We can all think of situations in our lives where we were faced with dealing with a difficult person.  At work or in our personal lives.  Some situations created by difficult people are low risk/low stakes while others can have a significant negative impact on team dynamics at work or even our family relationships. This episode of the Today Counts Show is all about dealing with difficult people in the workplace.  To guide us through this very challenging topic, Jim welcomes Clint Pies.  Clint Pies is currently the Chief People Officer for MasTec Power Delivery.  MasTec is a large, publicly traded, energy infrastructure company.  Clint has decades of experience dealing with personnel at all levels in some very large Fortune 500 corporations. Early on in the conversation Clint drops this catchy bit of wisdom, “What you ignore becomes more.  What you address becomes less”. That is the sometimes uncomfortable truth!  Clint explains

Jim Piper welcomes his sister, Robin Finney, to the Today Counts Show. Robin is a psychiatric nurse practitioner. She and her husband Micah Finney are co-owners of Compass Rose Psychiatry. Jim and Robin have a lengthy discussion about mental health in today’s culture, why it seems to be so front of mind in our society, and some resilience strategies to combat it. For example; why are so many people today so easily offended and so quick to share that experience with everyone or even demand retribution against the perceived offender? Do we feel entitled to never be offended? Is shielding our children from ever losing in a competition the best way to prepare them for life in the real world? Is our society losing its ability to be resilient and overcome the hardships of life? And is self-reflection the key to maintaining our mental health? So many questions and only

This episode of the Today Counts Show is about something important to all of us…  how to devise and execute a plan for our financial future.  In today’s uncertain economic times, this can be a stressful, difficult task.  To help educate us on this subject Jim welcomes Wes Bridel.  Wes is a financial planner in Austin, Texas, and founder of Kingdom Calling.  At the top of the home page on the KingdomCalling.com website, it says, “The Biblical Pathway To Financial Freedom”. In line with this ethos, the goal is to apply Biblical principles to financial decisions through the “Your Fruitful Tree” program and one-on-one coaching and counseling, emphasizing the importance of biblical-based financial planning. Listen to today’s podcast and learn about the “4 rules of banks”, Wall Street’s “hoard and hope method” and how these things can work against your financial future.  Learn about the importance of understanding and preparing

Jim Piper’s topic on this episode of the Today Counts Show is about personal and leadership growth through self-reflection and gauging yourself.  It’s about understanding when you are emotionally spent and taking action to correct it. Here are a few symptoms that you are not emotionally healthy: You are easily and often offended You are embracing a victim mentality, you feel like you’re being used You have no tolerance whatsoever for others or yourself You’re taking shortcuts in whatever you do Jim points to the Bible in Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 and 6 for guidance and inspiration to help you find emotional balance.  It says, ” Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Here are three questions to ask yourself: What things are most important to

What is the Communication Triangle?  Is it a mysterious location somewhere on the globe where communication goes in and is lost forever?  Is it Elon Musk’s latest project?  Luckily, neither of those are true.  The Communication Triangle is a method or process (newly named on today’s podcast) that Jim shares to help leaders quickly compile and outline information to deliver a talk on any subject or idea.  This is a very low-tech, pen-and-paper concept.  Something you can do on a napkin in a restaurant  This is valuable information you can learn and apply quickly in the real world.  After explaining the process, Jim delivers an unscripted talk based on only the fictitious information that was used to illustrate the Communication Triangle concept. If you want to watch the full “visual aid” version of this episode of The Today Counts Show, you can watch it on the Lead Today Community YouTube channel!

Special guest General Jerry Boykin talks with Jim about the attack on Israel, their ongoing response to the attack, and the reactions of Americans to these events.  It’s hard for most of us to imagine what happened in Israel or to know what it’s like to live in a nation like Israel that is constantly under attack from hostile enemies.  Even on our worst days here in the United States, we have an easy life compared to many parts of the world like Israel. General Boykin shares his wealth of knowledge about the history of the nation of Israel, as well as his knowledge of the history of Islamic terrorism in the Middle East.  It’s important to learn this history to understand the turmoil surrounding Israel today.  Without context, outsiders will never understand the positions Israel takes to defend itself against an entire region of the world that wants to