8. June 2009 by Bob.

Below is a copy of an article written in a local magazine when I was interviewed about executive coaching. It does a nice job of highlighting how coaching is recession proof and a necessary commodity for business success during trying times. Many would say that we have never before experienced recession like what has impacted us recently. For those of us with more grey hair than others I would argue we have seen a roller coaster ride with highs and lows throughout our experience. And I would believe we will come out of this dip and experience another high like the ones that have followed previous downturns. For those that weather this storm, greater success awaits on the other side. This creates even a more significant need for successful maneuvering of leadership and relationship skills during downturns. If we apply these skills during the most difficult times we are best equipped to take advantage of the good times. Those that retreat during difficult economies will find themselves playing catch up to those that invested in their own development as well as the development of their key people. Read the article below from 2001 and notice if it strikes a recurring theme to match the economic times we face today:

One industry that is thriving during the economic slowdown is executive coaching.

While many companies have cut back on employee development programs to save money, others are recognizing the increased return on investment and are keeping coaching firms busy.

These days, investors are being more selective about which companies they fund, so top-level execs are investing the time and money to hone their leadership skills, says Bob Johnson, founder at Leader Search Inc. of Calgary, Alberta a coaching services firm.

“Some companies are cutting back on non-direct revenue producing initiatives, but others are investing more,” says Johnson, who’s been coaching executives for over 18 years.  “The good companies are encouraging their executives to get coaching because they want them to not just survive but to prosper when their competition doesn’t.”

For the past few years, there was a “gold rush mentality” in the resource sector, where people didn’t believe leadership skills and business models mattered, says Johnson.  But the economic slowdown has forced companies to get back to basics.

“When there’s a clanking noise in your car at 100 kph, you can’t hear it. But you can hear it at 50 kph,” says Johnson, who splits his time between coaching execs in Calgary and Phoenix.

While most executives stay in their roles after coaching, some realize they aren’t the right person to lead the company, says Leader Search’s Johnson.

“My mistakes were easily costing the company more than Bob’s fees,” says Paul, one of the executives Bob coaches.   Like the CEOs of many companies, Paul’s background was in technical engineering, not business and particularly not leadership.  And, he says, the company’s ability to move to the next level, retain its good people and not become a take over target was weighing on his shoulders.

“My biggest area of weakness was my decision making,” says Paul, who stepped down as CEO after several months of coaching.

“After we brought in a new CEO, we increased revenues by $2.5 million,” says Paul, now COO and vice president of operations. “The results speak for themselves.”

Programs vary by coaching firm and the needs of each executive.  But intensive, one-on-one programs such as Leader Search’s typically begin with a “360-degree assessment” in which the coach shadows the executive and then interviews those who work closely with him or her.

Leader Search’s coaching program typically involves three sessions per month for six to nine months, with the cost ranging from $12,000 to $20,000. Fees vary by coaching firm, and depend on the scope of the coaching and level of the executive.

“A good executive coach works with the natural style of the leader, but then discovers their ambitions and fears,” says Johnson. “CEO coaching, in particular, is really about accelerating the natural growth curve of a person who wants to be a leader.”

Another CEO that receives coaching from Bob, hired Bob because he wanted feedback from someone with leadership knowledge.   “One of my fears is that my knowledge or lack thereof will be the reason that the company does not grow at a maximum rate,” says Ken. “By using coaching I am able to get an outside, unbiased evaluation on our effort and results.”

Ken also adds a word of caution. For coaching to be successful, coaches must be committed to their client’s goals.   “Too many executive coaches have their own agendas,” he says. “That’s a disaster.”

Companies are willing to spend the money on coaching because the return on investment can be significant.  The average ROI — in the form of increased productivity, reduced turnover and other factors – is $100,000, according to a study in the Boston-based Manchester Review.

“The direct monetary impact of coaching can be difficult to measure”, says Ken.  For him, coaching is valuable because the ideas generated enable him to operate his company more effectively.

