Public Speaking, Hurling, and Naked Snakes
Think of this post as “Part 2” – a continuation of the lessons I learned last week – valuable reminders about public speaking. (If you just landed here and have no clue about the reference to hurling and naked snakes, you may want to check out the prior post.) To recap, the 1st Lesson in [...]
Does Public Speaking make you want to HURL?
If the very mention of “Public Speaking” causes you to hurl, that’s OK. It’s a perfectly natural response. A Gallup poll ranks our fear of speaking in front of people as 2nd only to our fear of SNAKES. You’ve all heard the tip: overcome your fear of speaking by picturing the audience naked. Yikes. That [...]
Happy Birthday
I’m sequestered in Blue Ridge on a writing retreat. After a sweltering summer, the weather is sharply cooler up here in the North Georgia mountains, and it feels great to build the first fire of the season. September 30 was Velociteach’s 9th birthday, and as a timely present, we just had our biggest 3rd quarter [...]
“No one was sorry when he died”
These 7 words are haunting. In the world’s best-selling book, this short sentence is a sobering summary of a failed leader’s life. King Jehoram was a horrible leader. He was a tyrannical, self-absorbed loser who inspired fear and distrust. And, when he died, no one was sorry. On the contrary, you get the feeling that [...]
Mystery
On a hiking expedition yesterday, my wife and I came across several mounds of rocks; one of them pictured here. Archaelogical investigations by the University of Georgia state that these rock “cairns” are a mystery. They are frequently clustered on the southeast slopes of hills throughout the Appalachian and Piedmont areas of Georgia. They are believed [...]
Project Management Around the World
The best part of my job (by far) is getting to interact with some of the smartest, most resourceful people in the world. Working with project and program managers exposes you to the people who make the world go around. Last week I was in Manhattan with the NYC PMI chapter for their Professional Development [...]
Specialization and the Project Manager
A few years ago, I ran across this quote: “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze [...]
Tone Deaf Communications
A few years ago, I led a study called The Alpha Study. The full results were published here. The study looked at 860 project managers and approximately 5,000 of their stakeholders to understand what made the top-performing project managers more effective than their counterparts. Some of the findings were surprising. There were many areas in [...]
Surfing and The PMP Exam
The PMP Exam requires courage and hope…and sometimes, it requires a second or third effort to reach the goal. I applaud those who have failed on the first attempt, got back up, studied even harder, and passed this difficult test! You have my respect. Over the weekend, our family watched the movie Soul Surfer – [...]
Do You Feel Lucky, Punk?
My dad valued luck. I have fond childhood memories of him backing the car out of our garage on warm spring evenings and unfolding the ping pong table. We would go at it for hours sometimes. Dad had an uncanny knack for hitting the ball to the very end of the table so that it [...]
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