The Character Who Taught Me Character It’s very hard to believe that my dad died twenty-four years ago, or will have on May 12 of this year, anyway. Two dozen years, and yet I still think of him every day. Some instance or situation pops in my head, and there he is, along with it.…
How Trusting Your Team Builds Stronger Teams and Better Leaders While it may seem like a reach to go from never-going-to-class college dropout to founding my own technology company, I certainly wasn’t the first. If anything, the least likely. I was pretty much a fuck-up my whole childhood. Some would say, and fairly, that my…
Action breeds inspiration more than inspiration breeds action. ~ Willem Dafoe Why Trust Is the Heart of Team Building Among the joys I had throughout my forty-five years within (and withstanding) the computer industry was team building. As I began to land large accounts, it was instrumental to have a knowledgeable team as the inside…
Without doubt, technology has really changed the world since the 1980s. I am not so sure whether it has made us lazier or better. Perhaps a little of both. The so-called “hot technology” when I landed feet-first in the computer industry a lifetime ago, in 1979, was the Sony Walkman. Visualize yourself walking down the street…
Our family was blessed with our first grandchild just over nine months ago. John Jeffrey – named after both my son-in-law’s late father and me – is his official name. His street name is Johnny. Grandpa Love: Finding Joy in Every New Moment Joanne and I have always had grand dogs throughout our forty-plus years…
How 1960s Music Shaped my Life and a Generation For as long as I can remember, starting in 1964 as a seven-year-old, music filled the void in my psyche. Of course, that all started with The Beatles for me and millions of others around the world. I started taking guitar lessons two weeks later, and…
Childhood Chaos and Painful Family Dynamics Growing up, I was one of four kids, plus a stepsister twelve years older than me. The stepsister, Judy, never had a chance after her dad married my mother. Especially after my sister was born seven years after my twin brother, Jim, and me. She became my mother’s sole…
Selling with Grit and Grace I base much of my selling success on taking the time to do my homework. For those who know me, that first sentence may raise an eyebrow or two. People always considered me impatient. After a while, it no longer bothered me, as I happened to run at a different…
Way back in the fall of 1975, after graduating from high school three months earlier, I entered college at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. This was roughly two hours, and from my family home, but it may as well have been on another planet for me. My parents and I took two trips to…
After that not-so-subtle kick in the ass from my concerned father, I landed a warehouse job within a few days. It did not matter whether that company stored vacuum cleaner parts or automotive parts. That was the least of my concerns. I was on a mission to make my dad proud of me again. I…