“Once in a while you can point to a specific situation where the coaching made a measurable monetary difference,” he says. “I have asked for advice in negotiations when I was unsure of what the other company was trying to do.  Based on my coach’s input I changed strategies and we won the contract.”

“In the past, executive coaching was viewed as a perk; now companies realize it can help their bottom line”, says Johnson.   “When times are really good, people don’t think there are any problems,” Johnson explains.  “In these times, people are much more aware of their limitations.”

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30. April 2009 by Bob.

I read an article written in a March 2009 issue of Calgary Inc magazine that profoundly encouraged organizations to consider the critical value of staying with their corporate retreats during these trying economic times versus the knee jerk reaction of dropping the retreats in the name of cost cutting.
One quote suggested “Companies want to bring people together during these economic times and come up with ideas for how they are going to ride this out together”. We have seen an increase in not only our coaching business activity, but an increase in interest in executive retreats as well.  Retreats look different than they have in the past when cash was king and the agenda was predominately fun, celebration and recognition. Today we see clients staying closer to home, inviting less people and digging into deeper work agendas. Presently, the days of golf or fishing outings in the name of teamwork seem to be a fading memory. Deep and meaningful conversation seems to be the mainstay coupled with dinner and less casual conversation at night becoming the place for learning more about each other.
Challenging times create bigger irritants out of things we tended to ignore when we were running hard and makin’ money. During those grand times many of us would live with the teammate we didn’t get along with. Now we can’t stand them and these relationship challenges affect the entire organizational culture. Tougher times call for conversations that we would likely have avoided in the past. And many don’t know how to hold these necessary conversations. This becomes the work of coaches as they facilitate the conversations that are necessary to produce the relationships that work in order to create the results that are even more critical in these trying times.
Therefore, we have seen a decrease in traditional classroom training and an uptick in coaching, either on site in the workplace or in newly designed retreats that focus on the key relationships and the necessary conversations people need and want to have. As one of our coaching clients said recently, “Leadership is no longer for the faint of heart!”

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20. April 2009 by Bob.

I spend about a third of each month at our place in Tempe, Arizona. I love the Arizona climate. It seems that as each year passes I become more enamored with the warmth of the Arizona sun than the cold Alberta winters. And I get to play golf year round. There are literally hundreds of great golf courses to play in the Phoenix area and I do not belong to one club. With my flexible schedule I often play at different times and at quite a variety of courses. This means I often show up at a course as a single player and get placed with one to three other players. I consider this a wonderful opportunity to meet other golfers (and in some cases, potential client prospects).
On this past trip I did the usual and walked on to one of the local courses in Tempe as a single and got placed with a man named Rueben. Rueben is an aging black man with steel wool type gray hair sticking out from under his ball cap. He looked old to me and I later received confirmation that Rueben just turned 80 years old. Imagine the story I made up about the man I just got paired up with. He instantly gave me a sense of being a nice, kind man with a glowing smile and bright eyes. But I was mostly concerned with his ability to keep up with the group ahead of us and even more importantly, which set of tees he wanted to play from. I usually like to play the back tees, or as I age myself, maybe the next set up. Would I need to play the forward tees to accommodate the kind old man? As we came up to the first tee I stopped and asked Rueben which set of tees he preferred. To my surprise he asked if it was OK if we played from the back tees (the tips in golf talk).  We stepped up to the tee box and Rueben hit a beauty right down the middle. If not for dumping a shot in the water and taking a double bogey on the 18th Rueben would have scored under 100 for the round. He played wonderfully and was a joy to spend the afternoon with. He told me he played 210 rounds last year! So much for wondering if this old man could keep up!
I believe the game of golf is much like life when it comes to relationships. Think about the stories we make up when we first meet someone. What about the stories they make up about us?  I wonder what stories Rueben made up about me.  And of course, I had my own performance anxiety as I stepped up to the first tee with my newfound friend watching. I had a pretty good score this time and couldn’t help make up stories of what Rueben would think if I had hacked the ball around the course. Consider the opportunities we may have lost over the course of our lifetimes because we made up stories about people the instant they crossed our paths. We then discount someone as not worthy of our time or energy and move on to the next possibility.
What if we considered:
• Everyone we encounter as worthy of our time,
• Someone we could learn from,
• A credible human being with their own unique gifts,
• Someone we would minimally get as much from as we would give to them.
I would encourage all of us to upgrade our level of tolerance for others and to live in a higher place of abundance and care. Then may all the stories we make up be positive about others and prove to be true. Here’s to all the beautiful Rueben’s in the world!

