“A pound of prevention is worth an ounce of cure” is a phrase I heard for the first time this week. I was at lunch with an attorney who specializes in employment law, and she said that phrase as we were talking about clients who don’t see the benefit of proactive, preventative measures and instead just hope everything turns out alright. I immediately wrote it down and googled when I got home, and the internet says it’s a Benjamin Franklin quote. Apparently, Franklin wrote an anonymous letter to his own newspaper in Philadelphia in 1735 about the importance of preparing
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I’m on a plane with my third-grade son, traveling to Washington D.C. He is taking a math test beside me. We are headed up to our nation’s capital for a work conference I have, and he and my dad are along for the ride. He’s coming to actually see some of the things he’s been learning in school about government and democracy. With the trip being counted as a “field trip” for him instead of an absence, the schoolwork, including tests he’s missing, come with us. He is to complete them and return them for grading the Monday after we arrive
We’ve all seen someone there before. We’ve most likely also been there before ourselves. One of the most, if not the most knowledgeable and experienced person in the room. The one that can do the task or assignment with his or her eyes closed. Possibly the smartest person in the room. But somehow, they are also the most disinterested person in the room. Whether this disengagement comes from boredom or burnout, you can’t be sure, but it is obvious they’d rather be anywhere doing anything other than what they are really good at doing. You need them to do it,
Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to lead volunteers as a staff member as well as a chair of an all-volunteer board. It can certainly be a challenge, but it is also a great privilege and offers surprising rewards! I remember planning an awards event several years ago that went awry. We had more than a dozen people show up that did not RSVP. My first thoughts were: where will we seat them & will there be enough food? As I look back, I am so thankful for the volunteers who jumped in to help. That was one of