Posts Tagged ‘Development’
Building a Foundation for Success
California redwoods are enormous, majestic trees that can grow taller than a 30-story building. A full-grown California redwood is estimated to weigh greater than one million pounds. The massive redwoods can be so wide that in some places tunnel-like roads have been built through their tree trunks. A mature California redwood tree is virtually indestructible.…
Read MoreVision, Connection, and Direction: The Pathway to Effective Communication
By communicating a message of hope and significance to his oppressed countrymen in Poland, Pope John Paul II played a lead role in toppling communism in Europe. He affirmed the dignity and humanity of Poles, rallying them to resist communism, while at the same time teaching them to show restraint when confronting the communist authorities.…
Read MoreWhen Plans Don’t Go According to the Script, Keep Planning
“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower As Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II, Dwight D. Eisenhower planned, coordinated, and carried out the largest amphibious assault ever undertaken – the Invasion of Normandy. Historians regard him…
Read MoreNot Planning to Stop
By their 60th birthday, a majority of leaders have begun to contemplate retirement. By age 70, most have bid farewell to the working world. Past 80 years of age, no one is expected to work, and it’s virtually unheard of for a leader to remain at the pinnacle of his or her profession. Don’t mention…
Read MoreCreating a Healthy Team Environment
At Chernobyl, the massive explosion of a Soviet nuclear reactor released radioactive fallout 400 times greater than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. While the suddenness and spectacular nature of the Chernobyl disaster drew the world’s attention, another catastrophe in the Soviet Union passed by largely unnoticed. In the 1960s Soviet engineers diverted the two…
Read MoreIt’s the Network
There’s no denying that we’ve fallen into precarious economic times. The United States shed 2.6 million jobs in 2008. More of the same continued in January 2009, a month during which corporations announced 65,000 layoffs in a single day. No matter how penniless you feel right now, there’s one investment you can’t afford to overlook.…
Read MoreFrom Slot Machine to Stock Market: Investment Strategies for Relationships
In the early years of my career, I did not have a correct view of life. I approached life as if it were a slot machine. I wanted to put as little as possible into it, and I always hoped to hit the jackpot. I’m embarrassed to say that I often had a similar approach…
Read MoreA Dream that Passed the Test
President Barack Obama’s inauguration symbolized, in part, fulfillment of one of America’s noblest dreams – the dream of racial equality. Fittingly, President Obama took the oath of office at the same site where Martin Luther King, Jr. had given his legendary “I Have a Dream” speech almost 45 years earlier. An estimated 1.9 million onlookers…
Read MoreFrom Class Dunce to World-Class Neurosurgeon: A Story of Empowerment
Ben Carson vividly remembers a playground conversation during which his fifth grade schoolmates selected him as the dumbest kid in their grade. In fact, after some debate, his classmates decided he was probably the dumbest kid in the world. Looking back from his vantage point as a world-renowned neurosurgeon, Dr. Carson can laugh at the…
Read MoreThe Dilution Dilemma: Making Your Messages Matter
As a leader, do you ever feel your important messages fall on deaf ears? Are your carefully constructed and communicated strategies always getting implemented? Are you often frustrated by the difference between the results you ask of others and what you actually get? Leaders agonize when developing vision, mission and strategy. They carefully choose words…
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