Life | Leadership
Ongoing training can make all the difference at work and in life
I love it when I rediscover a life lesson from someone in the past. I read a quote recently by baseball legend Connie Mack that makes as much sense today as when he said it nearly a century ago. In my mind, Mack’s career was as important to American baseball as anyone else’s, including some of my favorites like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Hank Arron, and my childhood hero Mickey Mantle.
As a major league baseball player, Connie Mack quickly became a player-manager before becoming a full-time manager and part-owner of the Philadelphia Athletics (now the Oakland A’s)…
Inspiration | Life
Can an objective measure of selflessness be made?
Have you ever wondered what it means to be completely selfless? Now that I have a few decades under my belt, I think about the word selfless and selfish more often than when I was younger. I want to know more about the two terms, as I believe they hold part of the key to my continuing journey to become more like Christ.
What is selflessness?
There is little question the ultimate example of selflessness to have ever existed is Jesus. He and God are one, after all. God created and owns everything that exists, so it only makes sense only Jesus could…
Life | Leadership
How to use healthy fear to improve your capabilities
When you think of fear, what comes to mind? Is it an emotional response of dread, terror, dismay, or distress? Or is fear just another word to you? What if there is another way to look at it?
Have you ever considered the good that comes from fear? Yes, you read that correctly; good can come from fear. Fear is one of the most primitive emotions, and it has been vital to the survival of the human race. Fear has helped mankind not only survive but thrive throughout the ages.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, fear is “an unpleasant emotion…
Leadership | Life
What does it take to become one of the very best employees?
In the end, what makes a business is its people. Without good people, a business will not last. Being a lifelong learner with a track record of running several companies for more than 40 years teaches you many things. I want to share one of the more important with you today. Let’s look at the question, “What makes an employee practically indispensable?”
Anyone working in or running an organization knows how important good employees are to the business. What is it that makes these good employees so unique?
Let’s look at some objective and subjective criteria to understand what it…
Life | Leadership
How to negotiate your way to a better life
How familiar are you with the term “negotiate?” Negotiating has existed since the dawn of time and is one of the most common activities of mankind. It is so common we often negotiate without realizing it. Negotiating is such a natural part of life we even negotiate with ourselves!
To negotiate is to work on an agreement between two parties. These two parties can be you and another person, or it can be two conflicting parts of yourself.
How do we negotiate with ourselves, you ask? When tempted, we negotiate with ourselves and either stand firm or give in. Have…
Life | Positivity
How to reduce negativity while increasing positivity in your life
Why does so much negativity exist in the world today? It seems like every time you turn on the news, negativity pours out and attacks your senses. Such negativity exacerbates the anxiety and depression issues in the country.
Could part of the problem of so much negativity be our fault because too many people enjoy or crave it? Does negative news create better ratings and more income for the media? Who is at fault?
Turning off the negative
With so much media consumed today, a large part of the blame for negativity belongs to the mainstream media. Their focus is almost entirely on the…
Life | Writing
Would you like to enter the state of autotelic flow more often in life?
Those of us who write regularly often do so for the pure pleasure of writing. Many of us do it for the product we create and will do so even if there is no reward. Many professionals experience their work the same way.
Those in sports and some leaders and businesspeople work purely for the satisfaction it brings them. They do not do it for selfish gain. They enjoy the journey more than the end goal. They often gain anyway, but gain is not their main goal, as gain is not what motivates them. …
Life | Leadership
Use the desire for a do-over to improve your life now
Do you ever wish you had the opportunity to go back in time and do something over again in a different and better way? I have many things in life I wish I could do-over. My approach to education when I was younger would benefit from a do-over. My first few years as a husband could use a do-over.
The years I spent traveling and working so crazy hard could use a do-over, especially with all I know now. Yet, there seems to be little or no chance for a do-over for too many things in life. Or is there…
Life| Leadership
Simply refuse to play the “what if” game any longer!
There seems to be no end to the worries that befall us in this time of uncertainty during the current worldwide pandemic. We worry about so many things in life. How often do you participate in the “what if” game? Most of us do and do so far too often.
The “what if” game
We worry about such things as:
- What if I get COVID-19?
- What if I lose my job?
- What if I can't pay my bills?
- What if I can’t keep my business afloat?
- What if the world ends?
- What if, what if, what if ad infinitum!
There is no end to…
Leadership | Life
Do the right thing and never knock the competition
Have you been in a situation where you were buying something, and the salesman spoke badly about their competition? It can happen when buying a car, television, appliance, another commodity, or some type of service. If you are like most of us, you tend to shy away from such people unless you agree with them. Countless sales are lost every year due to this kind of behavior.
Let’s extend this to our job. Have you ever had a fellow employee speak poorly about someone else? …
Bill Abbate
Leadership Writer and Editor in ILLUMINATION, Leadership/Executive Coach, Author www.BillAbbate.com
