What did you daydream about when you were a kid? Did you dream of adventure? Did you ever want to be a superhero or a princess? Did you pretend to be Elvis or Audrey Hepburn or Indiana Jones or Princess Leia? Did you ever declare that when you grew up you were going to be

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Have you every wondered about certain individuals or organizations who have achieved huge success, only to lose it and fade into obscurity within a number of years? What happened to them? Was it bad luck or unfortunate timing? Was their initial success a fluke? Did they suddenly just lose their edge? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer

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When you were in high school, did you know what you wanted to be when you grew up? Did you think you knew what you wanted to be when you grew up? How about now—wherever you ended up, whatever career you’re currently pursuing, have you ever thought about how differently things might have been had

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In his book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Greg McKeown writes: “Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done. It doesn’t mean just doing less for the sake of less either. It is about making the wisest possible investment of your time and energy in order

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  This week’s Tips for Greater Success is a guest article by Emily Sirkel, COO of the Dan Nielsen Company.   I love moving. I also hate moving. Part of me is always eager for an adventure, for something new and different and hopefully better. But then there’s the part of me that realizes I

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In our day of massive information overload—24/7 everything, everywhere, all the time—it becomes increasingly difficult for leaders and all team members to focus on the truly vital and what is most important. In chapter one of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, author Greg McKeown tells the story of an executive facing this very situation. But

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No matter what job you have, most likely your position doesn’t require all of your talents. There are certain skills, hobbies, and unique abilities that you could bring to the table, but there just doesn’t seem to be a need for them in your current position.   It might be singing, dancing, painting, writing, photography,

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Continuing our study of Greg McKeown’s book, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, this week we look at a crucial and liberating leadership question. How many leaders and organizations teach, coach, and explicitly empower ALL of their team members to ask and act on the following question? “Is this the most important thing I should be doing with

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We all have opinions. Some more thought-out than others, some more strongly-held than others. Some grounded in facts, others grounded in tradition or emotion. But at the end of the day, we each have unique opinions, perspectives, and ways of seeing the world.   Differences in opinion lead to conflict. There’s no arena that better

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We see it among less successful leaders in every industry and in every walk of life. Millions of leaders, and literally billions of people spend their entire lives, and their entire career ‘majoring in minor activities.’ I have been a formal and informal leader in the healthcare industry, and in business in general, for over forty years. As a hospital

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Cumulatively, every year, I spend months traveling all across America the Beautiful in my motorhome—which I call my ‘Inspirational Vehicle.’ While many people call motorhomes Recreational Vehicles (RVs), I prefer the term Inspirational, because with it I enjoy so many activities that I find inspiring.   I am inspired by travel, photography, reading, writing, memorizing,

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I am currently studying—note that I did not say that I am simply reading—an excellent book titled Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. The author is Greg McKeown. Regardless of your level of leadership and personal and professional success, you can learn and benefit from this book! From day to day, in fact more often than that,

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  Years ago, when I was working for VHA, there was a small family-owned and operated deli on the first floor of the building where our national offices were located. The deli was a convenient place to have coffee or a soda with a colleague, or to have lunch. I ate there frequently, as did

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Jon Gordon, a successful leadership author, thought leader, and speaker, recently visited West Point Military Academy to speak and to interact with cadets, coaches, and the military brass. Following his visit, Jon wrote an article titled 9 Leadership Lessons from my Visit to West Point. He explains that although he was there to teach, he ended

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