Oxford Dictionary defines misremembering as remembering imperfectly or incorrectly. And Merriam-Webster defines conflation as “blend, fusion; especially :a composite reading or text”.

Brian Williams, the once iconic pillar of journalism, the last bastion of truth, justice and The American Way, the preppie scholar and boy next door, the guy in whom we put our trust, the guy we believed hailed to a higher standard, deceived us. Not only us, he deceived his superiors. He deceived the brave men and women who actually are shot at and have to deal with the reality of those circumstances every day, as defenders of our freedom. And then there are those closest to him: his friends, his family and his colleagues. He deceived us all.

In the last couple of days, we sadly come to find out, courtesy of Travis Tritten of Stars and Stripes, that Mr. Williams has been conflating his story for years. Last I counted, about twelve. Since 2003. Hard to swallow.

And to their credit, Comcast, NBC and the powers that be moved swiftly to put him on a 6 month hiatus. In my world I call it putting him out to pasture. A respected reporter, a pillar of truth in airwaves, and one of the last icons of journalism in this country, Mr. Williams put aside his once stellar ethics, misremembered his story, and conflated the truth.

And POOF! He is gone.

The moral of the story?
1. Say what you mean and mean what you say.
2. Misremember is not a word you want to have in your vocabulary.
3. Conflation chastens.

The fall from grace is hard. Who knows what will be in store for Mr. Williams? Only time will tell if his superiors will misremember him.

Let me know what you think will happen next in your comments.

Today’s blog comes in advance of a week’s vacation for yours truly. I am coming off an awesome 2014 and a whirlwind of HOLIDAZE. All good stuff but I need to unplug, chillax and have a nice glass of wine in front of a roaring fire with the snow-capped mountains my only distraction. Then when I return, I can come out re-charged, re-created and re-imagined.

Do you honestly think I won’t have a few calls here and there? That I will cancel my 4 am call to my London client next week? That I won’t be formulating bigger and better plans for all of you? That I won’t be thinking about the title for my next book for the Dude, Seriously trilogy? Of course I will. But I will be doing it in a calm, serene venue with few distractions, regularly scheduled snowshoes and workouts, and lots of down time with family and friends. I don’t owe it only to you. I owe it to myself, so that I can continue to grow with all the people that matter to me and my business. This is not a frivolous luxury for me. It is an ABSOLUTE NECESSITY!

And it is for you too! Read on.

Here are the facts folks. Americans are so busy looking over their shoulders at work, they only take half of their paid time off.

“Employees only use 51% of their eligible paid vacation time and paid time off, according to a recent survey of 2,300 workers who receive paid vacation. The survey was carried out by research firm Harris Interactive for the careers website Glassdoor. What’s more, 61% of Americans work while they’re on vacation, A new study has found that U.S. workers forfeited $52.4 billion in time-off benefits in 2013 and took less vacation time than at any point in the past four decades.”

American workers turned their backs on a total of 169 million days of paid time off, in effect “providing free labor for their employers, at an average of $504 per employee,” according to the study.

I truly feel sorry for the company, as much as I do for the employee. They think they are reaping the benefits of an all work, no play mentality, when in reality, they are robbing their culture of creativity, the cornerstone of every great organization.

Don’t be that 51% who can’t figure out a way to take vacation. Your soul needs it. Your brain needs it. Your body needs it.

What are your thoughts? Email me at [email protected] or comment down below. I want to know!

My new favorite word: practice.

Many years ago, my first (and last) boss referred to our recruiting business as a practice. I thought it sounded so cool and professional. It made it seem like our contingency recruiting firm was playing on the same field as the large, global executive search firms who we revered and aspired to become.

I haven’t thought about the word practice much until recently. It has been coming up in more than a few strategy sessions and definitely worth revisiting.

Just last week, I was with a very successful young attorney who said she wanted to embark on a field that is allied with the Intellectual Property practice that she serves. Her fear is that she has “never worked on a Corporate Litigation case before”. I asked her what she did when she landed her first case out of law school in Intellectual Property. Did she know exactly what to do at that time? Had she ever done it before? Of course not. We talked about the fact that every day that we take on a new client, play our first round of golf, or learn a new skill of some sort, we are practicing to get better for the next time.

A week later, a friend of mine who is a genealogy expert, told me that she had a request for a major project which requires her to use a particular software so that she can deliver a professionally developed book to her client.”I’ve only use it a few times,” she lamented. “I have to get better at it.” Of course you do, and you will,” I said. Every time you are asked to do a search for a new client, it will get easier, because what you practice today prepares you for your next client tomorrow.

In the medical field it’s call residency. All those young interns are practicing, albeit at the supervision of an M.D. At some point, when it’s their turn to take on their first patient in the real world, all of the habits and processes that they learned as residents become a part of their practice.

Whether you are an HR Manager in charge of Employee Relations at a Fortune 500 company, an Audit Manager at a Big 4 accounting firm, or my friend the genealogist, keep on practicing. It’s the only way to not only get better at what you do, it also brings in more clients!

It’s that time of year when, even though it is better to give than receive, we all are in receipt of some sort of gift. If you work in a large company, maybe it’s the gift you are getting in the office grab bag. In a smaller company, it may be a bonus check directly from the owner of the company or your supervisor. What about Aunt Sarah up in Maine who sends you that awful fruit cake every year? Doesn’t matter. They all deserve a thank you. In this crazy world of digital communication, why not be the standout human being who takes a minute to write a personal thank you note?

Here’s how:
1) You can buy a box of thank you notes.
2) You can go online to a place like Vistaprint, and print your own personalized notes.
3) You can go to your local stationer and have them help you design an elegant engraved note.
It really doesn’t matter what KIND of note, it just matters that you are taking the time to WRITE a note.

Think about it, thanking someone in this very personal way is an act of giving in its own right. It shows that you have taken the time out of your busy schedule to be thankful, thoughtful and courteous.

Makes the holiday mahem seem all worthwhile.