Category: AI

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365 Coaching Tips: 343rd, 344th & 345th

December 9th Coaching Tip: Talk It Out, Talk It Out.

As I was in my office today, someone knocked on my door and needed to “talk.” Thank goodness I had a free slot in my calendar for about 45 minutes. Talk she did, and talk, and talk. All I did was listen for the entire time, and then at the end, I asked her: what are your options. She believed that she had two options and then settled on one on the options. Sometimes, people just need someone to talk to; know when you need to just listen. Know when to not even ask questions. Know when not to provide advice. Just let them talk it out.

December 10th Coaching Tip: Don’t Blow It All.

For centuries, people have spent decades building their own personal brand, based upon the daily decisions that they make. It takes discipline to stay on the ‘straight and narrow’. It’s so easy to deviate and slip.

Today, a story was released in Michigan about the head football coach having an extra marital affair; both parties are at fault. Many know that. With the holidays approaching, I can’t imagine on this head coach’s wife and three kids feel about being betrayed.

This lack of discipline causes so much harm; those impacted are too many to mention. With your daily and weekly decisions, take 10-15 seconds and pause, think about your consequences, before you take a significant action. Don’t blow it all.

December 11th Coaching Tip: Empower Someone.

Earlier this week I was asked to travel from FL to TX for a couple days of meetings in mid-January. The leader really wanted me to be there, however I was hesitant to commit, since I’m already traveling in three of the four weeks in January. What do I do here?

I reached out to my colleague in TX, and asked him if he was going to already be in that area during mid-January. Good news, he was. Empowering him, I asked him if he would like to go to the team’s offsite (instead of me). He said yeah, for sure. Then he asked for time to get him up to speed on the work ahead. I will gladly help prep him, and he’ll deliver with excellence. Empower people!

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365 Coaching Tips: 340th, 341st & 342nd

December 6th Coaching Tip: Big Ten Champs; It’s Not A Dream.

Two years ago, the Indiana University football team had more losses in Div. 1 football than any other program. Kinda the worst, right? Fast forward two years later, and IU football is the top ranked team in the country, the 1-seed in the College Football Playoffs, the only undefeated team remaining in all of Div. 1 college football, and the Big Ten Champions,

IU upset the Ohio State Buckeyes, although both teams were undefeated and Ohio State was a 4.5 point favorite. IU’s team scored just enough points, 13, to beat OSU by 3, as they only scored 10 points. The defense on both sides was playing; both field goal kickers missed short kicks that they had hit all season; but the quarterback for IU was just simply better. He was able to march the offense down the field with pinpoint passes when necessary.

This new coach, Curt Cignetti, has instilled “unshakeable belief” with this team and his entire IU organization. The leadership at IU is supportive, too. Belief. Having belief can bring you Big Ten Championship feelings, and it’s not a dream. It really happend.

December 7th Coaching Tip: Tell The Truth.

Received a phone call today from a friend who wanted to share a difficult situation that he got himself into and was responsible for. To his credit, he reached out to me to let me know. I listened, asked a few questions, but mostly let him talk. At the end of the call, I thanked him for entrusting me and telling me what was going on. Then, I shared a story with him about some bad times that hit my grandfather when he was a young father and in his 30’s. Then I gave him one piece of advice: write a letter or go visit them face to face and tell the truth.

Today’s tip is to write a letter to who you impacted negatively. Apologize and offer to repay the remorse; ask for forgiveness. If you can, talk to them face to face. Let them know you care, that you’re human, and you’re asking for forgiveness and empathy. Telling the truth goes a long way, in writing or face to face, or both. Tell the truth.

December 8th Coaching Tip: Rose Bowl Bound.

With the Indiana University football team winning the Big Ten Championship a couple evenings ago, we are now in full-planning mode to watch them as the #1 seed in the College Football Playoffs (CFP) play on New Year’s Day 2026.

Tickets to the game are driving up anxiety levels with some of my friends who are also going. Airlines are maximizing and charging hefty prices. Hotels are piling on, too. But, it will be worth it. For me and my friends, this is about goals, wellness, and being purposeful. It’s a bucket list kinda trip to see YOUR team play on New Year’s Day in the Rose Bowl game. I love roses, but I’m not going for the parade. I’m going to see IU win the Rose Bowl, so that we can then be Peach Bowl (Atlanta, GA) bound.

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365 Coaching Tips: 331st, 332nd & 333rd

November 27th Coaching Tip: Just 4:48.

