Connecting is the leadership ability to identify with and relate to people in such a way that it increases your influence with them. Connecting demands constant attention on the part of the leader so that people stay tuned in to the vision, values, and priorities of the organization. The trick is to keep the connection…

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Parents of toddlers and teenagers understand a simple truth about being a leader: sooner or later you encounter fierce resistance. Leadership feels a lot like peddling uphill, swimming upstream, or running into a stiff headwind. The challenge is to overcome the resistance instead of being overwhelmed by it. 1) Be Aware that Motion Creates Friction…

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We train our brain by the things we do. For example, experienced taxicab drivers have an abnormally large hippocampus, the portion of the brain responsible for navigation. Veteran violinists or keyboardists have an expanded motor cortex, the area of the brain associated with fine motor skills. Our brain is literally shaped by what we repeatedly…

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The young girl skipped onto the stage of the dilapidated, half-filled theater hall, her thin voice competing with the noise of an unruly audience. Midway through the first verse of her first song, a beer bottle smashed onto the floor just a yard or so in front of her. The child’s voice quaked momentarily, but…

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When motivational speakers make the impassioned declaration: “You can change the world!” a typical response may be to write them off as naïve windbags.We would agree that such exhortation rings hollow. Nevertheless, we do think leaders have the ability to inspire others to amazing, even history-shaping, feats. Perhaps no one did so better than Winston…

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Adversity in life is a given. Although it’s never going to escape the picture, we don’t have to see it as a negative. We can triumph over obstacles we encounter each day to ultimately gain great experience from them. According to John Maxwell in his soon-to-be-released book, Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn: “Adversity can…

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Leaders vary by occupation, personality, and style. There’s no specific formula specifying exactly how to lead well. Still, great leaders throughout history share a common set of characteristics. In this article, we would like to fill in the picture of a leader for you—one quality at a time. The four features listed certainly do not…

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“As you get older, you will find that you become more disappointed by the things you didn’t attempt than by the ones you tried and failed to achieve. And here’s the best news. Every step of the way there’s something to learn. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called life. In it, there…

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Some people fail forward. Others fail and quickly spiral downward. These two types of people are very different, but how? “The difference is on the inside. It’s the spirit of the individual. Those who profit from adversity possess a spirit of humility and are therefore inclined to make the necessary changes needed to learn from…

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