A fierce young general . . . a mysterious lady . . . a furiously funny battle of wits . . . all over a love letter. Who was Napoleon before he became an Emperor? Find out in The Man of Destiny, a hilarious, intimate comedy by George Bernard Shaw.

Following its epic and critically acclaimed Cyrano de Bergerac, The Archive Theater, along with Pioneer Farms, presents The Man of Destiny by George Bernard Shaw, running at Pioneer Farms February 6th-29th, 2020. Directed by Garrison Martt and Jennifer Davis and featuring an ensemble cast of local actors, this interactive theatrical experience lets you travel back in time to a late 18th-century tavern, where a young Napoleon Bonaparte has paused for an evening's rest after his first triumphant win at the battle of Lodi. Listen to 18th-century music from live musicians, taste French and Italian delicacies, and play period tavern games as you watch the machinations of The Mysterious Lady and the bumbling of the entitled Lieutenant.

Join us for an evening of raucous, witty fun and watch the ultimate battle of the sexes. Will Napoleon be defeated before he even embarks on his career of conquest? Framed with a new translation of the sultry letters of Napoleon to Josephine, and served up with a liberal side of romance, this is the perfect Valentine's gift for that special someone.

Ticket link: https://squareup.com/store/the-archive-theater-company For more information please visit: https://www.thearchivetheater.org/the-man-of-destiny

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The Archive Theater Presents THE MAN OF DESTINY - Broadway World

Gingold Theatrical Group (David Staller, Artistic Director) will continue the 15th Season of Project Shaw, a special series of evenings of plays that embrace human rights and free speech. All of GTG's programming, inspired by the works of George Bernard Shaw, are designed to provoke peaceful discussion and activism. This series is presented monthly at Symphony Space's Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre (2537 Broadway at 95th Street).

PROJECT SHAW will present What Every Woman Knows by James M. Barrie for one night only on Monday February 24th (7pm). Kathy Gail MacGowan directs a cast that features Tony Head, Daniel Jenkins, Maryann Plunkett, Celestine Rae, Mike Smith Rivera, A.J. Shively, Robbie Simpson, and Mirirai Sitole. Susanna Frazer will serve as the Narrator.

A social satire set in England and Scotland during the early 20th century, What Every Woman Knows centers around the perennially unmarried Maggie Wylie and John Shand, an ambitious young student, who promises to marry Maggie after five years if her family pays for his education. Following his successful bid for a seat in Parliament, Shand is set upon by the notoriously seductive Lady Sybil. Maggie, determined to find her own full potential, creates a plan in the hopes of proving to both herself and to John that she is an invaluable asset to him and to their community. First produced in 1908, What Every Woman Knows is considered one of Barrie's most realistic and important theatrical works. Graced with bursts of sly wit and dramatic irony, it continues to delight.

"Few playwrights rivaled Shaw's feminist theatrical creations more than James M. Barrie. Best known for his immortal Peter Pan, most of his plays championed the struggle of women in his time. What Every Woman Knows is generally regarded as his most fully realized play. Its comedic look at how men tend to take women for granted seems just as timely as ever and we're thrilled to finally have the opportunity to bring it to New Yorkers," said Mr. Staller.

The 15th season will continue with Shaw Songs @ The Players! directed by John Gary La Rosa on April 20 (PLEASE NOTE: this event will take place at The Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park South), Shaw's Saint Joan, directed by Vivienne Benesch on May 18th, He and She by Rachel Crothers on June 22nd, Shaw's The Apple Cart on July 20th, directed by Meredith McDonough, A Scintillating Shaw Talk on October 26th, The Torch Bearers by George Kelly directed by Charlotte Moore on November 2nd, and Shaw's Androcles and the Lion directed by Pamela Hunt ending the 2020 season on December 14th.

All the plays in this series (except Shaw Songs @ The Players) will be presented in a concert-reading format at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street. Tickets are $40 and are available by calling 212-864-5400 or online at http://www.symphonyspace.org. Special reserved VIP seating available for $55 by contacting the Gingold office 212-355-7823 or info@gingoldgroup.org. Symphony Space's Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre space is completely accessible. Infra-red hearing devices are also available.