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16. April 2009 by Bob.

The Baby Boomers and the Millennials have
more in common than either will admit.

Most of what we have read, researched and interviewed has brought us to the conclusion that there is not a discernible difference between the Baby Boomer (born between 1946 and 1964) and the Millennial (born between 1977 and 1998) generations when it comes to wants and desires. We have discovered that if the two took the time to talk with each other they would find the battles between the two to be almost laughable. The primary culprit in this generational war is nothing more than age. The Baby Boomers have forgotten all they stood for when they were young professionals and the Millennials have yet to experience the full benefits of age. Sit back and explore with us the similarities and the differences between the two and you will find that these two generations have more they share than the sandwiched Gen Xer’s have with either one.

“Because the demand for their services so greatly exceeds the supply, young graduates are in a strong position to dictate terms to their perspective employers. Young employees are demanding that they be given productive tasks to do from the first day of work, and that the people they work for notice and react to their performance.”

Sounds very much like the words of many of the Baby Boomer leaders we have coached as they speak of the sassy Millennial professionals entering their organizations today. The key to understand is that this is a quote from a Fortune magazine article written in April 1969! The more recent May 28, 2007 Fortune edition recites this 1969 quote as part of an article about managing the Millennial Generation titled “You Raised Them, Now Manage Them.” If this all rings such a familiar refrain, we will again, profess that there are many more similarities than differences between the two generations.
We have found that the search for the holy grail of leadership is still outside the grasp of almost all organizations. Through countless workshops, retreats, team development exercises and years of recruitment contracts, the qualities of the Sage Leader are often talked about and revered, and any organization that paid the fare to hire one or discovered one in their system coveted their prize possession. They learned to spend strategic time determining what it would take to find, develop and keep more of this sacred commodity.
Believing the qualities of this Sage existed only in the tenured ranks of seasoned Baby Boomers, companies have recently begun to realize this expertise is retiring and leaving in droves with little development of the leadership capacity remaining in the system. We have found that the wisdom of the Sage leader is available regardless of age or tenure. Mining the commodity from within the ranks of more tender aged employees becomes the task of the aging Baby Boomer leaders before they leave the ranks of corporate systems.
Let’s take a look at the differences, as well as the similarities between these two distinct generations. Consider that the Baby Boomer generation is into or fast approaching the second half of their lives with vitality never experienced by previous generations. They are healthier in mind and body and have an insatiable desire to stay connected to society and contribute. This contribution has appeared in many forms with a particular emphasis on giving back, legacy and making a difference while they also enjoy the fruits of their labor over the past thirty plus years. Life balance, contribution and being recognized for their capabilities motivate them to redefinition of the concept of retirement.
The Millennial Generation wants to design their careers, balance life, contribute to society and have more control over how they spend their time. And they want it now. They are a ‘work to live, not a live to work’ generation. You will find Millennial’s buying vacation time from their employers or quitting jobs altogether to travel, give time to noble causes or share staying at home to raise their families.
Both generations want for the same things. The battle lines have been drawn because the Baby Boomers expect the Millennial Generation to earn this right like they did. The Millennial’s have witnessed the impact of the live to work system of the Boomers. The missing component is a mutual respect for each generation. With this respect in place the cultures of organizations will transform and with it comes a better world for all.
Boomer parents in a fast paced, multi tasked, high tech, structured and scheduled activity environment raised the millennial Generation professionals of today. We have watched them play video games masterfully while talking on cell phones or text messaging their friends. At work they can be talking to a client while they e-mail memos and text message their friends setting up plans for after work. Yet, they still crave direct contact and a personal connection with their boss. That is assuming they have respect for their boss. Respect is earned, not a right of position or authority. With this respect, Millennials want a boss that is personally invested in their professional development. They want Sage Leaders to develop them, teach them and let them try, fail, learn.
Baby Boomers have a history of very direct supervision from their immediate boss. Respect was a right earned by tenure and position. Resentment crept in when respect was not evident since respect was assumed via positional power. Millenial’s want leaders and organizations to treat them as allies and partners, not ‘masters’ of them. Respect is not granted freely due to position or tenure. Respect comes with time proven success. They want their leaders to be mentors and strategists. Leaders that show their human side and want continual growth and learning for themselves as much as for their people.
Notice any similarities? As we have brought generations together to be in conversation we have had the pleasure of understanding emerging. May we all recognize that like many battles over history, the lines in the sand are drawn because we don’t take the time to understand each other. If I can contribute to some of that understanding I will consider myself content and fulfilled.

