Right Wisdom

Another Friday, another look at festivals. This time I am going to show you three states Minnesota, Maine and Washington. Every week I will choose Minnesota and two other states and highlight a festival in those areas during that particular weekend. Minnesota – More Festivals in Minnesota Highlighted Festival Freedom Fest Type: Community Festivals, Festivals & Events Event Location: Pine County Fairgrounds People of all ages are sure to find something to do during the annual Freedom Fest celebration in Pine City. Organizations across Pine City come together to organize the triathlon, kayak/canoe race, car show, tractor show, children's activities, food booths, community theater show, ventriloquist show, street dance and the fireworks finale. Maine – More Festivals in Maine Highlighted Festival Portland Performing Arts Festival Jun 28 thru Jul 01, 2012. The Portland Performing Arts Festival is a new summer festival presenting nationally-renowned perfo...

I am going to deviate from my normal series to write about the most devastating leadership blunder in history. Today the leaders of this nation took a giant step backward in their efforts to be leaders. The Supreme Court upheld Obama care and thus begins the slide of America into the world of socialism. No longer will we be the home of the free and the brave. Here is why.   Brave leaders take a stand for truth and justice they stand firm on the principles that made this nation great. Being a brave leader doesn’t mean selling the American citizens down the river of tax and spend. Being a brave leader means being able to make the tough choices that will help everyone and not just the select few.   Being a leader who believes in freedom is a leader who will allow the people to have a choice, a choice to decide for ourselves if we want medical coverage or not, a choice to decide what doctor to see and when to see them. Being a leader who believes in freedom is a leader wh...

Saying “no” to another project on your plate takes grace and tact. If your boss comes up to you and asks you to work on a new project or task and you’re already working at capacity., what do you do? Ernie Humphrey wrote a blog article called “ Saying No to Your Boss ”. In the article he gives five approaches an employee can take to say no without coming out and saying no. Be sure to read the article if you have not done so. What I will be doing is taking each of the approaches and dissecting it a bit and also looking at it from the perspective of the boss (leader). The first approach as Mr. Humphrey says is “Level set a request into your current set of priorities”. What this means is to compare that request with the other items on your plate and see how it fits in. If it won’t fit, address this issue with your boss. What happens if your boss says “well you will have to make it work”. Then you might have to move on to the second approach to saying no. From a leadership perspect...

I read an interesting article today that explained how someone could say no to your boss. You might think this is an odd thing to write about in a leadership blog but it serves two purposes. First it will help all of you leaders find the courage and ability to say no so you don’t have to keep taking on more and more duties or projects. It will also help you from a leadership perspective to be able to understand when one of your employees starts to use these techniques on you then you know what to expect. That doesn’t mean that you immediately thwart their efforts. Instead you will be better prepared to listen and offer suggestions. “SayingNo to Your Boss” is the blog article by Ernie Humphrey. Today I am just introducing the article and giving all my readers a chance to read the article. It lists five approaches you can take toward saying no to your boss. I will then unpack those five items and put my own personal spin on how you can use it as a leader and how you use it as a foll...

I had a great idea of what I wanted to write about and then I bellied up to the computer and promptly forgot. Then as I was watching an episode of “Storage Wars” and I thought of something to write about. By that time it was too late to stay up and write so I thought I would take care of that today. I am also starting a new Sunday blog that I will begin today. What I have always wanted to do is attend and participate in a Civil War reenactment. I think it would be fun and educational to be part of this type of experience. In researching this I actually found a website “ Civil War Traveler ” that gives you all the events in the country that relate to the civil war. It has everything from living histories, lectures, tours and even high tea with the women of Gettysburg. There is something for everyone. I found one that is coming up next weekend. Of course when I go to one of these I will have to plan ahead because there aren’t too many in Minnesota. I would like to participate in one...

For festival Friday today I am going to let you do the looking. Of course I will try to make it easy for you by providing some quality information for you. Here is how this will work. I am going to highlight three festivals, one from Minnesota one from Colorado and one from Massachusetts. I will also provide a link for each of the sites I used so you can do some further searching if the one I highlight isn’t to your liking. Minnesota: This is my home and it is crawling with festivals or events every weekend. Here is one I found that takes place every Saturday on one of the most beautiful rivers around. Wine and Chocolate or cheese cruise: This is the wording from the festival information Enjoy fine chocolate or cheese and wine from a local winery, Winehaven, and a romantic dinner at sunset aboard one of our authentic paddlewheel riverboats on the Scenic St. Croix River. This festive three hour cruise also includes a narrated scenic tour of the valley, live music, cash bar, and r...

