Helpful Articles

Awareness

• By the Seat of Your Pants Columbus was right - our world isn't flat. But, it isn't round either! It's three-dimensional. (217 words)
  

• The Thermals are in the Turbulence Finding opportunities in today's changing business climate reminds me of soaring... (367 words)
  

• How to Fly By the Competition Question #1: Our business has been seriously impacted by a bigger corporation... (374 words)
  

• A Walk with Jared I was raised on the Oregon Coast, and I enjoy hiking in the woods. (708 words)
  

• Blindsided by Insight Years ago I managed a floating aquarium attraction - the Oregon Undersea Gardens... (316 words)
  

• It's Time to Rejuvenate I've got the antidote to draining energy! Rejuvenate yourself. Rejuvenate your business. How? (128 words)
  

• Are You Stressed Out Too Often? Consider This: What percentage of the time is it OK for you to be stressed out? 30%? (175 words)
  

• Flying on Autopilot Autopilot is great, isn’t it? It saves you a lot of time, trouble, and thought. Imagine, if you had to... (224 words)
  

• How to Avoid a Stalled Launch Every pilot knows the dangers of stalling a launch. The prospect of performing an out-of-control ground loop... (313 words)
  

• Forward Focus When you’re flying a hang glider, you are moving! Your 20 mph flight speed can get you into trouble quickly... (355 words)
  

• The Best Attitude for Soaring Higher The attitude of a hang glider in flight is known as its ‘angle of attack.’ Understanding it is important for the longevity of the pilot. (278 words)
  

Goals

• Out with the Old & In with the New Let's review, reconsider, revive. Look at the way we set goals... (360 words)
  

• Goals are Moving Targets "Three tries for a dollar," shouted the midway huckster above the din of the crowd. (550 words)
  

• The Benefits of Procrastination Procrastination is not a four-letter word, but it has a bad connotation. And it stresses us out when we think about how much we do it. (277 words)
  
  

• Forget Resolutions Many of us have given up on New Year’s resolutions. Why? Studies show they don’t work. (244 words)
  

Leadership

• Who Are More Important - Employees or Customers? Business managers have been trained to focus on customers at all costs. (211 words)
  

• Asking Scary Questions Letting our employees evaluate us is scary! None of us like to be judged. (335 words)
  

• Is It Time for Your Leadership Booster Shot? Our county Emergency Preparedness Planner was delivering a presentation... (194 words)
  

• The Myth About the Tight Job Market You see two different headlines all the time - some say employers can't find good employees when others... (383 words)
  

• How to Compound Employee Interest My clients frequently ask how to get their employees more interested... (209 words)
  

• Flying in the Face of Conventional Management If you are still trying to succeed as a manager by practicing the myths you learned years ago, here is a news flash: Times have changed. (226 words)
  

• The Questions Good Leaders Ask Bosses who think of themselves as controllers of people who perform tasks, ask old questions of their staff. (319 words)
  

• How to Get Great Employees I’ve asked hundreds of employers the question, and I’m starting to see a trend. Here is what I’ve learned... (280 words)
  

• The Leadership Lessons of a Tree As a trainer who wants to lend wings to your success, I look far and wide for leadership insights. Today I’ll look up, and consider a tree. (246 words)
  

• Employee Opinions Lend You Wings Do you want to know how you can improve your leadership style and get more performance out of your staff... (262 words)
  

Learning

• Practicing the Basics As a fledgling singer, I wanted to be better. I hired a coach to work with me. (221 words)
  

• Calculate the Value of Staff Training Ongoing employee training can be hard to evaluate. How do you put a dollar value on... (233 words)
  

• Learning is the Key to Professional Success You've seen the Employers of Choice Awards, the 100 Best Companies... (229 words)
  

• A Childish View of Creativity I was preparing a program on creativity in the workplace for a corporate client, when my nephew came to visit. (189 words)
  

• Becoming an Opportunist When I first tried to soar in thermals, I had the wrong idea about these opportunities. I thought I would fly along in smooth air... (440 words)
  

• Learning Curves To perfect any skill, such as hang gliding, driving, dancing, bowling, sales, customer service... (217 words)
  

Motivation

• The Link between the Quest and the Question Your quest is your journey in life and at work. It is your adventure. (198 words)
  

• Launch Momentum Each hang glider flight has a launch, which is initiated with only a few steps that build the wing's momentum. (177 words)
  

• Five Ways to Get More Out of People What makes good employees want to work for us - money? No. (277 words)
  

