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6/1/2013
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6/1/2013
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6/1/2013
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6/1/2013
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6/1/2013
The Oswald Letter
Dan Oswald, president of Business and Legal Resources, on management, leadership, and the workplace
Updated: 8 hours 48 min ago
When opportunity knocks
by Dan Oswald Abraham Lincoln once said, “I will prepare and some day my chance will come.” And for Lincoln, the opportunities did come in large part because he created them. He was known for his hard work and determination. But it all started with two things: his willingness to prepare and his understanding that opportunities will present...
Categories: Blogs
49ers forgo short-term gains to make long-term investment in character
by Dan Oswald A few weeks ago, the San Francisco 49ers, with the 131st pick in the NFL draft, chose Marcus Lattimore, a running back out of the University of South Carolina. Considered by many to be the most talented running back in the 2013 draft, Lattimore wasn’t chosen until the fourth round because he had suffered not one but two knee...
Categories: Blogs
Conclusion of college commences life of learning
by Dan Oswald My oldest graduated from college this weekend. In addition to reminding me that I am, indeed, getting older, it caused me to consider what sage career and life advice I might have for him. My first thought was that I had the order of those two things reversed—that I should be providing him advice on life first and career...
Categories: Blogs
The devil is in the details
by Dan Oswald I was traveling last week and had tossed a couple of recent copies of Harvard Business Review (HBR) into my briefcase before leaving home. So on the plane, I dutifully grabbed the April issue and was greeted by a cover that said, “We Studied 25,453 Companies over 44 Years to Find the 3 Rules for Success.” As was HBR’s intention,...
Categories: Blogs
Letting go of yesterday
by Dan Oswald Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. Begin it well and serenely with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. —Ralph Waldo Emerson A friend sent me this quote the other day. Maybe...
Categories: Blogs
Embrace your workers’ curiosity
by Dan Oswald I’ve been reading Tell My Sons . . . by Lieutenant Colonel Mark Weber. The book is filled with the life lessons he has learned. After a routine Army physical revealed he had stage IV intestinal cancer, he began a battle for his life that he ultimately will lose. When he realized he wouldn’t be able to conquer his cancer, he began...
Categories: Blogs
How do you make people feel?
by Dan Oswald I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. —Maya Angelou On Saturday, the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team held its annual Red-White Spring Game. With time for just one final play, Jack Hoffman walked onto the field....
Categories: Blogs
Following basketball’s lead can bring slam dunk for your teams
by Dan Oswald If you’re like many, you have been watching the NCAA basketball tournament. And if you’re one of the lucky few, you might be on top of the leader board in your office pool or your team might be one of the Final Four. What makes watching the tournament fun for me, in part, is seeing the variety of team personalities and coaching...
Categories: Blogs
The importance of trust
When I was 12 years old, my family moved from Milwaukee to a small town in Iowa. How small? Well, we didn’t have a McDonald’s or even a single traffic light. On our first day in town, my brother, who was and continues to be a year younger than I, walked four blocks with me to the small grocery store that sat on Main Street. Our mother had sent...
Categories: Blogs
It’s better to be Dorothy than the Wizard
Over the weekend, an adaptation of The Wizard of Oz was released. If you’re like me, you grew up watching the 1939 classic. The new film got me thinking about those wonderful characters created by L. Frank Baum. There’s the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and of course Dorothy. Each one is etched into my memory from years of watching...
Categories: Blogs
People are people
It’s always good to remember that people are people. In our society, we tend to put people on a pedestal. Athletes, actors, musicians, and even business executives are revered and idolized. Consider how Michael Jordan, George Clooney, Elvis Presley, and Steve Jobs are perceived. Elvis—only his first name is necessary—is still the second...
Categories: Blogs
Which came first—the people or the culture?
There is a lot written about the advantages of chemistry and great company culture, but what really are those things? A company is a social organization with rules that govern the relationships between people and among groups. There is a division of activity, and there is agreement regarding certain obligations of the various parties. This is true...
Categories: Blogs
Admitting you have a problem is the first step in fixing the problem
There’s a very powerful scene from the first episode of the television series The Newsroom, which debuted on HBO last year. In the scene, the news anchor, played by Jeff Daniels, is a member of a panel that sits before a large auditorium filled with adults of various ages. A young woman from the crowd steps forward to ask a question: “Can you...
Categories: Blogs
The price of leadership
As I write this, it’s Super Bowl Sunday, and tens of millions of viewers will be tuning in to watch the big game tonight. In fact, I heard this morning that 177 million people watched last year’s game. For most of us, our team’s season is over. With 32 teams in the NFL, there’s only a 1-in-16 chance your team is playing in the big game. So...
Categories: Blogs
