Our dog, Cody, may be small in size, but he carries the demeanor of a big dog. He’s amiable, but he doesn’t tolerate rough handling. Last summer, Cody had a heated encounter with our neighbor’s dog, Chino. I’m unsure whether Cody or Chino started it, but they’ve been sworn enemies ever since. As a result, when we see Chino go for a walk, my neighbor or I have to cross the street to ensure the two dogs don’t get too...

I’ve been conducting several Strength Workshops recently. It seems to have many leaders and organizations are coming to see the value of focusing on their team member’s gifts. My journey into the world of strengths began with a fortuitous encounter at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. While pursuing my doctorate, I crossed paths with Don Clifton, a professor in the Psychology Department. Don posed a simple but profound question: What if we shifted our focus from looking at what is wrong...

As a graduate student at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, I was the evaluator for a federal grant, working with educators implementing the newly passed Title IX legislation. We met for two summers over two weeks. When we began our sessions, the administrators sat in the front, the counselors sat in the middle, and the coaches sat in the back. The coaches spent much of those first few days reading their newspapers. One of my evaluation approaches was to...

We found it hidden in my mother’s closet when we cleaned her apartment after she died. The summary of legal findings from the State of New York Supreme Court determining the resolution of my grandmother’s estate. The document was filled with the painful memories my parents harbored as they watched their family business and relations dissolve.  The family business, Charles Citrin and Sons, which had supported five different families, blew up over the inability of the next generation to find...

I am inspired this week by a beautiful essay by Esau McCaulley in the New York Times on how “poverty is the great thief of time.” He shares how his mother worked the overnight shift at Chrysler, meaning that friends and family cared for him and his siblings. Her dedicated hard work brought success for her kids but at the cost of time spent with them. Even as McCauley found success as a writer and speaker, he still finds himself...