Earlier this month I had the opportunity to participate in a trip with my church. The purpose of the trip was to hold a ladies Bible conference at two different Navajo/Apache reservation churches in Arizona. With eight people traveling together, cooperation was essential. We flew out on a...
A friend once told me that anytime her and her husband drove by someone who was homeless he would make the statement, “one bad decision and that could be me.” This statement has always stuck with me, but I think due to the amount of caring family I have, it is really hard for me to truly relate...
I’m pretty sure the other members of the Character Council just wanted me to present the trait of honesty because they thought it would be funny, since I’m a polygraph examiner and it’s kind of my job to figure out if people are being honest or not. As a tidbit of useless trivia on that subject,...
A tenet of the City’s work philosophy is ‘Choose Your Attitude’. This philosophy is taken from the book FiSH! by Stephen Ludin, Harry Paul and John Christensen. The book uses the work habits of an actual fish market in Seattle to show that any work environment can improve customer service, build...
As 2020 was coming to an end, I started reflecting on the past year and how it made me feel. I realized the one word that summed up everything I was writing down, was the word, “angry.” So, while this character introduction is for POSITIVITY, it is also a symbolic funeral for my anger. It is an...
Generosity encompasses how we manage all of our resources, to include time, talents, and other possessions, but this introduction is about the very first thing most of us think about when the word generosity comes up, money. We’ve all seen the commercials – “Two tickets to the ballgame, $28; two...
Proverbs 17:28 says, “Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.” Following that as a guideline, I will try and keep this short. Wisdom is the trait of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment. What we learn intentionally or through our...
Strata Leadership defines Wisdom as making practical application of what is learned. After trying to explain wisdom to my two young grandkids, age 7 and 10, I defined wisdom as taking what you know and using it to make your choices. Life presents us with many learning opportunities, but what we...
You may be familiar with the popular leadership book Good to Great by Jim Collins. As we reflect on the character trait of Resilience, I would like to share a story from Good to Great (2001) about Admiral Jim Stockdale and the Stockdale Paradox. Admiral Jim Stockdale was the highest-ranking...
This past winter, I had the opportunity to be a State Senate Page for Senator J.J. Dossett. The duties of a government Page are relatively simple. I would deliver memos and legislative materials around the Capitol and assist in the Executive Assistant’s office. Some days I sat in on Committee...
The City implemented the character initiative with city employees and the community in 2002. Over the past 15 years each month’s focus has impacted me in different ways, some big and some small, but one thing I have discovered is there is always something to learn. The character trait of Boldness...
In January when I volunteered to write the blog for FLEXIBILITY, little did I know it would be one of the hottest topics of conversation beginning in March with the COVID-19 pandemic. Flexibility is a character trait that describes the extent to which a person can cope with changes in...
