Today, I’m waking up at the Bartz River House near Cascade, Montana, as the guest of one of my best friends, Tim Bartz. The coffee aroma has filled every nook and cranny as my taste buds light up with anticipation. I’m not sure what I’m more eager for — the coffee or the day fly fishing with Tim on the Missouri River. As I pour my first cup, he starts breakfast and I feel helpless as he will not let me lift a finger. He laughs as he shares stories and we catch up on family, friends, and the accounting profession. In the twenty years I have known Tim, he is one of the most generous, and... Continue Reading
Posts Tagged With ‘ trust ’
Last week, I shared about our loss of “Happy,” CeCe’s mom. The funeral service and celebration of her life was in Natchez, MS, her home for the first 78 years. We traveled the two hours on a Friday afternoon and checked into Dunleith Historic Inn, where we stayed for the Saturday morning services. As CeCe and I checked in, I also booked a room for Father Albeen, who was traveling down from Jackson to conduct the funeral services for Happy. The family was gathering at another house close to downtown for dinner and an evening of sharing stories about Happy. We had been at the family event... Continue Reading
“Just a second,” says our ten-year-old granddaughter, Dabs. I’m shuffling the Uno cards as we are keeping three of our grandkids for three nights before the start of the school year. On my left is Shealy Kate, eight years old, who lives in Natchez, MS; on my right is Dabs’ brother Sully, 6. We are setting up for our nightly Uno challenge, and Dabs is occupied on her iPad. I notice Sully is leaning over towards me with his hand cupped on the side of his mouth, trying to whisper to me. “Pops, that means it’s going to be several minutes.” “Really?” “Yeah, every time,” says Sully... Continue Reading
Sadly, I recently delivered the eulogy for my brother-in-law Daniel Dillard in Natchez, MS. Daniel was 67 years young (1955-2023). Death is just like a lightning strike, when it hits close to you, it gets your attention! Our lives are blessings from God and as I have blogged before, what our dash says between our year of birth to our year of death is so important. What have we really accomplished during our dash, our years of life? What significance have we played in the lives of others? This might seem dramatic yet, we occasionally need lightning to get our attention. So excited to share... Continue Reading
After being such a celebrated champion of the customer for so many years, Southwest Airlines really, really blew it at Christmas with a system meltdown that destroyed memories for thousands as over 3100 flights were canceled Christmas Day and over 5000 the next day. This is a reputation rattling that takes my emotions back to the BP oil spill. Now, the CEO has certainly come forward to own the mistake as one being Southwest’s own making. But is this an unrecoverable brand injury? Maybe not. However, owning the mistake is just the first step to building back the brand and gaining back the loyalty... Continue Reading
As Valentine’s Day approaches, love is in the air. And while this whole topic is highly charged in today’s workplace, there’s a brand of ‘love’ that’s not only appropriate but also necessary in our contemporary business environment—one that can drive engagement, job satisfaction, and bottom-line results. Leaders who want to make a positive impact on their employees and their organizations will benefit from showing their love through these four strategies. Loop others in. Information is the lifeblood of productivity and achievement. And connections with others nourish employees, contributing... Continue Reading