Highfill Performance Group

An acorn fell on an unsuspecting, nervous chicken. Unaware that it was an acorn, Chicken Little decided it was something much, much bigger. Henny Penny: “Where are you going, Chicken Little?” Chicken Little: “Oh help! The sky is falling!” Henny Penny: “How do you know?” Chicken Little: “I saw it with my own eyes, and [...]

“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” ― L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz I’ve used this literary reference more than any other during my many years of speaking. Why? Because every single one of us has a curtain that we keep shut to protect the very vulnerable parts of ourselves. I see it [...]

I remember a woman I worked with years ago who drove me crazy. She came to meetings and dominated them with her constant talking. She joked around when she should have been serious. I made her my number one topic, determined to get her to change these annoying behaviors by talking about her to others. [...]

Have you heard about the customer service technique of pretending that  every customer you serve is your grandmother? It’s a technique built upon the assumption that you like your grandmother, and it teaches employees to treat customers as human beings with needs rather than walking annoyances that keep interrupting their lives. I would like to [...]

I love a good, uplifting story. I call these “rooftop stories,” because they raise everyone up with their messages of hope and support. Leaders who use rooftop stories make the team they work with stronger and better by incorporating the heart of the team in their inspirational messages. The opposite of rooftop stories are “cellar [...]

The comic strip above has been developed specifically for this site. Moving forward, John Mark Strother will be providing his profound take on some of my blog topics via his visual. I’ve known John Mark a long time – in fact, all of his life. He is my brother. What I’ve always respected most about [...]

Organizations can’t change if little time or effort is put into the change itself. Let me tell you a story. I was twelve years old, and needed money for a new purse. My friend and I decided to put on a roller skating show. Up to this point, I always sold tickets to my plays [...]