Jason's Blog

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a volunteer appreciation dinner event for Habitat for Humanity in my community.  During our dinner, we were treated to some dinner entertainment provided by a volunteer, a staff member and a Habitat homeowner.  The...

Last night, we decided to give my two year old son, Colton, a haircut.  Fortunately, he's a kid that looks good with a buzz cut because that's the only haircut we know how to make happen.  So, in preparation, I went to the closet and pulled out the old hair...

One of my favorite bands of all time is Aerosmith.  They were at their peak popularity as I grew I up, so their music is woven into my history.  In my teens, I sat in my bedroom with my electric guitar practicing the guitar lick from the beginning of Love in...

One of the lessons I was taught early on in my career was to always remember, "it's not personal, it's business."  It was well intended advice that generally comes in handy whenever a nasty customer rears their head or you get in a major disagreement with a...

Earlier this week, I wrote about design and how design is a powerful tool in leadership.  By coincidence, a day later, I was writing about conferences over on the Talent Anarchy blog.  Conferences provide a great example of the power of design....

Irish Car Bomb CupcakesToday's fun fact that you may not know about me is that I'm married to a pastry chef.  My wife works in the art of desserts, but lately she's been focused on cupcakes since cupcakes are hot right now.  One of the cool things that...

The way we work is changing pretty radically.  We all know that because we are smack dab in the middle of the change.  We feel it every day. But, the interesting thing about how work is changing is that the places where the majority of work is done (corporations) seem...

Last week, I had the opportunity to hear Bruce Mau speak about design.  It was an opportunity to hear someone speak who is clearly much smarter than the rest of us and has turned his amazing brain towards both creating works of beauty and teaching people how to...

Like many change agents, I'm infatuated with better.  My eyes are always focused on what's next and I rarely celebrate what is.  In fact, when it comes to evaluating the present, I spend most of my time recognizing what's wrong, what needs to change....

I've always found that one of the best places to develop leadership skills (particularly early in your career) is in the practice of volunteerism and community service.  If you want to learn if you can lead, raise your hand to lead a group of volunteers to...

When I was a kid, my mom made me take piano lessons for a couple of years.  I hated piano lessons.  I had no desire to learn to play the piano.  I was not motivated in any way to get better at playing piano.  But, I was made to do it, nonetheless....

Is the glass half empty, half full, or twice as large as it needs to be?  – Source UnknownIf you do not tell the truth about yourself, you cannot tell it about other people.  – Virginia WoolfFailure is the condiment that gives success its flavor. – Truman...

Dear Everyone,This letter is to anyone who uses or reads blogs and social media sites and the companies for whom you work.  Sadly, it seems that we've all taken leave of our common sense and it's causing some ridiculousness in the interweb.  Over the past...

It's Valentine's Day.  Such an interesting tradition that we subject ourselves to every year. It is the one day of the year that probably produces more angst than any other despite the seemingly noble intention of the day.  I've heard Valentine's Day often...

Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress. – Alfred A. Montapert, American AuthorOver the past eight months, I've been working through the transformation from corporate executive to bootstrapping entrepreneur....

One powerful way that we can be catalysts for change in the world is to look for and support those around us who are taking risks and making bold moves in their own quest for change.  When you are a change agent, it's easy to get tunnel vision and focus only on...

Last night, as we watched Madonna's halftime show conclude at our super bowl gathering with friends, we had the discussion that was happening everywhere around America: was it a good or bad halftime show? My friend Joe, who had pulled out his phone, was checking the...

For some reason, today I'm feeling a little reflective and thankful.  So, I'm going to take a break for one post form my usual rantings to spend a moment appreciating the awesome power of technology. My compulsion is to live my life like it's the amazing race....

Words are important.  And as we become increasing submerged in social media, instant messaging blogging, and email as primary forms of communication, the importance of words is becoming amplified.  The less we communicate face to face, or even voice to...

I wrote last week about some brand development work I've been doing.  Part of that process involved asking people who have experienced me and my work to provide me some feedback on what makes me unique, what they appreciate about my work.  One of the things...

If you follow my blog regularly, you probably know that I also blog with my colleague, Joe Gerstandt, over at the Talent Anarchy blog.  Lately, we've been discussing work and why, in our opinions, it doesn't seem to be working.  A few weeks ago, Joe asked...

I've been doing a lot of introspection over the past several months.  Making the transition from a corporate HR executive to HR Consultant and speaker requires some pretty serious mindset shifts. Through this process, one question keeps coming up for me to focus...

One of my favorite blogs is PsyBlog: Understand your Mind.  Since I believe that one of the best practices of a leader or human resources pro is to study people and why we do what we do, a blog that regularly presents interesting research into how our mind works...

It's the time of year where I watch an awful lot of sports (at least as much as my schedule and my family will allow).  While watching a basketball game this weekend and thinking about the experiences my high school freshmen son is having with basketball this...

One of the things I've always said is one of my skills is the ability to make big, messy mistakes.  I participated in a starter marriage that lasted 18 months.  I wrote a business plan about a decade ago that I spent near 2 years pitching to angel investors...

Wow have we screwed up the practice of management within our organizations.  I'm not sure when it happened or how it happened, but along the way we decided that our job as managers was to increase the comfort of our employees and to take away any discomfort they...