One of the great blessings of my life was to spend time with my father-in-law, Jim McGee. He taught me a lot by what he said and the way he lived. Jim wrote the following on April 15, 1995. He had retired six years before. He titled it, “Thoughts from the Past.” -o0o- Keep a pad or a dictating machine by your bed at  »  Read More

Praise is the most powerful tool you have to keep people improving, so don’t dilute it. Resist the temptation to add a small reminder to improve. Don’t even attempt a little humor. Save those things for another time. Praise is most potent when you deliver it straight: what they did and why it’s good. This  »  Read More

Praise is like a powerful chemical catalyst. When you add praise to your workplace in the right way, both performance and morale improve. The basic rule is that you praise what you want more of. Praise Achievement Once, a supervisor described his job to me this way: “They know when they do a good job. It’s my  »  Read More

“What good can we make of this?” That was my mother’s guide to life. It was her way to encapsulate in a few words the idea that it’s better for you to act than to allow life to happen to you. She asked that question whenever I had one of those inevitable adolescent crises. She asked it when she got her  »  Read More