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14. April 2009 by Bob.

I played baseball as a peewee kid giving me my first exposure to team sports. In junior high I had further experiences and fell in love with just about any game I could play that involved participating with others toward an end goal. Junior high opened my possibilities to volleyball, basketball and baseball. I couldn’t wait to get to high school and play with the big kids. Especially football. We didn’t have football in junior high and it was my grand passion. I had hoped to play football in the fall, basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring.
Throughout the year I would shoot buckets, play catch with both footballs and baseballs and spend countless hours on my own in make shift fantasy games.  My first year in high school went well and I fell in love with football and continued to play football throughout high school and into college. Basketball was another story. All my junior high basketball experience worked well as long as I could dribble the ball with my right hand, my dominant hand. In high school I didn’t make the grade because I could not dribble as well with my left as I could with my right. All my previous experience was acquired by staying in my comfort zone of my natural preferred right hand. I spent all my practice and game time playing with my natural skill. By high school I wasn’t good enough.
What might have been if I had spent many of those countless hours practicing with my less preferred left hand? Maybe basketball would have been my game instead of football. I also have more recent experience on the squash court. Now this is a game where you only need to use your dominant hand to swing away at the ball. When I would jump into the court with the pro he would pity my level of play and challenge me by playing with his left hand. I am sure he spent countless hours working on a full repertoire of skill development making him a more rounded squash player and eventually skilled enough to play at the world professional level.
As a final example, I coached my daughter in soccer over an 18-year period. Watching not only my daughter, but also many of her friends grow and develop as soccer players and human beings was as much a gift to me as was my gift of time I gave them. With the girls playing at a competitive level the coaches looked for strategies that would give us the edge against any of our opponents. As players grew and developed the really good ones were able to use both feet with equal skill. They were the ones that made defending them a real chore. The girls that were good and only with their dominant foot were easier to defend. These girls were never able to progress to the most competitive ranks of soccer.
As an executive coach with over 25 years of experience I realize I would not have made it to a level of the coaching elite without constantly working both my natural and my less preferred skill sets. As a natural introvert, I have made a great living working one on one with leaders and executives. And I would have been a strictly one-dimensional coach if I stayed only within my natural comfort zone. A stretch for me is working with teams, facilitating learning to groups in a classroom and most of all, speaking professionally to large groups. With ongoing work in all of these challenge areas I have not only grown as a coach, I continue to have abundant energy about this work that keeps me excited after 25 years in the profession. There are many days that I count myself lucky to just now be fully hitting my stride. I look forward to the second half of my career as an executive coach.
Some of the leadership gurus espouse the virtues of playing to our strengths. I agree in theory. Let us recognize and continue to develop our natural gifts. And give us the fortitude to discover the stretch zones and work at them so we can stand tall in the heat of battle when we need to dribble around that defender and it calls for us to use our less natural foot to execute with success. The old adage of what got you here won’t keep you here looms large for leaders and executives alike. Without finding a way to grow both your natural strengths and your less preferred skill sets, you will languish in the ranks of leadership mediocrity at a minimum. More likely, you will find yourself looking for a new job or career. Only the strong survive may need to be replaced with – the lifelong learner that constantly stretches themselves outside their comfort zones will excel. If leaving a legacy ever enters you minds eye, embrace stretching yourself and you have a greater chance of entering the ranks of the leaders others tell stories about when we ask them to tell stories about the leaders that had a significant impact on their lives. I aspire to be one of those some day!

