There is learning from others and learning from your own experiences. I learned from my own experiences the hard way about recovery and stress recently despite knowing it intellectually.
The months of January and February felt non-stop at work, and this increased all levels of stress in my life. I tried to be proactive and take a 4-day weekend to attempt to properly recover and reset.
(more…)
I love to teach and recently had the opportunity to visit and facilitate a college course at Wichita State University. The course was hosted by the Kansas Leadership Center. The curriculum is based on principles of Adaptive Leadership from Ron Heifetz and Marty Linsky.
The definition of leadership shared in the course is:
(more…)
Recently my family and I went hiking with some friends through a slot canyon. I carried our one-year-old in a backpack. The hike was less than three miles and had a small elevation gain. This sounded like the perfect hike for our kids who are out of hiking shape.
A few days prior to our hike there had been a large rainstorm. This meant that the hike, rather than being a dry riverbed, had a small stream with running water. This made the hike beautiful and fun. As we hiked, the water became deeper, and it was progressively more difficult to cross the river without getting wet.
(more…)
The exercise of writing down and reflecting on the year is useful. I love reading other’s new year resolutions and how they choose to want to become better. I have time to reflect and time to think about what the next year will hold for me and my family.
In my reflection I realized this year was a year of firsts. Here are a few firsts for me and my family in 2021
(more…)
I can be a nerd when it comes to words. In school I never gravitated towards anything that required writing but in teaching, the semantics of words has fascinated me. Unique insight can be found in the meaning and nuance found in words. There are two words I was pointed to this week that got me thinking.
(more…)
Often when I talk to friends or colleagues, I will ask them “what are you reading” and I get some great book recommendations from this question.
My colleague recommended to me Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath and a week or so after finishing the book he asked me what stuck for me. I was surprised at how little I remembered.
(more…)
A little over a month ago my wife and I heard a crash just down the hall. Our 13-month-old son had managed to find the cord to the crock pot plugged into the counter and tugged on it just enough that the contents of the crockpot fell on him and the floor. My son sustained severe burns and we spent the following three weeks in the hospital with him as he healed.
(more…)
When an individual sustains a deep burn (2nd or 3rd degree) it destroys the nerve endings and they do not feel pain. The ideal burn healing looks like this: First blood returns to the wound site and appears bright pink or red. Next new skin reforms underneath the visible layer and pushes out the old dead skin. While the new skin is forming underneath the wound site the nerve endings are also regenerating. Pain returns until a layer of protective skin can cover the nerve endings.
(more…)
For those who have been reading the blog, it is no surprise that I have been working on my purpose and my values. As I have done this, I have followed a loose process that in hindsight has been instructive to me.
(more…)
My family and I love to go hiking. Regardless of where we hike, if there are rocks on the trail you will inevitably discover cairns along the path. For those unfamiliar, a cairn is a stack of rocks on top of each other balancing in a statue like shape. They are beautiful, peaceful, and often look impossible or against the laws of nature.
(more…)
I teach and invite people to act. Proud husband, father and amateur pizzaiolo