Fear
Mark Cole: Responding to Setbacks
With the rapid spread of COVID-19 across the world, leaders of all kinds are being challenged to lead in uncertain times. What we’ve experienced over the last few weeks, specifically in the United States, is absolutely unprecedented. There aren’t many events in history that compare to the difficulties this pandemic has presented. The setbacks have…
Read MoreInsecurity: An Explosive Quality in the Life of a Leader
Insecure leaders are like fireworks with a lit fuse. It’s only a matter of time until they explode, and when they do, they hurt everyone close to them. During a time when Americans celebrate the Fourth of July, it seems fitting to examine the drawbacks of insecurity through the life of a brilliant, yet flawed,…
Read MoreThe King of the Forest Can Still Be a Cowardly Lion
In the classic film, the Wizard of Oz, the Cowardly Lion famously lacks courage. He’s scared of his own tail, and skittish at the slightest sign of danger. His companions constantly have to encourage him to keep going on their journey. In one scene, the Cowardly Lion imagines how much better his life would be…
Read More9 ways to overcome fear
In a speech in 1933, American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, addressing a nation mired in a Depression and on the verge of a world war, famously stated, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” During the first century A.D., Epictetus said, “It is not death or pain that is to be dreaded,…
Read MoreHow Do I Go High as a Leader? With a Little Help from My Friends
Leaders are never self-made. If you want to go to the highest level, you can only do so with the help of others. The people closest to you determine your success or failure. Among the many decisions leaders make, one of the most important involves choosing the right companions. Making the Band As a budding…
Read MoreTraits of a Successful Failure
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”- Thomas A. Edison Nobody likes to fail. But if we’re honest, we understand that failure is a part of life. There is no success without some amount of failure. Great inventors like Thomas Edison experience a lot of failures on the way to…
Read MoreLeading difficult people: Fearful Fred
Someone once said, “90% of the art of living consists in getting along with people you cannot understand.” Haven’t you found that to be true? I know that if everyone were just like me, then relationships would sure be a lot simpler. But people ARE different, in wonderfully complex ways. And there IS an art…
Read MoreWhat are your fears keeping you from doing?
In a speech in 1933, American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, addressing a nation mired in a Depression and on the verge of a world war, famously stated, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” During the first century A.D., Epictetus said, “It is not death or pain that is to be dreaded,…
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