How to Become a Focused Thinker
In his book Focus: The Future of Your Company Depends on It, marketing consultant Al Ries gives a tremendous illustration: The sun is a powerful source of energy. Every hour the sun washes the earth with billions of kilowatts of energy. Yet with a hat and some sun-screen, you can bathe in the light of…
Read MoreEnlarging others
Team members always love and admire a player who is able to help them go to another level, someone who enlarges them and empowers them to be successful. Players who enlarge their teammates have several things in common: Enlargers value their teammates: Your teammates can tell whether you believe in them. People’s performances usually reflect…
Read MoreThe benefits of mistakes
I recently shared a few quotes on mistakes here. And based on the comments, they seemed to strike a chord for many of you. I believe you can’t have too much instruction on the value of mistakes. So I thought I’d share one of my favorite illustrations on the subject. This is quoted in my…
Read MoreCASTING A CLEAR VISION IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
Americans dream of a political leader with the wherewithal to erase the government’s budget deficits, slash its debt, and restore its international reputation. As enormous, or even impossible, as the task sounds, Anne Mulcahy performed a similar feat during her ten-year tenure at Xerox. As CEO, she took a near-bankrupt brand, whose name had at…
Read MoreTRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP
How did you spend summertime as a child? Perhaps you have memories of vacationing with your family, playing baseball or softball, attending summer camps, or swimming at the pool or lake. Eight-year old Khadim spends his days at a brick kiln, working to pay off a small debt inherited from his deceased parents. However, he…
Read MoreHow does today impact tomorrow’s success?
Everyone wants to have a good day, but not many people know what a good day looks like – much less how to create one. And even fewer people understand how the way you live today impacts your tomorrow. Have you ever asked someone what he was doing and heard him respond, “Oh, I’m just…
Read MoreFrom the archives: How to know you're out in front
I’ve been blogging here for just over three years, and this week I was looking at some of my past posts to find those that were the most helpful to people. This one seemed to have a very positive impact. I hope it serves you. (And the comments on the original post were at least…
Read MoreFrom my files: Mistakes
I haven’t shared any favorite quotes here in awhile. Today’s selection comes from my file on Mistakes. I hope they inspire and encourage you. And if you want to keep them for future reference, try my filing system to record them. You miss 100% of the shots you never take. –Wayne Gretzky The fellow who never…
Read MoreFinding the "want to"
Many years ago, I read about a survey of workers in the United States, who were asked if they could work harder on the job than they currently were. 85% of those surveyed said that they could. And more than half claimed that they could double their effectiveness “if I wanted to.” I don’t know…
Read MoreINVENTIVE THINKING
Disheartened after another day of failing to connect with his students, the young teacher trudged upstairs to his office and slumped down at his desk chair in defeat. He was angry, and he had every right to be mad. After all, his boss at the YMCA had assigned him a seemingly impossible task. He had…
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