About once a month I climb into my 2005 silver Sable and drive the 75 minutes to Troy, Michigan to meet with my Community of Learners colleagues. The half-day gathering always begins with hugs (at least from those of us who are regulars), something nourishing (or decadent) to eat, and a warm welcome to any and all newcomers. As we check in [...]

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This past weekend, I picked up a ”Who I Am” and ”Why I Am Here” story that just I couldn’t put down. The title, Make the Impossible Possible (2007) first caught my eye. It’s the story of Bill Strickland and his organization, Manchester Bidwell, a jobs training and community arts program located in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Pittsburgh. Having been deeply inspired as a high school [...]

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According to authors Richard Maxwell and Robert Dickman in The Elements of Persuasion, there are two things everyone in business does every day. “We all sell something – our products, our services, our skills, our ideas, our vision of where the business is going – and we tell stories.  We sell things because that is [...]

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