Thoughts from the Zeitgeist Irreconcilable Differences We can’t always agree to disagree. When a colleague and I disagree on a plan, decision, or other action, we can generally agree to disagree. Having a difference of opinion is okay. In fact, in an organization that seeks diversity of opinions, academic disciplines, social differences, and cultural backgrounds, some disagreement is useful and should […] Written by BPH December 1, 2021December 1, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Posts You Won't Want to Miss It Takes All Kinds I am thankful for diverse abundance. Many are looking forward to Thanksgiving this year — whether that involves an elaborate meal with family and friends, or something quieter and more personal. Autumn brings a rich array of celebrations based on cultural, religious, and family traditions. If there’s a unifying theme in all of these gatherings, […] Written by BPH November 18, 2021November 18, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Lessons In Leadership Banking on Trust Trust is like a checking account. All leaders need to bank a certain level of trust before they can expect people to jump into the daily fray we call “doing business.” Written by BPH November 15, 2021November 15, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Lessons In Leadership Water Damage You have to get to the source to solve the real problem. Of all the calamities that can befall homeowners, the one I dread most is water damage. In my experience, you often have to incur more destruction to your home — provoking additional, expensive-to-fix repairs — before you can solve the problem. That’s because […] Written by BPH November 3, 2021November 3, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Live In The Time of Quarantine Come Together The incredible rightness of being — live-and-in-person. Have you seen it yet? The electrical current that seems to light the faces of an audience when they are reunited with their tribe after nearly two years of pandemic isolation? Broadway is reopening shows that were abruptly canceled in March of 2020 and audiences and performers alike […] Written by BPH October 14, 2021October 14, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Live In The Time of Quarantine The Wisdom Ratio Solving for x in the new world order. I was thinking the other day about ‘mechanical advantage.’ It’s what we learned about in school as the way to measure the efficiency of such simple machines as levers and pulleys. If it took 100 pounds of pulling power to lift a 600-pound weight with a block […] Written by BPH October 8, 2021October 8, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Live In The Time of Quarantine Unexpressed Expectations = Planned Resentment Recovery begins with a realistic recalibration. There’s a psychological phenomenon that I refer to as “unexpressed expectations = planned resentment.” In all walks of life — social, business, family, recreational — people are disappointed, become angry, and are sometimes disillusioned because an outcome falls short of their hopes and dreams. And they don’t connect their resentment with […] Written by BPH July 28, 2021July 28, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Live In The Time of Quarantine A Good Problem to Have Ramping back up in the new world order. It seems ages since we started having those tough discussions about furloughing our amazing team members. And now we’re approaching summer again. At long last, our clients are talking about the return to in-person live events. That means our leadership team can make plans to ramp up and […] Written by BPH May 26, 2021May 26, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Live In The Time of Quarantine Let’s Play Ball! It’s time for spring training. Maybe it’s spring fever, maybe it’s that second vaccine, but I have this unshakeable feeling that our industry is coming out of a deep thaw. That is good news for everyone. But it’s going to take longer for some businesses to return to action than others. And that means that […] Written by BPH May 17, 2021May 17, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Posts You Won't Want to Miss It All Adds Up To Net Zero I had the privilege of joining with other leaders from the global events industry at COP26 in Scotland to represent industry suppliers who have signed the Net Zero Carbon Events Pledge... Written by BPH November 11, 2021November 11, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Posts You Won't Want to Miss Hitting Pause Sometimes in the race to what’s next we have to let the rest of the world catch up. Have you ever had this experience? You are fast-forwarding through a video to get to the “good part” when you unexpectedly catch a glimpse of something — something interesting, confusing, provoking — and you hit pause. Then, […] Written by BPH September 3, 2021September 3, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Live In The Time of Quarantine Posts You Won't Want to Miss Let’s Do the Work We Love It’s not the vaccine — it’s what it enables. What would you do to keep doing the things you most love to do? I know people who drive past all the nearby BBQ joints to get to the one that gets the sauce just right. Or who pay more for products that don’t exploit workers […] Written by BPH August 19, 2021August 19, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Posts You Won't Want to Miss The Next Big Thing Isn’t Hybrid events are a transition to something better. During the deepest days of the pandemic, we learned that the Number One search query on our Freeman website was “hybrid.” This term had become shorthand for the sort of stop-gap live/virtual event format favored by the industry as it regrouped following pandemic-driven event cancellations. In March […] Written by BPH June 30, 2021June 30, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Posts You Won't Want to Miss This Is My Job Seeing the people who aren’t there. I’m old enough to remember leaders who felt totally justified in dismissing discrimination and other vital social issues as, “not my job.” There was a sense not only of entitlement but actual indignation that these “bleeding-heart” issues should be raised in a business context. The history of American business […] Written by BPH June 7, 2021June 7, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Irreconcilable Differences We can’t always agree to disagree. When a colleague and I disagree on a plan, decision, or other action, we can generally agree to disagree. Having a difference of opinion is okay. In fact, in an organization that seeks diversity of opinions, academic disciplines, social differences, and cultural backgrounds, some disagreement is useful and should […] Written by BPH December 1, 2021December 1, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
It Takes All Kinds I am thankful for diverse abundance. Many are looking forward to Thanksgiving this year — whether that involves an elaborate meal with family and friends, or something quieter and more personal. Autumn brings a rich array of celebrations based on cultural, religious, and family traditions. If there’s a unifying theme in all of these gatherings, […] Written by BPH November 18, 2021November 18, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Banking on Trust Trust is like a checking account. All leaders need to bank a certain level of trust before they can expect people to jump into the daily fray we call “doing business.” Written by BPH November 15, 2021November 15, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
It All Adds Up To Net Zero I had the privilege of joining with other leaders from the global events industry at COP26 in Scotland to represent industry suppliers who have signed the Net Zero Carbon Events Pledge... Written by BPH November 11, 2021November 11, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
