Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Scott Franko, President of Franko Design Concepts and Consulting. We hope you enjoy Scott’s wisdom and perspective.

I once called for an unscheduled staff meeting, with all hands on deck, to deal with an issue that was becoming rampant and out of control. The fault of course wasn't mine, but the blame was. My leaders were allowing the messy way we were serving customers, and those managers were my responsibility. I needed to call a timeout and bring the entire team together in order to see the problems and address them. It would be time for teaching the managers as well.

When you think of disaster recovery and business continuity planning, do you think about the size of your business and whether or not it’s worth the time to create a comprehensive plan? Let’s answer this question with a question from none other than the great Yoda: “Judge me by my size do you?” If you recall the impetus to this question, Luke Skywalker had just failed at raising his X-Wing from the Dagobah Swamp because it was too big, or so he thought.

Students and teachers spend most of their school day in classrooms. And thanks to hardworking and creative teachers, these rooms are transformed into welcoming educational environments. They can bring life to an otherwise bland space with decorations and inspire students with innovative lesson plans.

“You know it’s illegal what they’re doing. Making you work and all,” said Larry’s mom. Larry and his family lived next door to my family growing up. He and I were typical neighborhood buddies. While Larry and I liked all the same things boys our age typically did, our parents were anything but similar.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Karen Moscato. We hope you enjoy Karen’s wisdom and perspective.

The meetings went well. I had driven to one of our offices located 2 hours away to attend two important meetings on capacity and efficiencies. These are hot topics in today’s business world. While driving and recapping the meetings in my thoughts, I didn’t pay attention to the gas gauge for the first hour of the trip. The bright orange light got my attention indicating a potentially empty gas situation. I had better find a station quickly or I would be calling AAA for assistance!

Disaster struck. Now what? Whether a hail storm, destructive winds, or a tornado, when your life is turned upside down by severe weather, it is important to stay smart to avoid further harm.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Damon Leichty, Partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP. We hope you enjoy Damon’s wisdom and perspective.

“The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men gang aft agley.” —Robert Burns (1785)

Forgive me my friends, but I’m done with “leadership.” The term is passé. It’s overused. Defunct. Stale. The term has been glossed so many times it has lost real meaning. And the malaise that sometimes attends our view of “leaders” has become so pungent that we are no longer inspired. 

Give me instead a conqueror. 

Do your workplace wellness efforts include financial wellbeing? Financial stress is part of many people's lives. And unfortunately it doesn't stop when your employees get to work. Consider these statistics:

A school’s primary function is to educate children. That sounds easy enough, but in practice, it requires a complexity of operations few organizations can match. Schools prepare and serve food, maintain play equipment and athletic facilities, welcome the public to sporting events and shows, provide basic mental and physical health care. And they do all this while caring for children and teenagers.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Dr. Jerry Thacker, Superintendent for Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation. We hope you enjoy his wisdom and perspective.

All high performing organizations will have leaders who exhibit passion, have a plan, and use teamwork. These leaders have a vision, set goals and monitor them, hire talented people, and invest in developing them. The principles I will share are used in the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation and can be adapted to any organization.