“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
“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” – Confucius We’re a month into 2026, and all I keep thinking about is change. Not just the global change we see, or technological change, but change for us as leaders in our own small piece of … Read more
“Growth is painful. Change is painful. But, nothing is as painful as staying stuck where you do not belong.” – N.R. Narayana Murthy Last week in this space the idea was that doing things to stay safe don’t necessarily keep us safe. After watching some leaders this week, I’m still thinking about that idea. It … Read more
“Courage is the capacity to confront what can be imagined.” – Leo Rosten Safety is enticing. It’s been that way for ten thousand years. When our ancestors were living in caves, the entire goal was safety. If you had something to eat, and a cave, and a fire, you had it made. Why go outside … Read more
“The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person who is doing it.” – Chinese proverb Being a leader is hard. We all have ideas about what we want to do and what we want the organizations we lead to look like. That’s the easy part. Making those ideas a reality … Read more
“I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.” – Georg C. Lichtenberg Here’s a quote I’ve heard a lot lately: “I sure hope we have a better year next year.” That’s great. I think virtually everyone who’s ever … Read more
“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” – Maria Robinson Every leader is different. Each one has unique strengths and weaknesses, a unique personality, a unique set of interests and passions, and so on. No two leaders are alike, and there is generally … Read more
“I always wanted to be a procrastinator but never got around to it.” – Anonymous A week ago in this space, the topic was avoidance. That topic was framed around the idea that leaders have a tendency to avoid things that are unpleasant. Maybe it’s a difficult conversation, maybe it’s a difficult decision, whatever. Today’s … Read more
“You cannot find peace by avoiding life.” – Michael Cunningham Last week in this space the topic was leading with the knowledge that, no matter what happens, you can’t make everyone happy, so do what you think is best and deal with what happens. Based on the feedback we received, that touched a nerve. Apparently, … Read more
“The extra mile is a vast, unpopulated wasteland.” – Jeff Haden People like to talk about work ethic. It’s one of the core things that we value. Questioning someone’s work ethic is considered by almost everyone to be a huge insult. Any suggestion that we lack work ethic is a personal affront. And lots of … Read more
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