I’ve made countless pre-dawn trips to airports. My early morning quiet ride differed because I wasn’t intending to travel anywhere, or even drop off a passenger. Today, I volunteered to serve as a TSA (Transportation Security Administration) decoy. And, because I’m a confessed leadership geek, I found some lessons for leaders in the experience. Lesson [...]
2021 was supposed to be my year of vibrant living. Instead, I faced a “crucible” year. For help with leading through adversity, see 5 Strategies for Facing a Crucible. This post’s narrative presents practical tactics for pushing through when the “to do” list appears never ending. Pick a number. My ongoing joke is my list [...]
Crucible has two meanings. First, it’s the container used in attempts to transform base metals into gold by alchemists of old. Second, a crucible tests a person who seeks to succeed at a significant quest; a source for testing our mettle. In their HBR article, Crucibles of Leadership, Bennis and Thomas write “the skills required [...]
I stopped creating New Year's resolutions several years ago. Instead, a word captures an overarching theme or intention. For 2021, my word is "vibrant," as in living and leading vibrantly. While I still set goals, with objectives or milestones laid out by quarter or month, I also invest time to reflect how my planning and execution [...]
I struggled a bit with categorizing Brad Chases’ Strategy First: How Businesses Win Big for readers who would benefit from the content. I give Chase huge props for making the case for intention around strategy. Businesses flounder when attention isn't focused on the strategic and Chase makes good points for helping leaders consider what aspects [...]
Modern life has its pitfalls. In this post, we’ll cover two separate but related issues commonly faced in a world of always on, always connected. First, we’ll explore the impact of allowing devices to drive our actions and reactions. I’ll introduce author Haley Evans and her book, Hung Up: Why You Should Put the Phone [...]
Win Every Day: Proven Practices for Extraordinary Results, Mark Miller’s latest contribution to his High Performance Series, is another win (pun intended) for business leaders who want to make an impact. If your organization's execution is ho-hum or faltering, Win Every Day lays out the game plan for change. For readers unfamiliar with the series, [...]
By February, the vast majority of individuals who crafted New Year’s resolutions have given up. The way we create these goals often sets us up for failure. I’ve learned what works for me—and many others: reframe my objectives as commitments I make to myself. As an example, a key commitment I make to myself involves [...]
Social media offers a platform to facilitate communication on a broad scale. When done well, social communication elevates, inspires, informs, and entertains. At it’s worst, social posts cause harm, spread lies, and ruin reputations. How can leaders (and individuals) assure a positive impact? Case In Point – An Example for Context I currently serve in [...]
What’s the one thing ALL people share no matter what roles they play in life? TIME. We all have the same seven days in our week and 24 hours each day to allocate to living, vocation, creating, relating, discovering, resting … you get the idea. So why are some of us burdened and overwhelmed while [...]