• Motivating Good Seasonal Employees You have special employment challenges if you are a business manager... (186 words)
  

• Motivation Made Easy If you can motivate volunteers, you can motivate anyone. That thought reoccurred to me this morning while I was... (251 words)
  

Preparation

• Lending Wings to Success Do you want to soar? If so, your time cannot be monopolized by thinking about communication, conflicts... (213 words)
  

• How to Get Lucky It’s easy, right? Getting lucky seems as simple as falling out of bed when other people do it. (242 words)
  

• Preparing to Wing It Flying by the seat of your pants sounds easy enough. You don’t have to bother preparing, you just show up and fake it, right? (244 words)
  
  

• Making It Look Easy When you watch a good hang glider pilot coring a thermal and spiraling upward, the ride looks smooth... (425 words)
  

• Preparing the Team for Turbulence I learned an important lesson about leadership one year on a vacation. Bruce and I decided to take a white water... (305 words)
  

Relationships

• Building Your Network - One by One Too many business professionals throw money into advertising when there is a more effective... (253 words)
  

• Personality Types are For the Birds Let's decomplicate personalities. The "Father of Medicine," Hippocrates... (322 words)
  

• First Impressions I disagree with the old saying, "You only get one chance to make a great first impression." (278 words)
  

• Clearing the Clouds from Your Communication Every day is full of misunderstandings, which you could avoid. (205 words)
  

• Why Are Some People So Difficult? Do you get along smoothly with your family, friends, co-workers, staff and customers? (182 words)
  

• Breaking the Golden Rule “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
  You’ve probably been able to recite the golden rule since you were in kindergarten. (239 words)
  

• Presents vs. Presence The greatest gift of all might not come in a package with pretty wrapping.
  Each holiday season I’m reminded of Elizabeth... (388 words)
  

• The Art of Appreciation Being appreciated is incredibly motivating. Some studies show that it can be even more effective than paychecks or job stability. (332 words)
  

• What Good is an Outsider? As a consultant, I always have to be prepared to answer that question. Well, first I think we all need... (216 words)
  

• Passing Moments I received an Email this weekend from a professional acquaintance. It moved me... (278 words)
  

Sales & Service

• Supervisors Can Sabotage Service Your supervisory staff may be sabotaging the quality of your customer service! (342 words)
  

• How Not to be a Sleazy Salesperson There is such a stigma about salespeople. It seems that they are gushing, insincere... (215 words)
  

• Customer Service Training: Answering WIIFM Most employers realize the importance of providing good customer... (242 words)
  

• What Do Your Customers Really Think? Do your people provide great customer service? Are your... (171 words)
  

• Selling and Serving from the Heart If you are determined to improve your sales and customer service this season, you’d better quit thinking about it. (276 words)
  

• Service with Flying Colors You have the product or service to sell. You have the people to do it. And so does your competition. (274 words)
  

Stress

• The Element of Risk: What You Do - or Don't Do How do you think of risk? Do you think of danger, something to avoid? (217 words)
  

• Can You Manage Change? To manage means to take charge, handle, dominate, and control. Manage change? Forget it! (279 words)
  

• Do You Know What 'Stress' Means? Sounds like an easy question, right? I’ve asked it over and over in my management training sessions, but nobody... (177 words)
  

• Flying in the Face of Stress Management Stress has you surrounded! It’s at work. It’s at home. It’s in between! (359 words)
  

• The Winds of Change Imagine you're here with me, standing at the top of the Coburg Hills, seventeen hundred feet above the valley floor near Eugene, Oregon. (218 words)
  

• Stretching is More Than Exercise Learning a new skill takes place along a range of comfort. At the low end, you’re bored to death. (248 words)
  

• Keeping Your Sense of Humor Life brings us plenty of reminders about the importance of a sense of humor. (283 words)
  

Success

• Outsiders What good is an outsider? As a consultant, I always have to be prepared to answer that question. (258 words)
  

• The Failure/Success Continuum Success and failure are not at opposite ends of the spectrum, (237 words)
  

• How to Win the Race With Time Time flies, and it seems to be accelerating. But you can win the race. (217 words)
  

• Learning to Leave Well Enough Alone I always thought that a B average was good enough... (302 words)
  

• Enjoying the Flight Remember the good old days? Won't it be nice when we get back to normal? (269 words)
  

• What is Success? My old boss used to ask me that question, each time we pursued a new business endeavor. At first... (267 words)
  

• Push Your Refresh Button What was a refresh button before the world wide web?
  Its importance hit me when I was trying... (315 words)