Thanksgiving Coffee & Dessert

“The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.”

-- H.U. Westermayer

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice.”

-- Meister Eckhart

“Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude.”

-- E.P. Powell

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”

-- John Fitzgerald Kennedy

“Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action.”

-- W. J. Cameron

“Thanksgiving puts steel into our patriotic veins. It reminds us or our great heritage. It carries us back with numbing nostalgia to that first dreadful winter at Plymouth where less than half the handful of people survived. It speaks in clear, crisp tones of forgotten terms, like: integrity... bravery... respect... faith... vigilance... dignity... honor... freedom... discipline... sacrifice... godliness”

-- Charles R. Swindoll

“We will speed the day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing... Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, I'm free at last.”

-- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“If we meet someone who owes us thanks, we right away remember that. But how often do we meet someone to whom we owe thanks without remembering that?”

-- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

“Grace isn't a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It's a way to live.”

-- Jackie Windspear

“It is literally true, as the thankless say, that they have nothing to be thankful for. He who sits by the fire, thankless for the fire, is just as if he had no fire. Nothing is possessed save in appreciation, of which thankfulness is the indispensable ingredient. But a thankful heart hath a continual feast.”

-- W. J. Cameron

“Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart.”

-- Henry Clay

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This Song's Got No Title ...

I've been having some trouble coming up with a good subject for an article this month, you know, writers block and all that - and I'm not a particularly proficient writer. One topic that's been on my mind lately is that of the analogy of sports to business. Particularly coaching. It seems we quite readily accept and take for granted that with any sport, there's a coach. I wrote about Tiger Woods and how he works with his coach in an earlier article and how even the best player still works with a coach. Yet in business, this idea fails to reach us. Although coaching is gaining acceptance, it's still the rare company and rare person that hires a coach to help them in their business endeavors. I suspect that there are a number of factors contributing to our reluctance to hire a coach... Read the full article here

This Song's Got No Title (just words and a tune)

"This Song's Got No Title" Elton John & Bernie Taupin "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" 1973

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Tune me in to the wild side of life I'm an innocent young child sharp as a knife Take me to the garretts where the artists have died Show me the courtrooms where the judges have lied Let me drink deeply from the water and the wine Light coloured candles in dark dreary mines Look in the mirror and stare at myself And wonder if that's really me on the shelf And each day I learn just a little bit more I don't know why but I do know what for If we're all going somewhere let's get there soon Oh this song's got no title just words and a tune Take me down alleys where the murders are done In a vast high powered rocket to the core of the sun Want to read books in the studies of men Born on the breeze and die on the wind If I was an artist who paints with his eyes I'd study my subject and silently cry Cry for the darkness to come down on me For confusion to carry on turning the wheel

Have You Tried Something New Lately?

"No manager is so handicapped as he who will not try something new." -- Tom Brown, management consultant Trying new things at work can have multiple benefits. It can produce results much better than what you're currently producing. It can also break the routine of work, helping create a more exciting work environment. But how can you come up with ideas for new things? One of the most effective ways of generating new ideas is hold a Brainstorming Session. This is a meeting with your staff or colleagues with the purpose of generating new ideas to improve work, or for any other purpose you define. Here are the rules of Brainstorming: - All Ideas Are Acceptable During Brainstorming, nobody is allowed to judge the ideas proposed, no matter how crazy or impractical they may sound. - Quantity, Not Quality What you're after is a large number of ideas to chose from. Your interest is in the quantity, not the quality of ideas. - Write Them All Down Write down all the ideas people generate on a board or a sheet on the wall for all to see. This will help with the next point. - Hitch-Hiking Is Allowed People are allowed, even encouraged, to hitch-hike on the ideas of others by adding to them, modifying them, or coming up with ideas close to them.

How to Work Smarter, Not Harder

It's 5:00 P.M. and everybody is on their way out of the workplace. You, however, are still in full gear, going over a pile of papers. Your sleeves are up, your tie is loose, and your cup of coffee is hot. There's every indicator that you are going to be working late. A colleague passes by your desk on his way out and laughingly shouts, "Hey, don't work harder, work smarter!" You ask yourself: What does he mean? How Can I work smarter? Here are a number of Working Smarter strategies that have worked for many people:

• People first, paper second
• Plan
• Act
• Work backwards
• Set aside blocks of time
• Determine your creative peak time
• Use fillers
• Sort your paperwork
• Use the 80/20 principle
• Keep it sweet and simple

Get the details from the rest of the article here

Coffee Break

“I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?” -- Benjamin Disraeli “Only one man in a thousand is a leader of men -- the other 999 follow women.” -- Groucho Marx “The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet.” -- Theodore M. Hesburgh “To work in the world lovingly means that we are defining what we will be for, rather than reacting to what we are against.” -- Christina Baldwin “A leader is best when people barely know he exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worse when they despise him....But of a good leader who talks little when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, "We did it ourselves.” -- Lao Tzu “Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.” -- Lao Tzu “Good leaders make people feel that they're at the very heart of things, not at the periphery. Everyone feels that he or she makes a difference to the success of the organization. When that happens people feel centered and that gives their work meaning.” -- Warren Bennis “I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” -- Ralph Nader “The first step to leadership is servanthood.” -- John Maxwell “Management is nothing other than motivating other people.” -- Lee Iacocca “If you don’t push, you’ll live a more relaxed life. But you won’t do a damn thing.” -- Dr. Steven Muller