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4. April 2009 by Bob.

When I lead workshops about coaching I often start with an exercise where we ask participants to think of experiences they’ve had in the past when someone saw something in them they didn’t even see in themselves. My good friends Gregg Thompson and Susanne Biro, in their book Unleashed call this the Unseen Road. Great coaches and leaders can see talent in us that we don’t see in ourselves or discount in some form or another. It can open our eyes to roads that are far grander than the possibilities we may have seen in ourselves. This to me is the number one responsibility and gift of significant leaders, coaches and for parents as well. Whenever I ask people to do this exercise I invariably ask myself the same question. Who shows up for me seems to be consistent each time. I wonder if that is because I have asked people this question so often? Or could it be I haven’t seen newer material that has had as strong and lasting effect as the three names I come up with each time?
Fritz Halfacre, my high school football coach, comes up. Frank Osmun, the guidance counselor at the same high school. And most significantly, my father consistently shows up. I believe these three are most prominent because they were in my life at the potentially most vulnerable and impressionable times of my life. I fully believe that without each of them sharing the Unseen Road they saw in me I would not be where I am today.
When I would ask the people you lead, your children or anyone else whose lives you touch, would they readily say your name as one of those they see as a significant contributor to their lives? If not, what will you do to change that? If there are people in your life that made a difference in your life – tell them.
Margaret Cousins wrote – “Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.” And, I once heard Ken Blanchard, the One Minute Manager guru, speak and a few of his words have stuck with me for nearly 20 years. He said, “Good thoughts left in your head mean squat!” I would particularly like to encourage you to share the stories of the impact someone special has had in your life.

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30. March 2009 by Bob.

It was my birthday yesterday; another one gone by, and I sit in a rocking chair (physically, not metaphorically) on a porch of the Virginia G. Piper Writers House, on the campus of Arizona State University. As I continue to explore the burning desire to write I find myself hunting for places to hike to and sit while I contemplate beautiful, amazing things to write and share with the world. This place feels good. I can sit in the sunshine or pick a spot in the shade under the roof-covered porch. I’ve glanced inside a couple of times and wonder how it would be to sit inside and write. Maybe the energy of many words written in this place can energize me to keep chasing the elusive words of my soul. For right now, sitting on the porch feels like the right place to be. I recall sitting on the porch with my grandparent’s years ago watching the world go by. Now I’m a grandparent and looking forward to many hours on the porch with my grandchildren waxing long about the affairs of life.
I write between upward glances to watch students walk by wondering what their stories are and will be. Their whole life sits before them and many will sit in quiet contemplation someday as I do almost 35 years after I was one of these wide-eyed students. Can they even imagine what their lives will bring? A brilliant career? Amazing relationships? A family to share life with? Life lessons to share with others? I could not imagine being 56 years old when I ran around campus in the early 70’s full of life and promise. Nothing seemed to matter then. Today, everything matters.
Today, as another milestone passes by I wonder what the rest of my life brings. I realize that the potential exists that I can be just slightly past half way through. I am still healthy, active and in generally good spirits. I still believe I have lots to offer the world with the time I have left. My good friend, Don Arnoudse, has a coaching company called – Praemia Group (he’s in the Boston area and one of the best, so look him up). He’s a brilliant coach and speaks often about the spirituality in the workplace. He realizes that people of our generation are vital, more energetic than any previous generation and that we can live long and healthy lives, leaving us capable of offering much to the world as we live the second half. These are the thoughts that leave me in a place of awe about what is left to accomplish as I whine about my grey hair (at least I still have some), my ever-softer belly and my aching knees. This is a place where wisdom is born and we can elect to share the wisdom or consider it as folly and keep it to ourselves.
I have another coaching friend named Rick Tamlyn. Rick has a company named - It’s All Made Up. What a brilliant way to look at life! It’s all made up anyhow. If it is, let us all see ourselves as the brilliant human beings we were meant to be. We have boundless wisdom and never ending opportunities to share with the world. As I contemplate these thoughts I consider this birthday to be one of many past and many to come – a halfway point. A wonderful place to be.
It must be between classes again. The campus is filled with students as they move from one class to the next. May all of their lives be full of joy and contentment as they pass from one phase of life to the next and may they all celebrate many birthdays and significant 2nd halves!

