“The phoenix must burn to emerge.” – Janet Fitch It’s been an “interesting” couple of months. I’ve put myself in a couple of situations to intentionally stretch my abilities, and I have learned a lot. I have found some areas where I am better than I thought. It reinforced that I am growing, learning, and …
Category Archives: Reflection
Life is Messy…Play in the Mud
You take it all in. You let the pain of the world touch your heart and you turn it into compassion. ~Gyalwa Karmapa I am up for my 5th Year Review as Associate Dean, so I’ve done quite a bit of reflecting over the last few weeks. A lot has happened. We’ve seen big budget …
Rut or Groove?
There’s a very fine line between a groove and a rut; a fine line between eccentrics and people who are just plain nuts. ~Christine Lavin Yesterday we moved Kaitlyn into her apartment. She is an amazing person, and I am looking forward to watching her continue to grow over her sophomore year. Because she is …
Appreciating Diversity
We need to give each other the space to grow, to be ourselves, to exercise our diversity. We need to give each other space so that we may both give and receive such beautiful things as ideas, openness, dignity, joy, healing, and inclusion. ~Max de Per A couple of months ago I was asked a …
Optimism or Positive Attitude?
Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable. ~Voltaire If you have a positive attitude and constantly strive to give your best effort, eventually you will overcome your immediate problems and find you are ready for greater challenges. ~Pat Riley Perhaps I am splitting hairs on this one, but …
Authentically Me
“It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.” ~Andre Gide I’ve debated about writing this for quite some time. It’s easier to be vanilla and not risk offending someone. That comes very naturally for me. I’d like to be a dean some day, so …
3 Words
Whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right. ~Henry Ford I spend a lot of my time interacting with a many different people. This provides an opportunity to see a lot of different perspectives. Themes begin to emerge. One theme, I have noticed for quite some time, is quite …
Horsepower
To finish first, you must first finish. – Juan Manuel Fangio As we all ramp up and get ready to tackle 2014 many are thinking about renewing their focus or reviewing priorities. But me, I am thinking about one word – Horsepower. Now it’s not a new car, but the idea of personal or organizational …
Progress Not Perfection
“I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God’s business.” Michael J. Fox At one point, the title of my blog was “Progress Not Perfection.” It describes one of my philosophies, but was not comprehensive enough. It is a phrase I say almost daily and use in …
Collective Rhythm
Two articles caught my attention last week. While they may seem unrelated, because one if from the Chronicle of Higher Education and the other Booz & Company’s Strategy+Business, they really do fit together nicely. At least for me. The first, from the Chronicle, addresses a challenge we’ve been talking about in the ECU COB for …