off from the word ‘innovate’ which we often see broadcasted on license plates as INNOV8, INOV8, or NOV8. Innovation gained its prominence in the technological…

1/24/24

 

Telling lies takes talent! It is an art, and once you start, you have to keep going. At least, that is what I have heard throughout my life. Whether it is a little white lie, a tall tale, an omission, a half-truth, fake news, or a blatant, outright lie,…

1/2/24

 

In 1985, Aretha Franklin, Queen of Soul released the award-winning song, Who’s Zoomin’ Who? Far be it that she would prophesize the historical introduction of a platform that has transformed the technology industry. Yep, Zoom!

A year ago, my Accountabi…

12/4/23

Many years ago, I was traveling across Texas to train a group of colleagues. We all worked for the Department of Transportation, so I asked several people around the office, “How far is Wichita Falls (Texas) from here?” The answer was consistently, “4 ho…

11/15/23

There is so much emphasis being placed on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) right now. We are constantly bombarded with this ideal as though it is new and somehow different from what has always been a trouble spot in organizationa…

10/19/23

My Aunt Trudy was my role model when I was a teen. She was thin, classy, and beautiful with a silky, immaculately kept hairdo, and bright red lipstick. She drove the longest and widest Cadillac! I think it was a DeVille, but don’t really know or recall.…

10/4/23

One of my favorite portraits was drawn by Norman Rockwell in 1944. The name of the print is The Tattooist. I purchased my print in 1988 from an antique shop in Asheville, North Carolina, when a co-worker took me for a drive to clear my mind after having …

9/14/23 

This is the third and final segment of a 3-day blog about Succession Planning. You can find the previous two blogs on this same website. Enjoy! 

How Do I Create a Candidate Profile? Once candidates have been identified for succession based on the jo…

9/13/23

This is the second blog of a 3-part daily series on Succession Planning. The first blog was posted on this same website a day ago, September 11, 2023. Enjoy!

The SEVEN (7) preparatory steps for determining the need for a Succession Plan are:

1. Assess you…

9/12/23
 

This is a 3-part daily series of blogs on Succession Planning.

Succession Planning is an on-going process; not a one-time endeavor. It is planning for both the foreseen and unexpected absences of people who hold key roles. It is a carefully conducted p…

8/6/23

I first saw the word ‘heretical’ used in a non-religious context, when I was reading an article written years ago. The article recommended that leaders need to be innovative and non-traditional in their thinking, and in their actions. The author maintaine…

7/8/23

John Kotter (2012), change leadership guru, can be credited with the above profound piece of advice. It hits home. When I was a teenager, I thought I was good enough to write for the Miami Herald because I was scheduled to take an Advanced Vocabulary clas…

5/11/23
 

Listening is an essential communication skill, but few leaders do it, and even fewer do it well.  Instead, they talk! 

Recently, I had to say to someone who cut me off, “sorry, it is my turn to talk as I have patiently listened to you”. It is common de…

4/5/23

 

Leadership continues to be an elusive term, and the term leader is ascribed to people according to whether some initiative was a success or failure.  For example, People say “he is a good leader, or her leadership skills are lacking”. Leadership is not a…

3/20/23

At least once per month, a coaching colleague and I meet via Zoom for what has now been dubbed an ‘Intentions and Accountability’ (IA) session. The purpose of these sessions is to share our ideas, our personal and company plans and goals, and our accompl…

3/1/23

 

When my oldest grandson, Andrew was about 4 years of age, (he will soon be 30), he would raise his hand to get the attention of me, his mother, and his aunt as we discussed and debated any number of topics.  When we would stop our talk and turn to ask wh…

2/1/23

 

People often ask me why I named my company CYA? Well, I didn’t.  A friend came up with it after I explained what the intended purpose was going to be. Plus, I shared with him that I wanted to leave a legacy to my grandsons.  He said, “you should call it:…

1/16/23

 

Conrad Hilton, the hotelier extraordinaire, had exceptional perseverance.  As he struggled to make a name for himself in the hotel business, two of his hotels burned to the ground.  A third hotel, the Waldorf-Astoria in New York became one of the most i…

1/2/23

 

Employees want jobs that are meaningful, fun, utilize their talents, and pay them for their dedication and their expertise.  Although money continues to be one of the most important ways of letting employees know their value to the organization, low empl…

12/19/22

There are thousands of articles and books written on the topic of leadership. There are thousands of gurus espousing they have the answer on how to be a leader. There are also a variety of leadership seminars, and a host of trainings you can attend. I h…

12/4/22

 

Sharing information with employees on an ongoing basis is critical to organizational success.  But in many organizations, things are either a secret or a crisis.  With today’s technological advancements, leaders can distribute a lot information to emplo…

11/24/22
 

An article printed in ASQ Quality Progress Journal, 2014: Quality in the First Person Lasting Impression: A tribute to one woman’s quality role model—her grandmother!

MY GRANDMOTHER, Marie Williams, was a ball of fire. She was a housekeeper who truly …

11/13/22

Leadership is hard work, sometimes forcing a leader to miss a meal, miss a special occasion, or miss an important phone call.   We all know there are just not enough hours in the day, week, month for leaders to get everything done!  However, Loose Ends, W…

10/2/22 

About 25 years ago, there was an animated movie that featured characters who lived in a community whereby they all had pointed heads, except for one character who did not have a pointed head. The character with no point, kept repeating throughout the movi…