Earl R. Smith II's Blog, page 56
August 13, 2016
Crossing the Boundary – Surviving the Experience
Many companies fail for reasons that have little to do with their core product or service. It is often the afterthoughts or ‘under-thoughts’ that cause failure when success has been looming on the horizon.
August 10, 2016
The Benefits of Quiet Time
There is danger in living on a non-stop endorphin high. In the first place, the human body is simply not engineered for such an existence. But more importantly the human soul requires an alternative to the nonstop, heated rush that such a life entails.
July 18, 2016
Train, Shoot Self in Foot, Run Marathon
Earl R Smith II, PhD DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com Most behaviors are patterns – recurring tendencies – rather than one-off acts. People tend to do the same thing over and over even though it generates unsatisfactory results. They don’t seem to be able to take the most common sense advice. If hitting yourself in the head with a [...]
July 16, 2016
Eleven Habits of Self-Sabotaging People
Earl R Smith II, PhD DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com This article has its roots in a chance conversation with an old friend. He shook his head and wondered why one of his employees kept acting in ways that sabotaged his own interests. It got me to wondering – then asking – then asking some more. This is [...]
July 11, 2016
Changes – The Planning Process
Much of my coaching practice is focused on helping clients alter behaviors and habits which have been allowed to develop and solidify over months and years. Changing habits is a terribly difficult challenge for most people - the longer the habit has been in place and the more addictive its inducement the more difficult it is to break or alter.
Yes You Can
It is a typical conversation which generally comes more than once during the initial months of most of my coaching engagements. The client - generally younger and less experienced than I am - will insist that something is beyond their capability. I will insist that it isn’t. And so I urge them to attempt - and they demure.
July 9, 2016
The Principle of Least Effort: Mentoring The Ready
Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com The process of mentoring is different than that of coaching. I describe coaching as ‘teaching you how to do something better than you have been doing it.’ Those of you who pursue the sport of golf may understand what I am saying. If you want to get better [...]
July 3, 2016
What’s In It For Me?
This is a retelling of a post-modernist nightmare - a journey into the void of virtual relationships that never become real. It is a story about lost possibilities sacrificed upon the shrines of inattention, self-absorption and indifference. The interspersed poem is by Antonio Machado - The Wind, One Brilliant Day.
Leadership – The Fire of the Mind
‘Give a man a match and he will be warm for a day, set a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life.’
June 29, 2016
Into The Mailbag – Board Issues
One of the greatest pleasures in writing these columns has been the e-mails I receive. After each new one, two to four dozen of you take the time to let me know what you think about what I’ve written, to relate experiences or to let me know how what I’ve written has proven useful.
