Category Archive for : ‘Values’

(Updated from June 2018 Blog)

This Father’s Day I’m choosing to remember, learn, and even benefit from the relationship between my dad and I…the good, the bad, and even the ugly.

I have wonderful memories and lessons learned from Harold Henry Becker, now sainted for eight years. Dad was the most honest man I’ve ever met, faithful and supportive of my mother for over 59 years, a hard worker, intensely loyal to friends, generous with his time and money, possessed a simple and deep faith in God, and he was present at

This week’s blog has excerpts from a September 29 New York Times article “The Crisis of Men and Boys” by David Brooks. The article captures many of the serious negative implications of fatherless that Tender Lions: Building the Vital Relationship Between Father and Son reveals, and we’ve been writing and speaking about for the last three years.  

The basic premise of the article is that boys and men are struggling in America, and it’s not getting better. Here is some of the data:

Girls outperform boys academically in virtually every subject and at

Recently I watched a riveting interview with Dr. Deborah Birx, former leader of the White House Coronavirus Response Taskforce. Her way of dealing with a very challenging situation illustrated a number of vital leadership qualities, particularly needed in our fragile and fractured country today. To see the interview just click here. By the way, the lessons listed below are my observations not hers.

Calm Under Pressure – When you’re in the public eye and how you appear is just as important as what you do, stay calm. Keep emotions, anger, disbelief,

Most people associate the word “apocalypse” with a disaster or horrible event nearing the end of times. Actually, the word means “to uncover” or “an unveiling.” My hope is that this blog will provide some “unveiling” for you.

If you’re a new reader this blog is about raising a boy to be a “Tender Lion,” and how to do that in a very challenging world. This last week brought with it some terribly challenging events, and I’m predicting that the coming weeks will bring more equally as challenging.

How do I help

I was interviewed recently by Jay Frost, one of the leading development experts in the United States. Jay hosts an educational series for nonprofits called “Unbound” provided by DonorSearch.net.

I was invited to do a webinar for nonprofit leaders recently and then Jay extended the offer to interview me on their Masterminds Series about my thoughts on leadership in general and the pandemic. Go here for the interview. Just click and you can listen on your phone or computer.

“DonorSearch provides accurate and actionable information that identifies your best prospective major gift

Unbound Webinar Series – Hosted by Jay Frost on www.donorsearch.net Tuesday, May 12, 2020 – 1:00 p.m. CT

The Executive Director – What is the board doing, particularly the board chair, to support and be engaged with Executive Director during these challenging times? Donor Relations – What is the board doing to ensure that donors and stakeholders are well informed and cared for?Best Practices – What best practices should be maintained and jettisoned during this time? Long Term View – Short Term Decisions – What is the board doing to

My friend Roger was an outstanding sprinter on his high
school track team. He ran the anchor leg of the 4 x 400-yard relay team. At one
particular track meet, his relay was the last event of the day. If they won the
relay, the school would also win the entire meet.

The first three legs of the relay were very close. Roger
received the “anchor leg” baton in second place, but was able to sprint past
his opponent to a comfortable lead with quite a bit of track left until the
finish line. Roger became over-confident

Stress is caused by uncertainty,
uncontrollable situations, and sustained volatility according a stress researcher
from Harvard University. The research I’ve read finds that the “big three”
elements that cause stress is when “family, finances and/or health” are
threatened. It appears that all of these elements are in the bullseye right
now, and it’s almost certainly going to get worse before it gets better.

Who could have imagined the lightning speed at which the
world has changed in just the last few days. In many parts of the world the
number of cases and deaths from COVID-19 is

This past Sunday much of the world was rocked when we learned that Kobe Bryant, arguably one of the best basketball players of all time, was killed along with his daughter and seven other people in a helicopter crash. My wife, daughter and son all have basketball “in their veins” having been serious basketball players in school. They each have their “Kobe stories.” If you watched much (or any) basketball in the last 20 years, you probably have a Kobe story, too.

This week the news media and personal conversations were

In the last few months both Jeff and I have encountered challenging
ethical dilemmas involving organizations and people that we really care about. What
follows are a few of the important lessons for Tender Lions to be aware
of, because it’s only a matter of time before you and/or your son are going to
encounter a challenging ethical situation. While you can’t anticipate
everything, it’s best to have your eyes wide open. Consider discussing these
seven observations based on our personal experiences:

When you “poke the bee hive” don’t expect the bees
to thank you. To the contrary,