“The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want.” – Ben Stein I’ve been reminded on several occasions this week of a common struggle among business owners & leaders (at least it’s common to the ones I’ve been around). Most individuals leading organizations want their … Read more
“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” – Michael Altshuler When I was growing up, I’d hear adults talking about how fast time goes by and think they were crazy. As a kid it seems like it’s going to be forever before you get to do all these things … Read more
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” – Ernest Hemingway I meet a lot of leaders who want to ‘do strategic planning’. They want to look out into the future, envision what they want to be as a business, then start working … Read more
“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” – Lao Tzu It’s not groundbreaking to suggest that leaders need to always be thinking about the future. Everybody knows that already. That’s why organizations have planning sessions, retreats, etc. We’re all trying to discern what our business needs to be … Read more
“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet.” – Theodore M. Hesburgh I’ve had four nearly identical conversations in the past two weeks with people at four different businesses. All four conversations went something like this. An organization had recently undergone some significant change. The … Read more
“Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you’d have preferred to talk.” – Doug Larson I Googled “leadership” this morning and got 451 million hits. If you read any business publications or blogs or watch any TED talks you know people everywhere are talking about leadership. We spend endless hours … Read more
“There are two kinds of companies – those that change and those that disappear.” – Anonymous Most of the businesses and leaders I have the opportunity to work with agree on the importance of change. When I talk about chaos and volatility and the rapidly changing environment in which we live and work they all … Read more
“A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.” – Muhammad Ali We spend a lot of time in this space talking about change. How much & how fast the world changes, how technology changes, how markets change, etc. But what about … Read more
“When it’s obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” – Confucius It’s important in every business to have a few clear, concise goals or targets to shoot for. For that matter, it’s important in our personal lives as well. Something that pushes us, something that focuses our … Read more
“When bobbing for apples, an idealist endlessly reaches for the best apple, a pessimist settles for the first one within reach, while an optimist drains the barrel, fishes out all the apples and makes pie.” – Vera Nazarian There are far too many people in this world who aren’t happy with whatever situation they’re in, … Read more
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