“When the competitive urge gets so great, it is difficult to embrace a code of ethics… The moral dilemmas begin to seem as a barrier – rather than a guide – to effective lawyering.”
Charles Ogletree in I’Ve Known Rivers: Lives of Loss and Liberation by Sara Lawrence Lightfoot

Competition holds an important place in our culture. Kids are encouraged to participate on sports teams for the athletics of it, for the comradery of it, and for the experience of winning and losing.

When the third of those reasons takes first place, it seems we forget that the other two even exist.

Win-at-any cost fosters bullying among children who grow to be bullying bosses, spouses and, dare I use the word, friends. It doesn’t just affect lawyering but also any other pursuit.

Know at the core what is important to you. For me, it’s respect. Competition and respect are not mutually exclusive. But they do support the joy of athletics and comradery.

I am sorta torn about how exactly to do a blog. I mean should it be all coaching based and, therefore, be like so much else “content” on the web? Should it be made up my personal rants and risk letting potential clients know more than perhaps they want?

I know I want to have one … I was at a business meeting in the fall. The speaker asked how many of the marketing people there had blogs. There were less than a half dozen out of the hundred or so who had them. I like to be near the beginning of the curve, I had one. My art business had a really big site back in 1995, when websites were just becoming common. It’s smaller now. But it’s still there www.snibbles.com. I knew then that it was a little too cutting edge for my traditional art business of frakturs and scherenscnitte. But I live with geeks. And I wanted to fit in. So I had a site.

I’ve had this blog for a while. But as you can see, I haven’t figured out much of what to say here. So while I’ve HAD one.. I didn’t really use it.. So while I might be a head of the thundering herd, the main part of the bell curve… but I know I’m not cutting edge this time.

I’ve wondered if I could think of something to say often enough to make this more than a sprinkle in the ocean. .. Who would know or miss it? If I commit to doing this, then I want to stay committed. And keep going.

I’m working on a book about parenting. Maybe if I sneak in a couple stories here or there, someone will have something to say, that might be useful.

I want to be more consistent with what I say I’m going to do. That’s a coaching thing.. being accountable.. to someone else.. in hopes of learning to be more accountable to myself.

In the end, the best coaches keep their personal opinions and life stories out of their work. So if my politics or what I read makes you uncomfortable — as a client you would never know a thing about it.

If you read this and get a little coaching tip out of the post, so much the better. Life is about change. You gotta notice it to learn from it. So I’ll try to make a point somewhere so you might learn something.. or think about something in a new way.

As my grandmother used to say, “Let’s get this show on the road!”

Welcome!

Kerch