kburns

My Grandpa was a wonderful guy.  He passed many years ago.  But, if he were still alive, yesterday would have been his 111th birthday.  A self-made man, I learned many things from him. Something I heard him say many times was, “It’s a long road that doesn’t have a [...]

I’m surprised at people, who...when given an opportunity to ask questions...don’t.  As a student of human behavior, it’s fascinating to me.  Questions are how we learn.  Questions are how we establish rapport.  Questions (or the lack thereof) reveal so much about a person. When I prepare people for interviews, [...]

I am a creature of habit.  I love my routines.  One thing that my friends and co-workers tease me about is my lunch routine.  I go to the same place.  Every day, M – F, with very few exceptions.  It’s a good place...bar food...about a half mile from my [...]

I have a history of back/hip/leg issues.  Been a problem for years.  I lived with it for a long time, until one day in 2014 my wife and I were at a show of some kind...It wasn’t the boat and travel show, but it was something like that.  Big [...]

  We live in a world today where no one wants to make a decision.  Yet, decisions are what make the world go around. What’s up with that? There are a few reasons, but the biggest one (by far) is fear.  Plain and simple.  Fear of making a mistake.  [...]

Had an interesting – and increasingly common – thing happen recently.  In conversation with a job candidate, a particular company name surfaced.  The candidate had a swift and immediate reaction: “They just had a major shakeup at the top.  New CEO and CFO.  The stock is down seven dollars.”  [...]

There is a great article in the current issue of Harvard Business Review about feedback.  For decades now, we’ve been lectured on the value of feedback...how to give it...how to receive it...what to do with it.  Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall have written a great piece here that, not [...]

I remember it well...I was sitting in my old mentor’s office.  My mentor – Dave – is the man who taught me the recruiting business.  I was new to his Firm; a CPA and a 15-year accounting/finance guy who was taking a chance on a totally different career.  This [...]

The blown call in the fourth quarter of the Rams-Saints NFC Championship game a couple of weeks ago was unfortunate.  It was clearly a mistake.  The Head of Officials said so.  The NFL said so.  It stinks.  It’s unfair.  But this is life.  We’ve all heard numerous times, “Life [...]

  Lots of people tell me they want to be successful.  My guess is that 75% don’t fully understand what they’ve just said.  And realistically, a subset of those 75% have no idea what they’ve just said.   What I’ve learned over time is that there is a big [...]