It’s possible that you have heard the term “bench strength”. This term refers to those future leaders in your company, those who are being groomed to take over when the other leaders leave. A company should have great bench strength and be willing to think outside the box when it comes to promoting leaders and moving them up the ladder. But it isn’t as easy as just promoting people they have to be ready. In baseball teams don’t promote players from triple A to the majors unless they are ready. If they do it sometimes takes longer for the player to catch on and it will hurt the team. How is your bench strength? Is your company grooming your next leaders or do you have to go outside the company to get the talent you need? As a leader you have to prepare your people to succeed you as leader. You have to ready them or they will leave. What are some things you can do as a leader to make sure they are ready to be the next leader? ·          Toda...

Have you ever heard the phrase “it’s not my fault”? Maybe you have even said it a few times. It seems as if there is a prevailing sense that people no longer want to take responsibility for their actions. People will find an excuse for everything. If they are late it is because of traffic. That may very well be the case but people need to allow extra time. It is better to get there early then late. If you are a leader you even have more responsibility. You need to make sure the image you convey is one of honesty and integrity. You need to take responsibility for your actions. Leaders are also trying to pass the buck. They end up passing it down to one of their own people. This really makes the leader look bad. As a leader it is your responsibility to know what your people are doing and to also make sure they understand what is expected of them. If they screw up then you should be the one to take the heat. You should be the one telling others that it is your fault; you didn’t trai...

Father’s day is a tough day. It is difficult for two reasons. The first is that my father is gone so it is a day that I can look back on the times I had with my dad, though I will be unable to spend any time with him until I see him in heaven. Those times I remember are always good. My dad worked very hard to provide for his family. Ever since I can remember he worked two jobs. Despite him working two jobs he still had time to spend with me. I remember as a child riding in the car with him to the post office and bank every Sunday night. We would sing and talk together, I really cherished those days. He also instilled a positive work ethic and in my adulthood I saw a strong spiritual side to my dad. I remember as he got close to the end of his time on earth he didn’t pray for himself but prayed for all of his grandkids. He loved his kids and he loved his grandkids. The second reason it is tough is because of my kids. I have five and I love each of them so much.   The younger thre...

How many of you love to go treasure hunting? How many of you love to go bargain hunting? Or maybe you like to make a little money. A great way to find those treasures and those bargains is to attend a garage sale or a flea market. A way to make money is to hold one yourself or sell you wares at a flea market. Craft sales, garage sales and flea markets abound during the weekends. You can’t drive down a street without seeing a garage sale sign. The trick is to find the garage sale with the hidden treasure. My wife’s aunt seems to have a knack for finding garage sales that have great items.   Who knows you may even find a hidden treasure that you can take to Antique Road Show or Pawn Stars and get some serious cash. I enjoy going to flea markets and garage sales but I don’t go to near enough that I would like to. You have to set aside almost a full morning on a Saturday to hit as many that you would like so it makes it worth your while. The best time to go is on a Thursday mornin...

Every weekend during the summer in Minnesota you can find a festival to attend. Last week I started Festival Friday in which I will try to highlight festivals to attend for the weekend. If you don’t live in Minnesota that is okay there are probably just as many festivals in your state during the summer. Just go on-line and look for the ones that you are interested in. Last weekend I highlighted Music Festivals and classic car shows. With most festivals there is some type of music but the true music festivals will get the big headliners. Many communities will create festivals that rally around something that is special to their community. Cottage Grove has their Strawberry festival this weekend.   There is the Steamboat days in Wadena, the Judy Garland Festival in Grand Rapids, Tater Daze in Brooklyn Park and many more. Many of the northern communities center their festivals around the mythical Minnesota lumberjack, Paul Bunyan. Pick your festival and attend. Maybe your co...

