RWSmith ETC

05/18/2026

🛑 STOP: Faulty wiring is NOT a do-it-yourself project.

Faulty wiring is a leading cause of home fires. Whether your home is decades old or brand new, wiring can become damaged by age or even small rodents. 🐭⚡️

Don't ignore these symptoms:
⚠️ Hot outlet covers
⚠️ Flickering or dimming lights
⚠️ The smell of burning plastic

If you notice these signs, call a licensed electrician to make the repairs. If danger is imminent, shut off your home's main breaker and exit the home immediately. 🏃💨

Your safety is our priority. Trust your gut—and your senses! 💡

05/18/2026

Time management and stress management are more connected than most people realize. When time is poorly managed, stress increases. As stress grows, focus weakens, productivity drops, and small problems become bigger ones. Over time, the cycle feeds itself.

The good news is that improving either skill helps strengthen the other. Better planning reduces pressure, and lower stress improves focus, decision-making, and efficiency. Organizations that invest in both time and stress management training create more productive, resilient, and sustainable teams.

Poor time management and stress management are closely connected. When time is poorly managed, stress increases. As stress grows, focus, productivity, and decision-making decline, creating even more pressure. Improving both skills together helps reduce burnout, increase efficiency, and create a more

05/04/2026

There's a moment every leader dreads... looking in the mirror and realizing you are the thing standing in the way of your team's success.

I've been there.

I have experienced being micromanaged to the point of paralysis... to being unobserved to the point of isolation. Neither extreme works. And somewhere in between, I had to learn a hard leadership lesson: letting go of control while still showing up. It's all about balance.

In my latest post, I explain why micromanagement usually comes from good instincts gone too far and what it actually takes to rebuild trust once you've recognized the pattern.

If you lead people, this one is worth three minutes of your time.

Why do we micromanage and how do we address it? Most of what I knew about leadership was learned through observation rather than specific leadership training. I had managers who controlled every moment, every step, and every action, and I had managers who never checked in, never observed, and never

04/27/2026

Why Ronald Reagan's Words, "Trust but verify," Apply to AI Today.

I can't yet trust AI... for anything.

My first novel (Operation Hoplon: The Joshua Booker Origin Story) has a long history. I started it around 2016, set it aside when life intervened, picked it back up in 2022, and finally finished and published it in 2024. By then, ChatGPT existed, but I had never touched it. Artificial intelligence, for all practical purposes, wasn't part of my world.

Now, deep into my second novel (about 90% finished), I've become more familiar with what AI can and can't do. I've even started using a product called Grammarly, though not for ideas or phrasing. I use it strictly for consistency in punctuation. High school taught me one set of comma rules, college introduced me to AP style, and now the Oxford comma reigns supreme. Three competing standards are two too many for me to keep straight, so I let Grammarly help with that.

That's where things got interesting and very troubling.

I noticed that Grammarly has added a new tool to check for plagiarism and AI-generated content. Out of curiosity, I ran my second novel through it. The verdict: 40% AI-written. That is terribly wrong, as it should have been 0%. So I ran my first novel through the same check, the one I finished before AI writing tools were even a realistic option. It came back 31% AI-written.

That result sent me down a rabbit hole. I tested both books across several AI-detection tools. The verdict on my first novel ranged from 13% to 77% AI-generated, depending on which tool I used. One declared it 100% plagiarized, apparently having "learned" the published text and assumed I had copied it rather than written it.

I wasn't alone in noticing this problem. While researching, I found a writer who ran the opening chapter of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein through multiple AI detectors. One tool declared it 100% AI-generated. For that to be true, artificial intelligence would have needed to exist before 1817, when Shelley completed the manuscript.

So here's the question I can't shake: if AI tools are this unreliable at detecting AI writing, why would I trust them for anything else? When I do use AI for research, I make a point of spot-checking results in areas I know well enough to verify. So far, that habit has proven wise.

Ronald Reagan's old line, "Trust, but verify," turns out to apply just as well to algorithms as it did to arms treaties.

AI is improving exponentially every year - even every month. I am sure that one day soon it will produce great, accurate results. But as of this moment, April 27, 2026, I simply don't have much confidence in getting information I can consistently trust.

Have you encountered your own examples of AI getting things embarrassingly wrong? I'd genuinely like to hear them.

04/23/2026

THERE IS STILL TIME TO REGISTER!

The Better Workplace Workshop

Presented by RWSmith Education, Training & Consulting
Two powerful workshops. One transformative day. Results you'll see immediately.

Is Your Team Reaching Its Full Potential?
Technical skills may get people hired, but emotional intelligence, communication, and teamwork determine whether your organization truly thrives. Most workplace training focuses almost entirely on the technical side. This workshop is designed to close that gap.

