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Celebrating spring as the season of renewal

Spring has officially sprung, and with its arrival plants have begin to turn green. That is especially true of the grass growing on lawns around the region. Tht means mowing season also has arrived, and I couldn’t be happier about it. It may sound strange to be excited for the opportunity to perform manual labor, but I really can’t wait mow, trim and manicure my yard. Actually, my brother Larry mowed a portion of our grass on Friday, and I found the smell of the cuttings delightful. It feels as though it has been years, rather than a few months, since I have smelled that fresh ...

Seek first to understand in relationships and in business

Habit Number 5 in Steven Covey’s book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” is Seek First to Understand, Then Be Understood. Living by this principal can be life changing. Almost half of marriages in the USA end in divorce. In their book “Make Love, Make Money, Make it Last” Dr. Willie Jolley and his wife Dee state, “The top three factors that break up marriages are Sex, Money and Communication. Note that COMMUNICAION is the common thread!” Listening is essential for effective communication. Listening is hard because most people want to be heard. Have you ever ...

An American’s impressions of Germany and Iceland

Last Sunday morning at 6 AM Nathan (Shale Crescent USA president), Lynnda and I landed in Frankfurt Germany after a flight from New York City of over seven hours. We flew from Pittsburgh to New York to catch the international flight. Picked up our luggage from the Pittsburgh flight, rechecked it and went back through security for the Germany flight. We had to show our passport to get through security and again when we boarded the plane. After landing we had to show our passport one more time to get into Germany, where we were asked why we were coming to the country and how long we ...

The tantalizing arrival of early spring weather

This is one of my favorite times of the year. No, I don’t love the cold, rainy conditions that Mother Nature is still sending our way from time to time. But I do enjoy the longer days that mean I might make it out of the office before dark once in a while. I revel in the really warm days that are interspersed with more seasonal ones. And I feel a sense of hope and excitement for the warmer weather ahead. Some of the things that make me happy this time of year are pretty simple. I am thrilled that the grass on my lawn is already a deep emerald green. I know that means I’ll need to ...

Silence doesn’t lead to successful collaboration

When Lynnda and I do team building and leadership training, one of the exercises we do is to divide the group into teams. We give each team a 1-pound box of spaghetti and a bag of large marshmallows. Then we instruct them to build a tower as tall as they can in 10 minutes using only the spaghetti and marshmallows. The goal is to have them work together as a team toward a common goal. When finished we measure the height of the tower. We check to see if or who they selected as a leader. Hundreds of teams have built these towers in the last 30 years. Teams of middle, high school and ...

A unique opportunity to visit the Bellaire Bridge

It should come as no surprise to any regular reader of this column that my job sometimes gives me the opportunity to do things that other people just don’t get the chance to do. Such was the case as we prepared the series of stories that has been featured on the front pages of our weekend editions this month. It focuses on the long-closed Bellaire Bridge. Working with Emma Delk, a member of the Wheeling Newspapers’ staff, we were able to examine many aspects of the bridge’s history, ownership and potential future. As part of that effort, we obviously needed to see for ...