At yesterday’s Orange Conference, I heard Clay Scroggins give a great talk on leading yourself. The big takeaway I got from this talk is the importance of balancing positivity with a critical thinking. It is important to think critically in order to make things better while keeping a positive spirit. it is a balance, much like balancing between an aggressive and passive approach in leadership. Neither extreme is helpful.
In September 2016, I wrote a blog post for Phoenix-based Career Connectors. It covered two of my favorite subjects; Evernote and LinkedIn.
In my job search, I found both of these to be valuable for keeping track of new contacts, as well as networking efforts. Evernote has made a great effort to make the best use of scanned documents and business cards. Even if you aren’t currently job searching, you will find this article helpful.
Last week, I was surprised to find the local coffee spot was closed at 6:00 PM. It is supposed to be open until 9:00 PM. There was no sign, just a dark storefront. So I sent the following tweet:
When your @Kroger @Starbucks is closed at 6 PM. #mourning #notpossible #smalltownproblems
— Kevin Spear (@KevinHSpear) November 1, 2016
The reason I sent it wasn’t because I was upset. It was partly because this wasn’t the first time this Starbucks storefront had been closed. Once it was in the middle of the afternoon for a water problem. Also, it was partly because I was curious how these two companies I like and value would respond. How did they respond? Cue the crickets, please. That’s right, I got no response. No apology. No acknowledgment. Life went on. My wife and I went back to the church, I found a Keurig pod and we enjoyed a little caffeine on a
And how did they respond? Cue the crickets, please. That’s right, I got no response. No apology. No acknowledgment. Life went on. My wife and I went back to the church, I found a Keurig pod and we enjoyed a little caffeine on a fine fall evening.
Idols show up in the strangest places. An idol can be a beloved sports team, a movie start, musician, even an eletronic device. Where is my iPhone anyway? I have to find it before I hyperventilate!
Any person or object we tend to get obsessed with can be an idol. It can even be an idea. Perhaps you have problems giving up an idea that had run its course thirty years ago. Even churches and the old rituals we hold dear can become idols. Hymnals, Sunday best, bylaws and a tendency to keep doing things the same way can become idol. Change can become an idol, but it is much more likely the opposite, tradition and ritual gets idolized.
Be careful of idols. you may have one in the backyard and not be aware of it.
When it comes to networking, my wife is a pro. She is a children’s pastor. You can bet she has a bounce house vendor on speed dial.
I realized how handy that was when each of our children graduated from high school. She knew parents would bring their children. On each open house, the bounce house rental guy showed up and set up quite the nice bounce house. The kids had a blast and parents could mingle and congratulate our graduate without a worry.