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27. March 2009 by Bob.

When my first child started to stumble around the house making her valiant attempts to walk I would hold my hands close to protect her from any potential pitfalls that might harm her.  Fear for her safety kept me close by as she worked her way through this new stage of life.
Imagine if I still did that as a parent. At 30 years old she would still be stumbling around the house trying to walk on her own. My daughter and her husband have recently created a new stage of life for me – grandparenthood. I love how they choose to include us in their lives and share their hopes and dreams as well as our granddaughter. It gives me peace to understand that our children no longer need us but they want us.  I consider this a true testament to love and successful parenting.
Leaders can learn wonderful lessons from parenting. Leaders can measure their greatest success when their people no longer need them but they want them. Letting go continues to be the number one coaching challenge leaders face. I find fear tends to be the prominent reason for not letting go and entrusting others to successfully do the work. Can they do it as well as I can? Can I trust they can do it successfully if I don’t stand over them and watch?  Maybe most importantly, what if they don’t need me anymore?
The greatest measure of a leaders success is when they don’t need you anymore. It’s not how many followers you develop; it’s how many leaders you develop that carries the trophy for successful leadership. Without ‘Letting Go’ a leader will sit in the over laden heap of people occupying the throne of leadership strictly by position only.
When we coach leaders to be more coach-like we ask them to consider the great leaders that impacted them over the years and the qualities these leaders possessed. We continually hear about how they trusted, challenged, coached and offered insights that motivated them to excel, many times beyond their own expectations. We call this the Unseen Road. Great leaders will often see something in us that we can’t even see in ourselves. What are you doing to be one of the names that quickly surfaces when others think of great leaders they have had the pleasure of knowing? If we were to conduct a survey of your people what would they’re honest view be about you?
We once worked with an exciting oil and gas company coaching most of their top leaders. Developing future leadership capability was a key initiative for this client. With aging Baby Boomers occupying most of the top leadership spots they wanted to incent executive leaders to define and develop their eventual successors. The Chief Operating Officer created a program for each member of the executive team that allowed them to take a 60 day paid sabbatical. The only requirement for this option was they had to have identified and developed their successor to a point where the executive could leave and the business run successfully without them. And the COO was the first one to take advantage of the offer. Now that’s a great way to know if you have developed your people to the point that they no longer need you but they want you! A great testament to being a sage leader sits in our actions not our words.
Are your people ready? Are you?

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11. March 2009 by Bob.

On February 9th the Wall Street Journal posted an article titled – “Despite Cutbacks, Firms Invest in Developing Leaders”. The article suggests “Despite layoffs and recession-starved budgets, many employers are investing in leadership-development programs, hoping not to be caught short of strong managers when the economy recovers.”  Bret Furio from Philips Electronics North America said, “Identifying and grooming leaders is important in good times. In times of crisis when the economy is struggling, it’s imperative.”

