Matt Paknis Leadership Development

Happy Holidays! The Given: As I approached my Providence property last week, I saw a familiar site. Our neighbor, Donald, was working in the front of his house. This time, he was shoveling snow, clearing the foot dumped on Southern New England Thursday. A few months back, he was cutting full Cedar Trees, Rhododendrons, Mountain Laurel, and Boxwoods; landscaping to make his home more open to prospective buyers. The Doubt: Donald will be 98 in February. I try to visit him every week, to get a dose of his positive human potential. This week, he was baking chocolate chip cookies. Every time I visit, his daily paper is ruffled. He rifles through the information and reflects on the good and bad in the world. Donald is a positive deviant. He bucks the negative trends and maladies facing this nation’s aging population. Average male life expectancy in the United States 75.2 years. He maintains his own home and lives independently. He’s in excellent physical, mental, emotional, spi...

A Thriving Team Story – Goetz Custom Boats Happy Holidays! The previous two blogs highlighted personal (Bernie’s) resiliency factors and positive interpersonal (Coach Monica’s) influencing skills. Discussing organizational success factors seems to follow naturally, so this month’s article is about team Goetz. Eric Goetz and I met while he attended the Brown University Practice of Management Certificate Program I helped develop and teach. It ran between 1994 and 2006. After he completed the fifty hour long program, Eric became a guest speaker and now visits and presents his company’s case to universities where I guest lecture. I also sit on Eric’s advisory board. So, please enjoy the following. You are encouraged to share your thoughts and recommendations. They will be forwarded to Eric. Following the case are tools and theories we used, in part, to help Eric. These are included to benefit you. If I can help you apply them to your organization, please let me know. Also, if y...