Good Examples

Happy Birthday to the late, great Strother Martin (DOB: March 26, 1919). He’s the actor who played “Captain” (the warden) in “Cool Hand Luke.” He’s the one who slammed Luke to the ground and said, “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate. Some men you just can’t reach.” Captain got the first part right.…

I bumped into my GPT-powered robot, “B-9?” this morning in the break room at Story Power HQ. Since I hadn’t come up with an idea for today’s email, I asked “B-9?” to dig up some weird, amusing news stories to inspire me. “B-9?” zipped over to his office, dug through his digital file cabinet, and…

Princess Kate and her pals at the palace are in hot water.In case you’ve missed the relentless news coverage, here’s the story… Last week, the British Royals released this photo of the Princess and her kiddos… A bunch of news agencies ran the photo but then pulled it because they discovered digital alterations The Princess…

Ripped from the headlines… An Australian woman now holds the prize for owning “The World’s Ugliest Lawn” thanks to a global competition hosted by a water-thirsty municipality in Sweden. Gotland, Sweden’s government launched the contest after a draught nearly left the island municipality without water. Organizers thought they might inspire water conservation if they made…

In Friday’s email, I promised to share Batman Rules — business and life lessons from the greatest television show ever. There are too many Batman Rules to count. I don’t have time or space to share them all here, but I can share five of my favorites. If you follow these rules, you’ll be well on…

Yesterday was “Games Day” — one of those random, made-up holidays that started in the United Kingdom. At a live networking event I attended yesterday, we had a Games Day-inspired ice-breaker. We broke into small groups, revealed our favorite games, and discussed lessons we’ve learned from them — especially lessons we apply to business. Fun…

True story: In 2016, KFC introduced ‘Finger Lickin’ Good’ edible nail polish. Two flavors: Hot & Spicy (peppery red) and Original Recipe (beige). Slather it on. Wait for it to dry. Lick your fingers. Yum! Other true stories: Doritos has partnered with a distiller to sell Nacho Cheese flavored liquor (94 proof). You can buy…

My hometown hockey team fired its coach last night. His name is Craig Berube, and he led the St. Louis Blues to the Stanley Cup Championship in 2019. During that 2019 playoff run, I wrote an email about Berube. To honor and thank him, I dust it off and share it here… 🏒 🏒 🏒…

Now that we’re finished gobbling Turkey, let the holly, jolly season begin. And nothing says “Holly, Jolly” better than the stop-motion animated movie “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” I watched it earlier this week for the 38-gazillionth time. The made-for-TV movie first aired in 1964, 25 years after a copywriter named Robert L. May wrote the…

Earlier this week, I met with a business coach who wants her followers to know it’s OK not to feel OK. My client (let’s call her Emily) planned to write a blog post describing her own emotional ups and downs — how she, too, has times when she feels dejected and doesn’t feel grateful. Quite…