The Four Letter Word that Makes You and Your Work Irresistible
LOVE is a four-letter word in the business world. It makes us uncomfortable. It seems inappropriate or even taboo. It can also make you and your work irresistible. Let me explain: Some years ago I wrote a book about an extraordinary individual who loves his work. My editor at the time deleted the word love…
Read MoreThe Value of a Good System
Almost nightly, the fate of the American health care system headlines the evening news. With costly inefficiencies plaguing the system, employers and workers alike have felt the pain of skyrocketing premiums. Politicians on opposite ends of the political spectrum disagree on the best policies for the future, but there seems to be consensus that the…
Read MoreOperating with 20/20 Vision in Areas that Matter Most
An excerpt from The Six Disciplines of Personal Sustainability by Dr. Stephen R. Graves, co-founder of GiANT Leaders Executive Coaching A father and son were traveling home from a college football game late one night in the 1970s when the dad pulled the car onto the shoulder of the rural, desolate highway and asked his…
Read MoreHow a Blind Boy’s Vision Changed the World
At the age of three, Louis Braille suffered a tragic accident in his father’s saddle making workshop. The young boy had taken hold of a stitching awl, which slipped from his grasp and pierced his eye. Within days he could not see out of the eye. Sadly, Louis was completely blinded shortly thereafter when an…
Read MorePersonal Accountability
Personal Accountability: Putting the Brakes on Moral Breakdown On April 10th Bobby Petrino, still red-faced from road rash and embarrassment, was fired as head football coach at the University of Arkansas. Ten days earlier Petrino had wrecked both his motorcycle and his career while on a drive with his mistress and co-worker, Jessica Dorrell. Petrino,…
Read MoreThe Influence Question: Will You Grow or Plateau?
Seldom does someone consciously choose to stop growing. Yet we all know people whose influence has leveled off or gone into decline. Why do hard-working, well-intentioned leaders plateau? How can people ascend the levels of influence throughout their careers, but then suddenly stop climbing? About five years ago I facilitated an all-day roundtable with 15…
Read MoreBe the One: Change
Change. Politicians promise it when they run for office, but seldom are the pledges made from campaign podiums matched by real, measurable results after an election. In fairness to our politicians, initiating change and carrying it through to completion is a monumental challenge. Attempts to bring about change encounter fierce opposition and entrenched resistance.Although most…
Read MoreRestoring Trust is a Must as BP Deals with Oil spill
Oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from a deepwater well now dwarfs the amount spilled when the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in 1989. An estimated 2.52 million gallons of oil daily have spewed out of the gaping hole in the Earth’s crust left by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig. Attempts to…
Read MoreVision: What’s Love got to do with it?
Where does vision come from? How does a leader develop a clear vision for the future?At the earliest stages, the word “vision” may be somewhat misleading, portraying vision as a picture that we can see. The birthplace of vision isn’t the mind’s eye, but the heart. In the beginning, visionaries are guided by passion not…
Read MorePerspective
Distraught over massive financial losses incurred during the past year, Adolf Merckle scrawled a suicide note to his family and wandered out the door into a dark, wintry night. He made his way for the railway where he stood by the tracks and waited in the cold. Spotting the headlight of an oncoming railcar, he…
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