Jogging for the Soul

It was just one of those magical evenings.

Pulled together at the last minute, three girlfriends and I decided we needed to spend some time together catching up.

The weather was gorgeous and we ended up having dinner on a beautiful restaurant patio, eating extraordinarily good food, served by one of the best looking, charismatic and wittiest servers I’ve met.

That in itself was enough to make it a great experience but what I hadn’t counted on was the amazing amount of fun and laughter we shared and how good it felt. 

As I paused to reflect during and… More Posted on 07-23-12

The Common Sense of Ordinary People

Obama’s status as a leader was reinforced for me during an authentic and transparent interview he did this past weekend with CBS.

In it, he said he was most frustrated by his inability “to change the atmosphere” in Washington “to reflect the decency and common sense of ordinary people” who want their leaders to solve problems.

Obama also said, “I think there’s no doubt that I underestimated the degree to which in this town politics trump problem solving.”

Why are those remarks resonating so strongly?

I’m quite sure it’s because he nailed it.

Citizens would agree that… More Posted on 07-15-12

Social Media: Changing the Game for Government

This week I heard yet another person tell me that as a government employee she was discouraged from using social media.

I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised. While working for a municipality some years ago, I brought a laptop to my office in order to expedite my work.

While granted this was before the mainstream office use of computers and the laptop did cover most of my desk surface, I wasn’t commended for my initiative.

Instead I was told that if I didn’t remove the computer, a grievance would be filed against me by the union.

Not known… More Posted on 07-09-12

Canada Day—More than a Day Off

I almost took Canada Day for granted. Like many other Canadians, I was starting to think of it simply as another day off.

That is until I received an email from my good friend Ian Hill. Although well known within the 140 plus communities across Canada where his philanthropic efforts focused on supporting local leaders to build playgrounds and skateboard parks, he was actually born in Iran and adopted as a newborn by an American couple stationed there. He was raised in Arizona and now lives in Nevada.

In the email he sent on Canada Day, Ian wrote, “In… More Posted on 07-01-12