Thoughts on better parenting, teaching, management, and leadership
What Will Matter - poem by Michael Josephson
This blog gets its name from Michael's inspirational poem.
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Thumbnail image for COMMENTARY 773.3: What’s So Important About the Law?

COMMENTARY 773.3: What’s So Important About the Law?

May 1, 2012 Commentaries
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Did you know today is Law Day? In 1958 President Eisenhower declared May 1st Law Day to honor the critical role of law in our unique constitutional democracy. It may seem peculiar to some to celebrate the concept and reality of law, but the truth is that most of us vastly under-appreciate the significance of law [...]

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Thumbnail image for OBSERVATION: Authentic constructive criticism must be motivated by a sincere desire to help, and delivered in a way that engenders gratitude rather than defensiveness or resentment.

OBSERVATION: Authentic constructive criticism must be motivated by a sincere desire to help, and delivered in a way that engenders gratitude rather than defensiveness or resentment.

May 1, 2012 Personal growth

If you want to be a positive force in someone’s life, it’s wise to remember that few people are truly open to criticism of any sort from any source. If you want to grow, understand more, and get better at whatever you do, it’s wise to be open to learn from every sort of criticism [...]

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WORTH READING: What is Constructive Criticism?

May 1, 2012 Quotes, Observations

An excerpt from WiseGeek.com: Constructive criticism is criticism kindly meant that has a goal of improving some area of another’s person’s life or work. Often constructive criticism refers specifically to the critique of someone else’s written or artistic work, in perhaps a teacher/student setting, that would allow that person to further improve the work or [...]

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QUOTATION: It’s been said that expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are good is like expecting a bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian. Lots of good things come to good people, but virtue does not provide immunity to misfortune, which strikes everyone at random times in unanticipated ways. When your turn comes, don’t take it personally.

May 1, 2012 Quotes, Observations
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COMMENTARY 773.2 & SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT #5: Will, Fern, and the Power of Encouragement

April 30, 2012 Caring, Compassion
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Two frogs named Will and Fern fell into a deep pit together. At first, they thought it would be easy to jump out. But after lots of failed attempts they cried for help and a crowd of animals gathered around the pit. Everyone agreed it was hopeless so they urged Will and Fern to accept [...]

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QUOTATION: “Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in”. — Andrew Jackson.

April 30, 2012 Quotes, Observations

Contemplation and planning are important, but your life and its significance is shaped by action. Begin to do what you need to do. Begin to do what you want to do. Paint your future with the bold strokes of action.

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Thumbnail image for FOR TEENS: School isn’t always fun, but neither is life. If you want to have fun in life, take school seriously. Stick with it. Do your best. It’s worth it.

FOR TEENS: School isn’t always fun, but neither is life. If you want to have fun in life, take school seriously. Stick with it. Do your best. It’s worth it.

April 29, 2012 Education
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Thumbnail image for WORTH SEEING: Poster – “You will never know how strong you are or how strong you can be until you lose something you really care about.”

WORTH SEEING: Poster – “You will never know how strong you are or how strong you can be until you lose something you really care about.”

April 29, 2012 Quotes, Observations

Adversity will come and it will bring out the best or worst in you. Be ready.  Be strong.  Be better.  

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COMMENTARY 773.1: Good Ethics Make Better Relationships

April 27, 2012 Commentaries
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While I believe that good things tend to happen to people who consistently choose the high road, the correlation between ethics and success is a loose one at best. Thus, it’s pretty hard to sincerely promote ethics by appeals to self-interest. What’s more, when self-interest is the controlling justification for moral behavior, moral reasoning is [...]

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Thumbnail image for OBSERVATION: Life is difficult

OBSERVATION: Life is difficult

April 27, 2012 Quotes, Observations

M. Scott Peck said: “Once we truly know that life is difficult — once we truly understand and accept it — then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.” His point is that we have a much better chance of finding happiness and [...]

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Thumbnail image for WORTH SEEING: Poster – You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do. — Eleanor Roosevelt

WORTH SEEING: Poster – You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do. — Eleanor Roosevelt

April 26, 2012 Odds & Ends

More images and quotes about courage

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Thumbnail image for WORTH SEEING: Poster – Ordinary people, even weak people, can do extraordinary things through temporary courage generated by a situation, but the person of character does not need the situation to generate his courage. It is a part of his being and a standard approach to all life’s challenges. — Michael Josephson

WORTH SEEING: Poster – Ordinary people, even weak people, can do extraordinary things through temporary courage generated by a situation, but the person of character does not need the situation to generate his courage. It is a part of his being and a standard approach to all life’s challenges. — Michael Josephson

April 26, 2012 Quotes, Observations
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Thumbnail image for WORTH SEEING: Poster – It’s important but difficult to say no to others, but it’s even harder and more important to say no to yourself. Controlling your life becomes easier when you control yourself. — Michael Josephson

WORTH SEEING: Poster – It’s important but difficult to say no to others, but it’s even harder and more important to say no to yourself. Controlling your life becomes easier when you control yourself. — Michael Josephson

April 26, 2012 Odds & Ends

Click ‘read more” to see poster

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WORTH WATCHING: Special Athletes Acting in Special Ways

April 26, 2012 Odds & Ends

Here’s an inspiring little video about “true victory.”

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QUOTATION: For those with no voice, no position, no privilege, no authority, you be those things for them. Jeffrey Marx, Season of Life (slogan for Teen Summit, Downey Unified School District)

April 26, 2012 Bullying
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Thumbnail image for SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT #4: I Just Have to Outrun You

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT #4: I Just Have to Outrun You

April 26, 2012 Caring, Compassion

Hi, this is Michael Josephson with something to think about. During a camping trip, Marie and Jessica were hiking in a trail when they saw a big black bear. Marie started to take off her backpack. Jessica whispered, “What are you going to do?” Marie answered, “I’m going to run for it.”

