Mark Cole: Do You Want to Grow?
Growth is a lifetime process and a daily decision. It doesn’t happen automatically; you have to be intentional about growing every single day. I love Charlie Brown, but he was misguided when he said, “I think I’ve discovered the secret of life—you just hang around until you get used to it.” The only way that…
Read MoreFive Areas of Personal Growth Where You Should Be the Expert
Every year, as part of our company’s culture, we encourage our team members to come up with a word that will serve as a focusing thought for their year. It’s a habit that I’ve had for a long time now (and have written about previously), but I always love hearing what words our people come…
Read MoreMark Cole: Clear Vision
In his book, The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, the final quality John Maxwell describes is vision. While other 20 qualities help us understand a leader’s make up, it’s the final quality that helps us understand what makes a leader attractive. Without vision, a leader cannot lead. It is the quintessential piece of leadership.…
Read More2020: A Year of Pioneers and Investors
I recently finished reading two of the best books I’ve ever read, and I read them back to back. The first is The Infinite Game by my friend, Simon Sinek, and the second is Atomic Habits by James Clear. Two different concepts, but two similar impacts in terms of how they inform my approach to…
Read MoreMark Cole: 2020 Hindsight
As we enter a new year and a new decade, there’s a lot of talk around what the future will look like. Whenever I’ve read or heard some of these different ideas, I have the words of John Maxwell ringing through my head: “Experience is not the best teacher; evaluated experience is.” There’s something powerful…
Read MoreA Christmas Gift for Your Year-End Review
Dear friend— Three weeks ago, I shared some thoughts on using the end of the year as a time for reflection. I challenged you to think about what you choose to reflect on and encouraged you to think more about the positive things that happened in your life this year. I was originally going to…
Read MoreMark Cole: Memories are Made
There is something I’ve come to value far more than any gift I’ve been given: making memories with the ones I love. To me, that’s what makes Christmas the most wonderful time of the year. I hear many people this time of year complaining about the chaos of the Christmas season—the hustle and bustle of…
Read MoreGifts That Make a Difference
Christmas is next week, and depending upon your personality, you’re either finished with your Christmas shopping, or you’ve still got six days before you hit the stores. Regardless of which camp you call your own, there’s one question that everyone is asking lately: What do I get [that person] for Christmas? That person might be…
Read MoreMark Cole: Take Initiative!
Let me ask you a question: When was the last time something significant happened in your life that you initiated? One of the key distinguishing marks I see in successful leaders all around the world is a willingness to take initiative. Lester Wunderman was a legendary New York Ad man in the 40’s and 50’s.…
Read MoreBring the Joy
Tonight, the members of our teams will gather for a One Company party to celebrate the past year and look ahead at what’s to come. We try and gather every year, but this year is special because we’ll have everyone under one roof—something we don’t often get to do. I’ll be there with Margaret and…
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