Parker Houston

Nature-Deficit Disorder

by Parker Houston | Mar 5, 2026 | Personal Leadership

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency in 2020, Americans spend about 90% of their lives indoors. After the shelter-in-place orders were instituted, we saw more...

Resilient—The Eduardo Garcia Story

by Parker Houston | Feb 26, 2026 | Personal Leadership

The story of Eduardo Garcia is an incredible look at personal triumph through extreme adversity. If you haven’t heard his story, it will blow your mind. I am certain you...

Jose Alvarenga—Surviving More Than A Year Lost At Sea

by Parker Houston | Feb 19, 2026 | Personal Leadership, The Science of Mindset

If you have never heard of Jose Alvarenga, you will want to hear his incredible story of survival at sea. I first heard this story while reading 438 Days—by Jonathan...

Understanding the Role of Pay in Employee Retention, Satisfaction, and Motivation

by Parker Houston | Feb 12, 2026 | Boost Your Organizational Health, Top Teams Made Simple

Several years ago, I was having a conversation with a fellow leader who was having a difficult time with their team. The team was disgruntled and disengaged. At the end of...

Get To The Point

by Parker Houston | Feb 5, 2026 | Personal Leadership

“If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.” –Blaise Pascal After writing a blog for several years and teaching classes regularly, I have found deep truth in...

Five Reasons to Stop Micromanaging Your Kids (and Your Team)

by Parker Houston | Jan 29, 2026 | Boost Your Organizational Health, Family Leadership

Over the years, my kids have shown an interest in helping in the kitchen, which is fantastic. But for a long time, my first reaction wasn’t great. A thought would...

A Non-Anxious Presence

by Parker Houston | Jan 22, 2026 | Personal Leadership

Several years ago a mentor of mine used a term I had not heard before—he said he wanted to be a “non-anxious presence” for people. I didn’t really get it at first, but after...

Leaders Must Be Willing To Have Difficult Conversations

by Parker Houston | Jan 15, 2026 | Personal Leadership, Top Teams Made Simple

There is nothing more important to creating a strong team than hiring the right people. But unless you start a team from scratch, building a strong team will usually involve...

A Culture of Kindness is Essential for Keeping Good Employees

by Parker Houston | Jan 8, 2026 | Boost Your Organizational Health

Many years ago I had a coworker who had a very off-putting communication style. This was well known in my work area. When I saw the caller ID or this person walking toward...

This Job Is Killing Me

by Parker Houston | Jan 2, 2026 | Personal Leadership

The Big Idea—A global study published in 2021 by the World Health Organization and the International Labor Organization says that working more than 55 hours per week is now...

The Legend of John the Dwarf

by Parker Houston | Dec 25, 2025 | Personal Leadership

A mentor of mine shared this story with me several years ago. John the Dwarf—also known as Saint John Kolobos—was a Coptic desert father born in the year 339 in the town of...

The Cost, Cause, and Cure for Workplace Burnout

by Parker Houston | Dec 18, 2025 | Boost Your Organizational Health, Top Teams Made Simple

Shortly after graduating from college, I was talking to a friend who was living in Central America. He had dropped out of college our senior year, and we all wondered what...

The Five Most Common Happiness Traps at Work

by Parker Houston | Dec 11, 2025 | The Science of Happiness

“Most people climb the ladder of success only to realize it was leaning against the wrong building.” –Stephen Covey Several years ago I had a shot at what I thought was my...

We Aren’t Really Here

by Parker Houston | Dec 4, 2025 | Personal Leadership

“Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.” –John Lennon A few years ago, I was in a particularly busy season of life. I was working full-time, raising a...

You Become Like Those You Spend Time With

by Parker Houston | Nov 27, 2025 | Personal Leadership

*This post has been updated for the practices of personal leadership series. Several years ago, while biking with my close friend, he casually mentioned the following quote...

From External to Internal Goals

by Parker Houston | Nov 20, 2025 | Personal Leadership

*Photo by Greg Rakozy “Who you are inside is what helps you make and do everything in life.”— Fred Rogers (Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood) A few years ago, I was working on my...

Is the Five-Day Work Week Optimal? What New Research Shows

by Parker Houston | Nov 13, 2025 | Boost Your Organizational Health

“It is high time to rid ourselves of the notion that leisure time for the worker is either lost time or class privilege.” –Henry Ford (1926) How did the five-day work week...

G.F.G.E. (Go For Good Enough)

by Parker Houston | Nov 6, 2025 | Personal Leadership

“A good plan violently executed is better than the perfect plan executed next week.” –George S. Patton I have a confession to make—I love researching stuff. And in the...

Give Less Than Your Best: Counterintuitive Advice for Achieving Your Best

by Parker Houston | Oct 30, 2025 | Optimal Performance

*Photo by Charlie Hammond “Every dead body on Everest was once a highly motivated person…so maybe calm down.” –Anonymous I was recently talking with a colleague about her...

How to Say No Without Harming the Relationship

by Parker Houston | Oct 23, 2025 | Personal Leadership

Bill is a hard-charging executive who finds it easy to say “no” to people, but often offends people with his harsh delivery. Susie is a gifted middle manager who loves...

Back to Back Meetings Will Agitate Your Brain and Degrade Good Thinking

by Parker Houston | Oct 16, 2025 | Boost Your Organizational Health, Productivity Best Practices

Have you ever raced from one video meeting to the next without enough time to pee or eat? Funny how we used to have time for this when we had in-person meetings, but now...

Have You Contracted Device Disease? What Research Tells Us.

by Parker Houston | Oct 9, 2025 | Personal Leadership

“Technological progress has merely provided us with a more efficient means for going backwards.” –Aldous Huxley The Big Idea: According to research, constantly checking our...

The Benefits of Setting a Financial Finish Line

by Parker Houston | Oct 2, 2025 | uncategorized

“When you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” –Zig Ziglar Imagine you are watching your favorite football team this week. The game is tense, and they may not win....

Allow Obstacles to Transform You

by Parker Houston | Sep 25, 2025 | The Science of Mindset

People with a strong mindset handle obstacles in a very different way than other people. And how they handle obstacles depends mostly on how they think about obstacles. They...

Get Off the Hedonic Treadmill

by Parker Houston | Sep 18, 2025 | The Science of Happiness

Extensive research on happiness exists. And understanding how happiness works is a key life skill that has a huge impact on your life and your family. The Big Idea:...