Lead with kindness and see heroic results.
A Fable about Apple Trees. The Apple Orchard There once was a small apple sapling. He dreamed of being a big healthy tree. He loved how the other big healthy apple trees looked with their bright red apples sparkling when the sun slid in and out of the clouds. Eventually, this sapling grew into a fruit bearing …
Kill Them With Kindness Shouldn't Be 'Moral Revenge.' Kill them with kindness, is often used with a tone of 'moral revenge.' Many people use it when you can't stand a person, you want to get even, but your morals prevent you from doing bad things to them.So, you decide you'll try to drive them crazy …
Continue reading "Kill Them With Kindness: What Dolly Parton Can Teach Leaders About Forgiveness"
The theme park world is facing some very heavy challenges right now. In this post-pandemic world, theme parks are experiencing drops in attendance, higher than normal employee turnover, employee burnout, guests with high expectations and frustrations, reduced guest perks, short staff, reduced attractions, and in some cases reduced food and beverage stations. These are some …
Continue reading "Why Theme Parks Need Leadership Training On Kindness"
"Experiencing Loss Doesn't Mean You're Alone." A lesson about Batman.
In 1863 two ships wrecked on the same Auckland island nearly 300 miles south of New Zealand. Neither ship knew about each other and never discovered each other even though they were only 18 miles apart. One crew of 5. One crew of 25. The crew of 25 kept an 'every man for himself' attitude. …
Continue reading "What Two Shipwrecks Teach Us About Teamwork"
This is James Neal.He kept a coupon by the register to give people $5 off. It was 7:45AM. I was not very awake. I stopped at Walgreens to get a few things before heading into work. I lined up to check out. That's when I witnessed a very cool and kind person. James Neal was …
Continue reading "How Much Does It Cost To Be Kind? Is There A Coupon For That?"
Thanksgiving is upon us! You've probably already finished all your grocery shopping. You probably have all of your plans all set.Do you have a tradition specifically about how you handle the 'thanks - giving?' Or perhaps I should word it as 'the giving of the thanks?'I've been a part of Thanksgivings where thanks were given …
Continue reading "This Thanksgiving Give Thanks Directly To People"
So excited to wear my UT anti-bullying shirt. Florida teacher, Laura Snyder spotted one of her students upset on college colors day. This young boy didn't have a University of Tennessee shirt to wear, so he had made his own. It consisted of an orange shirt with his own hand-drawn logo on a piece of …
Continue reading "Too Much Kindness Crashed The UT VolShop Site"
At the Old Lahaina Luau in Maui. Caldwell Honeymoon 2012. It was April 2017, time to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. We were blessed with a four year old and a one year old so we couldn't go far for our celebration but I wanted to be thoughtful and romantic. Since we had honeymooned in …
Continue reading "How Customer Service Saved Our Marriage (Or At Least Our 5th Anniversary)"
Empowering Kindness 