On April 20th, Project Shaw will present a special evening, Shaw Songs @ The Players, a special treat, an evening of music that Shaw enjoyed, including popular music of his time, works by Gilbert & Sullivan, and more! For this very special event we'll be returning to the original home of Project Shaw, the beautiful Players Club at 16 Gramercy Park South. Cast and ticket information will be announced shortly.

In addition to Project Shaw, this fall GTG will return to Theatre Row with the annual mainstage production. This season will offer Shaw's high-action swashbuckling comedy The Devil's Disciple, based on actual events during the American Revolution. This limited Off-Broadway engagement will run in October and November at Theatre Row's Stage One. Cast & design team will be announced this Spring.

Now celebrating its 15th year, Gingold Theatrical Group's Project Shaw made history in December 2009 as the first company ever to present performances of every one of Shaw's 65 plays (including full-length works, one-acts and sketches). They are now also including plays by writers who share Shaw's activist socio-political views embracing human rights and free speech, including work by Chekhov, Ibsen, Elizabeth Robins, Rachel Crothers, Pinero, Wilde, Barrie, and Harley Granville-Barker. GTG's other programs include its new play development and educational programs. For those interested in lively off-site discourses, each Project Shaw event is followed by a talk-back with cast members. GTG's David Staller and Stephen Brown-Fried also host a monthly Shaw Club discussion group.

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Project Shaw Will Continue 2020 Season with WHAT EVERY WOMAN KNOWS by JM Barrie - Broadway World

Nick Brancaccio

Updated: January 28, 2020

Character Geoffery Cassilis played by Brennan Roberts holds the hand of his would-be fiancee Ethel Borridge played by Kyra Scarlett, centre right, as their mothers Mrs. Cassilis, left, played by Sarah Hagarty and Mrs. Borridge, Avery MacDonald, right, come into the scene during University Players production of The Cassilis Engagement at Essex Hall Theatre University of Windsor Tuesday. Show opens January 31 at 8 PM. Nick Brancaccio / Windsor Star

University Players are set to present their latest production, The Cassilis Engagement, described as a comedy for lovers and anti-romantics alike.

The play, written by St. John Hankin and subtitled Comedy for Mothers, is a clash of the classes. Upper-class Geoffery Cassilis and lower-class Ethel Borridge are determined to tie the knot, and now the refined Mrs. Cassilis must take on the loud and obnoxious Mrs. Borridge as their children bring them together to plan the wedding.

Mrs. Cassilis invites the would-be fiance and her mother to their sprawling country estate to introduce them to the demands of high society. Much to Ethels embarrassment, her mother cant help but show her lack of etiquette at every turn, whether it is yawning at breakfast or bursting into a raunchy after-dinner song.

This production marks the first time the show has been staged locally. St. John Hankin was a contemporary of Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw, although his plays are seldom produced.

The Countess of Remenham, played by Katelyn Doyle, reacts to a comment by Mrs. Cassilis while having tea during University Players production of The Cassilis Engagement at Essex Hall Theatre University of Windsor Tuesday. Show opens January 31 at 8 PM. Nick Brancaccio / Windsor Star

He went largely neglected for nearly a hundred years before several revivals of his work were produced at the Shaw Festival in Niagara, in New York, and in London, England in the 1990s and early 2000s. The Cassilis Engagement is a great example of late Edwardian comedy.

The Cassilis Engagement opens Jan. 31 with an 8 p.m. performance at Essex Hall Theatre. The show runs approximately two hours and is recommended for ages 14 and up.

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at universityplayers.com or by calling the box office at 519-253-3000 ext. 2808. Regular price tickets start at $19.

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Photos: University Players to stage The Cassilis Engagement - Windsor Star

Todays birthdays

Rosamund Pike (pictured), actress, 41

Nick Mason, rock musician (Pink Floyd), 76

Mimi Rogers, actress, 64

Bridget Fonda, actress, 56

Alan Cumming, actor/director, 55

Robbie Earle, former footballer, 55

Mike Patton, rock singer (Faith No More), 52

Dean Headley, former cricketer, 50

Mark Owen, singer (Take That), 48

Marat Safin, retired tennis player, 40

1596: Sir Francis Drake died at sea off Panama.