Once again, I traveled on Thanksgiving morning. When I used to live in Houston, TX in the late 1990’s, I would fly from Houston to Indianapolis, rent a car, and drive to Mom and Dad’s home in Kentland, IN. I was able to arrive before my own family who lived in Indiana. Fast forward to today, I left at 6am from my door in Indiana. Took an Uber ride to the IND airport. Two-hour flight to RSW in Ft. Myers, FL. Got picked up by my driver, Ben. He dropped me off at 10:48am at my home in Naples, FL. Door to door on Thanksgiving morning took just 4:48. Four hours and 48 minutes on a holiday. Grateful for all the people that chose to work and assist all of us who are traveling. The kindness was everywhere; everyone was saying “happy Thanksgiving” and smiling, helpful, and nice, even though we were all working to get somewhere. Let’s keep that kindness going.

November 28th Coaching Tip: Cook At Home.

It’s Friday night and one of my best friends is coming to hang out for the weekend. We texted quickly and decided to cook at home this evening. With all the hustle and over-eating that surrounds Thanksgiving, it was the right decision.

At 8:30am this day after Thanksgiving, I headed to Aldi’s (only three other people in the store…it was lovely) and bought some groceries for dinner and for the next couple weeks, too. Here’s the menu for our Friday dinner at home: scallops seared in butter and garlic, fettuccini tossed in alfredo sauce, topped with salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. Fresh salad with spinach, scallions, tomatoes and balsalmic dressing. For dessert, we made a strawberry cherry jello salad with whipped cream. No alcohol, just water. (The Aldi grocery prices allow you to afford an AMAZING dinner that’s healthy, in the comforts of your own home…try ALDI’s if you haven’t already).

Not sure how much this dinner would have cost us had we gone out, but probably $35-$50 per person. Instead, we ate at home, had a great conversation as we both cooked in the kitchen, and took our sweet time eating. We even delayed our dessert for over an hour. It was a yummy evening; cook at home.

November 29th Coaching Tip: Go See The Sunset.

It was a nice, slow, and relaxing Saturday in our south FL home. It was closing in on 3pm and my friend and I both were still un-showered and in our PJ’s. Finally, we looked at one another and said, let’s take a drive to the beach, grab a drink, and see the sunset. We quickly got cleaned up and jumped in the car and headed to the Gulf. We leveraged Ai and it confirmed, sunset was at 5:34pm E. Our goal was to be seated at the Ritz Carlton in Naples and having a drink and appetizer by 4:30pm E…or we wouldn’t have a seat. We made it, perfectly timed, and enjoyed the sunset. I got a few photos of my friend, and he quickly loaded those up as new profile photos. Don’t miss an opportunity to see the sunset. Sunsets have the “IT” factor; hard to explain, but they just have “IT”.

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365 Coaching Tips: 322nd, 323rd and 324th

November 18th Coaching Tip: Ask For A Favor.

Today and tomorrow are filled with important back-to-back meetings for me. I needed a slight adjustment in a meeting tomorrow morning at 9am that impacted four different people; I really needed to move it forward to today at 430pm. How do you ask for a last-minute favor, when it is uncomfortable to ask across four different parties? Tell the truth and ask the favor, as most of us are forgiving especially if you’ve been and are authentic. Once I explained that I couldn’t make it tomorrow morning (for a couple reasons) and asked to do it at the end of the business day today, we all realized quickly that it was about the same “business” time. The end of one business day is just one hour different that doing it first thing the next morning. It worked; I asked for the favor and we all adjusted. Favors are granted more freely when you’re kind, you’ve developed a relationship and give people a bit of a heads up. No one like surprises, but if you need a favor, be wise and truthful.

November 19th Coaching Tip: Dig Thru Those 50% OFF Clearance Boxes.

After work today, I decided to take a few minutes and go shopping at a few stores that carry some pretty cool Indiana University gear. The first couple stores had great gear, but the prices seemed a bit high, i.e. a hoodie with the IU Bison on it was $78-$90. I’m a HUGE Indiana fan, but that was out of reach for me.

As I walked down the street, I looked across the street and saw another smaller store with IU gear. As I neared my car, I stepped in to that small store (the 4th of four stores) with little to no nope. And boom, as I walked in, I saw boxes on the floor with 50% off marked on them. I quickly started going thru one of the boxes and found a $15 soft and thick “Indiana Football” black sweatshirt. Perfect, just perfect. The price was very friendly and the fit and feel were yummy. Dig in those clearance boxes, you’ll be surprised at what you find.

November 20th Coaching Tip: Ask For Help.

For some reason, my identify needed to be verified at work. I had been trying to “confirm” my digital and personal identify since late September, with zero success. As the clock wound down this week before my access was going to be eliminated, I went over to the local leaders in the office and told them my problem. At first they didn’t really understand; then after I kept trying on my own, I went back to them. And sure enough, one of them was experiencing the same “error” that I was receiving on my work laptop. Once I found the right person who had experienced the same painful process that I was going thru, she gave me not one but two names to help me. It worked! I was granted access immediately and was easily able to verify that I was a real person and working in a real Merrill office. Yes, AI is here to stay, however know when to leverage your connections and the power of a caring human. Ask for help, and be resilient, until you find the right person who can help. This was something that AI nor a robot could resolve 🙂

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365 Coaching Tips: 307th, 308th & 309th

November 3rd Coaching Tip: Be Advanced.

