“It’s a terrible thing to see and have no vision.” – Helen Keller One of the things I hear leaders complain about on a regular basis is how hard it is to build commitment to change across an entire organization. Everybody has kick-off events, or gives fantastic sounding motivational talks, or some other great idea, … Read more
“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” – Abraham Lincoln There’s a great movie from the early 90’s called Groundhog Day. In that movie the main character keeps reliving the same day over and over again. No matter what happens, he wakes up the … Read more
“If you won’t be better tomorrow than you were today, then what do you need tomorrow for?” – Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav One of the pitfalls for any organization – or individual, for that matter – is the idea that we’ve been successful doing something, so in order to continue to be successful we need … Read more
“Drive thy business or it will drive thee.” – Benjamin Franklin Last week in this space the focus was on making sure what you’re doing is driving your business toward the vision and making sure you’re busy doing things that matter, not just busy being busy. Someone emailed me with the comment that while that … Read more
“Where there is no vision, there is no hope.” – George Washington Carver We live in a world of activity. We feel like we’re busy all the time, and we actually take pride in it. If I ask a business owner how things are going they almost always say “We’re really busy” or “It’s been … Read more
“An optimist is someone who goes after Moby Dick in a rowboat and takes the tartar sauce with him.” – Zig Ziglar I’m a huge believer that the things we believe about ourselves and our situation drive our behavior, and that those behaviors result in outcomes that prove our beliefs to be correct. In other … Read more
“Astrophysicists assure us the universe has no center; therefore, you cannot be it.” – David McCulllough, Jr. Part of being a great leader is taking some time for self-analysis. Being aware of what we do and say and how we make others feel and the culture we create is critical. It’s also difficult. Very few … Read more
“Looking back, my life seems to be one long obstacle course, with me as the chief obstacle.” – Jack Paar There are too many leaders today spending time doing things they shouldn’t do. In our seemingly nonstop quest to be as busy as possible, we take on tasks and responsibilities that don’t have any business … Read more
“Our company has a short range and a long range plan. Our short range plan is to stay afloat long enough to make it to our long range plan.” – Anonymous One of the challenges I hear leaders mention on a regular basis relates to planning. Our businesses are faced with so much change that … Read more
“Wherever you are, make sure you’re there.” – Dan Sullivan Most businesses make at least some effort to put together some kind of vision & plan for their future. They’ll talk about products & services, customers, markets, and a hundred other things. They’ll try to figure out what the government’s going to do, what they’re … Read more
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