Category Archives: wisdom

(Issue #584) Wisdom of the Ages

Posted on August 1, 2021 by stevepiscitelli

Do you think a twenty-something and a seventy-something,for instance, share life lessons, questions and advice? Last year, I did some reading about the oldest of old. What they lived, thought, and hoped for moving forward.  It made me wonder about … Continue reading →

Posted in Life lessons, wisdom | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

(#434) Wisdom

Posted on September 16, 2018 by stevepiscitelli

The opportunities to appreciate wisdom exist all around us. Are we mindful? Are we paying attention. Several years ago, on this blog, I wrote the following: Wisdom does NOT necessarily come with knowledge. I know a lot of “educated” people … Continue reading →

Posted in assumptions, authenticity, awareness, curiosity, Life lessons, vulnerability, wellbeing, wisdom | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

(#420) Trust As A Core Value

Posted on June 10, 2018 by stevepiscitelli

Everyone has a story and our job is to listen. A few decades years after the Civil War, Clara White, a former slave, saw a need and took action in her Jacksonville, Florida neighborhood.  Some of her neighbors did not … Continue reading →

Posted in acceptance, accountability, amplifying, Appreciation, assumptions, Being REMARKABLE, change, Community, community development, courage, dignity, Discipline, fortitude, Goals, habits, health, hope, Integrity, Motivation, resilience, Social responsibility, social ties, transactional leadership, wisdom | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

(#416) A Safe Place to Land

Posted on May 13, 2018 by stevepiscitelli

I kept hearing about the connections between congregants and neighborhood, congregants and congregants, as well as congregants and their own souls. Consider this. It’s 1993. You are an exuberant minister with a young and growing family.  You walk into a … Continue reading →

Posted in acceptance, assumptions, authenticity, Being REMARKABLE, Choice, Civility, collaboration, Communication, core values, vulnerability, wisdom | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

(#409) More with Less or Less with More?

Posted on March 25, 2018 by stevepiscitelli

If the “more-with-less crisis” is followed by another “more-with-less crisis” and yet another, simple arithmetic indicates with each “more” there is a lot “less.” And then that becomes the norm.   Toward the end of my high school teaching career the … Continue reading →

Posted in accountability, assumptions, authenticity, awareness, boundaries and limits, Critical Thinking, curiosity, leadership, Personal Wellbeing, resilience, Success, vulnerability, wisdom | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

(#404) Risk, Empty Spaces, and Self: Lessons from the Stage

Posted on February 18, 2018 by stevepiscitelli

“There is no failure in result; there is only failure in process.” Sam Wasson’s Improv Nation: How We Made A Great American Art provides more than an improv history lesson. He deftly lays out a philosophy of life.  For all … Continue reading →

Posted in acceptance, amplifying, assumptions, authenticity, awareness, Being REMARKABLE, childlike, confidence, Mindfulness, risk-taking, Teaching, teaching and learning, vulnerability, wisdom, Words, Words and Action | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

(#401) Improv and Leadership

Posted on January 28, 2018 by stevepiscitelli

Incompetent and fear-based managers rely on rigid scripts. Sam Wasson’s Improv Nation: How We Made a Great American Art provides lessons for transformational leadership. As early Improv players experimented and developed the art form, they learned the power of two … Continue reading →

Posted in acceptance, Appropriate Behavior, Choice, Civility, collaboration, collegiality, Communication, effective meetings, generativity, growth, improv, professional development, resilience, self-awareness, self-regulatory behavior, Teaching, teaching and learning, vulnerability, wisdom, Words | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

(#398) We Are Where We Are

Posted on January 7, 2018 by stevepiscitelli

 “We are where we are, however we got here. What matters is where we go next.”—Isaac Marion The New Year inevitably brings resolutions. Just as inescapable are posts about those inexorable goals for the next 12 months. We generally hear … Continue reading →

Posted in Anxiety, authenticity, awareness, Balance, Choice, Goals, Integrity, intentionality, Life lessons, priorities, resilience, wisdom, Words and Action | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

(#368) Fake, Illegitimate Or Incomplete Information?

Posted on June 11, 2017 by stevepiscitelli

Just because you find a lot of information does not mean you have found accurate or credible information If, as famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright claimed, “An expert is a man who stops thinking because he knows,” then can we say … Continue reading →

Posted in Appropriate Behavior, assumptions, collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, curiosity, empathy, fortitude, Grit, Haters, Integrity, learning, Life lessons, Mindfulness, mindset, priorities, vulnerability, wisdom | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

(#356) Are You Listening Or Adding To The Noise?

Posted on March 19, 2017 by stevepiscitelli

With a world full of noise, how can we fine-tune the needed listening skill? This past week I facilitated a San Francisco workshop examining how colleges and universities envision and implement faculty development.  My session subtitle: What Important Questions Should … Continue reading →

Posted in Appropriate Behavior, awareness, Discipline, Excellence, faculty development, Goals, Gratitude, growth, habits, Life lessons, Purpose, self-efficacy, self-regulatory behavior, Social Media, Social responsibility, wisdom | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments