It has now been over 30 years since my dad, Kermit Burley, Sr. passed on. He was 78 years old and was also the hardest working man I have ever known. He was a doughnut baker for most of his life, although he also toiled as a farmer and milk delivery driver, among other professions. … Read more

40 years ago this month, Kathy and I were married in Lackawanna, New York. I remember that day very well; a hot, somewhat humid day, all of our friends and family present for that very special day, ready to begin our life together. I also recall, vividly, the first time we ever met, on the … Read more

I am not sure when I first heard that quote, or even who first said it, but I do know that over the years, few statements have proven to be more true than the above. Paraphrased, I have found it to mean that when a task or goal seems too overwhelming, breaking it down into … Read more

Easter, spring, graduations, first communions and mother’s day all remind us that we can indeed be reborn.  As winter slowly gives way to spring and pesky polar vortexes fade with the arrival of the first 70 degree days of the new year; we can once again recall that even the worst of winters, the worst … Read more

Tomorrow is opening day and I cannot wait. Baseball begins once again and every single team holds the dream of hoisting the World Series trophy and riding down the noisy and celebratory streets in front of a proud and happy fan base, hungry for a reason to celebrate. Spring is here, hope is high and … Read more

In my 9th year of school, my last before I entered high school, I first heard the marvelous poem by Robert Frost, entitled, “The Road Not Taken.”  Little did I know then, what I most certainly understand now, that the final words of that legendary poem, ” I took the one less traveled by and … Read more

From the time I was very little, I have heard this phrase uttered by my relatives, friends and neighbors, everywhere from north Buffalo to  southern Bethlehem and all points in-between. I have been told that it is an old German or Pennsylvania Dutch saying and here in the Lehigh Valley, it has been immortalized on … Read more

Don’t let yourself become irrelevant. By irrelevant, I mean not meaningful to your business or what you do for a living. Irrelevance can assign you to the scrapheap of your industry, or worse, it can show you the door. Becoming irrelevant dooms you to a path toward the dead end road of a career, and … Read more

It is often the “little” things we do that make the most difference in the lives of the people we touch. Frequently, we do not even recall saying, doing or creating the “little”things that have made that huge difference. In my life, I do not even recall most of them and only became aware of … Read more

I have been training adults for almost 40 years now and I have truly seen my share of both good and bad training. I have been the unfortunate recipient of courses so badly designed and delivered that I have actually felt that my brain was slowly dying. On the other side of the coin, and … Read more