  Have you ever gone on an interview or met someone for the first time? What impression do you leave with those people? Do you leave an impression of confidence, knowledge and positive attitude? Leaders are always leaving an impression, some are good and some are bad. Some leave impressions with customers so leave it with coworkers and others with their employees. It is important that leaders are leaving a positive impression with everyone they come in contact with. Just like the athlete, politician or actor, leaders are under a microscope and the impression they leave leaves a lasting impression on the minds of those around them. There are three things you as a leader can do to ensure that you have left yourself with a positive lasting impression on those you come in contact with.   Attitude – You need to have a positive attitude about everything. Even in the grimmest of circumstances you need to stay positive. You need to find the positive in everything you work o...

One of the most difficult but important things a leader must do is to make those tough decisions. Sometimes those decisions will not sit well with some people other times the decision will be met with confrontation. Leaders need to be able to make those tough decisions and stand by those decisions. An example is making a decision to downsize and having to let people go. I have been involved in a number of company buyouts where the company I worked for was purchased and a majority of us were let go. It is a tough decision for those companies to make and the employees are always upset. Another example is the decision you might make as a parent to move your family. Uproot them to a different location. It never sits well with the kids especially if they are teenagers. Just like companies downsize this tough decision has to be made and people have to live with it. What can you do as a leader to make sure those affected by your decision can make the transition smoothly? Here are some ide...

If you have been a regular follower of my blog you know that I am currently doing a leadership series on leadership legends. I will continue to do that series but it will be one that I will occasionally write. I am stepping away from it to write about other leadership topics. I could spend the rest of my time adding people to the legends of leadership circle. If you know of anyone who you would like to see spotlighted as a leadership legend please let me know who to contact so I can interview them and get them in the spotlight on my blog. Have you ever realized that despite your best efforts to step away from your leadership duties you find yourself pulled back in. Maybe you find yourself taking on leadership roles in your child’s activities. Maybe you are taking on a leadership role in areas you never thought you would. Leadership is a constant thing. You may be a leader at home even though you would prefer to relax and do nothing. You may find yourself delegating chores, b...

Today I continue my Leadership Legends series. There are a number of people that could easily be put into the legends of leadership category. I would like to get nominations from my readers for people I could interview and put into the Leadership Legends club. Today we are going back in time a bit, back to the 19 th and early 20 th century to find a woman who had a long desire to make an impact in her world. In a time when women were relegated to housework and raising a family this woman had other thoughts and dreams. Jane Addams was born in 1860 and died in 1935 and her resume and accomplishments were great. She was a pioneer in the women’s suffrage movement. Resume: Charter Member of the American Sociological Society First American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize National Chairman of the women’s peace party President of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Accomplishments: Started Hull House The first settlement house in the United ...

Taking a one day break on my leadership blog to blog about sports on my sport blog. Please check it out. Sports Short Shot . Follow me there as well. I blog on that one when I have something to say about sports.

Have you ever reminisced about your first car? Have you ever dreamed about owning a car from a bygone era? What is it about those cars that make them so appealing? One of the many Festivals you can find in almost any community throughout the United States is a classic car show. Not always a festival but a great time to enjoy looking at some great looking cars. Some of these classic car shows are held in parking lots of local establishments. In fact a few years ago I took my family to Culvers in Anoka Minnesota and there in the parking lot were 20-25 classic cars that you could stroll by and look at. You even got to talk to the owners of those cars. Classic cars are an interesting phenomenon. You buy a new car and the value decreases the more you drive. If you can keep that car in pristine condition and even restore part of it you can increase the value after a number of years. A 1970  skylark (not mine but similar) If I still had my first car in mint condition it would ...

If you have been following my blog you know that it is about leadership but on the weekends write about fun things to do. I like to call it leisureship. Summer is here and part of the fabric of America is that on any given weekend during the summer you can find a festival to your liking. During the summer as part of my ongoing leisureship series I will point out some festivals. I will be writing about the ones primarily in Minnesota but regardless of where you live you can find a festival that will be similar. Music festivals are one of the highlights of summer festivals and you can find one that suits your style anywhere and almost any weekend. How do you find what festival to attend. There is a website my wife found that lists the top 50 festivals in the United States. One of the biggest and most famous festivals to occur in the United States was Woodstock. A big music festival going on this weekend in Manchester Tennessee, you still have time to attend, is the Bonnaroo Music ...

