Strategic Serendipity

If you've been on social media the past 24 hours you've seen the infamous page from the April Issue of Self Magazine.  Check them out here .  You may have even seen the half-hearted, tongue-in-cheek apology from the magazine's Editor-in-Chief.  Opinions are flaring and some are siding with the magazine and some are siding with the women pictured in the article and their company Glam Runner.  For the record, I am very strongly on the side of the women pictured and very offended by the article, regardless of whether Ms. Allen was a cancer survivor.  Here's the point the magazine has missed entirely up to this point - sometimes just starting the race or just finishing the race is a major accomplishment.  If people want to put on "armor" to face a challenge like a tutu, face-paint, custom t-shirt, etc. who cares?  Not everything is about being the fastest or being first or being stylish.  Unless you are magazine for marathon winners, you probably want...

You've seen them in front of your grocery stores.  In DC, they even stand at the top of the escalator of the subway after work.  When you are weak.  When just a little chocolate will go a long way to washing away the hassles of the day.  And that price, $4 a box.  Really, it is a good cause, just keep the extra dollar.  (You know you've done it!)  As I sit here eating my Thin Mints I am looking at the side of the box.  It says: The Girl Scout Cookie Program Selling Girl Scout Cookies helps girls develop 5 skills that they use throughout their lives: 1.  Goal Setting 2.  Decision Making 3.  Money Management 4.  People Skills 5.  Business Ethics Now I was a Girl Scout, in 4-H, and in Junior Achievement throughout my youth and I can tell you that they are all excellent organizations with amazing and lifelong leadership lessons.  But as I sit here wondering if I can really open that box of Tagalongs before the ...