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How to Get Closure

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Ah, the dictionary’s most dreaded seven-letter word, defined thusly: “noun. A permanent end of business. Barring of access. A sense of finality.” Real life’s definition is never so simple. Real life defines closure as something we do to others before they do it to us, on a full sprint en route to running and hiding. […]

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Thrivers, Survivors, and Chevrolet Drivers

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Every sales organization has three categories of reps: Thrivers, Survivors, and Chevrolet Drivers. Thrivers are star performers, few in number but consistently great year after year. Survivors are low-performers. The majority of salespeople sell somewhere in between; they are Chevrolet Drivers, good reps who fill the anthill shaped center of the sales performance bell curve. […]

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Real Stuff vs. Invisible Stuff

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I just got back from a trip to Jacksonville, Florida and Hilton Head, South Carolina. I was in Florida for meetings about a consulting job and movie financing but Hilton Head was more important; I drove there from Florida to help my daughter Gracie pass the final two days of spring break since her sorority […]

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Speedy Boyfriends

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There is an adage about how to make a million in the horse business that’s more true today than ever before. “Start with a billion dollars … and stay in.” Racing has turned billionaires into millionaires and millionaires into working men but it’s still a fun way to lose money. Sort of like owning your […]

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Hurt People

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In a recent column I mentioned a mass shooting by a co-worker in Honolulu while I was still working with Xerox.  The shooter, Byran Uyesugi, was a service technician who fixed machines. The men he killed were his teammates, fellow technicians. The massacre occurred at the start of a team meeting on November 2, 1999. […]

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The 2010 Oscars

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Two things quickly before passing out invisible statues: 1) My favorite film of the year “500 Days of Summer” should have been recognized; and 2) By far the greatest acting performance of 2009 is buried in unfair anonymity. British actor Tom Hardy’s spellbinding work in a tiny indy film called “Bronson” was miles beyond the […]

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The Psychology of Progress: “Throw Down the Bones!”

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One of the best pieces of advice I’ve received in the last few years came from Steve Moore, the great cartoonist who draws the daily sports panel “In the Bleachers.” If you aren’t familiar with his work, make sure to visit gocomics.com/inthebleachers and take a look. Day in, day out Moore is as good as […]

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Why I Walked Away

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Twenty years seems a long time. Then again it’s less than the blink of an eye since the earth is 4.6 billion years old. Too bad we insist on making it show its age. I have earned a buck many ways since the tragic day my parents halted the allowance gravy train: Fur trapper → […]

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Pole Dancing in the Olympics?

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With the Winter Games winding down in the blink of an eye it will be time to refocus on London and the Summer Games of 2012. A couple days ago I was reading the paper when my wife interrupted with news that pole dancing is being pushed as a new Olympic sport. I laughed and […]

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