Author Archives: Frank Borelli

Responsibility vs Blame vs Fault

Have you ever considered the distinct difference between placing blame, finding fault and determining responsibility? They are surely all interconnected but they are also vastly different in leadership approach, critique for improvement and personal involvement in finding and enacting the solution. In a recent piece about Leadership and Management we identified several characteristics of leadership behavior. The same can be applied here: while managers find fault and place blame, leaders identify responsibility and help others to do the same. Continue reading →

Leadership vs Managerial Accounting

1 Reply

Any time you put an Army veteran and a Marine Corps veteran at a table together in a social setting you will get the inevitable “insults.” They aren’t serious. Every veteran knows the mutual respect that flows and we have a lot of fun with it by picking on each other. For all that, one of the things we know equally well is the value of a true leader. Legendary names get thrown out and discussed. Eventually someone will comment that those people being named had proven themselves as leaders… and that is vastly different from being a manager. What are some of those differences? Continue reading →

Spend Your Energy Wisely

Leave a reply

There are many different kinds of energy, and that’s not even getting into the existential discussion about Einstein’s theory and how all mass is also energy. No, I’m talking about the energies each of us contains: physical energy, mental energy, emotional energy. We also have spiritual energy although some would argue that’s just a combination of mental and emotional energy. I think that’s a matter of your belief structure, but for the sake of this piece it’s being included here. The question is, and something we all need to consider, is how we spend and balance our energy. Spending too much of one kind in one place can create an imbalance that is unhealthy. Making sure we take time to “recharge the batteries” is important. Have you taken a look at your energy levels, how you recharge them and how you manage spending them? Let’s take a look. Continue reading →

Be Thankful for the Darkness

Leave a reply

There’s an old joke about how some people are so stupid they would bang on their hand with a hammer just so they could enjoy how good it feels to stop. While none of us can imagine why anyone would voluntarily hurt themselves just so they could enjoy it when they stop, the “joke” does illustrate the process of experiencing a negative event and then having a deeper appreciation for the positive event that immediately follows. That’s the topic of this entry: the necessity of experiencing some “bad” things so that you can more deeply appreciate the “good” things… and how eventually you can learn to appreciate the “bad” things… and then they’re not so bad anymore. Continue reading →

The Last Place You Look

Leave a reply

There is a running joke in my family regarding this old and common event: Someone loses something (like their keys.) They spend some time looking and other family members notice. Finally, they find their keys (as the example) and someone will ask, “So did you find what you were looking for?” All too often the answer is, “Yep. It was in the last place I looked.” “It always is,” comes the reply. It’s funny when you think about it, but why? Continue reading →

Are Ghosts Real?

Leave a reply

This is always a good conversation starter: Do you believe in ghosts? The answers vary from, “Nope. They don’t exist,” to “Yes, I’ve seen one!” What’s funny is to listen to the conversation, always inserting just enough input to keep it going, and realize how many different ideas there are of what a “ghost” is. As you sit there reading this, ask yourself that question. Before trying to decide whether or not you believe in “ghosts,” ask yourself what a ghost is because you have to know that to know whether or not you believe in them. Continue reading →

Live A Better Life

Leave a reply

Almost daily you can hear someone complain about their life, their day, some part of their job or something else. The commonality across their statements is that something is wrong somehow and they’re not happy. Stop and take a minute to consider what they’re complaining about and most often you can recognize a common cause that boils down to one of a few things: Continue reading →

Falling Down or Getting Knocked Down

Leave a reply

Each of us… every single one of us knows what it’s like to fall down. We’ve done it. It’s not something we can “relate” to because we’ve seen someone else do it. It’s something we’ve done: as a child, as a teenager, as a young adult, as a middle aged individual and (unfortunately) sometimes as an elderly individual. One of the greatest things about Earth is gravity; and one of our realities of life is that gravity sucks. We fight it all our lives. When we trip, lose our balance, etc. we fall. Thanks, gravity. But falling is different from getting knocked down. One is our fault; the other results from someone else’s actions. Is getting back up from both the same? Continue reading →

What Holds True Value?

Leave a reply

Inspired by Michelle Johnson-Brown, From the Cigar Lounge Wisdom series

It was a mid-July evening and, as I have for many an evening, I sat at the local cigar bar and enjoyed the company of some friends. One young lady and I had previously enjoyed a contemplative conversation about the human spirit and everything that goes on with it. Last night we had a very brief but impactful conversation about what is of true value. Of course, “money” (I’ll explain the quotes in a minute) came up and, as a side effect of that, time. Continue reading →

Signs You’re Living Your Purpose

Leave a reply

Someone once said that there are two truly important days in our life: the day we are born and the day we discover what we were born for. That “what we were born for” could also be described as our purpose in this life. It’s something a great many people search for over a span of some years… even decades… and some will tell you they’ve never figured out what their purpose is. I’d like to make a few observations about how to discover your purpose and how to know you’re living it, even if you weren’t even aware you’d discovered it. Continue reading →