When you quit learning, you’re dying. The coaching tip for today and these next three days all weave together: are you advanced and want to stay advanced in a skill that you have? Do you want to attain mastery and become elite? How are you continuing to learn?

This week I was able to be around the best talent in our financial industry, learn from them as well as share tips that we felt were relevant for their teams and the practices. The talent was advanced; they showed up at 630am in the morning, and were learning/sharing over dinners that went to 9pm. Choosing to be advanced is an intentional decision to be better than average. That takes dedication and discipline. Be advanced!

November 4th Coaching Tip: Be Elite.

Alot of people want to be elite, yet don’t take the time to be elite. Say what? Yes that’s right. To be elite, it takes time to be elite. I worked with two leaders today who are taking time on Fridays to focus on what they want to become as leaders, and how they want to lead their high-functioning teams. It will take time for both of them to think, then write down their thoughts on what they want to become elite at and why is it so important, then clarify it more by sharing it with trusted colleagues, which typically results in further improving it. Most importantly, role modeling what you want to be elite is crucial. Actions speak much louder than words. It will take work, commitment, habits that are stacked for your benefit to become elite, etc. To be elite, be ready to spend time on what it will take to be elite. And then do it…daily.

November 5th Coaching Tip: Want To Learn.

My mother continues to learn, nearly every day. She’s pushing 85 years old, and watching PBS about the Revolutionary War, Finding Your Roots, and Rick Steves travel documentaries on places that she’s never visited. She has the desire to learn; this keeps her relevant and her mind engaged. When someone in our family or her friends group mentions something about going to Scotland or Italy, although my mom has never been to either country, she can be a part of the discussion because she probably just watched a show or educational series on it.

I am wanting to learn more and more about AI; there is so much money and focus on AI right now, and I want to be on the leading edge of learning how to use it and understand the benefits that it can provide. Want to learn, whether it is a new technology, about a new person, or a new location on our beautiful planet.

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365 Coaching Tips: 292nd, 293rd & 294th

October 19th Coaching Tip: Let It Rain.

We finally got some rain. The ground was very dry; as the farmers harvested their fields, the dust was heavy. I was thinking about planting some trees and perennials, but it had been too dry. The rain sounded so pleasant as it hit the metal roof that I even got up to open the windows to hear it rain. Sleeping with those windows open was good; I slept a bit longer and also deeper. Let it rain, let it all soak in. The good Lord has perfect timing with all things and the rain today was one of many perfectly timed things.

October 20th Coaching Tip: Embrace AI.

It’s here and it’s not going away. What? AI. It’s here. It’s everywhere. For example, when you order something on Amazon, pretty soon, you will be getting similar products recommended. If you ask Siri a question on your iPhone, you may soon receive info on the topic that you asked about. Here’s what happened to me today: 1) I looked at an advertisement for a piece of jewelry, 2) clicked on the 15% and provided my email. Within minutes, I was receiving ads of similar looking jewelry but by different brands. It happened within seconds.

At work, our company made the decision to rollout Microsoft Teams and with it is included “Copilot”, which is a virtual person assistant on your laptop. Those who are utilizing it are getting work done much faster and it is saving time. My thoughts are if you don’t embrace and others do embrace it, you’ll be far behind and it’ll be hard to catch up. BUT, always remember that humans would to be noticed and loved. So do both, embrace AI and love others.

October 21st Coaching Tip: Racism Is Roaring.

Both of my godsons have let me know that in the last few days, they have been subjected to racial comments. These men are now in their mid-30’s, and they both are indicating that they have never heard comments like they are hearing now. For example, one of them said a black lady yelled at him and told him to go back to Mexico. The other said that as he was bartending, a white man was saying racist stuff that he had never heard.

As racism roars, I’m proud of my godsons for not engaging and moving on. Racism comments are unacceptable, and yet leaders in our country think that it’s ok to be selectively racist. Be better. As our mothers and grandmothers taught us, “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” Be intentionally better, treat others with respect and kindness.

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365 Coaching Tips: 193rd, 194th & 195th

July 12th Coaching Tip: Keep An Eye On Trends.

