Category: The Pass It On Podcast
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The Father Factor
(Update: June 16, 2019) The “Real” Scott Westerman left us on April 18, 2018, my mother’s birthday. He loved being a Dad. He was my role model for fatherhood and a father figure for countless others during his 92 years. “We don’t get to choose the cards life deals us,” he told me during our…
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On Leadership
I decided early on to aspire to lead for one reason: I prefer to influence the course of my own destiny. “Build your own dreams,” writes the young Chicago born entrepreneur, Farrah Gray, “or someone else will hire you to build theirs.”Life, after all, is simply a series of decisions we make. We can’t change…
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We’re all in this together
Listen to an audio version of this message.So many challenges compete for our attention these days that it’s easy to fall into the trap of feeling that something is not a real problem.. until it affects us personally.Some call this “privilege”. Others argue we have only so much capacity to process, only so much time, talent and…
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What I Learned on the Farm
Listen to an audio version of this message. “When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of human civilization.” Daniel WebsterMy first radio job involved reading commodity prices on our local radio station. I was just 14 and did not yet have a driver’s license. So every morning as the sun…
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You’re Always On Probation
“Excellence is not a skill. It’s an attitude” ~Ralph MarstonI never worked in a role where I was “protected” by a union and quickly progressed to a level where my employment was “at will”, meaning that my boss could let me go at any time for any reason… or as was often the case in…
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Safe Places & Sucking It Up
Listen to an audio version of this message.“Face your unpleasant current realities head on, but never lose faith that you will prevail” ~Adm. James B. StockdaleThe death of a loved one, an unexpected health diagnosis, losing a job, a breakup, moving to a new community, an election outcome; All of these things can kick us…
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Thoughts, Actions and Accountability Buddies
The keys to turning thoughts into accountable, productive actions may feel elusive. But they are within your grasp.“You are today where your thoughts brought you. You will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.” ~James Allen”You’ll get there a lot faster if you recruit some accountability buddies!”~Yours TrulyOh how hard it is to turn thoughts…
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The Ever Present Past
Listen to an audio version of this message.Scott’s Maxim: “Most of our bad juju is self created and a result of continuing to think about what we might have done, instead of what we still can do.”Class reunions are a time for reconnection and reflection. As the years pass, people grow and change. Many of…
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Living in The Now
It’s easy to peer into the unknown and worry, to look in the rearview mirror and regret.We can become paralyzed if we imagine some inevitable future pain we must endure, fearing that traumatic scars, real or imagined will damage us beyond recognition. We sometimes choose to give up on a dream, rather than risk the heartbreak inherent in the inevitable…
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Sacrifice
This week some thoughts on Memorial Day and a look back on a speech I gave to the graduating class at Michigan State University’s Army ROTC graduation in 2013.As I record this we’re preparing to celebrate Memorial Day in the United States. A time when we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend…