“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 Leaders are trained to focus on problems. We’re supposed to be identifying things that need fixing, and … Read more
“There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.” – John F. Kennedy People like things to be easy. Not necessarily because they’re lazy, but because we’ve been wired for ten thousand years to seek safety, and easy feels safe. So, most people spend … Read more
“Not being able to do everything is no excuse for not doing everything you can.” – Ashley Brilliant We all have expectations in life. We expect certain things from other people, from the government, from the weather, and so on. Those expectations may be formed by our past experiences or by some kind of inside … Read more
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison We’ve spent a lot of time on change over the past few weeks. Purposefully looking for change, pushing for change, etc. That’s great, one of our loyal readers said. But change is hard, and quite often it doesn’t work out … Read more
“It’s not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it’s the one that’s most adaptable to change.” – Charles Darwin I’ve been around a number of leadership teams lately that are extremely impressive for their intelligence. These are people who’ve got years of experience, and they’re extremely knowledgeable about what they … Read more
“Everything you can imagine is real.” – Pablo Picasso Many hours have been spent over the years trying to define what characteristics and behaviors define great leaders. Some things show up over and over again – work ethic, intelligence, integrity, etc. Those kinds of things will always matter. The world is always changing, though, and … Read more
“Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.” – Mahatma Gandhi Today’s conversation is about something that’s both obvious and incredibly difficult. I’m not sure I have anything wise to add, and I know I don’t have any magic bullet to make it easy. Every human being is unique. Each of them has different … Read more
“You don’t have to become something you’re not to be better than you were.” – Sidney Poitier Continuous improvement is something that every great leader strives for. They understand that performing at the same level in the same way today that they did ten years ago won’t work. They need to develop new skills, and … Read more
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” – Maya Angelou Last week in this space the conversation was about how the choices we make are typically not permanent. We can choose, and if things don’t go the way we like, or even if they do, we … Read more
“As you start to walk out on the way, the way appears.” – Rumi The last few weeks in this space have been about change and not accepting defeat and not settling for less than our best. Our brilliant readers (not being sarcastic) have pointed out that each of those things sounds great until you … Read more
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