What's New at Rising Sun Consultants:
We are extremely pleased to announce the newest member of the Rising Sun family! As of July 1st, Lynn Lehman came on board as our new Director of Marketing and Program Development. Lynn holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania and earned her Master of Education degree in Training and Development from the Pennsylvania State University. From 1999 to 2003, Lynn worked in the organization development field as a Training Specialist with the residential staff at the Milton Hershey School, creating and implementing learning opportunities for over 500 employees. From 2003 to 2005, Lynn's role expanded to serve all departments within the school by developing large-scale performance improvement programs, including certification programs, new employee orientation programs, a computer-based 360-degree feedback system, and an organization-wide professional development program.

We are excited to have Lynn as part of our team and look forward to her positive outlook and contributions to Rising Sun Consultants!
E-mail: lynn@risingsunconsultants.com

Client Share:
We want to hear from you! Please share with us any challenge/s you have overcome and the how you accomplished it and what the outcome was. We want to hear your success stories too in order to help others learn and grow. Our hope is that the Rising Sun Newsletter becomes a two way communication tool that has mutual benefit. Be assured that no client information will ever be shared without written approval from you.

Monthly Book Review and/or White Paper:
What's the ONE Thing?
This month's book review focuses on a book by Marcus Buckingham entitled, The One Thing You Need to Know…About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success. Marcus Buckingham is considered one of the most respected authorities of management and leadership in the world today. After graduating from Cambridge with a master's degree in social and political science, he expanded his knowledge in this area immensely over the next seventeen years through his work with the Gallup Organization. In The One Thing You Need to Know, Buckingham uses his expertise to assist the reader in simplifying the sometimes complex process of leading, managing, and ultimately sustaining individual success.

Story/Parable of the Month:
Which Are You…a Potato, an Egg or Ground Coffee?
Once upon a time, a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn't know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed. Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter.

The daughter moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After 20 minutes, he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her, he asked, "Daughter, what do you see?" "Potatoes, eggs and coffee," she hastily replied.

"Look closer," he said, "and touch the potatoes. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

"Father, what does this mean?" she asked. He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and the coffee beans had each faced the same adversity, the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong, hard and unrelenting, but, in boiling water, it became soft and weak. The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard. However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.

"Which are you?" he asked his daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?" In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us.