Thought Leadership from Ben Baran Ph.D., top management consultant in Ohio, educator, speaker. Expert in high reliability organizations, organizational agility, leadership training based on military, leadership methodologies, human resource strategy, human resource management, latest science on human resources.
Feel free to check out any of the content I have here, but also be sure to check out my newest content at Reckoning and Elevating What Works.
“What’s your favorite day of the week? Your favorite season of the year? Buffett—Jimmy or Warren?”
It was sometime in 2001, and I was cornered.
In between each question, he smiled and listened attentively, with a twinkle of curiosity and amusement in his blue eyes. He was clearly enjoying himself.
His energy and wit far exceeded that of most 83-year-olds. And, as one someone dating one of his granddaughters, I was fresh meat.
Read MoreChange is hard. And even though you’re the one person over whose behavior you theoretically should have the most control, changing yourself is often exceedingly difficult.
Nonetheless, many of us doggedly pursue self-betterment. We set goals, hoping that we’ll achieve them along with whatever benefits they bring. We fantasize about the possibility of becoming someone closer to our idealized version of ourselves.
And during late December, many of us set resolutions for the next year.
Yet time and time again, most of us find our resolutions quickly broken. If you need evidence of this, simply go to any fitness center for a few days in early January and take note of how many people are there. Then, go back in early February. The crowds will almost always be gone.
There’s one resolution, though, that can rule them all. It’s one that I’ve found helpful when trying to change myself in a small way.
That resolution is simply this:
Read MoreI recently read something that I wrote a few years ago. It was dreadful.
The writing was vague, bloated, constipated. How could I have thought—and I did, at the time of writing it—that it was good?
I was embarrassed.
But I’m perfectly fine with that. In fact, I’m
Read MoreDespite its sometimes harsh weather and a professional football team that continually disappoints its fans, Cleveland, Ohio, is home to one of the world’s best orchestras.
And that’s not just my amateurish opinion. Gramophone magazine, for example, compiled a list of the 20 best orchestras in the world, based upon ratings from top music critics—whom, I would readily assume, know more about classical music than I.
The Cleveland Orchestra, on this list, is number seven.
It’s rated higher than the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and a number of other great orchestras in the United States and around the world.
So the Cleveland Orchestra is, quite naturally, a point of pride for northeast Ohio.
And during the holiday season, the Cleveland Orchestra turns its attention to performing a variety of holiday tunes in its annual Christmas Concert series.
As I have in the past, I found this year’s performance to be splendid. But during the performance, I noticed something that got me thinking.
It was
Read MoreImagine that you’re about to interview for the job of your dreams. Or that you’re about to give a high-stakes presentation. Or take an important test. Or simply focus on getting a few things done in the next hour.
What are you thinking? What are you telling yourself in your mind?
If you’re anything like 8-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman, you’re telling yourself, “Ain’t nothin’ to it but to do it.”
Coleman is widely considered one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time, which is impressive enough, but what I find compelling is how he talked. In particular, how he
Read MoreSome people really like to create lists. Often, these take the form of things “to do.” Some people even get such satisfaction from crossing items off of their to-do lists that if they accomplish something that wasn’t on their list, they’ll write it down and immediately cross it off.
Know anyone who does that? (Sometimes, that’s me. I’ll admit it.)
These types of lists are great. They help us stay apprised of what needs to happen in various parts of our lives, both professionally and personally. My weekly to-do list helps me immensely in providing structure to my week.
But there’s another kind of list that can be helpful. It’s one that can be particularly helpful for those whose work has reached a level of complexity that’s overwhelming, a level of busyness that’s forcing them to do everything at a level of mediocrity that’s highly dissatisfying.
That list is
Read MoreI recently heard someone quote a deceptively insightful short poem. Titled, “How did it get so late so soon,” it’s one of many gems penned by the late Theodor Geisel, and here it is.
"How did it get so late so soon?
It’s night before it’s afternoon.
December is here before it’s June.
My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?"
Geisel, more commonly known as Dr. Seuss, captures here the feeling that I get frequently when I think about seasons ending, new years beginning and everyone (including me) aging.
It’s not just about nostalgia; it’s not just about how even a 100-year lifetime is but a flash in the course of history.
It’s more than that.
It’s about how there’s one thing
Read MoreWhen I was a teenager, I thought I had it all figured out: My life and career would be a logical series of steps and accomplishments. I’d go to college, earn an officer’s commission in the U.S. Navy, see the world. Then, I’d probably go to law school and enjoy another set of logical steps of accomplishments toward “success” in the civilian world.
Reality, of course, is different.
Life—and careers—are often full of twists and turns, punctuated by triumphs and failures. Some of those ups and downs are big and public, most are
Read MoreGoals are everywhere, but they rarely correspond with behavior. To illustrate, here’s a quick story.
I started taking strength training seriously in January 2013. I was serving in Afghanistan, and neither my military base nor the weather was conducive for my go-to physical exercise, running.
So I dove into educating myself and practicing getting strong by focusing on kettlebell training and the “big lifts” in the world of barbells: squat, bench press, and deadlift.
I made some progress, but I hit a plateau after a few months. This is common, but my plateau seemed unusually stubborn. I found this troubling, particularly given that my goal was to join the “1,000 Pound Club” by the time I was set to leave my base in late November. This means that the clock was ticking, reminding me of the dwindling of time left for me to squat, bench press, and deadlift a combined 1,000 lbs.
Then, I started reading
Read More“I just want it to go the right way,” he said, with tears starting to form at the corners of his eyes. “I’m trying and trying and trying and it’s not working.”
The tears began to flow, as he rapidly stamped his feet on the green artificial turn covering the mini-golf course. His knuckles turned white as he gripped his club with a surge of frustration, and he swung as hard as he could at the ball.
He missed. It was fortunate that he did, because
Read More“I f&#$ing love squats,” snarled the bald, 6-foot-3-inch, 240lb-plus, weight-belt wearing U.S. Army soldier, who resembled Shrek minus the green hue. I watched as he then proceeded to balance about 100lbs less than his bodyweight on his big shoulders and … “squat.” Only it wasn’t a squat.
It was what I see about 99 percent of the guys in the gym do when they think they are “squatting.” Instead of lowering himself until his hips descended just below his knees, he maybe came down about 12 inches, making about a 20-degree bend in his knee, before returning to an upright position. Sorry folks, that’s not a squat.
Read MoreIf you’ve ever wondered what those “funny-looking weights with a handle on top” sitting in the corner of your gym are, here’s a quick introduction. Those are kettlebells. And they’re not funny looking. Kettlebells are the gym-equipment equivalent of an AC/DC rock song. They’re a United States Marine Corp KA-BAR® fighting knife. They’re black coffee; they’re straight whiskey. Kettlebells are bare-bones, stripped-down hunks of cold steel that provide endless opportunities for the user to become stronger physically and tougher mentally.
I’ve been rather active most of my life, but the most prominent exercise to which I’ve devoted myself during most of those years has been running.
Read MoreCopyright © 2024 Ben Baran. All Rights Reserved.