1756: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg. He composed 20 operas, 17 masses, 41 symphonies, 27 string quartets and 21 piano concertos and still died a pauper in 1791, aged 35.

1778: Joseph Bramah patented the valved flush toilet.

1832: Lewis Carroll, childrens author, was born in Daresbury, near Warrington, as Charles Lutwidge Dodgson.

1859: Kaiser Wilhelm II, third German emperor and grandson of Queen Victoria, was born. He was forced to abdicate after World War I.

1879: ThomasEdison patented his electric lamp.

1885: Jerome Kern, US composer regarded as the father of the modern musical, was born in New York. His major work was Show Boat.

1901: Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer whose operas include Rigoletto, Traviata and Aida, died aged 87.

1926: John Logie Baird gave a public demonstration of television to members of the Royal Institution in London.

1944: The 900-day siege of Leningrad ended.

1951: Atomic bombs were tested in Nevada for the first time.

1967: Round-the-world yachtsman Francis Chichester was knighted by the Queen at Greenwich with a sword which once belonged to Sir Francis Drake.

1973: America signed a ceasefire to end its military action in Vietnam (above).

1992: Gennifer Flowers accused Arkansas governor Bill Clinton of being a liar after he denied having a 12-year affair with her.

2010: American novelist JD Salinger, author of The Catcher In The Rye, died aged 91.

There is no truth behind it. Unless journalists know something more than I do Actor James Norton (pictured) addresses speculation he will be the next James Bond

Suppose the world were only one of Gods jokes, would you work any the less to make it a good joke instead of a bad one? Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw

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On this day: January 27 - Metro Newspaper UK

When it was announced earlier this month that Cliff Harris will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, I thought back to the Saturdays spent watching him play college football and the Sundays spent watching him play professional football. Those games were a big part of my formative years. More than anything, though, I thought about men and women from towns such as Benton, Des Arc, Bearden and Glenwood. The men served their country during World War II, came home and finished college, got married and went to work. The women raised children and later doted on grandchildren while taking care of their husbands. They truly were the Greatest Generation.

Cliff, who starred in college at Ouachita Baptist University and in the pros for the Dallas Cowboys, will no doubt think of his parents when he receives pro football's greatest honor. His father, O.J. "Buddy" Harris, played with my father at Ouachita in the 1940s. O.J. was a linebacker and center. He went on to be a war hero during World War II, earning the P-38 Flying Cross after being shot down over the Pacific.

Cliff's mother, who we knew as Big Margaret since Cliff also had a sister named Margaret, had attended what's now Henderson State University. My parents (who hailed from Benton and Des Arc) and Cliff's parents (who hailed from Bearden and Glenwood) became close friends with each other along with couples such as the Kemps and McHaneys. I marveled at the fact that these couples who first met in the 1940s remained so close through all the ups and downs, the moves and changes, the passing decades. They're gone now, but the examples they set remain.

Cliff was born in Fayetteville and spent most of his childhood in Hot Springs. Just before his senior year in high school, Arkansas Power & Light Co. transferred his father to Des Arc. As luck would have it, there was a home available adjacent to my grandparents' house on Erwin Street. The Harris family moved in, so we had my grandparents and family friends living on the same Des Arc street.

Coach John Rollins decided to play Cliff at quarterback his senior year, and Cliff performed well for the Eagles. He didn't, however, receive college scholarship offers after graduating in the spring of 1966.

Buddy Benson, who had become Ouachita's head football coach in 1965, was urged by O.J. Harris' former teammates--including my father--to offer Cliff a scholarship. Benson, who would go on to serve 31 years as Ouachita's coach and be inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, gave Cliff his only scholarship offer. Living a block from Ouachita's football stadium (I was ages 7-10 during the four seasons Cliff played there), I walked the sidelines as a water boy. Cliff's sister and my sister later attended Ouachita together.

On game days, O.J. and Big Margaret would come to our house for lunch. Cliff's grandfather would drive his Cadillac up from Bearden and his grandmother, a beloved Glenwood teacher named Amy Weaver, also would show up. Those were fun days, and I felt special because our house was game-day headquarters.

