Blog Posts

Last week was not only interesting, but probably one of the worst weeks of my life. My computer was on at my desk while I was eating lunch and watching the news on TV.  Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the cursor on my computer began moving around the computer screen, despite the fact that I was nowhere near the keyboard.  I immediately knew that somehow, I had been hacked, not initially knowing how sophisticated this hacker was.  Lesson one:  should you experience anything like this, immediately shut your computer off, which ...

Stop and smell the flowers.  Take the time to appreciate the wonderful and diverse wildlife.  Doing these things will help you live life to the fullest. I live on a lagoon here in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.  The circumference of the lagoon is exactly ½ mile long which makes it easy to know how far I walk each day.  Yesterday I walked a total of 8 miles while taking in the awesome flora and fauna. The cormorant in the first photo gave me a flashback to one of my greatest overseas travel memories.  I was ...

Definition of Hobson's choice 1: an apparently free choice when there is no real alternative 2: the necessity of accepting one of two or more equally objectionable alternatives   Since moving to Florida, I quickly learned that parking your car under a tree helps prevent unbearable heat in the car since the tree provides natural shade.  Unfortunately, most of these Florida trees are full of birds that drop you-know-what on your car.  This presents a true Hobson’s Choice:  do I accept a much hotter car interior or bird crap on my car?   The origin for this interesting ...

"Every day the clock resets. Your wins don't matter. Your failures don't matter. Don't stress on what was, fight for what could be."  -Sean Higgins I turned 61-years-old on October 4th. I fielded and appreciated myriad “Happy Birthday” phone messages, emails, Facebook posts, etc. throughout the day. At 5 p.m., I suddenly realized that I had not yet heard from someone who was largely responsible for bringing me into this world, my Mom. So I sent her a message: “Hi Mom. Does 10/4 ring any bells with you?” She immediately recognized she had forgotten it ...

Are you ready to handle the current job surge?  Nearly half of the 22 million jobs that were eliminated in the early months of the pandemic have been recovered.1 A combination of the financial stimulus, the quick roll-out of vaccines, and increasingly positive jobs reports have caused hiring to be on the rise.  Thus, competition for talent has grown extremely intense.  In fact, 42% of companies report that they have job openings that they cannot fill.1 In addition, a 2021 Federal Census Survey reported that 6 million people did not seek work because of childcare ...

It Turns Out That Man’s Best Friend Has More Leverage Than You Might Have Thought.  Many Employees Say Their Pet Is The Main Reason They Are Unwilling To Return To The Office. As a result, many employers are preparing for a surge of furry new coworkers. Roughly 1.6 million pets were adopted in 2020.1  Pets are loving family members for about 85 million Americans.1 Underscoring these animals’ importance is the reality that they provided solace and peace to employees who were battling anxiety, depression, and loneliness during the Covid-19 Pandemic.  Furthermore, the sheer uncertainty ...

Hoorah! It is what we have all been waiting for – the resurgence of the world economy. I am sure many of you were adversely impacted, emotionally and financially, by the Covid-19 pandemic, as was my business as a Keynote Speaker and Management Consultant. I went from traveling two times a week to deliver Keynote Speeches and Consulting Services, to nearly all my live events being cancelled. Thankfully, the second book I wrote, The Virtual Manager, allowed me to muddle through the year offering training on its core topics, that being Remote Work, Virtual Managers, and Remote Workers.   ...

Sadly, my 87-year-old Mother’s health is failing, both mentally and physically.   Two months ago, she called me to tell me how much pain she was in, confessing “Kevin, I am ready to die.  Will you please come out here to say goodbye?”  Of course, I said “yes,” and quickly booked my flight to Orange County, California. Ironically, the “Goodbye Trip” re-energized Mom.  She began assembling all of the possessions she would give her children before her death, including the American flag given to her at her father’s honorary military funeral.  Her Father was a ...

Employee Retention A quarter of employees worldwide plan to quit their jobs post-COVID1. Employee burnout and anxiety have been major reasons for employee turnover.  Millennials and working parents are the populations most likely to leave their jobs post-COVID.   Employee Engagement The Four Most Effective Ways To Increase Employee Engagement: Offer consistent and ongoing recognition and praise. Ensure that your Managers are having regular and frequent dialogues with the direct reports about career development. Teach your managers to treat their employees as Human Beings, as opposed to cogs on the wheel of productivity. Offer new and improved health ...

When I first became an author “accidentally”, I never anticipated how it could change my life forever.  I never dreamed that I would be the Author of two successful Management Books, one of which would make SIX of the Top Ten Best-Seller Lists, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. So if you have aspirations of successfully writing and publishing a book and/or a desire to have your book become a Best Seller, let me help. Where to begin. What you will find is that there are tens of thousands of would-be authors who say they ...

Employee burnout has never been worse. As I have highlighted in the many Podcasts I have led this year, both the Covid-19 Pandemic and increased workloads have triggered a significant rise in mental health problems for all employees, especially with the shift to solitary remote working.  But the rise in mental health problems has been the most dramatic for junior professional service workers. Junior lawyers and consultants are warning that they are suffering burnout after working longer hours in isolation, highlighting fears of an exodus from some of the biggest global management consulting, financial, and law firms. This ...

Eight Useful Tips For Staying Close And Connected With Your BFF At Work For six years, Ron Smith and Julianne Reynolds saw each other every workday.  They consistently high-fived each other in the hallways.  They regularly shouted to one another from their offices at the bank where they worked in Chicago, Illinois.  They shared lunch, exercise routines, and even shared books they had read. Then suddenly, when the Pandemic hit in March of last year, they went home. Ron even said “Getting to see Julianne was a special part of my workday.  Now that we ...

Cutting-Edge Solutions to Hiring, Managing, Motivating, and Engaging Remote Employees 95.3% of participants would recommend this keynote to a colleague. (Statistics provided by SHRM.) The Covid-19 pandemic has left a lasting impact on the way, and where, employees work.  Long gone are the days where office life and the workplace were synonymous.  The resulting shutdown has forced millions of employees to work remotely, thereby affording them with some new advantages, not the least of which are:  no commutes, flexible scheduling, more family time, etc.  Many employees will grow accustomed to this new work world.  Others will find ...