“Think of what you have rather than of what you lack. Of the things you have, select the best and then reflect how eagerly you would have sought them if you did not have them.” – Marcus Aurelius This holiday season, take time to think about the things you have that really matter in your … Read more
“By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin Every year about this time we enter “list season”. Every news outlet or web site has a “Top 5 or 10 Best or Worst Everything You Can Imagines from 2015”, and maybe a “Top 5 or 10 Anything You Can Think Of for … Read more
“Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.” – George S. Patton One of the more frustrating (and common) things I hear from business owners thinking about their future is “I’m not sure”. It’s usually said in the context of “We better not do anything differently than we’re doing it now because I’m … Read more
“In all affairs, it’s a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.” – Bertrand Russell Sometimes as leaders in our organizations we spend so much time executing and implementing that we don’t spend enough time asking whether we’re executing & implementing the right … Read more
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” – Peter Drucker As someone who gets paid to help organizations develop & implement strategy (among other things), I get lots of questions about the best way to go about developing strategic initiatives, how to make sure they get done, etc. Usually people expect to hear terms like “SWOT analysis” or … Read more
“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet.” – Theodore M. Hesburgh I’ve had four nearly identical conversations in the past two weeks with people at four different businesses. All four conversations went something like this. An organization had recently undergone some significant change. The … Read more
“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.” – J.R.R. Tolkien We spend a lot of time as organizations (hopefully) talking about the future. And, to most people’s credit, it’s usually a positive conversation. Most leaders are excited about the future for their business. Most … Read more
“Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you’d have preferred to talk.” – Doug Larson I Googled “leadership” this morning and got 451 million hits. If you read any business publications or blogs or watch any TED talks you know people everywhere are talking about leadership. We spend endless hours … Read more
“There comes a moment when you have to stop revving up the car and shove it into gear.” – David Mahoney I had a really engaging day recently with the management team of a small but rapidly-growing business. This business has added a number of people, and the chaos of all the newness is starting … Read more
“There are two kinds of companies – those that change and those that disappear.” – Anonymous Most of the businesses and leaders I have the opportunity to work with agree on the importance of change. When I talk about chaos and volatility and the rapidly changing environment in which we live and work they all … Read more
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