Iraqi rocket attacks strike close to home
June 6th, 2011 by John Creighton in Snapshots
Tags: Flagler, High Plains Bank, Leadership, Public Values
LONGMONT, Colo. 06/06/2011 — Modern warfare lets most of us off the hook. Is that good for our nation? News that five U.S. soldiers were killed in a Baghdad rocket attack brought the war closer to home for my family. I had just settled in at my desk this morning when I received a call from a good friend and colleague. I knew something was wrong by the tone of his voice. His son is alive but badly injured. He [...]
Read more...Austerity comes to Colorado
February 18th, 2011 by John Creighton in B.O.E., Dispatches
Tags: Colorado, Leadership, Public Leaders, Public Values, St. Vrain
LONGMONT, Colo. — Governor John Hickenlooper, Colorado Democrat, proposed an austerity budget this week that would make Republican counterparts such as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie proud. Governor Hickenlooper deserves credit on many levels for his budget proposal. But, twelve, eighteen or twenty-four months from now, his ideas, if enacted, are just as likely to foster greater public antipathy toward government and politicians as it is to build good will. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper addresses [...]
Read more...Is Dave Ramsey way best?
January 19th, 2011 by John Creighton in Dispatches
Tags: Business, Leadership, Public Values
LONGMONT, Colo. — Dave Ramsey is part of the vast and growing self-help industry that includes a diverse group of gurus including Deepak Chopra, Stephen R. Covey, Tony Robbins, Dr. Phil and Suzanne Somers. Mr. Ramsey may not be as well known as some of the other leaders in the self-help field but he has a radio audience in the millions and several best sellers to his name. In short, he has influence with the public. Mr. Ramsey delivers a down-home [...]
Read more...Facing down temptation
June 5th, 2010 by John Creighton in WarmUp
Tags: Leadership, Work
Rough thoughts to warm up on a Saturday morning… Facing down temptation is a human challenge as old as time. Isn’t that what many stories in the Bible are about? Isn’t that one of the purposes of religion… to instill the habits of avoiding destructive temptations? One of the best ways to resist temptation is to avoid putting oneself in a position in which it is possible to act on our temptations. Can’t resist eating ice cream. Don’t buy it. [...]
Read more...Narratives Can Create or Destroy
February 23rd, 2010 by John Creighton in Dispatches
Tags: Education, Leadership, Public Values
Narratives are powerful. The stories we tell ourselves and others don’t just explain the past and present. They shape our future. Indeed, our stories can literally pave the roads we travel not just predicting but creating our life experiences. The movie What the Bleep Do We Know documents scientific theory behind the power of narratives. The person who develops an internal narrative that he is a klutz creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. He imagines in his subconscious that we will, for [...]
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