Kent Burns Blog

How are you enjoying living behind the mask?  Life has turned into a big masquerade party, hasn’t it?  At first it was…strange.  Now it’s been normalized.  It’s added a new dimension to people watching.  Some have chosen to use masks as yet another opportunity to make a fashion statement.  It’s changed communication and interpersonal dynamics.  [...]

Gratitude is an interesting construct.  Cicero called it “the greatest of the virtues.” For me, it’s always been a good thing.  My family and my Faith taught me the importance of gratitude, and how to express it appropriately.  I don’t always get it right, but I try. Consider the word’s basic meaning. Gratitude is what [...]

The Great Mary Kay Ash said, “There are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened.” I’ve always liked that quote.  There’s great wisdom in it.  One can observe this phenomenon of human nature every single day.  It doesn’t matter [...]

The world is a noisy place. The noise level has increased substantially over the past 100 years and increased exponentially in the past 10 – 15.  There are many distractions, and new ones are continually added to the old ones – which recur because humans keep repeating their past mistakes. It’s largely these distractions that [...]

My oldest daughter has a new partner and a new baby daughter.  They live across the country from us, and because of the COVID mess, Grandma and I were not there when she was born.  Finally, after a month of waiting and wondering when we could see them, we jumped on a plane and went [...]

We’ve all been seeing it.  It’s become arguably one of the most overused phrases of 2020. “Our New Normal” The media has latched onto it.  Remember the age-old political tactic: He who frames the issue, wins the argument.  Reality is being re-framed in front of our very eyes.  “Things are not going to be the [...]

America has been experiencing “the good old days” for three-plus years now.  Companies have been succeeding.  Jobs have been plentiful.  Consumers have felt good about their future and about spending their money. The current hiccup (and I use that word intentionally) has created challenging business conditions for many.  Lots of struggling going on.  Not all [...]

It’s inspiring to see what America is accomplishing in the face of COVID-19.  One can argue that it’s our most unified, collective action since World War II.  The Federal Government, all 50 State Governments, local governments, American business and the American people are, for the most part, aligned against a common enemy.  We have singularity [...]

  The quality of your days reflects the wisdom of your schedule.  We have all been given a gift.  Life has been altered for us in so many ways.  We are doing without many things that were part of our daily life.  We are living a stripped-down existence.  “Essential businesses”.  “Essential activities.”  Taking extra time [...]

  A little different twist on my blog today.  In these crazy times, it’s always good to pay attention to our surroundings and learn from others who are navigating on the front lines. Sahm’s is a very successful, family-owned restaurant business in the Greater Indianapolis Area.  The Indianapolis Business Journal profiled them in a podcast [...]

We’re all being impacted by the Coronavirus.  Some more than others.  I, like you perhaps, am consuming lots of information on the topic.  I’m watching the briefings…then analyzing the briefing…then watching other people analyze the briefings. In spite of all the uncertainty and the unknowns, I find myself feeling very encouraged and very proud.  It’s [...]

Last week I wrote about the importance of having a strong LinkedIn presence.  It’s the professional’s litmus test for existence.  This week, I promised some do’s and don’ts.  Some of these may seem ridiculous to you – trust me, nothing I’m about to share is made up. Profile pictures: Use a quality headshot.  You don’t [...]

LinkedIn has become the litmus test for existence in business.  If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, you effectively don’t exist.  I’m not saying that this is right or wrong; fair or unfair.  I am saying that it’s real.  It’s a thing.  Of course, there are other social media platforms, and many of us use [...]

I’ve got nothing against saving money.  I believe in saving money.   Controlling expenses is important.  And I also believe in growth.  I believe in innovation.  In business today, it’s “innovate or die.”  Any of you once own a Palm Pilot? How about a Blackberry?  Whew. Success in business requires a growth mindset; not a scarcity [...]

Business should move at lightning speed, right?  We have all these tools and technologies at our disposal.  So many things are automated. Nobody uses carbon paper, typewriters or mimeograph machines anymore (those born after 1980, you’ll need to Google those things).  Much of business actually does move at lightning speed. Do you order from Amazon? [...]

  Many people talk about organizational culture.  Far fewer understand it.  Ask a few people to define culture.  You’ll get a different answer from each person.  As a leader, understanding organizational culture is pretty important.  Actually, it’s vitally important. Culture is the “horizontal gravity” that holds an organization together.  It’s why people join and organization.  [...]

We are all busy people.  Often our days are a juggling act of meetings, appointments and trying to get some work done in between.  I’m kind of a punctuality geek.  I pride myself on being early to meetings and when I have a call scheduled, I call on time – to the minute.  I literally [...]

I was at a college basketball game recently with some friends.  We arrived early, and as we enjoyed the pre-game warmup, two young boys came up the steps and took their seats right in front of us.  They were probably seven or eight years old.  Both were wearing jerseys of the home team and were [...]

I reach out to people professionally multiple times a day.  Most of us do.  We need the cooperation of others to do our jobs.  In the old days, when you called someone, they answered the phone.  Why?  There was no voicemail and there was no caller ID.  The caller was mysterious.  Who is it?  I [...]

Relationships are hard.  I find this very interesting.  We live in a world where (most of us) are surrounded by people.  We grow up surrounded by family and friends.  We are surrounded by other students for (at least) twelve years of school.  We then enter the workforce, and we are surrounded by people at work.  [...]