Cliff made a name for himself while playing in the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference from 1966-69, but was overlooked in the NFL draft. Gil Brandt, who headed the highly touted scouting operation for the Cowboys, was aware of the hard-hitting player from the small school in Arkadelphia. The Cowboys signed Cliff as a free agent, thinking there was a chance he could make the team. A decade and five Super Bowls later, Cliff retired from football.

When Cliff played for the Cowboys from 1970-79, we spent many weekends in the Dallas area watching games. Coach Tom Landry required players to stay in a hotel the night before each home game. Once the team moved from the Cotton Bowl at the Texas State Fairgrounds to Texas Stadium in Irving, the team hotel was the Holiday Inn Regal Row, which was in a nondescript warehouse district in Irving. We would get a room at the team hotel on Saturday nights and ride a chartered bus to games on Sunday.

George Bernard Shaw wrote that "youth is wasted on the young." True to form, I didn't fully appreciate those weekends in the 1970s. It was a rare opportunity for a boy from Arkansas to be around one of the greatest groups of players and coaches ever assembled. Landry was already an icon. Even the general manager (Tex Schramm), the director of player personnel (Brandt), the man who played the national anthem on the trumpet before home games (Tommy Loy) and the public address announcers (Bill Melton and James Jennings) were celebrities.

In addition to playing in those five Super Bowls (the Cowboys won two of them), Cliff was named to the Pro Bowl six times and was a first team All-NFL player for four consecutive seasons by both The Associated Press and the Pro Football Writers Association. He was named to the Dallas Silver Season All-Time Team, was selected by Sports Illustrated as the free safety on the magazine's All-Time Dream Team, was given the NFL Alumni Legends Award and was the free safety for the NFL All-Decade Team for the 1970s.

In 2004, Cliff was inducted into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. In 2013, the Little Rock Touchdown Club created the Cliff Harris Award, given annually to the best defensive player in small college football. And in 2014, Ouachita named its newly renovated football stadium Cliff Harris Stadium.

To understand what has driven Cliff through the years, one must first understand the story of his father. By age 50, the elder Harris had lost most of his sight due to diabetes. By the time Cliff began playing for the Cowboys, his father was having a hard time finding him on the field. At home, O.J. would turn down the sound on the television and listen to the radio broadcasts of Dallas games.

"Cliff didn't think much about it back then," Kevin Sherrington wrote a few years ago in The Dallas Morning News. "He was too caught up making and keeping his position with the Cowboys. . . . Cliff says he is who he is because of his father. He figures he still owes him."

"My dad never flew again after the war," Cliff says. "I played in five Super Bowls, and he never got to live his dream. I feel kind of guilty because I was so focused on myself all those years. I feel like I didn't do him justice."

I never saw O.J. Harris have a bad day after losing his sight. He was a profile in courage. And Big Margaret was always there for him. She wasn't a big woman in a physical sense. It was her personality that was big. Like her husband, the redheaded lady was always upbeat. When she died in October 2009 at age 83, her obituary stated: "Her devotion to her husband was an inspiration to all those around her."

Big Margaret had taken her wedding vows seriously--every word of them. She had given up a potential singing career to marry O.J. in February 1946, though her voice would continue to bless the churches she attended. During her funeral service at Piney Grove United Methodist Church near Hot Springs, there was much talk about her singing ability. Her strong voice also was effective in questioning the calls of football officials from the stands.

Through tenacity and a willingness to do whatever it took to succeed, Cliff overcame numerous obstacles in his football career to become one of the best defensive players in history. His parents, inspirations for all of us who knew them, wouldn't have had it any other way.

------------v------------

Rex Nelson is a senior editor at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Editorial on 01/26/2020

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REX NELSON: The ties that bind - NWAOnline

All of us fall short of our potential as leaders at times. But this is no excuse for being unwilling ... [+] to stare our problems in the face.

Leadership is a journey into self. It involves understanding the patterns of power that every human being is able to accessand learning how to deploy that power to best effect.

We might define a good leader as someone who has mastered their power and knows how to direct it so that it is additive to their team, their business and the wider world. By way of contrast, an underperforming leader is someone who misunderstands, misdirects or maliciously deploys their power. Poor leadership rarely delivers brilliant long-term results.

All of us fall short of our potential as leaders at times. But this is no excuse for being unwilling to stare our problems in the face. Here are three of the most commonand challengingissues that leaders face on their journey to excellence.

