You can tell a lot about a person from their eyes. It’s not specifically their eyeballs so much as the muscles around those eyeballs. A slight raising of an eyebrow, tension along the sides. It speaks volumes. Pair it with body language and you have a wealth of information sitting in a single picture.
This weekend, I got to study tons of eyes. That sounds creepy. Before you picture piles of eyeballs in jars (oops, too late!), let me tell you they were paintings at the National Portrait Gallery. The presidents in particular were intriguing. Last year, I finished a fascinating book about the presidents and their personalities (Personality, Character, and Leadership in the White House). Armed with snippets of personality info, I studied the portraits.
One by one, I stood in front of the presidents, seeking to know them. (more…)
Confession: Yesterday I tore a page out of a book.
I’ve never done that before. I’ve never even dog-eared a page. I try to keep everything as new as possible. If I could make things look newer than when I got them, I would. I’m the person you want to lend books to, because I can promise there won’t be a single wrinkle in those pages when you get it back.
So what was it that compelled me to rip a page? It wasn’t anger. There was nothing wrong with the book. But I tore in the name of craftiness. (more…)
Good is the enemy of great. That is the line that begins one of the best management books (“Good to Great” by Jim Collins)Â I’ve read over the course of my master’s program, and it sparked many interesting class discussions.
On the surface, the statement seems absurd. How could good be a negative thing? Isn’t bad the enemy of great? We can easily imagine the two locked in an epic battle, bad trying to pull us down and keep us from achieving great.
But sometimes what keeps is from reaching the extraordinary is not a force of evil. Sometimes it’s good. (more…)