by Clyde on January 21, 2010
in Blog
Learfield’s Advisory Board meets Monday afternoon next week in St. Louis. These five come from strong backgrounds–as I’ve previously communicated. So we try to get the most from them during the five hours we’re together. We ask good questions and work hard to listen to their answers. Trust me, there’s a temptation to “tell”. But we need to learn to spend more time asking; then listening.
That holds true in leadership. Back in the early 90’s Sam Walton, Walmart’s founder, came to my office (Jan Prenger used to be his personal assistant). He spent 30-minutes or so privately with me. It remains one of the highlights of my life! Funny thing though about that time: He asked many more questions than I did. I tried and tried to ask him things, but he always deflected those questions and shot questions back at me! “How do you get financing? How’d you get this business started? When did you build this building? Have you gotten value from this fancy conference room? And on and on… My point is this: successful people are inquisitive and listen.
And, it holds true in personal relationships, doesn’t it? When you get back from a business trip and first see your spouse, imagine asking: how have you been? What happened on “30-Rock” last night? Tell me about PTA? Then really listen; really listen. At a recent meeting, I watched a friend from afar as he stood truly engaged in a conversation. His body language indicated his sincere interest in hearing all his colleague was saying. Then they moved to a table and my buddy leaned forward catching every morsel of what the guy was saying. It told me a good deal–and taught me much.
Be a leader; be a better friend; be a better spouse; be a better person. Ask questions and listen.
–clyde
by Clyde on January 21, 2010
in Blog
So my friend Bill Epley writes today:
Hi Clyde – I’ve noticed it’s been awhile since your last blog. I hope you’re doing ok.
So, readers, I’m announcing today that I’m back. Twitter has taken me away from this site. Gotta blame my laziness on something.
–clyde
by Clyde on December 22, 2009
in Blog
Dear Friends:
A buddy sent me this thought today:
The entrance of God’s Son into the world meant peace — but it didn’t assure that people would get along. It meant great joy — but it didn’t mean we’d always get to grin. And it meant unconditional love — though it never implied that everyone would act lovingly.
Christmas simply defies logic, doesn’t it? And yet, it is the real truth. Enjoy your families; enjoy your friends. And, give thanks to the God of the Universe that He is with us in all we are and in all we do.
Thank you if you were among the hundreds who sent greetings to Sue and me; we loved hearing from you. Know that we love you.
–clyde
by Clyde on December 10, 2009
in Blog
Bob Hague, a reporter for our Wisconsin Radio Network saved an elderly woman’s life yesterday. Here’s the wire-service story:
Alert Neighbor Helps Rescue Elderly Woman Neighbor Heard Cries For Help
Updated: 10:31 pm CST December 9, 2009
MADISON, Wis. — An alert neighbor came to the aid of an elderly woman in a south Madison neighborhood Wednesday morning.
Bob Hague was clearing off his driveway early Wednesday morning, preparing for his job at the Wisconsin Radio Network, when he happened to hear faint cries from a neighbor a few houses down.
“She’d gone out to get her newspaper this morning and I believe she took her shovel with her so she could dig it out,” said Hague. “And she ended up falling into the snow. (She) told me she’d been out here for 15 minutes calling and there weren’t many people around.”
The neighbor roughly 80 years old and very small in stature told Hague she knew she was lucky that he heard her cries for help.
The temperature at the time was about 30 degrees, but it started dropping shortly thereafter.
Good going, Bob! We’re proud of you!
–clyde
Corey Green. Remember him? He was an intern for us a few years back from Mizzou. Now he’s in the Big Apple doing advertising. This morning he sent me a blog link that I wish I’d authored; well written and right on target. By the way, if you’d like a bill-fold size copy of Wooden’s seven point creed, e-mail me: clyde@learfield.com.
by smays on December 2, 2009
in Blog
My brother, Greg, is a health economist. Very bright. So, I’m often asking him about this health care debate. We don’t always agree, but he’s usually right. He asked me to read NY Times columnist, David Brooks’ view. I did. And I think the guy about has it. Here’s how the article starts:
“It’s easy to get lost in the weeds when talking about health care reform. But, like all great public issues, the health care debate is fundamentally a debate about values. It’s a debate about what kind of country we want America to be.”
by Clyde on November 16, 2009
in Blog
Well, it’s not quite that bad, but we have moved things around a bit. Again. We’ve encouraged Greg to try his hand at blogging as a way to be part of the Learfield conversation and he’s off to a good start. You’ll find links to his posts on the Learfield.com home page. Greg and others will focus more on company news and I’ll write about whatever strikes my fancy. And you’ll still find links to my recent posts on the Learfield home page.
So if your bookmarks are messed up because of all these moves here’s what you need to know:
- Clyde’s Blog – http://www.learfield.com/clyde OR http://www.GrowLearfield.com
- Greg’s Blog – http://learfield.posterous.com
- Company News – http://www.learfield.com/category/news/
Again, you’ll find links to all three on the Learfield.com home page. More to come, so keep and eye on the home page for updates.
by Clyde on November 16, 2009
in Blog
Sue and I were in Hannibal this weekend for the wedding of Tom Koenigsfeld (Son of Stan) to Stacey Ehrhardt. It was a beautify wedding, attended by lots of beautiful people.
I snapped this photo of the newlyweds with my little BlackBerry. We wish Tom and his new bride much happiness.
-clyde
This note came today from A&M’s play-by-play voice, Dave South; a reminder how important it is to simply say “thank you” from time-to-time. I went to our values statement on our web page and couldn’t find it there. There’s the Golden Rule, and being thanked is sorta part of it I guess. Maybe we take this for granted. Anyway, I like this story that Dave sent me this morning:
How many times have we taken the time to pay someone a compliment?
I was talking to a friend who told me a few days after graduating from high school she took time to write her history teacher a letter of thanks. She told her how much she enjoyed the class and how much she learned.
Years later she went back home and ran into that teacher. The teacher asked her if she remembered writing that letter of thanks and she said yes.
The teacher said that when that school year ended she planned on quitting and doing something else because she felt like a failure. The letter arrived and from the words written by that one student decided to keep teaching. The teacher went on to say how much joy she had gotten out of teaching high school history.
That one letter likely led that teacher to impact hundreds of lives.
Make your ear attentive to wisdom. — Proverbs 2:2
–clyde
by Clyde on November 3, 2009
in Blog
A few weeks ago I presented the Gaddis Lecture at Central Methodist University. The biggest part of the speech was comments about today’s media environment, my views dumbed down some. The media part is the first half of this forty-minute lecture–just so you know you don’t have to endure the entire thing!