Vocations and hairballs

A quick post today as this has been quite a week, but if you’re familiar with the wonderful theologian and author J.I. Packer, he has some very insightful words about the Christian concept of vocation over at Crosswalk.com. You can check it out here. I’ve given this topic some thought over the years and I find [...]

Lighten up

Anyone see this article on MSNBC today? It’s about the benefit of humor in the workplace (and the host of issues surrounding offensive jokes). Years ago, when I worked at the School of Management at North Park University, I worked for a wonderful retired Air Force Colonel who, among other things, taught strategic mangement classes and [...]

Productive Anger

“A man is about as big as the things that make him angry.” - Winston Churchill
“Speak when you are angry - and you’ll make the best speech you’ll ever regret.” - Dr. Laurence J. Peter
I had the pleasure of catching up with an old coworker this past weekend. While we mostly talked about our personal lives, [...]

Standards of excellence

Today I hopped in the car to travel between buildings for a meeting and caught all of two minutes of Pastor Greg Laurie’s talk about Daniel in the lions’ den. Daniel is a really interesting guy, isn’t he? He’s a Jewish exile, but he’s got a killer job, working as a right-hand man for Darius, [...]

An ambitious week

What comes to your mind when you think of having an ambitious week? Making a huge sale? Taking charge of a major project? Putting in long hours to get ahead of your upcoming work? Applying for a new position that has more responsibility and pays a little more? I don’t know about you, but some [...]

A different take on workaholism

As a die-hard hockey fan, I can’t believe that I’m about to confess this, but I really enjoy watching the show So You Think You Can Dance with my wife. I’m just catching up on last week’s episodes (because, ironically, I’ve been working a lot). Last night, I watched this really interesting routine done to illustrate the [...]

The Nouwen Challenge, pt. 3 (rocks and pebbles)

Howdy. I’ve not gotten a chance to blog since early last week thanks to a crazy, crazy work life at work. I’m afraid that it’s going to be that way for a few months - bummer. For those of you following or participating in the Nouwen challenge, I must admit that it’s had a rocky start [...]

The Nouwen Challenge, pt. 1

I’ve been thinking a lot about silence lately. I don’t encounter much of it in my life. Even when I’m alone at work, the silence is only external. Inside my head is a running dialogue of to do lists, e-mails, and ideas for getting stuff done. At home, the sounds inside and outside of my [...]

In need of a little good medicine

Today was a cruddy day. A day filled with frustrations that seemed to pile on top of one another. I know that my little issues at work are nothing compared to the many, many people that hate their jobs or all of the issues that people around the world are facing. Nonetheless, I was checking [...]

Patient superheroes

There are so few superheroes in the office these days. When we find one, we should stick close and learn as much as possible. I spent my evening at a work event with my friend Frank. He’s a superhero. He’s incredibly intelligent, warm and caring; he doesn’t worry about taking credit for his many accomplishments; [...]