Learn to Excel in Relationship Mastery
I just returned from a vacation, the first real one where I got to go away and relax since February 2020. This trip was exceptional for personal reasons and ranked at the top in the column, “savor the memories; the stars were aligned.” From a business perspective, each day was a reminder of the power of…
Diagnostics are Useless Unless They Spur Action
The other day, in response to a diagnostic score, I was asked, “is this normal?” There are often benchmarks associated with diagnostics, but I had not given much thought to what is normal and avoid looking at things in absolute terms. In the last 10 years, there has been a proliferation of business diagnostics designed…
Quiet Your Inner Judge
At what point does your work experience peak, and you start to question where to go next? In our 20s and 30s, the race is on to learn as much as possible to hone our craft and practice it daily. When we reach our 40s, we are at middle age, by today’s social security projections…
Attitude Impacts Job Performance
I believe a person’s attitude plays a significant role in how well they perform their job. While you can attempt to mask your feelings, ultimately, those feelings come through in your performance. As a business leader, how aware are you of a person’s attitude? When do you realize something is amiss with your attitude or…
Open Your Mind to Other Perspectives
Our stories are based on our reality. It’s impractical to approach leadership strategies and management decisions from one point of view. However, what our brains see may often not be reality. For example, 5 years ago, I bought a white car. Occasionally when I looked at that car, I questioned if it was white. It…
What Sparks Your Curiosity?
As a kid, I learned much about curiosity from my twin brother, Rick. We were too young to verbalize much; it was just through his actions that I was motivated to be curious as well. During our childhood, we left no stone unturned. Curiosity has served me well throughout my life. I’ve learned that curiosity…
Don’t Be Your Own Worst Enemy
As you make final adjustments to your 2023 plan, consider adding time to identify your self-sabotaging behavior. We all do it; it’s in our nature. Commit to learning about it and take steps to figure out how to handle this type of behavior for the rest of your life. This is a critical part of…
Head into 2023 with a Positive Outlook
We are closing in on the beginning of a new year. Business is percolating, people are meeting face-to-face again, and the way we do business is more complex. And people are more energized than I have seen in the past. This is an exciting time to be working. As the GenZ future leaders enter the…
Face Challenges with a Positive Mindset
Being a senior-level executive usually means you have badges for bravery and courage to show for your valiant efforts. For sure, you have had several all-hands-on-deck events that required an extraordinary push by you and your team. And generally, these events were caused by someone else. Perhaps they needed to manage their priorities better, or…
It Is Okay to Make Mistakes Along the Way
The good news about a long career is that you learn a lot. The flipside of that is that you make a ton of mistakes. I’ve had my share of mistakes. Here are my top 5 leadership mistakes: I put my trust in the wrong person, and I’ve been snakebit more than once. I gave…
Why We Should All Have a Coach
What was once old is new again. A recent Inc. article issued a high alert and sounded the alarm for business leaders waiting for a crisis to help them develop their employees. In the past, one way to motivate people or create leadership development was through adversity. It was called character building. Modern business management…
What are you REALLY Saying?
The words we use each day can cut off communication quickly, leaving us dumbfounded as to what happened! The best way to lose someone in a conversation is to use the universal word BUT! As a business leader, manager, or rookie did you take a communications course in college? Even if you did, if you…
The Great Stay?
There are 2 sides to the leadership coin. Both sides involve people. The difference is which side of the coin you are on. The individual deemed “the leader” has one responsibility: creating environments that influence others to achieve group goals. That is the classic definition of leadership according to Dale Carnegie. It’s concise and thoughtful.…
Stop Self Sabotaging
Creating change is a personal choice. For example, it is already September and soon 3rd quarter plans will be in the record books. In the last 2 weeks, did you prioritize reviewing your 90-day plan and modifying actions to finish the 3rd quarter strong? Motivational speaker, Jim Rohn, said, “Discipline is the bridge between goals…
Will Your Plan Succeed?
Inc. recently published an article about Google for Startups and its attention on founders. They list 7 essential founder traits which, after reading the research, I believe apply to leaders and managers in any role. For example, “Our data suggests the most effective founders are not nearly as confident as the least effective founders are,”…
The Coaching Industry is Booming!
Most of us are familiar with the term “coach,” from playing sports with a head coach at the helm or a favorite teacher that influenced and guided us forward. Both examples represent a combination of many types of coaches (leadership, executive, life, personal development, career, wellness, skills, sports, performance, self-esteem, etc.). People hire coaches to…
Achieve Greater Results by Focusing on Mental Fitness
The featured story July 18, 2022, from Inc. had this headline: “Adam Grant Talks Mental Health with Prince Harry: ‘Your Body Cannot Function Without Your Mind.’” We know this is true, and we expect that if we do not take care of our body, it will not function at peak performance. So, then the question…
Developing Leadership Skills
Navigating the complex world of being a leader is the subject of a recent Fast Company article “8 skills every leader should master in 2022” by Brandon Pena. The last 2 years have been weird and anxiety-producing for most people in business. Now, looking back, what is surprising is how resistant business leaders were in…
How much time do you spend thinking?
Forward motion in business depends on our ability to think with clear-headed, laser focus. Thinking is the process of asking and answering questions in your head. Dr. Daryl Cross suggests that 95% of our thinking is routine or the same and that 5% of your thinking is new. Therefore, we need to find new ways…
Charting Your Path to Reach Your True Potential
Reaching your true potential means being the best at what you do for yourself first. When I think about why I went to college, pursued the degrees I did and worked for the companies I have, there was one main reason. I enjoyed the ride because I loved what I studied in college and wanted…