A participant from one of my sessions--an alumnus of mine--shared a comment that has stuck with me. After going through my session on the last full day of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life ("A Day Of Meetings" is the title), this alumnus said that I had as much of a "ministry" as I did a business or service. I like that. I like that a lot. He's exactly right. I have a ministry, and I look upon my … [Read more...]
December 22, 2010 by
December 22, 2010 by
Today I visited my local Verizon store. My task was to check on a bill, seeing what my options were for reducing costs. I suspect you've had a similar task, for which you either volunteered or were drafted, conscripted, and dragooned into performing. And in this instance I experienced serious personal exasperation. The attendee at the desk took ten minutes to notice me. Then, I was asked if I'd … [Read more...]
December 22, 2010 by
The river teaches you to know change and continuity. Currents change, depths change, banks and shores change, surfaces change, bottoms change, the directions change, the things floating or stuck in the water change, living creatures change, dead creatures change, seasons and weather change. On and on it goes. The change is so great that it feels constant and thus, can become difficult to separate … [Read more...]
December 21, 2010 by
A participant in my upcoming Leadership Now seminar on Ronald Reagan's Challenger speech made an interesting comment to me yesterday. He said that the topic particularly intrigued him because he remembered exactly where he was when the Challenger exploded. The fact that he had lived through the event, remembered it clearly, and could reflect back on that moment had a special power in persuading … [Read more...]
December 20, 2010 by
Back on Thanksgiving morning, my sister died, after 57 years on earth. She was always a large influence on me. And once more, at her funeral service, she left a mark. Everything boils down to a picture, a box, and a stone across the road. There was a picture, a photograph, of her sitting next to the casket. I'm guessing it was taken 10 or 15 years ago. That image was of who she was physically at … [Read more...]
December 15, 2010 by
In November 2010, Paul Bulmahn flew aboard a helicopter over the Gulf of Mexico. Bulmahn, chief executive officer of ATP Oil & Gas, peered through the chopper's window. He looked out over the vast body of water beneath him and saw various types of oil rigs and drill platforms. Some were in use, some were not. Some were new or newer, others were quite old, dating back to the 1940s. Bulmahn … [Read more...]
December 15, 2010 by
A great, blessed part of my calling here at Historical Solutions LLC is the extraordinary number of good people I meet and know. We forget that there is an "other side of life," as an old song put it. I'm fortunate to spend time with good people who try to do good things. You may know of people in your family or broader circles of acquaintance that don't stand the test of goodness. I'm not talking … [Read more...]
December 13, 2010 by
Let's revisit my river analogy. Check out my blog index for a full description of it--look under "River." Now, I'd like to elaborate on the current. A river's current does not always flow forward or ahead. There are things called "eddies." An eddy is a part of a river where the water actually pivots and flows backwards in either a clockwise or counter-clockwise motion. At the end of the motion the … [Read more...]
December 12, 2010 by
About a month ago I was invited to participate on a panel to discuss how I found employment as a history major. The panel was part of a conference for history graduate and undergraduate students. After the three previous panel members described their stories, I took a somewhat surprising tack. I didn't offer out any advice that might go on a resume, a job application, or be used in networking or … [Read more...]
December 10, 2010 by
One of my viewers of the One-Armed Man video sent an email to me with his reaction. Beyond thoroughly enjoying it, he said he was "surprised" at the content. When I pressed for a little more explanation, he said that it shocked him that someone yelled out in the middle of the president's speech. "It was a different era," this viewer concluded. I think this is a point to ponder. Maybe we've lost … [Read more...]
