August 31st is the fiscal year-end for Caldwell Partners. As such, I have always considered the Tuesday after Labor Day as being the “New Year’s Day of Executive Search.” Clients reengage after Labor Day, and there is a notable pickup in new assignments and search activity.

Some of the reasons for this have to do with the business calendar. With two-thirds of your company’s results “in the bag” for the 2023 calendar year, companies know what has worked and what has not.

Your organization may not be able to pivot quickly enough to change the direction of your results in the 2023 calendar year, but you can certainly get a jump on hiring the talent you need to ensure that you have a return to solid performance in the calendar year 2025.

Hello there! I hope you had a good week. Why would I want you to have a bad week unless your name begins with P-U-T-I-N?

Wow, it is somewhat daunting to think I am supposed to love that guy like I love myself.

If that is how I am supposed to live, Putin makes a good case for the virtues of self-loathing.

But I digress.

Let’s take a look on the bright side of things.

Let’s talk about good news, about positives:

This is one of those weeks where the writing muse has not spoken to me. So, I will let him/her/it start, and we will see where we get and take heart that we will have done our best.

I have so much for which to be grateful:

• I am grateful that the writing muse doesn’t always speak to me. That would be creepy. Plus, I really would not know a “muse” if him/her/it ran over me with a beer truck.

• I am grateful for indoor plumbing… it really is amazing. You turn one knob, and you get cold water. Turn the other knob, and after a while… the water turns hot! How do they do that - all out of the same spigot?!

I have often written about those individuals whose lives and philosophies have influenced my life from afar. Basketball coaching legend John Wooden, General Colin Powell, and CEO Charles Knight of Emerson Electric are among those whose writings and sayings I have highlighted in this weekly attempt to entertain, educate, and enlighten.

I am going to add the name of Oliver Burkeman to this list.

One of the first things Oliver Burkeman does in his book 4,000 Weeks – Time Management for Mortals is to remind us that one of these days, he will join Wooden, Powell, and Knight on “the other side,” to borrow a phrase from the musical “Hamilton.” Central to Burkeman’s views on time management is that life is very short and that I am going to die.

I am feeling a bit of stress because of the major news story this week that has gripped the attention of the entire world.

Yes, I am talking about the rebranding of Twitter, which will now be known by the same name as your former spouse – “X.”

As with everything associated with Elon Musk, this is truly an inspired and brilliant decision. I mean, come on, look how popular Russia is today, now that their military has splashed the letter “Z” all over the tanks they use to blast weapons at the Ukrainian people.

“Hey, Cousin! Come over here, lemme hug yer neck!”

In case you are wondering, that is what bubbled up when I launched into this week’s edition of “Thoughts.” That is the greeting that I have received for the last 30 years from the patriarchs and matriarchs at the Harrison Family Reunion, which has taken place on the first weekend in July every year since 1898(!) in the community of Stony Hill, North Carolina.

That my wife Jill is of the Harrison Family matters little when it comes to me being a “cousin.” By the rules of the Harrison Family, if one marries a descendant of Bryant Macon Harrison and Mary Ida Ray Harrison - who tied the knot in 1897 and proceeded to have 12 children, 10 of whom lived to adulthood - you are a “cousin.”