There is a big difference between the leader who is doing his best to engage openly and honestly with his colleagues or shareholders, and one who is manipulating, distorting or withholding key information in order to try and create a desired outcome.

It is important to note that the dishonest leaders intention might not be malicious. But it is almost always self-serving. For example, many underperforming leaders withhold difficult information simply because they dont like entering the zone of uncomfortable conversations. The wish to avoid personal embarrassment is another reason.Then there is plain old denial.

In reality, a fundamental lack of honesty is rarely sustainable. People can smell inauthenticity from afar, and the truth will out. But the underperforming leader thinks of himself first, and prioritizes comfort over candor.

By way of contrast, the good leader embraces forthright diplomacy. She understands the power of honesty. She turns the zone of uncomfortable conversations into a training ground for herself and her colleagues.

Candor, congruency and a willingness to embrace complexity are three signs of a high-performing ... [+] leader.

Organizations are good at creating long-standing, seemingly intractable problems. Underperforming leaders are good at delegating the responsibility to remedy themin unrealistic timeframes.

Sadly, wicked problems dont generally lend themselves to quick fixes, particularly when the issues are systemic in nature. In fact, a lack of systems thinking is why many wicked problems exist in the first place. In an attempt manage the chaos that accompanies growth, many businesses implement new processes, priorities or structures without considering their impact on the whole. So, the solution only ends up creating more problems (we might call this the law of unintended consequences). These problems pile up, becoming ever more complex and creating organizational inertia.

But the underperforming leader is untroubled by this, preferring to agitate for results now and at any cost. This is a classic misuse of power. In championing fast fixes, he will likely store up a whole lot of problems for a later timeor another leader.

Faced with a wicked problem, the good leader slows down, and tests solutions at the systemic level.

The psychologist Carl Rogers believed that for a person to achieve self-actualization they must be congruent. This means that someones ideal self (who they would like to be) is consistent with how they actually behave.

This is a lofty goal that all but the most evolved leaders will often fall short of achieving. Many of us have distorted self-images, with childhood trauma often being the root cause. And because around 80% of our thought processes are non-conscious, we often struggle to understand why we feel and behave as we do.

But the underperforming leader does not attempt to traverse this psychological terrain. Instead, he plays armchair psychologist to his team, barracking them to improve their own performance while ignoring the factors that compromise his own. Overcome by ego, he believes that his title signifies that his personal development journey is complete.

The good leader makes mastering her own psychological weaknesses and blind spots a priority. She acknowledges that achieving congruence between self-image and behavior is a force multiplier on every other goal she has. She invests money, time and energy to achieve this state of grace.

Candor, congruence and a willingness to embrace complexity are three signs of a leader that has mastered his or her power. They also represent a challengingif often inspiringjourney of personal development.

If your coach or consultant asked you to rank yourself out of ten on each of these factors, how would you score?

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Are You Struggling As A Leader? Here Are Three Possible Reasons Why - Forbes

After losing his last two fights, Juan Adams reached out for help to get his career back on track.

"Anytime I go through something hard in life, I go see a therapist," Adams told theScore. "We work through it. Sometimes it takes a long time, this time it took two-to-three weeks getting back to the right mindset. And that's what I've been doing man just been a lot of personal development."

The 28-year-old revealed he's been working with a therapist on and off for the last seven years.

"It started when I was very young," Adams said. "When I was in school, I first got diagnosed with ADD (attention-deficit disorder) and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). They sent me (to a therapist) because I just stopped caring about school. Once I learned how to control that, I stopped going. I had to go again in high school because I was getting into a lot of fights."

"My junior year in college I was getting into it with my teammates a lot," he continued. "There were a lot of arguments, a lot of testosterone in those rooms. Me, you know, I don't have many in-betweens. Its like 'one, two, three, ok we're going.'

"So I've been working with a therapist since then. This one I started going to right when my mom died, off and on. I'll get good for a little while, a few months and then I will go back and just check-in."

Fighters don't often open up about their personal struggles while competing in a masculine sport like mixed martial arts. Adams wants to change that stigma by sharing his battles with anxiety and depression.

