Tag Archives: Accountability

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Have you ever been Pickled by a Half-Truth?

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My mother is a great storyteller.  As I was growing up, there was one story in particular that I loved to hear her tell, especially if she told it to someone who had never heard it before ~ because before the story ended the people listening would usually be doubled over in laughter with tears running down their faces.  (With her permission I am sharing that story with you…)

When I was two and my sister was a baby, my dad was just out of the military, and my parents were re-inventing our lives in their home state. Dad had a new job and mom wanted to start a garden and can vegetables to contribute to the family.

It was during a time when stores were selling more convenience foods, and gardening and canning were not popular, so it was difficult to find the supplies needed to can. So my great aunt offered to give several old canning jars to my mother if she would be willing to dispose of the old pickles in the jars.

My mother was thrilled and agreed.

When she got the jars home she wondered what to do with the old pickles.

  • No garbage disposal.
  • No plastic garbage bags.
  • Perhaps she should flush them?  (After all they were about the same size as other items that are typically flushed…)

So she did…

Open a jar.  Dump.  Flush.

That seemed to work

Open another jar.  Dump.  Flush.

And another.  Dump.  Flush.

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For Bosses on Boss’s Day: Have You Done Eough?

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October 16th is Boss’s Day.

When I think of Boss’s Day I think of the bosses I’ve had, the bosses I’ve seen and the boss I’ve been. I think of the skills I admired and echoed.  I think of the skills I could see that were buried under layers of self-discipline issues and integrity challenges.  I think of the good, the bad and the ugly:

  • The boss that was in his late 40’s, that would have temper tantrums like a two-year old when things did not go well.  (Stomping feet, throwing things, and completely consumed with blaming someone instead of problem solving.)
  • The boss that was kind, fun, supportive, and late for everything!
  • A different boss that realized in a training that her constant tardiness felt like a slap in the face to many of her employees and they were questioning her integrity.   (Her discovery was profound and behavior-altering!)
  • The boss that listened first to understand, then evaluated if the team had the tools,training and support to do their job before determining how to handle poor performance.  (Building trust and a strong organization!)
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Looking Back: 7 Times You Should and 7 Times You Should Not

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As I drove into the driveway, I noticed something in the window of the garage door.

When I drove in and closed the door, I realized that the “something” was the largest butterfly I’d ever seen.

He was pressed against the glass looking back at the world he had come from, and although he could see it, he could not touch it.  (It is important to note that this was a “Louisiana garage” – a carport with a roof and a garage door on the front, a wall on one side, a fence and open skies on the other side, a covered walkway and more open skies on the rear.)

This butterfly was so focused on looking back that he did not realize that the open air was just beside him and he could fly away at anytime.

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Leaders STAND for something ~ When do YOU STAND?

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Anne Frank Huis IMG_0264

Last week my husband and I vacationed in Amsterdam.  During our visit there we had the opportunity to visit the Anne Frank House.  I’ve seen the movie, read books about this horrible time in history and visited Holocaust Museums, but I’d never actually read her diary.

‘En route to Amsterdam I opened her diary and read details that I’ve missed before…

Jood Star - Worn by Jews duruing WWII

  • “Jews must wear a yellow star.
  • Jews must hand in their bicycles.
  • Jews are banned from trains and are forbidden to drive.
  • Jews are only allowed to do their shopping between three and five o’clock and then only in shops which bear the placard “Jewish shop.”
  • Jews must be indoors by eight o’clock
  • and cannot even sit in their own gardens after that hour.
  • Jews are forbidden to visit theaters, cinemas, and other places of entertainment.
  • Jews may not take part in public sports. 
  • Swimming baths, tennis courts, hockey fields and other sports grounds are all prohibited to them.
  • Jews may not visit Christians.
  • Jews must go to Jewish schools, and many more restrictions of a similar kind.”

As I tried to imagine Anne’s life at age 13, I immediately thought of my 13-year-old niece and my 13-year-old neighbor.  And I felt my throat tighten, my eyes mist and my mind quickly trying to seal off those thoughts.

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A lesson in character from a former bully

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As we began working on the Character-Based Leader book, I dug deep to see if I could identify what had originally ignited the passion I have for character-based leadership.  As I reviewed years of memories, I continually found examples that that evidenced my passion for others, almost as if it had always been there.  So I dug deeper, determined to find the root.  When I found it, I realized that my vision for character-based leadership stems from a very self-centered decision I made in elementary school…

When I was in first grade there was a girl in my class with messy hair and old clothes who was noticeably “different” than everyone else.