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COMMENTARY 772.5: Planned Abandonment

April 26, 2012 Commentaries
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Management guru Peter Drucker advocated a practice he called planned abandonment. He stressed how important it is that managers develop the wisdom and courage to regularly review what their organization is doing and determine whether it’s worth doing. He urged executives to note and resist the systemic and emotional forces that make it difficult to [...]

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Thumbnail image for COMMENTARY 772.4: Lying Is Like Drunk Driving

COMMENTARY 772.4: Lying Is Like Drunk Driving

April 25, 2012 Commentaries
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Sometimes lying makes our lives easier. If you want the day off, just call in sick. If your boss asks if you’ve finished a report, say you left it at home. And if an irate customer calls, just make up a good cover story. Technically these are lies, but since no one’s hurt, what’s the [...]

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Thumbnail image for COMMENTARY 772.3: Worth More Than a Million Dollars

COMMENTARY 772.3: Worth More Than a Million Dollars

April 24, 2012 Caring, Compassion
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If you had the choice of winning $1 million in the lottery or saving a stranger’s life, which would you choose? I suspect many of you think you should say, “saving a life,” but what you are really thinking is how much better your life would be if you were rich. If the test was [...]

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Thumbnail image for SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT #3: Leadership on a Bus

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT #3: Leadership on a Bus

April 23, 2012 Commentaries
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Hi, this is Michael Josephson with something to think about. Mr. Martin told his English class that leadership was “influencing meaningful change either through your own conduct or by motivating others to act,” and he assigned an essay requiring students to write about a personal experience with leadership. The students groaned, insisting they couldn’t think [...]

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COMMENTARY 772.2: Ethics — Easier Said Than Done

April 23, 2012 Commentaries
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As a full-time ethicist – can you believe there even is such a thing? – I spend lots of time talking and writing about right and wrong. One thing I’ve learned is that in the last analysis, consistently doing the right thing is easier said than done. For one thing, it’s not always easy knowing [...]

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COMMENTARY 772.1: Tyranny of the Minority

April 20, 2012 Commentaries
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According to a survey of parents, 93 percent want schools to teach basic values like honesty and respect. The problem is, schools are left to contend with the 7 percent who disagree. In any enterprise that seeks to avoid conflict and find consensus, that small minority may often dictate policy. Too often, aggressive objectors bully [...]

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COMMENTARY 771.5: The Garden

April 19, 2012 Commentaries
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A listener once sent me a poem with an unknown source called “The Garden.” I liked the idea so I rewrote it. Here’s my version of a lifetime garden to nourish your life: First, plant six rows of squash: 1. Squash dishonesty in all its forms. 2. Squash prejudice. 3. Squash fear.

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COMMENTARY 771.4: The Responsibility to Decide

April 18, 2012 Commentaries
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Frank is a new supervisor who wants to do well. Maria consistently comes in late. When he confronts her, she makes a joke out of it. Hoping to win friendship and loyalty, Frank is painfully patient with her, but Pat, a conscientious employee, urges him to do more. Soon others begin to come in late, [...]

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SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT FOR TEENS #2: Is This Generous or Just Dumb?

April 18, 2012 Commentaries
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Hi, this is Michael Josephson for CHARACTER COUNTS! with “Something to Think About” A few years ago, I told this story on the radio and it generated a lot of disagreement. Jack was excited when he was given an unexpected bonus check of $1,000 from his employers. He was anxious to rush home to tell [...]

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COMMENTARY 771.3: Moving from Success to Significance

April 17, 2012 Commentaries
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I frequently address people who are highly successful. They’re at the top of their field and often have all the comforts that wealth can afford. Most seem to enjoy their success. So, in a way, it surprises me how deeply many of them respond when I talk about the difference between success and significance. Invariably, [...]

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Thumbnail image for Announcing the first “SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT FOR TEENS” COMMENTARY #1: The Choices You Make in Your Life Make Your Life

Announcing the first “SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT FOR TEENS” COMMENTARY #1: The Choices You Make in Your Life Make Your Life

April 16, 2012 Choices
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This week marks the beginning of a new venture for Michael and CHARACTER COUNTS! — an effort to directly engage high school and middle school students in thinking and discussing ethical issues on a wide range of topics relevant to their lives through a series of specially adapted commentaries for teens.

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COMMENTARY 771.2: Granddaddy’s Gift

April 16, 2012 Commentaries
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Years ago, a Southern woman was in one of my workshops. When asked to tell a story that impacted her character, she described an incident when she was 5. She was at her grandfather’s house all dressed up in a white dress with a crinoline and new gloves, proud as she could be. Her granddaddy [...]

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Thumbnail image for WORTH SEEING: Poster – If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place. — Nora Roberts. There is no success without action.

WORTH SEEING: Poster – If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place. — Nora Roberts. There is no success without action.

April 15, 2012 Worth Seeing
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OBSERVATION: Expressing Appreciation — Why is it that so many of us wait until it is too late to experience and express real gratitude to those who gave us the gifts of love, wisdom, and encouragement?

April 15, 2012 Quotes, Observations

Why do we wait to put our deepest emotions into eulogies? Everyone should have the pleasure of hearing the eulogies they have earned. The greatest gift you can give someone you love is to express sincerely your appreciation for the things that they have given you. It might be a parent, grandparent, brother or sister. [...]

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