When you move to Florida, you get asked several questions. Do you live here year-round? Are you retired? And ... Do you play pickleball? Actually, you only get asked the first two on a regular - but the third one is not uncommon. Do I live here year-round? Yes. Am I retired? No. Do I play pickleball? Yes, I am a pickleball player. At least, now I am. Before moving to Florida, I had the opportunity to play pickleball one time with our church staff. A few volunteers treated us to lunch and taught us the very basics of pickleball. We flailed around for a while, until the older ones (like me) got sweaty and sought out the shade. But as the old saying goes, "While in Rome, do as the Romans do" -- I decided one of the best ways to acclimate to Florida and meet new people was…

Not being one who frequents our local Social Security Administration office, I didn't quite know what to expect when I took my mother-in-law there to change her address. She recently relocated from Tennessee to Florida to live with us and needed to update her information. For the uninformed (and assuming you have a valid email address), this whole process can be done online and takes about five minutes. The kiosk issued us a ticket: Q29. Almost two hours later, a voice came over the loudspeaker and called "Q29." I felt like I had won the lottery! My new friend, David, had his number called about ten minutes prior. He was the gentleman sitting on the back row wearing a dapper straw fedora hat. He had taken the day off work, needing to correct an error regarding his account. Not working meant he wasn't getting paid. He wasn't too happy about…

Sometimes a small mind shift can make a big difference. It might be reframing a challenge in a way that opens up new solutions. Or, it might be asking a simple follow-up like, "Tell me more about that." These small actions hold great potential. If you're in a position of leadership, shifting your thinking from networking to relationship building is one of those mind shifts that will pay incredible dividends. Don't get me wrong. Networking isn't bad. In fact, I've been to those networking gatherings and enjoyed the free appetizers and drinks. In the "old" days before smartphones, I came armed with my business cards and a willingness to strike up a conversation with anyone. Networking is about creating connections that enable the traffic of ideas and opportunities to flow more easily. When we network with others, we're hoping to create a mutually beneficial partnership -- personally or professionally. To…

Leaders are people who want to get things done. That's why we lead teams, organizations, or businesses. We have dreams and visions, goals and objectives, and a finite amount of time in which to operate (i.e., no one lives forever!). And it often means having to work with people to get things done. The question is: what is the best way to speed up your team? Because we want to get things done, we're constantly looking for better ways to do things. Not shortcuts - unless the shortcut produces a better result. Typically, we're refining our systems and structures to be more efficient. The idea is simple: the more efficient we become, the more we will be able to do - and quicker. Now, don't get me wrong - I'm no fan of inefficiency. I believe our organizations can always be more efficient. But there is one tool in a…

Do I start this post with a statistic or a gripping story? Should it be a short post or an expanded article? Focused on relationships, leadership, or organizational behavior? And when should I write it - today or tomorrow? So many decisions. Life is filled with decisions, ranging from simple decisions about having a second or third cup of coffee to more complex decisions that affect cities, states, and countries. Even when we've neurologically automated our decisions, they are still decisions. Hundreds of times throughout the day, I'm making a decision - to check email, when to use the restroom, or how to raise money for a project. With so many decisions facing us every day, you'd think we'd be experts by now at making decisions. But we're not. In some cases, we keep making the same bad decision hoping it will eventually transform itself into a good decision. But…