There is a lovely passage in Arthur Mills’ Death of a Salesman that will answer this question for you. The protagonist in the play, Willy Loman, was visiting a former neighbor, now a flourishing attorney, essentially looking for a handout. While waiting, he catches up with the attorney’s son.. Finally, the attorney ushers his client […]

The nature of my personality is to be controlling, and if I see a situation that needs help, I want to be the person to get involved and make things better.  With family members I want everyone to prosper and I want to see them integrate in every way they can.  What I’ve learned is […]

I don’t hold grudges but once I determine that someone has a flawed character, is selfish or creating havoc, I usually think why should I bother reevaluating. If they change, that’s great, but why should I spend time being part of that person’s process. Once I’ve decided their character is wrong, I don’t have anything […]

I think it is very important to be choice-full with your friendships not who is there. A measure of friendship is two things I believe: 1) Do you become a better person by spending time with this person, and 2) Are they people that in many ways you would like to become. I am drawn […]

If you look at my close friends, they span a socio-economic line from someone who is just above the poverty line to someone who is uber wealthy. Several of my close friends are guys I’ve known since the 1950’s. They are not financially successful by any stretch, but they have cared about my family and […]

I think what’s important, whether in business or personal, is accepting people for who they are and not who you want them to be. There are certain people I know that are unbelievably arrogant and I know that about them. So when I deal with them, I already know that that’s who they are, and […]

We have a saying at Acumen: “assume goodness.” When you are dealing with people across the globe in a busy environment, it’s really easy to assume after you’ve called three times and not heard back that they don’t want to hear from you. Instead, consider that there may be a very good reason for their […]

You’ve got to be there for them from the time they arrive in your life so you understand them, but most of all so you don’t miss the joy of seeing them grow and develop. You can’t just all of a sudden decide one day that you are going to start spending a lot of […]

I’ve learned that you cannot impose your will on others. I think it’s very difficult to do this and be happy. It is burdensome. I’ve had some employees with serious problems in their lives, many of which would be easy to point out and tell them how they were going about things wrong. I try […]

I think you have to communicate so that what you’re giving is not your advice; it’s the advice that they think is the right thing for them. If you follow, the advice has to come from them, the idea has to come from you. I try to transport that idea so that they think they […]