(2025-3) I’ve been doing a lot of reminiscing the past few weeks. August 20 was a sad, reflective day for me. Not only was it the birthday of my first nephew (who passed away too soon), but it was the one-year anniversary of my sister Laura’s death. Laura was a special person to so many […]
Author: mrhensonllc
What is a Coach?
(2025-2) Recently I’ve spent some time thinking about coaching. In 2010, I was certified as a John Maxwell speaker, coach, and trainer. At the time, I was a bit bored in my job and wanted to make a change. Shortly after being certified, my role changed into one that was challenging and fun for me. […]
What’s In a Name?
(2025-1) Early on in my 40-year career, I was aware of the power of job titles. At Chevron, key words gave an indication into salary grade. As I grew in my role as a leader, job titles became less important to me. That’s probably a good thing, because I’ve had some crazy job titles. The […]
Life Lessons From the Flying Fortress
(2024-11) I am an avid World War 2 history buff and have been for quite some time. In my opinion, the Boeing B-17 was the most impactful airplane of the war. It is my favorite plane of that period of history. My love and admiration for this plane was recently rekindled when a fully restored […]
Has It Been Five Years Already?
(2024-10) You’ve heard the expression that time flies when you’re having fun. I firmly believe it! It recently dawned on me that five years ago on September 1, 2019, I retired from Chevron after over 40 years. I find it hard to fathom! I can’t believe five years have passed. I decided to look back […]
Books Are Your Friends
(2024-09) A dear friend of mine had a great saying she shared with me many years ago – “Books are your friends!” I believe this, don’t you? I love books and I love to read. I started collecting books in ninth grade when I joined the Military Book Club (I’ve been a WW2 history buff […]
Meeting the Masters
(2024-08) I believe that inspiration and learning is improved through direct exposure to leaders in a particular field. I’ve been very fortunate to meet many masters in the self-development field. In high school, one of my first dates with my wife was to see Norman Vincent Peale (author of “The Power of Positive Thinking”) speak. […]
The Power of Raw Feedback
(2024-07) According to dictionary.com, one definition of the word “raw” is “brutally or grossly frank.” Using this definition, is brutal frankness good for a leader? Should leaders welcome raw feedback? I believe that raw feedback is good for a leader. Feedback freely given without fear of reprisal indicates that an open, honest environment exists. One […]
“Stuff” Happens, But Should It?
(2024-06) Sometimes accidents and incidents happen when you least expect it. We’ve heard the phrase “stuff happens” (or the vulgar version) to depict many unfortunate events. In my opinion, this phrase is overused to the point that people can shrug off preventable incidents. Should we always expect accidents? Why is it that some people, companies, […]
What Style of Leader Are You?
(2024-05) What style of a leader would you say you are? I had a couple conversations recently where someone told me I was a servant leader. Another person told me that my style really impressed him. When he saw the impact of my leadership expressed at my retirement party in 2019, this impact (expressed by […]