We have witnessed an increase in the coaching side of our business since this economic downturn has gripped the world, particularly, the relationship coaching work that has become an integral part of our practice. It seems that the issues that were overlooked when we were running hard, making money and being successful, become critical when times get tougher. I spoke with a client just recently on this topic and he agreed with the scenario I painted. He summed it up well by using the metaphor that “a pimple has become a boil!”.
I have enough grey hair to have experienced a couple of recessions. A key learning from any of these previous experiences is that we learn more about ourselves, and those around us, when times become different, particularly, tougher times. The best tests of true leadership show up when our people get scared. And we’re not talking problem solving, doing or project managing skill sets. We’re talking about the ability to have the conversations that are necessary in order to build the relationships that produce the most effective productivity. The Journal article continued on to state “executives believe that without capable managers, their ability to come through the recession in a healthy fashion is diminished.”.
Sage leaders will look at this recession and define it as our new reality, our new economy and our economic reset.  A recent survey by a San Francisco marketing firm revealed some characteristics for these leaders and companies during this time of economic reset:
*They know and value their core strengths.
*They recognize new opportunities quickly.
*They demonstrate flexibility and persistence.
*They show speed in executing plans and strategies.
*They provide extreme customer service.
*They create powerful and vibrant teams.
There is not a better or more necessary time in a company lifecycle than now to lead effectively. Are you stepping up to the plate or are you one of the statistics that contribute to the #1 reason people leave organizations – their manager sucks? It is definitely a time to run with our winners and cut our losers. We need to be dynamic enough to manage this economic reset and come out the other side with a herd of running horses!

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9. March 2009 by Bob.

I was visiting my parents back in January. I don’t see them enough as distance keeps us from regular visits. My father reminded me a few times about the song “Cats In The Cradle” by Harry Chapin and we both shyly commented about how little time I make to visit them in Florida. This is a truth I carry concern about as my parents continue to age.
One added bonus to the visit was I got to see my sister that I haven’t seen in years. She was in the process of moving to Florida from Virginia to be closer to Mom and Dad. And she gave to me a folder she had stored with her for many years. The mangled and discolored booklet contained report cards of mine starting with Kindergarten. I tossed it into my suitcase and forgot about it until I was on the airplane several days later. As I glanced at the first one – the Kindergarten report card – I recalled the book by Robert Fulghum titled “All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten”. Opening it I wondered if there would be any wisdom among the pages that gave me insight to the life lessons I might have learned there. Interestingly enough, there were comments in the very first Marking Period report that seemed life shaping.
The very first report Mrs. Eppler wrote to my parents contained some distinctive words. She said, “Robert has adjusted very nicely to kindergarten life. He is becoming a good listener. Once in a while he forgets and interrupts conversation to talk about something that doesn’t pertain to our discussion; this will improve with time.”
The second Marking Period report of course, faired much better. “Robert is always willing to share with the other children and works with them nicely. I have had to speak with him several times lately about his behavior at the table while eating.”
I smiled quietly to myself as I sat on the plane reading such telling behavior stories that appeared at the tender age of five. It felt like we could take a Report Card from a 1958-1959 school year and place a present day date stamp over the original blue ink on the front page. “Bob is still a very good listener with skills that have been honed over many years since Kindergarten. This has transformed him into a premier executive coach. And yet he stills needs to be reminded when he interrupts coaching conversations with something that doesn’t pertain to the topic at hand. Maybe we can still hope this will improve with time!” Also, “Bob shares well with others and his value around Shared Abundance has proven to be a great gift to himself and others. Now if we could just do something about his table manners!”
It would be a wonderful opportunity to sit with Mrs. Eppler all this many years later and show her what she wrote in my Report Card and the grand example of human behavior that would stand in front of her today. Maybe I would even buy her dinner!

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