"So many people suffer from this, men especially," he said. "Its stigmatized in our society quite a bit. Anything that's going to keep you on this earth longer, I advise you to do it.

"So that's why I'm open about it. When I was a kid, the reason I was so reluctant to go for it (was) because I viewed it as weakness. Once I became more secure in who I was, I was like, I'm going to be (the) person that I needed when I was younger."

Fans have become inspired, and Adams has taken on a mentor role. The Contender Series winner mainly wants to prove there's no shame in enduring mental struggles.

"I don't check my DM requests often, but when I do there's always one or two people that are just saying how much its helped them," he said. "My Instagram story Im pretty open about my struggles with anxiety when I'm going through depressive bouts. I'll do it for everyone to see and then you know, they can see in two or three days I'm usually over and I'm good again. It's not something that you have to be defined by."

Adams is scheduled to face Justin Tafa at UFC 247 on Feb. 8 in Houston.

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Adams opens up about doing a 'lot of personal development' with therapist - theScore

This Insights article was contributed by Richard J. Walsh, Director UNCWs Swain Center for Executive Education & Economic Development We know from experience, that the best leaders never stop learning. Often, they seek out new opportunities to grow and help steer their organization toward growth and success. The most successful leaders start out each year with both a business plan and a personal growth plan. Yet, how do you develop a personal growth plan? For those leaders I coach, my answer is easy, yet challenging. Each new year is a time to take stock, to reflect on our business and our personal life. Re-connect with those who are most important in our life, and perhaps with someone we havent spoken to in a while. Forge new friendships with those who may think differently. Be of services to others in our community that may need our help. Reflect on our accomplishments, learn from our mistakes, and hopefully, determine our most important goals for the coming year. Perhaps youre thinking, that may be easier said than done. Each year, we are afforded a precious gift, and that is the opportunity for a new beginning. A new year to grow our business, spend time with loved ones, friends, business colleagues and community. A chance to make time in our hectic schedules and a chance to slow down from our fast-paced lives. A chance to re-connect with those people and activities that are most important to us and others. I find myself the busiest Ive ever been. What can I do differently? My answer is simple, yet profound. Begin by taking better care of ourselves. Leadership studies show that most of us need to be more resilient; and resiliency is one of the best predictors for success. We need to be at our best to help prepare our teams and our organizations for the future. Yet, many of us struggle just to respond to day-to-day challenges or set-backs. In a recent study of over 1,000 global leaders, leadership challenges fell into four main categories: market forces, organizational agility, social networks through interpersonal connections and personal renewal. These challenges pre-occupy much of our time, and we often overlook personal renewal. Health studies have shown that most of us dont make time for sleep, proper diet and exercise. Neuroscientists have researched that for us to be at our best, on average, we need eight hours of sleep. Medical experts, such as author Dean Ornish, MD recommends more plant-based foods in our diet. Sports psychologist Dr. Sharon McDowell encourages exercise in improving our overall, well-being. I seem to ruminate (or obsess) over past struggles. How do I learn from the past and set a new path for the coming year? Learn from the past, but dont dwell too much on the past. Unfortunately, negative thoughts attract negative experiences. Instead, learn to attract positive experiences for us and our team. Reflect on what went well, and how to share our talents and experiences with others. Write down five things that went exceptionally well, and how to leverage those accomplishments. Explore how others seek our advice, whether on technical areas, past experiences or even personal character. Then, identify key themes, and make time to share our unique talents even more in the coming year. When we find ourselves replaying negative thoughts, read from our list of top accomplishments. Over time, our positive thoughts will overtake the negative, and we will notice a big difference. I often feel like Im on a treadmill, doing the same things over and over again. If so, I challenge leaders to review our calendars over the past year, and group our time into four or five key areas. Are we performing activities that pull from our unique strengths and talents? Or, do we find ourselves doing more routine activities, that perhaps others on our team can do? If its the latter, then let them do it. The most successful leaders free up time to focus on those things that bring unique value to our team or organization. Activities that can make the greatest impact. Learn from our mistakes, but move forward. To help, determine five things that didnt go as well as we had hoped. Are their others who can support us, or past accomplishments we can apply to a challenging situation? Draw a road map, and decide on 3 or 4 actions we can take that will move us and our organization forward. Then focus on those most important actions. Often, we get so distracted by the urgent, we overlook the most important. As leaders, others look to us to help set priorities, and ensure future success. Set aside time to do just that, or said in another way, set aside time to think and act more strategically. In summary, the best gifts for ourselves are to take some time to recharge our batteries and focus on how we can bring the greatest value to our organizations, family, friends and community. Reflect on what went well, and determine any adjustments needed. Learn from our mistakes. Seek the advice of others, perhaps those who are different from us, and above all else, take good care of ourselves as we begin the new year. Perhaps last year wasnt exactly a time of reflection or personal renewal. If so, plan time over the next few months to learn from our experiences and set a path to achieve our most important goals. After all, the best never do stop learning.

