Author: Don Yaeger

The start of the year always brings with it a few rituals. There’s the annual performance review at work. There’s the celebration at midnight on New Year’s Eve. There’s New Year’s Day, and the setting of resolutions. Then there’s the breaking of most of those resolutions by Jan. 2.

Last week, I read a fascinating article on the art of observation which detailed the story of a seminar in Germany where forty people in an auditorium witnessed a staged event—part of a scientific study—and then submitted staggeringly different accounts of the event only minutes later. Of the forty people, only one person turned in an account that had fewer than 20 percent errors. Twenty-five people had more than...

I spent part of a Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks ago in an Atlanta airport watching the hometown NFL team take a beating in their magnificent stadium. The Falcons fell to the hapless Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 35-22. Then, on Thanksgiving night, I watched the Falcons gak away another home game to the New Orleans Saints, 26-18. After watching both games, I couldn’t help but wonder: How did they fall so far so fast?

Next weekend, we’re going to hear some rather strange game titles in the news. Iron Bowl. Egg Bowl. Palmetto Bowl. Clean, Old Fashioned Hate. The Game.

Going into this weekends’ biggest college football game, I asked my friends who they were taking: the LSU Tigers or the Alabama Crimson Tide? While the margin was closer than I expected, most people were like me. When it comes to big games, you take Nick Saban and the Tide to roll, baby. Alabama had won eight straight in the series and this game was in Tuscaloosa.

Okay—complete transparency here. I live in Tallahassee, I’m a Florida State University season ticket holder, and I know there are other sports stories I could write about this week. But I’ve got something to say on this one, and I think it’s a leadership lesson that hasn’t been well-discussed in the midst of one of the biggest stories of the weekend. After a lackluster performance against their football rival, the...

It wasn’t long after Sunday night’s World Series Game 5 came to an end that I sat down to write this. Between the Series returning to Washington DC for the first time in six decades, President Trump being booed by some fans, and two Instagram models being ejected for flashing Gerrit Cole during the seventh inning, it was a game with more than a few storylines. But the weirdest one might just be the biggest: Through...

When you write a book with someone, it’s kind of hard not to become a devoted admirer. I’ve partnered with some amazing people in my career, and I’ve come away with some relationships that I’ll always treasure. And then there’s David Ross.