Parker Houston

Just Like Me…

by Parker Houston | Jun 13, 2024 | Personal Leadership

You’ve heard me say it before, but it’s worth repeating—the brain is a prediction machine. The brain’s primary purpose is to keep us alive—and the best way to stay alive is...

10 Best Practices for Hiring (and Keeping) a Top Team

by Parker Houston | Jun 6, 2024 | Top Teams Made Simple

Ever since I became a manager 14 years ago, I’ve been curious about best practices for hiring. I’ve been part of organizations that struggled to keep vacancy rates of over...

Feel the Fear, Then Do It Anyway

by Parker Houston | May 30, 2024 | The Science of Mindset

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t—you’re right.” –Henry Ford In 1987 psychologist Susan Jeffers wrote her bestselling book Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway,...

Organizations With a Structured Onboarding Process May Retain 50% More New Hires

by Parker Houston | May 23, 2024 | Boost Your Organizational Health, Top Teams Made Simple

Right after graduate school I began working at a maximum security prison. The pay was good, the work was exciting, and they offered student loan forgiveness programs. I was...

Perfectionism—The Secret Thief of Dreams

by Parker Houston | May 16, 2024 | The Science of Happiness

Most of you have probably never heard of Lord Acton, but I bet you have heard the phrase, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” attributed to him. John...

The 80-20 Rule

by Parker Houston | May 9, 2024 | Productivity Best Practices

“If you don’t have time, you don’t have priorities.” —Tim Ferriss The BIG Idea—A minority of your actions create the majority of your results. Wilfreid Fritz Pareto...

Find Yourself By Getting Lost

by Parker Houston | May 2, 2024 | Personal Leadership

Last week I checked off a bucket list trip by backpacking the Lost Coast—with two friends I’ve known for more than 20 years. After living in California my entire life, this...

Run Your Household Like A Great Company

by Parker Houston | Apr 25, 2024 | Family Leadership

Starbucks has become renowned for their atmosphere of impeccable customer service. In fact, just go online and you will find a wealth of books written about business...

Live Your Life That the Fear of Death Can Never Enter Your Heart

by Parker Houston | Apr 18, 2024 | Personal Leadership

Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion. Respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love...

What Are You Resisting?

by Parker Houston | Apr 11, 2024 | Personal Leadership

Until he was 29 years old, Eckhart lived in a near-permanent state of severe anxiety and suicidal depression. He was miserable, living in a constant state of internal...

Nature-Deficit Disorder

by Parker Houston | Apr 4, 2024 | Personal Leadership

Thank you to my good friend and colleague, Dr. Tracy Weyer, for inspiring this post. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency in 2020, Americans spend about 90%...

A Non-Anxious Presence

by Parker Houston | Mar 28, 2024 | 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...

Jose Alvarenga—Surviving More Than A Year Lost At Sea

by Parker Houston | Mar 21, 2024 | 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 last year while reading 438 Days—by...

Understanding the Role of Pay in Motivating Your Team (and What Else Drives Them)

by Parker Houston | Mar 14, 2024 | 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 | Mar 7, 2024 | 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...

The Five Science-Based Practices of the Thriving Organization

by Parker Houston | Feb 29, 2024 | Boost Your Organizational Health

If you have been in the workplace for a while, chances are good that you’ve had a job you didn’t love. The research we discuss today will help you understand what was...

The Legend of John the Dwarf

by Parker Houston | Feb 22, 2024 | 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 | Feb 15, 2024 | Boost Your Organizational Health, Personal Leadership, 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...

This Job Is Killing Me

by Parker Houston | Feb 8, 2024 | 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...

From External to Internal Goals

by Parker Houston | Feb 1, 2024 | 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...

Give Less Than Your Best

by Parker Houston | Jan 25, 2024 | 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 one of my team members...

The 5 Most Common Happiness Traps at Work

by Parker Houston | Jan 18, 2024 | 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...

Perfectionism—The Number One Joy Killer

by Parker Houston | Jan 11, 2024 | The Science of Happiness

In a prior post, I summarized the main findings from the 75-year study at Harvard on happiness. While reading the study, one sentence absolutely jumped off the page at...

We Aren’t Really Here

by Parker Houston | Jan 4, 2024 | 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...

Have you contracted Device Disease? What research tells us.

by Parker Houston | Dec 28, 2023 | 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...