Life is a game of inches - the six inches between your ears. You must get your mind right before you get your team right. Leadership is an inside job. It starts with your personal leadership which is the awareness and intentional use of your thoughts, words and actions to get the best from yourself…
Every organization has a culture by default. Few organizations have a culture by design. Even when an organization has intentionally integrated its culture as part of its strategy, change naturally forces culture disintegration. The more a changing organization wants to keep its culture the same, the more it must change what it does. Culture can be…
We have all experienced the limiting effects of this pandemic on buinesses, schools, recreational activities, entertainment, and social gatherings. As a result, we have lost many daily human interactions and connections. We are social animals. Connecting with and helping one another is wired deeply in our brains. Neuroscience shows that helping others is not only…
The greatest opportunity for your company to create a sustainable competitive advantage is during a tough economy. However, leading a company during a slowing economy has plenty of challenges. What should you change, stop or continue doing? Organizational change is just a concept. Organizations do not change—individuals change. If enough individuals change, you start to reap…
Leadership is an inside job. We must lead ourselves to a higher level before we can inspire extraordinary results from our team. We cannot lead where we dare not go. We cannot credibly ask others to pursue team excellence if we do not pursue personal excellence. Great leadership requires skill and character. Our character is,…
Unfortunately, this has been a banner season for hurricane trackers. A hurricane’s outer bands can extend a few hundred miles from the center. Hurricane Andrew's (1992) rainbands reached 100 miles out from the eye, while those in Hurricane Gilbert (1988) stretched over 500 miles. The hurricane's eye is a relatively calm, clear area usually 20 -…
Every successful business must plan and execute. How effectively you perform these vital activities determines whether you will survive or thrive. In other words, plan and execute or become extinct. In fact, senior executives predict that "very effective" strategy execution would improve operating profits by an average of 30 percent over two years. So, how…
Leadership matters! It is the single most important factor for achieving employee and business growth. Today's worker is more purpose-driven, conversational and development-focused. So, today's effective leader must: Start with him/herself Build awareness and intentional use of thoughts, words and actions to have a positive impact on others. Seek new learnings and acknowledge vulnerabilities. Inspire purposeful work…
Last week, I shared the account of a high school student’s suicide and a local professor’s compelling and practical message to her classmates. The next day, I received a note from a gifted photographer and friend, Tom Fox. Tom’s images and words are featured in The Nature of Excellence gift book that has inspired many thousands worldwide. With Tom’s…
On November 17, 1981, Professor Wallace Kennedy of Florida State University (our alma mater) spoke to students of Maclay School in Tallahassee. One of their senior classmates, Margaret, had committed suicide the day before, and they were in distress. When we posted Professor Kennedy's compelling talk several years ago, Carol Robinson, Margaret's sister, reached out to express her surprise…
