Highfill Performance Group

The crash came as I talked to my mom about the hurricane. My husband had gone to the front door to take the dog outside since Irene had been raging for twelve hours and it was supposed to be dissipating. My son had gone upstairs to his bedroom with a window that faced the front [...]

My dad was in a hospital bed, gasping for the last few breaths he would experience on this earth. I watched him from a small distance, amazed by how unattached I felt to this body, this person, who had meant so much to me.

My last blog discussed conference calls and how they turn us all into zombies. I asked for some stories or ideas concerning how to make them more interesting. I got nothin’. Then I tried to come up with my own ideas, and began writing the usual boring suggestions like “start on time; stick to your [...]

I’m on a conference call, listening to the dread in each person’s voice as they “sign on.” This is supposed to be a call about a new change initiative, and everyone should be fired up. Instead, it sounds like they are the living dead, and need to have their head removed with a quick blow [...]

In my new book, Real People, Real Change: Stories of a Change Warrior in the Business World, I share a story about a school in which I taught. The middle school was in the middle of the city, and the students came from the lower socio-economic areas. I taught the “severely emotionally disturbed” class, which [...]

Remember the guy in sixth grade who used to do anything to get out of class and had an excuse for everything? He’s still around. He’s just getting out of projects and meetings instead of gym class. Most people in business are not that different from those with whom we attended elementary school. We still have [...]

I picked up my daughter from college last week, and we spent many hours driving through Illinois and Indiana. On that day of driving the sky was blue, the air was clear, and the water to the left and right of us sparkled as it reflected the warming sun. We gazed with delight at the spectacular scene until [...]