In 2002 in New York State alone, there were 64,925 divorces. Nearly half or 31,902 divorces were registered in the five boroughs of New York City. Over 7,100 took place in the two counties that constitute Long Island: 3,414 in Nassau (where I live) and 3,782 in Suffolk (where I grew up).

Of the 3,414 divorces in Nassau County in 2002, 1,601 had no children under the age of 18.

My marriage was one of them.

Are you ignoring the most important (a.k.a. strategic) issues facing your business, your company, or your life because of the more urgent issues screaming for your attention?

If so, you're like the proverbial frog in the pot on the stove. He doesn't notice that he's getting cooked alive until it's too late.

We all need to take a step back and look at what's going on in our lives - work - businesses in order to determine if we're heading in the right direction. Ships have a captain. Planes have a pilot. Who is overseeing your life?

Coaching seems to be making its way into the mainstream. While at a recent social gathering, a woman asked my fiancé, “What does Paul do,” to which she replied, “He’s a coach.” The woman said, “Oh, like on that Scott Baio show?”

While it’s true, Scott Baio did have a recent VH1 reality TV show (Scott Baio is 45…and Single) and that one of the folks featured on it was his life coach, I hesitate to say my coaching is “like on that Scott Baio show.”

I was talking with an HR Professional last night about the unfortunate practice of promoting people into positions for which they are not suited as a reward for good performance, the impact of this practice on employee engagement, and the potential negative effect on performance.