Robert T. Burrus, Jr., Ph.D., is the dean of the Cameron School of Business at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, named in June 2015. Burrus joined the UNCW faculty in 1998. Prior to his current position, Burrus was interim dean, associate dean of undergraduate studies and the chair of the department of economics and finance. Burrus earned a Ph.D. and a masters degree in economics from the University of Virginia and a bachelors degree in mathematical economics from Wake Forest University. The Cameron School of Business has approximately 60 full-time faculty members and 20 administrative and staff members. The AACSB-accredited business school currently enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduate students in three degree programs and 200 graduate students in four degree programs. The school also houses the prestigious Cameron Executive Network, a group of more than 200 retired and practicing executives that provide one-on-one mentoring for Cameron students. To learn more about the Cameron School of Business, please visithttp://csb.uncw.edu/. Questions and comments can be sent to[emailprotected].

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The Best Never Stop Learning by Robert Burrus | Sponsored Insights - Greater Wilmington Business Journal

Attacking his former colleagues in the U.S. Navy SEAL community, Eddie Gallagher has shown why the Navy was right to push for his demotion and removal from the service.

Gallagher, a SEAL who was tried for numerous war crimes and convicted on one count, had his demotion countermanded by President Trump last year. The president claimed that this ill-advised decision ensured Gallagher was treated fairly, but the actual result was a diminishing of the Navy's integrity and its professional ethos.

This week, Gallagher again proved why Trump was wrong to protect him.

Gallagher did so by releasing an Instagram video identifying the names, photo identification, duty status, and service units of SEALs he accuses of betraying him by testifying in his trial. As the San Diego Union-Tribune reports, Gallagher accused the men of being "cowards" and included a member of the Naval Warfare Special Development Group, or Seal Team Six, in his rant. The video, titled "#TheTruthisComing," is apparently a trailer for a larger upcoming project.

But the only truth that has come out is that which we already knew: It's good news Gallagher is no longer a SEAL.

After all, Gallagher knows full well that by identifying the names, likenesses, and units of those he attacks, he has endangered them and their families. This is particularly true of the DEVGRU operator. Alongside the Army's Delta Force, DEVGRU is the lead unit for the nation's most dangerous counterterrorism operations.

Recall that DEVGRU was responsible for the killing of Osama bin Laden. Now, ask yourself a question: Do you think al Qaeda would like revenge against a DEVGRU SEAL?

Gallagher must know this. That he persists in threatening his former brothers shows he doesn't care about putting them and their families in danger. Indeed, he appears to like it.

Some will say that Gallagher has the right to attack those who followed their consciences by speaking to investigators, but they are wrong. Whatever you think of the way that Gallagher has been treated, his first responsibility should have been to his rank and his reputation as a retired senior noncommissioned officer. Even those with some sympathy for Gallagher should agree with this. As one former Joint Special Operations Command Task Force commander put it to me:

"I understand that chief Gallagher is upset or, better yet, pissed because he feels that men within his command betrayed him and that he wants to clear his name even more after being acquitted [of the most serious charges in his trial]. However, by striking back at those 'cowards,' as he describes them, does not show personal growth and maturity. We are taught every day that karma is a bitch and every dog has its day. Instead of making a vendetta, stand tall, be proud of what you accomplished, repair the damage to your name by something else to make this a better world, and walk quietly and carry a big stick, not Instagram."

That's the U.S. special operations way to deal with adversity, not the production of whiny Instagram videos.

