I recently had the pleasure of meeting fellow consultant Al Ritter, of Ritter Consulting Group, based out of Geneva, Illinois. Al is a talented and charismatic man who works with leaders in mid-size to large companies who tend to neglect the most important thing that gives them 80% of their results. His consulting firm helps leaders generate unprecedented results in sales, earnings and associated measures by showing them how to dramatically improve the relationships among themselves and their employees.

Ritter shared with me his unforgettable meeting with legendary basketball coach John Wooden, and how that conversation changed his life.

Three Ways to Prepare for Our Newest Graduates

Last fall I attended the annual HENAAC Conference, which I have participated in for the past 20 years.I have a great time seeing long time friends, who like me, seem to be getting older. At the conference I was talking to a young college student and I realized that I kept repeating the same thing to him over and over again. The reason I was repeating myself was that he didn't fully understand what I was trying to tell him. In exasperation I finally said to him, "Listen, I hate to sound like a broken record but..." He looked at me with a puzzled look and said, "What's a broken record?"

I'm skilled at communication. I watch body language; I look for hidden meanings in the message and all of the stuff that communication experts suggest you do. Why then wasn't I effectively communicating? After several minutes of just looking at him, I realized that this person probably grew up listening to mp3s on his iPod and had no idea what a broken record sounded like or why I used that phase to make my point. This person was a college freshman who, by my calculations, was born somewhere around 1992.

What makes a person happy at home and successful in business? Until recently, most psychologists were hard pressed to provide any answer. This is because most of their research has traditionally focused on what makes people miserable, not happy.

Several years ago, The Washington Post ran a story about a movement in the mental health field called "positive psychology." Examining what makes people happy, instead of unhappy has generated substantial research about the traits and behaviors associated with happiness. As you might expect, the research also indicates that happy people feel successful in their personal and business lives.

There is an ancient allegory of a Native American grandfather speaking with his young grandchild. He states, "There are two wolves fighting inside of me: one is the wolf of love and peace, the other is the wolf of anger and war."

"Which one will win?" asked the inquisitive grandchild.

"Whichever one I feed," replied the grandfather.

To parallel today's global business world, all of the complexities of problem solving and business solutions can be boiled down to one simple equation:

Choice = Strategy.

With the state of the economy being less favorable, employees and businesses are honing in on their professional image to make them stand out from the crowd. With e-mail and the Internet making interactions less casual than before, it's important to understand that professionalism is important and can hurt and/or hinder you in the workplace.

We all recognize a professional image when we see it. It's that special quality that sets certain people apart in business and in social circles. People want it because it's an advantage in many ways. And businesses want employees with a great professional image because it represents the company as well. But what are the qualities that go into creating a professional image? Susan Bixler, author of The Professional Image, has come up with a test to gauge whether you have it or don't. I'm offering our readers a handful of her questions to gauge if you're on the right track to a standout professional image or not. Take the test and see how you do!

Abraham Lincoln is known as one of the greatest U.S. Presidents of all time. The impact he made on our country is momentous, and to this day, we benefit from his noteworthy decisions. But what most people don't know is that Lincoln had a string of significant failures before his Presidency. In 1832, he lost his job and was defeated for State Legislature; in 1833 his business failed; in 1836 he suffered from a nervous breakdown, and between 1838 and 1858, he was defeated for Speaker of the House, land officer, a nomination for Congress, a seat in the U.S. Senate and a nomination for the Vice Presidency.

World Cup fans watched in wonder and disbelief over the weekend as FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) referees made a handful of erroneous calls. This past Sunday, these calls cost England a legitimate shot at a place in the next round. It was overwhelmingly obvious to every spectator that Frank Lampard scored for England against Germany to tie the game at 2-2. However, it wasn't as obvious to the referee, hence the erroneous call. Things only got worse later in the day when Argentina scored an offside goal against Mexico. Despite much contention, and the fact that it was clearly against the rules, the goal was allowed to stand.

The ongoing and seemingly unstoppable situation in the Gulf of Mexico, courtesy of BP, has shed an unattractive light on the consequences of what happens when a company keeps their plan for profits up-to-date by the millisecond, but keeps their plan for error as outdated as Fabio. While other oil executives on Capital Hill are pointing fingers at BP asserting, "I wouldn't have done it that way," it made me wonder if another company would have indeed handled the situation differently.

I remember April of 1970 very well. I was a senior in high school and looking forward to the future; the first Earth Day was celebrated, and Paul McCartney announced the break-up of the Beatles. It was also when Apollo 13 was launched to the Moon.

Apollo 13 was the third Apollo mission intended to land on the Moon, but a mid-mission oxygen tank rupture severely damaged the spacecraft and forced the lunar landing to be aborted. Despite great hardship caused by limited power, loss of cabin heat, shortage of potable water, and the critical need to get the carbon dioxide removal system going, the crew returned safely to Earth on April 17th. The mission has been called a "successful failure."

It was a tragic and heartbreaking story. On March 13, 2010, a woman and her 1-year-old god-daughter were struck and killed by a train as the woman tried to cross the railroad tracks at the North Chicago Metra station while carrying the baby girl in her arms. They were both declared dead.

Witnesses told police that warning bells and lights were fully activated and the train was adamantly blowing its horn, yet the woman still crossed, trying to beat the train. Although all the warning signs were present and clearly visible and obvious to all those in the area, what would make someone do such an irrational thing?