OBSERVATION: Talent is, of course, important, but the two qualities that make the critical difference between talented people who succeed and those who don’t are persistence and positivity. Successful people don’t give up or lose confidence; they learn from every experience and get better.

Two of America’s greatest inventors, Charles Kettering  and Thomas Edison, embraced the same philosophy, which allowed them to take in stride what others called failure, and build upon it. Kettering said: “I failed forward to  success.  An inventor fails

WORTH READING: Setting Goals

Six Principles of Goal Setting Written by Susanna Palomares Sunday, 16 January 2011 Reprinted from Women’s Media Why is setting goals important? Because goals can help you to be, do, and experience everything you want in life. Instead of just letting life happen to you, goals allow you to make your life happen. Successful and happy women have a vision of how …

WORTH READING: Recommended Books on Understanding and Parenting Teenagers

Why Do They Act That Way? A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen by David Walsh, Ph.D. (2004) Reviews from Amazon: “A powerful, practical book on the teenage brain. Walsh is a storyteller with the gifts of simplicity and clarity. This book is an easy read, but its message is fresh, nuanced, and important. I recommend …

OBSERVATION: The Ethics of Profits and Success

In business, profits and return on investment are the dominant measures of success. Good businesses understand that profitability is indispensable to viability, but they see profits as only one measure of success. Smart executives know that a good reputation, trust, quality products and service, customer loyalty, and employee pride can make major contributions to profitability, but any success achieved will …

COMMENTARY: Moral Courage – The Engine of Integrity 751.3

Mignon McLaughlin tells us, “People are made of flesh and blood and a miracle fiber called courage.” Courage comes in two forms: physical courage and moral courage. Physical courage is demonstrated by acts of bravery where personal harm is risked to protect others or preserve cherished principles. It’s the kind of courage that wins medals and monuments.Moral courage may seem less …

WORTH READING: Learn more on how to identify and deal with toxic relationships and emotional vampires.

Life coach Cheryl Richardson describes six types of toxic qualities in people. The Blamer: This person likes to hear his own voice. He constantly complains about what isn’t working in his life, and yet gets energy from complaining and dumping his frustrations on you. The Drainer: This is the needy person who calls to ask for your guidance, support, information, advice or …

COMMENTARY: Making Lives

A few years ago I came across a video by a very dynamic speaker, a former middle school teacher named Taylor Mali. He is now what’s called a performance poet — someone who delivers poetry as singers deliver songs. The poem that caught my attention was “What Do I Make?” an articulate and aggressive response to a critic who was putting down teachers. …

OBSERVATION: Giving Advice

Observations about advice: 1) Proverb: “To be successful is to follow the advice you give to others.” Why are we so much smarter, more sensible, and stronger when we are dealing with problems of others? 2) Samuel Coleridge: “Advice is like snow; the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind.”  Giving …

COMMENTARY: Good Ethics Really Is Good Business 749.4

  A challenge I frequently face while consulting with senior executives and boards of directors of public companies is a belief that their primary mandate is to make profits and enhance shareholder value. Thus, ethical principles like honesty, fairness, and caring are proper guides to decision making only to the extent that they can demonstrably improve profitability or incorporated into …

COMMENTARY: Sorry, Joe, You Have to Go 748.5

At the risk of losing my credibility, I have to retract my previous commentary, “Say It Ain’t So, Joe,” in which I urged readers to be generous in assessing the moral culpability of Penn State Coach Joe Paterno in relation to an undeniably horrendous situation involving the sexual abuse of children by former coach Jerry Sandusky. This change of position …

COMMENTARY: We Are What We Think 746.4

In the early 1900s, a little-known philosopher named James Allen wrote a powerful essay called “As a Man Thinketh” in which he argued that we are what we think, that a person’s character is the sum of his thoughts. He declared that the power to control our thoughts (whether we use that power or not) is the ability to mold …

COMMENTARY: Save the World, Daddy 746.3

Just before leaving for Nigeria I called my daughter Samara, a college freshman at NYU, to say good bye. After a short but pleasant conversation she closed with: “Save the world, daddy. I love you.” I suspect her remark was affectionate teasing, implying that her nearly 69 year old father is a sort of Don Quixote, jousting with wind mills …

COMMENTARY: Let the Butterfly Struggle 746.1

There’s a parable about a new mother who discovered a butterfly struggling mightily to escape its cocoon through a tiny opening at the top. She became concerned when the creature seemed to give up after making no progress. Certain that the butterfly just wouldn’t make it out without help, she enlarged the hole slightly. On its next try, the butterfly …

Digging and Filling Holes 745.5

Charlie, a road crew supervisor for highway landscapers, came upon a pair of workers from one of his crews seemingly hard at work. He watched one fellow dig a hole while his partner waited a few minutes and then filled the hole. After a few repetitions Charlie demanded an explanation. The hole-filler was offended: “We’ve been doing this job for …

All Good Things Come to an End 745.2

In 1997, Bob Sims, the program manager of KNX-1070 in Los Angeles, invited me to record short personal editorials looking at the world through the lens of ethics and character. Fortunately, the CHARACTER COUNTS! Commentaries drew a following and have run daily for more than 14 successive years, making it one of the longest radio features in radio history. It’s …

Leading by Inspiration 744.5

Why are negative management practices so prevalent? They include yelling, cursing, insults (sometimes masked in sarcasm or masquerading as jokes), criticizing subordinates in front of others, threatening demotion or termination, and talking to adults as if they were children. Why are so many managers insensitive to the demotivating impact of focusing almost exclusively on weaknesses and shortcomings without properly acknowledging …

Can Gloomy Gus Become Cheerful Charlie? 743.5

Bad stuff happens. People get sick, lose a loved one, get fired, and make mistakes. Though these events are facts that become a permanent part of our history, the quality of our lives is not determined by the number or nature of our bad experiences, but how we interpret and react to them. Most of us have a default position …

Are You Wiser Today Than You Were Yesterday? 743.4

Do you think you’re any wiser today than you were five years ago? Do you think you’ll be wiser still in another five years? I hope the answer to both questions is an emphatic “yes.” One of the benefits of growing older is getting better. And we get better by learning. I’m not just talking about new facts like how …