personal growth
Do I Believe The Best In Others?
Do I believe the best in others? This is a question that I’ve been asking myself a lot lately. Because believing the best in others is not something to be assumed; you must be intentional in checking the lens you’re looking through when viewing others. John Maxwell teaches a simple exercise to help cultivate the…
Read MoreDoes Love Work as a Leadership Principle?
As I stumbled for my alarm at 3:00 a.m. on my first day on the job as a street washer, I wondered what I was getting myself into. CBS had asked my company to participate in its hit reality show Undercover Boss. As the CEO of Herschend Family Entertainment (HFE) at that time, I’d agreed…
Read MoreMark Cole: Life: One Long Gift
John Maxwell and I recently experienced one of the most challenging trips we have ever been on: 17 days 6 countries 96 hours on planes or in airports 59 hours in the air 37 hours waiting to get in the air. 19 airports To say it was tiring would be a huge understatement. As we…
Read MoreOne Thing That Makes or Breaks a Leader
In my book, Everyone Communicates, Few Connect: What the Most Effective People Do Differently, I share one of the most overlooked aspects of leadership. If you’ve read the book, you know where I’m going, but if you haven’t read the book, let me tell you—you don’t want to miss this thought. In fact, it’s the…
Read MoreRest—Investing Time to Become a Better Leader
Recently, one of our team members at the John Maxwell Company shared an interesting struggle in his life: he’s forgotten how to rest. Some of the team was gathered for lunch and he volunteered his thoughts as everyone was talking. “I just feel like, when I’m resting, that there’s something else I should be doing,”…
Read MoreMark Cole: Change Is Necessary
Remember the Peanuts cartoon with Snoopy, Charlie Brown and all his friends? American cartoonist Charles M. Schulz wrote and illustrated the famous series which featured a group of young children and one memorable dog. In the strips, there were rarely any adults seen or heard, but the life lessons were no less power-packed! In one…
Read MoreMark Cole: Growth is Worth It
Earlier this week, John Maxwell wrote a blog post on A Leader’s Silent Investment. I was captivated by this thought and wanted to spend some time unpacking this further with you. I fully affirm John’s belief that personal growth is a leaders greatest silent investment. Let’s break this down… What makes personal growth silent? Well,…
Read MoreA Leader’s Silent Investment
If you’re a young leader—whether that’s by age or experience—then I want to talk to you today. I don’t want to take up too much of your time, so I’ll cut to the chase: Personal growth is a leader’s greatest silent investment. By that I mean, it doesn’t speak up, it shows up. When we’re…
Read MoreMark Cole: You Need To Focus
It’s true. You need to focus–and so do I! I chose to write on this topic this week because I have discovered that the more opportunities I’m involved with, the more difficult it is to engage in focused thinking. We must face this hard truth about success: you will not achieve it if you are…
Read MoreTwo Things Every Leader Should Avoid Like the Plague
Several years ago my friend, Dave Anderson, released his book, Up Your Business: 7 Steps to Fix, Build, or Stretch Your Organization. I remember reading it with excitement, and even developed a teaching on some of the most important lessons I learned from the book. There are so many good ideas that Dave presented, and…
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