Tag: Life’s Lessons

“Remember the Titans” offers memorable workplace lessons

by Dan Oswald The other night I walked in the door to find my youngest son watching the movie Remember the Titans. If you’re a regular reader of this column, you know I consider the movie one of my favorites. Of course, I sat down and watched the last 30 minutes of the film with […]

Conclusion of college commences life of learning

by Dan Oswald My oldest graduated from college this weekend. In addition to reminding me that I am, indeed, getting older, it caused me to consider what sage career and life advice I might have for him. My first thought was that I had the order of those two things reversed—that I should be providing […]

Letting go of yesterday

by Dan Oswald Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. Begin it well and serenely with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. —Ralph […]

Embrace your workers’ curiosity

by Dan Oswald I’ve been reading Tell My Sons . . . by Lieutenant Colonel Mark Weber. The book is filled with the life lessons he has learned. After a routine Army physical revealed he had stage IV intestinal cancer, he began a battle for his life that he ultimately will lose. When he realized […]

How do you make people feel?

by Dan Oswald I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. —Maya Angelou On Saturday, the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team held its annual Red-White Spring Game. With time for just one final play, Jack Hoffman walked […]

The importance of trust

When I was 12 years old, my family moved from Milwaukee to a small town in Iowa. How small? Well, we didn’t have a McDonald’s or even a single traffic light. On our first day in town, my brother, who was and continues to be a year younger than I, walked four blocks with me […]

What goes around comes around

by Dan Oswald “Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.” —W. Clement Stone Do you believe in karma? Do you think a person brings upon himself inevitable results, whether they […]

leadership lessons learned the hard way

Leadership lessons learned the hard way

The other day, I had the opportunity to reflect on some of the biggest lessons I’ve learned as a manager. Most of them were learned the hard way, and I have the scars to prove it. I’ve made more than my fair share of mistakes over the course of my career, but I’ve also learned […]

Rafting the Ocoee

Running the Rapids: Workplace Lessons from the Ocoee

Dan is busy working on his presentation for the Advanced Issues Employment Symposium so he decided to share this column written by business communications consultant Chip Cruze. by Chip Cruze Over the Labor Day weekend, my family and I went whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River. What a rush! Diving into those rapids in that […]