Someone today asked me how to start an LLC. My very quick response was to leverage AI. Why did I respond that way? Because the last time I started an LLC was years ago, with an attorney, and he just took care of it. I also watched the CEO of a large corporation today talk freely and confidently about how he expects his company’s employees to learn and leverage AI. He wasted no time in saying that replacing Microsoft Outlook with Microsoft’s new 365 that has AI embedded will cost more. He is expecting to have employees leverage it to help improve productivity and the client experience. (And I’m expecting it to ultimately replace employees who do NOT learn it and do NOT leverage). I may be wrong, I may be right. I’m making the commitment to keep on eye on trends and stay aware of AI’s developments.

July 13 Coaching Tip: Assists Indicate Alot.

The Indiana Fever women’s basketball team played the Atlanta team today and crushed them. What did they do so differently? They set a team record in assists; assists are when a player passes the ball to another, and that person scores. The unselfish and fast pace of play was exciting, and the Fever dominated the game, winning by 19 points and scoring over 100. The Fever also had only 8 turnovers. So there were lots of assists, few turnovers, all meaning the players were really looking for each other and making great decisions.

In life, assists indicate alot, too. When someone is willing to help you look good, that’s positive. When a colleague is willing the pass the praise and give another person the credit, that’s an unselfish human. Assists indicate alot and they feel good when you assist others.

July 14 Coaching Tip: Productivity Gains.

Today I was prepping for a virtual event that was available nationally for our colleagues. About 30 minutes prior to the start of the event, I double checked a few things: did our guest speakers have the invite? No. Did our speakers ever receive the final deck of visuals to support our conversation? No. As we were approaching one minute to go, our producer finally got one of the speakers dialed in to the event.

This all could have been avoided if the production invite was smoother and included the speakers and the visuals, instead of just completing the task of setting up the invite. In your line of work, always be on the lookout for ways to improve and identify productivity gains.

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365 Coaching Tips: 118, 119 and 120th

April 28th Coaching Tip: Learning AI now.

Not sure why, but I’m not reading/listening to as many books on Audible as I have over the last few years. The Audible credits have been piling up; I have a couple upcoming trips, the weather is really nice for outdoor walking now, so it’s a great time to put in the ear buds and listen/learn. Popped open my laptop a couple days ago and downloaded three books on artificial intelligence (AI). Why? Because I had another leader tell me, “if you don’t understand AI and how it’s impacting every piece of businesses all over the world, they you will soon fall behind and become less relevant.” That direct statement hit me between the eyes and I was completely OK that he said it to me.

How has it impacted me already listening to five chapters on AI? I realized today that three different people were working in spreadsheets over a matter of month…and AI could have summarized the input in a matter of seconds or less than a minute. I’m using AI Grok on Twitter/X, the AI search in google that is now the first paragraph in search, Alexa in my home much more frequently for weather, traffic, and ongoing questions. Do I want AI to take over the world with our 8 billion people? NO! However, how can we utilize it to help our lives be more efficient? I’m learning AI now because I don’t want to be a senior who can’t figure it out later.

April 29th Coaching Tip: Time Zone Accuracy.

Today I scheduled a couple personal and work appointments. Two of them were on the west coast, and another I just wasn’t sure where they are located. As I provided dates and times, I added one letter: “E” for Eastern Time Zone. It’s really that easy and simple to be specific on requesting an appointment. Put a E for Eastern, or C for Central, or P for Pacific after the time. Because of taking the time to truly think it over, it makes the scheduling much quicker, with less back and forth.

When race fans drive to Indianapolis from the nearby state of Illinois, some get to the Indy 500 an hour late…because they forgot that Indiana is on Central time zone. One time, my godson drove from Illinois to Bloomington, IN for an event…and showed up one hour late. He was happy to be there, but darn it, that time zone accuracy got him. Be in touch and more efficient when you include Time Zone Accuracy.

April 30th Coaching Tip: Tidy Up Before You Leave.

We travel a lot and have multiple homes or places we visit frequently. To make our lives easier as we age, we like to do a few things before we leave: 1) tidy up the home quickly, so that it looks nice when you return, 2) run the dishwasher so that the dishes are clean and dry when we return, 3) do a load of laundry before we leave, so that the stinky isn’t stinky when you return, 4) quickly check out the items in the frig…if it is starting to look a bit icky, toss it, because it will be moldy when you return, 5) put the good items in the frig into the freezer, and we write ourself a note and put it on the counter on “what’s in the freezer”, 6) if we are gone for more than a few days, we turn off the water and the water heater, and put the thermostat on the eco mode, 7) arrange the transportation ahead of time (schedule the Uber, ask a friend, or plan for the car the be at the airport and share it’s location), 8) we have our favorite stuff at all the locations, i.e. lotion, deodorant, razor, hair stuff, key food items, our comfy shoes and clothes, vitamins, etc. Note: #8 allows us to travel with less stuff, and we don’t have to remember as much. Tidy up before your leave, which makes you smile when you return.