One of the very best ways to train, educate and develop people is to be a great role model.

Happy New Year Everyone

Well am I glad to see 2008 on the way out. This has been a rough year for just about everyone. My wife and I started off celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary, but she was not there because she had a health problem, so we had the party without her in Napa Valley and she participated by phone. We had to go ahead and have it since we had invited friends from all over the world. It turned out great and she was glad we did it.

In August she had elective surgery which did not turn out well and she almost died on August 13. She is in recovery and doing pretty well now. I was her nurses 24/7 which left me with some pretty high anxiety especially after her 4th visit to the hospital and spending 52 days there, but we got through it and are closer than ever and thank God for every day we have together.

Then the market crashed and really stressed me out but we have now adjusted to that too and are optimistic about the future of America. I just hope we get better leaders running companies so that this sort of thing never happens again. The greed we have seen is scary.

I received a nice note from a minister today and have received several from pastors recently about my book and the impact it has made on them and their congregations. 

The new year is right around the corner which is an excellent time to start getting organized. Everyone is going to have to do more with less next year with this economy we are in.This is the time that you want to have a reputation for being organized and reliable as companies decide who to keep and who to layoff.

I know we are in a deep recession and most financial investments are way down but what about your other investments? How are they doing?

Forget the past and focus on the future.

I received this advice this week and wanted to share it with you. Especially during these tough times we are in we all need to show a little more common courtesy. Everyone is insecure right now and worried about so many things. Be a great leader and don't forget how important the small gestures are.