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Eddie Gallagher forgets his rank and earns his negative reputation - Washington Examiner

Getty

LinkedIn recently analyzed hiring trends across its platformto determine both the hard and soft skills companies need most in 2020. The trends align with what I see in my executive coaching practice, where I help leaders manage stress, build resilience, unleash creativity, develop emotional intelligence, and communicate and collaborate better.

Hard skills are often technical in nature and tend to be both teachable and measurable. Design, engineering, economic analysis, and AI all fall in this category.

Soft skills include interpersonal and communication skills, as well as the ability to be creative and to view problems from multiple angles. Self-awareness is also essential here. Leaders, teachers, and coaches can help develop soft skills in others, but they tend to be trickier to measure.

We underestimate (and undervalue) the latter set of skills by calling them soft. As I have written before, soft skills are imperative to be an effective leader. Accordingly, Dartmouth University president Philip Hanlon calls them power skills, a high-value currency in todays workplace.

For the second year in a row, LinkedIns analysis finds creativity to be ranked the highest in-demand soft skill. As technical tasks become outsourced to computing and AI, it is the ability to see things differently and to connect the dots in new ways that distinguish great companies from good ones.

Daniel Pink noted this trend fifteen years ago in his book A Whole New Mind, where he argued that creativity and other right-brain skills were going to be the key to the future. We were, he said, moving from the information age to the conceptual age. That observation is even more valid today.

The ability to persuade and influence others is required in sales, but its applications are much broader. Leaders are responsible for communicating and igniting the organizations purpose and mission to employees, customers, clients, and other stakeholders. Conveying vision and influencing others to believe in that vision is a fundamentally persuasive skill.

Persuasion also figures more subtly in another essential interpersonal activity, developing one-on-one rapport with colleagues and employees. When leaders can effectively communicate the why of a task, tackling the how becomes far more manageable. Great leaders have a contagious conviction that persuades others to be believers.

The greatest ideas and innovations, argues Frans Johansson in The Medici Effect, do not come from lone wolf inventors, but from the intersection of different fields and perspectives. In order to think out of the box, we have to break out of our siloes. The most innovative companies and leaders create an environment that fosters collaboration.

Encouraging cognitive diversity is a complementary leadership skill. The Harvard Business Review finds that teams solve problems faster when they are more cognitively diverse. Leaders must orchestrate collaboration, and a diversity of background and perspective, if they are to stay on top.

Disruptive is a popular buzzword to describe ground-breaking ideas and cutting-edge companies. In order to ride the constant waves of change, leaders and their organizations have to learn to be adaptable, agile, and nimble.

The skillsets required to be adaptable are both personal and organizational. Leaders need to manage their stress and build resilience through a growth mindset and healthy habits in order to adapt and thrive in high-pressure environments. They must also be able to pivot and let go of assumptions and preconceived ideas. An open and receptive mind is essential. Organizations, in turn, must be able to respond quickly to unexpected changes in the market. Creativity, resilience, and the ability to collaborate will enhance an organizations adaptability.

Emotional intelligence is the secret sauce that enables all of the other soft skills. We cannot collaborate with or win over others unless we can read them accurately and can be empathic. We cannot fully tap into our creativity and agility unless we are self-aware and able to manage our thoughts and emotions.

Emotional intelligence is a foundation for succeeding and thriving in a complex and ever-changing world. Although this set of skills yields the most significant results in the interpersonal realm, it starts with the individual, and with the tough inner work and self-development influential leaders commit themselves to. Developing mindful self-awareness and self-mastery is the core of my executive coaching work, and leads to the biggest breakthroughs, both personal and professional.

One measure of just how essential soft skills are in todays world comes from Googles process of organizational introspection. Google was founded by a pair of computer scientists and conceived as a company that would be driven by the ideas and needs of engineers, not managers. As it evolved, however, the company examined what made for its most creative and productive teams.

The results of Googles internal analysis surprised many. Of the eight most important qualities found in its top employees, technical expertise came in last. All of the top characteristics were soft skills.

If soft skills can provide the competitive edge at one of the worlds most innovative tech companies, imagine what they can do for your organization.

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5 Of The Most In-Demand Soft Skills Companies Are Looking For This Year - Forbes