For almost all of the first part of my life, up to my early 40s, I resisted anything the smacked remotely of self-help or personal development. I suspect this had to do with the possibility of discovering weaknesses (couldn’t afford to do that!) or maybe infringing on my idea of orthodoxy. I won’tContinue reading “Some things I’ve learned”
Author Archives: randyemullis
How do you spend your precious life?
My task here is to convince you of the great value of your life. Because I think your time is precious, I will try to be brief. I visited my soon-to-be 26-year-old daughter last week in her home in Austin, TX. We did many things but the time I liked best was when we campedContinue reading “How do you spend your precious life?”
Pity the poor extravert
Maybe it’s selective perception, but it seems like I’ve seen many references lately celebrating the introvert. I get the feeling that perhaps introverts are tired of being misunderstood as shy or socially awkward, neither of which is necessarily true. Indeed, introverts are often successful in jobs that we normally associate with those who are moreContinue reading “Pity the poor extravert”
Strength in numbers
When I was visiting my daughter, who is almost 26, last weekend, she told me about a new activity amongst her and her friends, which she called “Skills Night”. The idea is that each person wrote down three skills that she could offer to teach, and three skills that she would like to learn. TheContinue reading “Strength in numbers”
When winning isn’t the goal
What if you could negotiate on your behalf or on behalf of others without compromising that which you think you deserve and being a decent person? What if you could separate a problem facing you from the person you think is the problem? And what if you could invent options that will benefit both youContinue reading “When winning isn’t the goal”
Avoiding grievances
Some suggestions for “How to avoid grievances” by John Wooden 1. Get all the facts. What went wrong — not who is to blame. 2. Stay calm. Find the solution together. Do not permit emotions to take over. 3. Criticize in private. 4. Commend before and perhaps after you criticize. Help save face. 5. KeepContinue reading “Avoiding grievances”
My brief life as a vagabond
There was a time in my early 20s when I found myself to be homeless. My father had died and I hadn’t much wanted to go home before that anyway, as he was in the last throes of his life of alcoholism. When the college dormitory was open, it was entirely sufficient but between semestersContinue reading “My brief life as a vagabond”
How do you approach important conversations?
Do you sometimes send an e-mail to avoid a difficult conversation? Have you left voicemail as a hit-and-run technique? Have you made yourself scarce from someone’s presence so that you could stay safely away from a topic of conversation? I recently came across the book Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High byContinue reading “How do you approach important conversations?”
A crisis of confidence
It was mid-afternoon on a Friday when my colleague and I were troubleshooting a problem with some of his code. He seemed a little down, but In my role as a systems administrator, I was happy to help any way I could. While we were waiting for something to finish running, I was making smallContinue reading “A crisis of confidence”
