leaders – Page 11 – CainEllsworth

Say No To Good Stuff

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas.” – Steve Jobs Early in my career, I thought I understand the primary idea of leading an organization, at least when it came … Read more

Make a Choice and Jump

“It’s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It’s because we dare not venture that they are difficult.” – Seneca Leaders come in all shapes and sizes, and with those shapes and sizes come every different kind of personality. Every one of them has a different way of approaching and solving problems, … Read more

Dive In

“If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” – Frank A. Clark Last week in this space the topic was self-sabotage. I could probably write something about that topic every week for a year (don’t worry, I won’t). There are just so many ways that we are consistently our own … Read more

How Are You Stopping You?

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” – Carl Jung One of the conversations I’ve heard leaders having repeatedly over the years has to do with bad luck. Not long ago, I heard a leader describe a situation where there was an opportunity for the … Read more

Don’t Forget Yourself

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” – Rumi Last week in this space, the topic was change-related (no surprise). The idea was that you can’t just wish or hope for things to change. You actually have to change them yourself. Be … Read more

It Won’t Just Happen

“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” – Andy Warhol Over the past few months, I’ve heard a lot of people start sentences with the words “I wish…”. They’re wishing something about COVID, or they’re wishing something about the supply chain, or they’re wishing something about the labor … Read more

Not Rainbows and Unicorns

“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure. It is: Try to please everybody.” – Herbert Bayard Swope One of the challenges that all leaders face is the reality that neither we nor the organizations we lead can do everything we’d like to do. There aren’t … Read more

Your Best Chance

“Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.” – African proverb When I was growing up, I remember cringing whenever I heard some adult (usually one of my parents) refer to something as “a learning experience.” Invariably, that phrase was used when something wasn’t going well, or was really difficult, or some failure had happened. I … Read more

Craziness

“Whatever you are, be a good one.” – Abraham Lincoln For most people reading this, availability of the things we want has rarely been a problem over the past few decades. If we want to buy something, we go to the store and it’s there. If our businesses want something, we call a vendor and … Read more

Plan to Adapt

“It’s a bad plan that admits of no modification.” – Publilius Syrus It’s the understatement of the year to say that we live in a world that’s constantly changing. Right now, most leaders feel like things change so fast that before they understand the current situation, it changes, and they never get caught up. Some … Read more

GPS Blog

It's time to go "Beyond the Numbers".