Leap Year Lesson #324: Animals Are People, Too

Animals lovers everywhere feel pain when their pets hurt.  That's how it is for me tonight as I watch my 2.5 year old Border Collie/Lab mix Callie following minor surgery today to remove her front dewclaws. For the last couple of weeks, she has repeatedly torn one after snagging it on carpet or something else …

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Leap Year Lesson #321: Be a Multiplier, Not a Diminisher

Yesterday I finished reading the book Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman.  The book discusses leadership styles and practices along the continuum of being a multiplier versus a diminisher.  In short, multipliers are "genius makers and bring out the intelligence in others.  They build collective, viral intelligence in organizations," whereas …

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Leap Year Lesson #317: Don’t Shoot the Messenger; You Might Miss the Message

Most of us don't like being the bearer of bad news.  On the contrary, we would rather be associated with the verse from the prophet Isaiah: "How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news" (Isaiah 52:7) - a verse repeated by Paul in Romans 10:15.  The positive image brings …

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Leap Year Lesson #314: Be a Safe Place for Others

You've probably seen one of the yellow and black diamond "Safe Place" signs on businesses and other locations.  The one shown here is their latest logo.  It is the symbol for National Safe Place - a youth outreach organization that educates youth about threatening situations and seeks to provide safe shelters for youth in crisis.  …

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