A legend with reference to people are those who inspire a legend or become famous enough to have legendary fame. Leadership Legends are those leaders who are famous for doing something great in the area of leadership. They are or were leaders in their fields and trailblazers when it comes to innovation. Yesterday I listed Ronald Reagan as my first person on my Leadership Legend list. Today is a man who died late last year at the age of 56 but his legend lives on in his innovative products and his remarkable marketing technique. This person is former Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Resume: ·          Started Apple Computers ·          Became CEO of Apple ·          Started his own company NeXT Inc ·          Purchased Pixar ·          Become CEO of Apple part 2 Accomplishments...

Today is my first entry into my Leadership Legends group. I thought of trying to avoid politics because that is easy pickings because you have a lot of people to choose from.   However my first entry is from the world of politics and also from the world of entertainment. This person died 8 years ago yesterday at the age of 93. This man was the 40 th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan. How this series works is that I give you the person resume highlighting leadership roles they were in and then looking at accomplishments. Resume: ·          Elected as Student body president at Eureka College ·          Served as President of the Screen Actors Guild ·          Climbed to the rank of Captian during World War II ·          Served as Governor of California ·       ...

I am going to start a new series on leadership. It is called leadership legends. I would like to over a period of five days look at some legendary leaders. People who were on the cutting edge of leadership. People who changed the way people think about leadership and the way we view leaders today. I need your help. I would like suggestions on who I should use for the legends of leadership. I want this to be you finding those people who have shaped the face of leadership. I believe that each and everyone of us are leaders there is something in our life that helps us be leaders. You might not be a leader in your job but maybe you are at home. Maybe you lead a group at church or your child's sports team. Whatever it is we all need those role models, those legends that we look to so we leader Find me those leaders. Sure I can come up with some. I already have some in mind but I want you to have a voice in this. Who do you know that falls into the category of a legend of leadershi...

Today I decided to blog on my Sport Blog . Check out the leaders on that blog e back tomorrow on this blog examining leadership. Today read about the connection between the three no hitters thrown in baseball and the Minnesota Twins.

Are you one of those people who mow their lawn every two days? Maybe one of your neighbors is that person. I have mowed my lawn twice this year. Pretty scary! I actually enjoy mowing my lawn but I can't really do it in an evening after work. It takes too long and we have a lot of family commitments to attend to. The weekends this season have been wrought with rain so I have only mowed twice. I think my neighbors were starting to talk but I got it done today. I enjoy the smell of new mowed lawn and I love relaxing afterward in a chair in the yard admiring the finished lawn. It is a great escape for people to spend their weekend manicuring their lawn and making sure it looks just right. My lawn isn't the best kept, I don't have it professionally sprayed or professionally manicured. However, when it is mowed it looks nice and I like sitting in the yard. I have a lot of trees in my yard so they create a canopy and nothing beats relaxing in a chair after mowing the lawn un...

Today my wife and I took our son to the Blaine Anoka County Airport for a special Aviation days event.   My son has been telling everyone he wants to be an astronaut when he gets older. If he wants to fly a rocket he will have to fly an airplane. He loves airplanes and he wanted his picture taken next to each of the planes we saw. If you have been following my blog with regularity you would know that every weekend I spend the time looking at what I call leisureship. Ways that leaders (actually anyone) can escape for the weekend. One of those ways is to spend it at an air show or an aviation appreciation day as we did. It was a very good time we saw some old airplanes we even watched some take off. My son really enjoyed himself as he ran from airplane to airplane looking at the propellers and the wings. He even got up close to a US Army helicopter that had a mounted machine gun. My son and I in front of one of the planes There were Navy planes, Mail planes, planes from ...

Social networking and social media is all the craze. Almost everyone is linked, tweeting, friending or joining circles. Social networking has allowed leaders to expand their networking quicker and become more strategic in who they network with. It has also allowed people to communicate to a wider audience and sometimes even a strategic audience. While social networking isn’t a new technology the way we are networking is new. Utilizing websites like Facebook , Twitter, Linkedin and others have helped people connect with long lost friends and relatives. It has also helped people network for jobs and business opportunities. Small businesses can connect to potential customers in ways they never used to be able to do. Today I am comparing leadership with the three networking sites. What type of social networking leader are you?   If you are a Linkedin Leader you are very professional. You like to keep your networking to professional people only. You also conduct business very p...