“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” – Zig Ziglar I had a conversation with a leader a few weeks ago that went something like this. Leader: “I’m frustrated with our people.” Me: “Why?” Leader: ”They don’t understand our vision.” Me: “Why might that … Read more
“By trying to not get anyone mad, and by treating everyone equally ‘nicely’ regardless of their contributions, you’ll simply ensure that the only people you’ll wind up angering are the most creative and productive people in the organization.” – Colin Powell Today’s quote is a long one, but the whole thing is worth reading repeatedly. … Read more
“Most people see what they want to, or at least what they expect to.” – Martha Grimes Being a leader is hard work. There’s no “easy” button or magic bullet. Every time you think you everything figured out as a leader, something new comes along and you feel like a beginner all over again. All … Read more
“Beginning in itself has no value. It is an end which makes beginning meaningful – we must end what we began.” – Amit Kalantri The successful leaders I’ve been around all make an effort to stay informed about things going on in their particular industry, or in the world in general, that will have an … Read more
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” – George Bernard Shaw One of the highlights of my career is the opportunity I have to be part of a group of leaders that gets together … Read more
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” – C.S. Lewis Last week in this space I made the point that as human beings we have a tendency to get stuck in the past. We can learn from our past mistakes, which is great, … Read more
“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.” – J.R.R. Tolkien I had the good fortunate a few weeks ago to be chatting with a group of extremely high-performing leaders. A lot of interesting topics came up, but one that really stretched everyone’s minds was … Read more
“Strategic planning is worthless – unless there is first a strategic vision.” – John Naisbitt Last week in this space the conversation was around the idea that at some point everybody has to stop “hunkering down” and start thinking about the future. That means vision, strategy, all that good stuff. Based on some responses I … Read more
“Drive thy business or it will drive thee.” – Benjamin Franklin A few weeks ago, someone forwarded to me a survey that had been taken of business leaders around the globe. These leaders were asked a lot of different questions about their concerns, priorities, initiatives, etc. One of the interesting things that came out of … Read more
“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought into a focus.” – Alexander Graham Bell Today’s topic isn’t new, but it never gets old either. Leaders everywhere feel like they don’t have enough time. They show up for work, work hard all day long, and at … Read more
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