Two Workshops. One Day.
🌅 Morning | 8:30 AM – ~11:30 AM
Workplace Dynamics — Building Positive Interpersonal Relationships
Build the self-awareness and interpersonal skills that form the foundation of every healthy, productive workplace. Topics include emotional intelligence, workplace maturity, stress management, harassment prevention, and generational differences.

"This Workplace Dynamics course should be added to every workplace." — Kathy Cherry, Forked Deer Electric Cooperative

🌇 Afternoon | 1:30 PM – ~4:30 PM
Teams That Work — Building Better Teams and Better Teammates
Learn what separates truly great teams from average ones — and exactly what each person must do to become the teammate every organization needs.

"Very in-depth and informative. Roger touched on a lot of points I had never considered." — Joseph Jent, Orsted North America

Pricing
Standard Rate = $199 per workshop
CDF Member Rate = $119 per workshop

CDF Members: Use code "$80OFF" at registration. Each session requires separate registration.

Visit rwsmithetc.com and click the "local workshops" tab for the full brochure and additional information.

Professional development training, leadership skills, emotional intelligence, teamwork, customer service, management, workforce training development, training, and more in Mississippi. Boost your team’s knowledge, efficiency, and effectiveness with training from RWSmith ETC.

04/20/2026

The hardest part of leadership isn't strategy. It's not the long hours or the big presentations.

It's considering the decision no one wants to make, and making it anyway. This is a major takeaway as I work on a larger leadership project.

Letting go of a good person who isn't right for the role. Killing a project in which the team is emotionally invested. Saying the uncomfortable truth in a room full of people who are hoping you won't. This is where courage steps in.

Anyone can make the easy call. Courage is making the hard call, consistently, even when you know you'll take heat for it, even when silence would be so much easier.

The leaders I respect most aren't the ones who were always right. They're the ones who kept showing up, willing to decide.

That's the job. Own it. Be a LEADER.

04/15/2026

Your company and team deserve better than average.

The Better Workplace Workshop is coming to Tupelo, and it's the professional development opportunity your organization has been missing.

Join me on April 28th at CDF Headquarters for two powerful sessions. One day. Real, lasting results.

Find details on the workshop, pricing, and registration at www.rwsmithetc.com/reserve. Don't wait — seats are limited!

📅 Morning session: Workplace Dynamics | 8:30 AM
📅 Afternoon session: Teams That Work | 1:30 PM
🔗 Register now at rwsmithetc.com

Please share and pass this along to anyone interested in building their own or their team's workplace skill set.

04/13/2026

Does your team know what success looks like for your organization? Do they understand the vision? Do they know why decisions get made? Do they feel informed, included, and heard?

If you paused on any of those questions, I wrote this for you.

Poor communication at the leadership level isn't just a minor inefficiency — it may be a fatal flaw. The good news is, it can be corrected with a little work, and a solid plan.

My latest blog post breaks down the most common communication failures leaders make, and what the best communicators do differently. Please comment and share if you find this information valuable.

Does your team know what success looks like for your organization? Do they understand the vision and goals? Do they know why decisions are made and how those decisions advance their goals? Do they feel informed, included, and heard? If you paused on any of those questions, keep reading.

04/02/2026

“We’ve always done it that way.”

This phrase can often shut down good ideas, stall progress, and drain a team's energy. I just published a new blog discussing how familiar habits can pose significant risks to performance, culture, and effective change management. It emphasizes that addressing change begins with challenging what feels comfortable.

I invite thoughts on the following:
- Where do you see this mindset showing up?
- How do you help teams question the status quo?
- What’s one “we’ve always done it this way” worth revisiting?

Let’s start the conversation.

“We’ve always done it that way” is not a strategy. Explore how resisting change undermines culture and performance, why outdated habits increase risk, and how strong change management and dealing with change effectively help leaders drive progress.

03/16/2026

Utility software selection has always meant mountains of vendor documents, endless spreadsheets, and months of painful analysis. But AI is quietly changing that—cutting billable hours by 30–50% without sacrificing rigor. Faster gap analysis, smarter RFP reviews, cleaner reports. This isn't hype or disruption—it's a practical shift already reshaping how utilities make their biggest technology decisions. Are you still doing it the old way?

https://www.rwsmithetc.com/blog/ais-quiet-but-powerful-shift-in-utility-software-selection

02/27/2026

Leader, Shepard, Guardian? Which are you? Read this week's blog for more insight. Be sure to comment, like, and share if you find the content valuable.

In business, we need to be leaders who exhibit innovation, sound fiscal management, and vision to watch over the business, and we need to be shepherds who watch over the people in our charge. So, I want to offer up another word : guardian . Like a shepherd, a guardian protects those in the