Back in September 2001, my wife and I spent a weekend in New York City with our native New Yorker friends Jim and Noelle. Jim is from Long Island and Noelle from Queens. They took us to some of the major NYC landmarks including Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, and a harbor boat ride. It was a foggy day on September 8^th, but we were still able to take in the New York City skyline from the harbor, including the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

Today we’re sharing insight from Gibson guest bloggers Andrew Graman, Senior Client Manager and Andrew Schroeder, Assistant Controller. We hope you enjoy their wisdom and perspective!

Schroeder and Graman. Graman and Schroeder. But you can call us Andrew.

Although we have only been colleagues at Gibson since August 31, 2015, we have known each other for quite a while: August 20, 2009, to be exact. As residents of Burford Hall at Indiana State University, we immediately became known as “The Andrews” by the rest of the floor and many of our mutual friends, and still are to this day.

Like any three year old, my niece Jules is a big fan of the question why?

Can you please share the book with your sister? Why?
Because she might enjoy it too. Why?
She likes a lot of the same things you like. Why?
…and it goes on…

Even “I love you, Jules,” has gotten a response of...Why?

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Brittany Kirk, Client Manager at Gibson. We hope you enjoy Brittany’s wisdom and perspective!

Expectations are all around us. They live in our offices, homes, churches, and even within our very selves. They can push us along the path by helping us to achieve our goals, provide a sense of accountability, and keep us moving. But what happens when other people’s expectations of us don’t match our goals, dreams, or values? What happens when we let other’s expectations dictate our choices?

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger, Erin Cressy, President & CEO of Cressy Consulting. We hope you enjoy Erin’s wisdom and perspective.

I had to laugh, and breathe a sigh of relief, as I heard these words come out of the mouth of my 7 year old son, Jackson.

Honestly, I was surprised to hear the kid actually had some limits - until he uttered those words I doubted such boundaries existed for Jackson.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Tara Lunardi, Lt Col, USAF. We hope you enjoy Tara’s wisdom and perspective.

There I was…deploying to Iraq to lead a joint service team of counterintelligence operators, tactical security members, analysts, and linguists. When my boots left the puddle jumper and hit the dirt runway I was greeted by my team…all guys. For the 12 Army infantry soldiers on my team, I was the first female with whom they’d ever served, let alone followed in combat.

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.

“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 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. 

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.