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What Childhood Empathy Teaches Us — and What It Sometimes Leaves Unfinished At Jacobson Professional Staffing, we spend our days at the intersection of people, performance, and readiness. We don’t just see resumes; we see how individuals show up under pressure, respond to feedback, and carry responsibility once the role becomes real. Over the past several years, a pattern has become harder to ignore. Many emerging professionals are emotionally articulate, values-aware, and th

Some books are read. Others are experienced. And once in a while, a book is spoken out loud by someone who has to sit with every word long enough for it to settle into their own story. When that happens, the work is tested differently. Not by reviews or rankings, but by the voice that carries it and the life behind that voice. That is what happened when Fred Lane stepped into the narration of  Lead by Legendary Example ; and what he discovered inside those pages might be the

The phone rings, and on the other end is a voice that isn’t ready yet. Sometimes it’s quiet and careful. Sometimes rushed. Sometimes guarded. Almost always carrying more weight than the words reveal. “We’re just calling to ask a few questions,” they say. Not to decide. Not to commit. Just to understand what comes next. This is where funeral professionals walk one of the narrowest lines in our work. Families deserve information. They deserve clarity about options, not confusio

The last hour of the last day of the workweek is often treated like a throwaway moment. People are packing up, mentally shifting gears, and thinking about what’s waiting at home. Many supervisors see it as a poor time for leadership. In reality, it’s one of the most powerful windows you have. When that final hour is used to offer genuine, specific positive feedback, it doesn’t just land; it lingers. There’s no next meeting to interrupt it. No immediate task to bury it. The wo

Why the future of funeral planning is less about age and more about timing, trust, and clarity For a long time, funeral pre-planning was framed as something you did late in life. A task reserved for retirement years. A conversation postponed until health forced the issue. That framing no longer fits reality. What’s changing in funeral service isn’t just how families plan; it’s  when  and  why  they begin thinking about it at all. The shift isn’t being driven by fear or morbid

Conversations from the front seat of the hearse There is a moment that happens in the front seat of the hearse that most people never see. The service is over. The church doors have closed. The family follows quietly behind. Somewhere between the church and the cemetery, the weight of the moment finally settles in. The urgency is gone. The public role is finished. And what remains is real. I’ve had the rare and sacred privilege of sitting in that front seat with clergy from m

If I could sit across the table from you for a few minutes, coffee cooling between us, phones turned face down, this is what I’d want you to hear. I’ve spent more than forty years in funeral service. I’ve stood in prep rooms late at night, driven hearses before sunrise, sat with families when words ran out, and watched this profession change in ways I never could’ve predicted. I’ve seen the best of it, and I’ve seen the parts we don’t talk about nearly enough. As this new yea

The New Year has a way of slowing us down for just a moment.   The calendar turns. The lights come down. The phone still rings, because in funeral service it always does. Grief does not take a holiday. Families still need answers, reassurance, and someone steady on the other end of the line.   But if we’re honest, January creates a pause. A breath between what we carried last year and what we are about to step into next.   And in that pause lives a question worth asking again

There are few sounds in funeral service that command attention like a ringing phone. It does not matter where you are or what you are doing. The call cuts through everything, because instinct tells us it might matter. Often, it does. For many funeral directors, that instinct has led to a long-held belief that they should be the one answering every call. Business phones are forwarded to personal cell phones. Availability becomes a badge of honor. It feels like commitment.It f

Every year, I see leaders post their reading lists. Stacks of books. Big ideas. Good intentions. And every year, I’m reminded of a hard truth I learned early on:most books inform us; very few  change  us. The books that actually shape us tend to arrive quietly. They don’t shout tactics. They tell stories that feel uncomfortably familiar. They slow us down long enough to ask better questions about who we are when no one is watching. That’s why, if you’re already thinking about

A Conversation with Jay Jacobson, Author of  Lead by Legendary Example - by Thomas Parmalee, FuneralVision Leadership in funeral service rarely announces itself. It shows up in preparation, restraint, consistency, and presence long before it’s tested in public moments. In an industry built on trust, the most influential leaders are often the least visible. That reality sits at the heart of  Lead by Legendary Example , a new book by funeral director, business owner, and lead

A quiet shift, a deeper calling I still remember when a family sat across the desk from me, papers neatly stacked between us, pens lined up like we were about to sign something important. Because we were. There was time to pause. Time to read faces. Time to answer questions before they were fully formed. That moment still happens. But less often. More and more, the first conversation happens on a phone. Or through an email sent late at night. Or on a FaceTime call from a hosp

"Practical, real, and deeply human. That’s how I describe Jay Jacobson’s new book, Lead by Legendary Example . This powerful leadership blueprint really hits home for me because it reinforces what I’ve seen in every great organization — culture is not built by policies but by people who lead with heart. Jay reminds us that leadership begins with presence, integrity, and daily consistency. It’s the same principle that powers any culture that rocks: people follow what they feel

Introduction Some stories never leave you. They linger not because they are dramatic, but because they are true. Because they reveal the quiet character of a profession at its very best. Because they remind us why we chose this work in the first place. The essay that follows was written by my dear friend Todd Van Beck; a gifted funeral director, teacher, thinker, and fellow Iowan. Todd was one of those rare voices in funeral service who could articulate what many of us felt b

Teaching Augmented Intelligence to Think, Write, and Serve Like Your Funeral Home I remember the exact moment I knew something wasn’t right. The work was technically correct. The details were handled. Nothing obvious was broken. But halfway through reading it, I stopped. Not because of an error.Because it didn’t sound like  us . The words were efficient. Polished. Professional. And completely disconnected from why we do what we do in funeral service. It read like it could hav

By Jay Jacobson, LUTCF, CPC, CFSP,  Author – “Lead by Legendary Example” Before you plan where you are going, honor the people who brought you here. I remember a particular December evening at the funeral home. It was the thirtieth of the month, and most of the world seemed to be winding down. Our team was still moving. Slowly, quietly, but moving. The kind of movement that comes not from energy but from commitment. I walked through the prep room hallway, past the arrangement

Lately, I’ve been getting many questions about agentic Augmented Intelligence. What is it, really? How is it different from the AI tools we already see every day? Is this something small businesses, and funeral homes in particular, should actually be paying attention to? Those questions are thoughtful. They’re also telling. They signal that leaders aren’t just curious about technology; they’re trying to understand its implications. Not just what it can do, but what it might

I was in my office early one morning reviewing population data when one statistic stopped me. According to a new U.S. Census Bureau report, older adults now outnumber children in eleven states, including Florida, Maine, and Pennsylvania. Nearly half of U.S. counties have crossed that same threshold. I read it again. It felt like a Midwest morning when a storm is coming. You see clouds gathering and assume you still have time. Then the wind shifts. The storm is already overhea

Introduction Author’s Note: Why Lead by Legendary Example  Leadership is not declared; it is lived. We live in a world saturated with titles, strategies, and quick fixes, yet what people hunger for most is authenticity. They want to see leaders whose words and actions align, leaders who bring integrity to their decisions, presence to their relationships, vision to their goals, servant hearts to their teams, adaptability to changing times, and mentorship to the next generation

I still remember the first funeral home I ever worked in. The height of our technology sat on a small metal table near the arrangement room. One black rotary dial phone and an adding machine. That was it. If the phone rang while someone else was using it, you waited. If the adding machine jammed, you fixed it with a pen cap and a steady hand. And we answered the phone ourselves. Every hour. Every day. Every night. There was no answering service. No pager. No cell phone clippe