Sometimes lessons come to us in the strangest ways.

In this article, I would like to highlight and appreciate fathers. My hope is not only to show respect for the many amazing dads out there but also to bring awareness to what I believe is one of the most important leadership roles on this planet.

I realize that as you are reading this, Mother’s Day has already passed. Yet, the mothers in our lives deserve far more than just one day of recognition each year.

I think it is safe to say that all of us experience both good days and bad days.

Words are extremely powerful. Written words can completely change a person’s attitude.

I realize that very few people intentionally plan for failure in their day. Yet somehow, like the Mayhem character in those insurance commercials, failure seems to find all of us sooner or later.

I’m guessing that many of you never even noticed the title of this regular column, “The courage to evolve.” There was actually a great deal of thought and reflection that went into choosing those words.

In the last column, we talked about how valuable and important it is to have vision in our businesses. I want you to know that, in my opinion, vision is even more important outside of business.

I love leadership, and it is very clear that vision is one of the most important responsibilities of any leader. Great leaders understand the significance of not only possessing vision but also clearly communicating it to everyone connected to the organization.

When I was first approached about writing this page for Progressive Dairy, I asked for a little time to think about it. Time is one of our most valuable resources, and too often it is taken for granted. There are many things that contribute to success, but being aware of what success truly means to us – and then being intentional, focused and proactive about how we spend our time – ranks very high on that list.