Blog

Any time I’m recommended a book I read it.

May 29, 2023

Any time I'm recommended a book I read it. The latest was 4,000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. Having done many deep dives into the very idea of time, I found no new ahas, but many great reminders, and thoughts generated, that will allow you to be in control of your time: Live…

Five Emotional Traps that Get in the Way of Success

June 21, 2022

Much what much of what gets in the way of success is… us! Here a five emotional traps we should strive to avoid: The desire to be comfortable– as Paulo Coelho said, “only the mediocre are ever truly comfortable". If your primary goal is to be comfortable then you can expect to get run over…

Here’s a Healthy and Fun Way to Engage All of Your Employees!

June 17, 2021

Employers often ask me for ideas around health, wellness, culture, engagement, and remote workers. Now there is a great opportunity to address all these needs with a single virtual event! The 2021 Tour de Cure Desert Southwest, put on by the American Diabetes Association, in October, has numerous…

Dee Hock- Insights from a Visionary

June 6, 2021

Dee Hock is a visionary. He is most well known as the founder and head of VISA from 1970 to 1984. He is also an amazing thinker and writer. Over the last few months, I buckled down and read all his essays at http://www.deewhock.com/essays Heavy stuff! Here are points he made that most resonated for…

Are You Ready for Some Serious Change?

March 2, 2021

“Only the mediocre are ever truly comfortable.” Paulo Coelho I love reading futurist literature. The article below is a must read wake up call for appreciating what is coming our way. Buckminster Fuller coined the phrase “accelerating acceleration” years ago. And it is upon us. This past year…

Seven Steps to Up Your Speaking Game

February 16, 2021

I am constantly trying to stay on top of my game as a public speaker. Since many of my speaking bookings were canceled due to the coronavirus, I have been using this time to catch up on some speaking books, further improve my offerings, and pivot to doing more online training. Here are seven tips I revisited…

Assessing the Next Great Opportunity in HR

January 21, 2021

Given the time of year, and all the change we have been though, this is a good opportunity for HR to ask themselves- what is next? Two thoughts on how to get there: Make sure what ever you do, it is in alignment with the strategic objectives of the CEO. If you are not 100% sure what they are,…

An Exercise for Great Listening

January 5, 2021

“If you don’t listen to people, you will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say.” - Anon The number one way to show anybody that you care about them is to listen to them! Let me share with you an exercise that exhibits the power of great listening. An exercise you can put…

3 Strategies for Overcoming ‘Overwhelm’ in Chaotic Times

September 22, 2020

This article previews an online keynote I'll be doing for the Meetings Today Virtual MidAmerica Event on the 23rd. See you there! https://www.meetingstoday.com/newsevents/industrynews/industrynewsdetails/articleid/34450/title/strategies-overcoming-chaotic-times

Hero Story

August 13, 2020

Watch this video to learn more about self-harming stories that we have all heard since we were kids.

Don’t Let Your Story Kill Your Sales

July 30, 2020

Over the last few years, I’ve been doing a great deal of coaching and notice the power of the stories my clients tell themselves. So I whipped up this presentation for a client's sales team… and they loved it. https://vimeo.com/442811040 If you are up for it, I would love your feedback too! Brutal…

How Can We Come Out of This Disorder and Make Ourselves More Anti-Fragile?

April 28, 2020

One of my favorite authors and thinkers is Nassim Nicholas Taleb. My first exposure was his 2007 book, Black Swan. According to Taleb, COVID-19 is an example of a white swan event, as it wasn’t in the realm of unrecognized exposures. I then read Fooled by Randomness (2001) and my favorite of the three,…

Don Phin

Time to Get Creative!

April 21, 2020

This is a great time to get your creative juices flowing. Here is a link to a quick and fun book, with more than 100 questions to spur your creativity! Enjoy and let me know what ideas you come up with. Free download of the PDF, with no registration required! https://www.donphin.com/wp-conten…

“The Principles”… At Work

February 3, 2020

I just finished a three-month odyssey of reading Ray Dalio’s book, The Principles. It is a 592-page distillation of all that he’s learned in his very successful career. For those of you not familiar with the man, he built the Bridgewater hedge fund into a multibillion-dollar operation and is…

Spirit at Work

December 23, 2019

This is a great time of year to remember we are spiritual beings… having a work experience. How do we connect our spirituality with our work? A couple things come to mind. First of all, it means you look for the best in yourself and others. Am I looking for the best in me? Am I looking for the…

Just What is Company Culture Anyway?

February 28, 2019

Over the years I’ve been asked to help train leaders on improving company culture. Companies are interested in this training because they believe it will produce more engage and productive employees. Before I can help a leadership team, I try to reach an understanding of what they mean by “culture.“…

In Business We Trust

January 31, 2019

I just read the 2019 EDELMAN TRUST BAROMETER Global Report https://www.edelman.com/sites/g/files/aatuss191/files/2019-01/2019_Edelman_Trust_Barometer_Global_Report.pdf It is an interesting 65-page research report with implications for all executives. Trust is today’s business currency, especially…

HR Scorecard Template

October 1, 2018

Today’s HR executive is being challenged to do more as a strategic partner. One of your best tools is the HR Scorecard. It can take many formats including graphs, tables, Powerpoints, timelines, etc. Let’s discuss how to measure what matters and what to do with the data and information obtained. …

How to Bring Meaning to Your Work

September 6, 2018

I’d like to share two quick stories. Years ago I was training the Palm Beach County Clerks Office executive team. The new Clerk, Sharon Bock, was intent on creating a world-class organization. One of my more interesting assignments from her was to attend a Six Sigma day as an observer. The 300 person…

How to Hire Your First Coach

August 8, 2018

“Does coaching work? Yes. Good coaches provide a truly important service. They tell you the truth when no one else will.” Jack Welch, Former CEO of General Electric “To excel at the highest level - or any level, really - you need to believe in yourself, and hands down, one of the biggest contributors…