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 …
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 …
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 …
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, …
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, …
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 …
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 …
Have you ever run a marathon? I personally have not, but I know people who have. But of those I know who have run a marathon, not one of them has ever won a marathon. However, if you know anything about marathons and race culture, then you probably know that you don’t have to win …
I It was my honor recently to serve as facilitator for a day of important discussion among a group of 10 hospital and health system CEOs. Over the years, these CEOs have developed significant trust. They clearly understand the immense and enduring power of partnership, alignment, and working together for the greater success of all. …
As nice as it is to receive a gift or be the recipient of a favor, I really think there is no greater joy than being the one serving others. And the benefits of serving others go far beyond receiving a heartfelt ‘Thank you.’ Simply knowing I’ve helped someone or surprised them with something special …
I learn a lot by watching the people around me. I have long been a people-watcher, and I’ve discovered that not only do I learn something about each person I watch, but I also learn something about the people around them. And often, I even learn something about myself. Today as I walked laps around …
I have always considered every person to be a leader. Not in the sense of a senior leader of a company, with direct reports and senior leadership responsibility, but in the sense of influencing others. For me, leadership is all about influence. We all influence others at home, in our family, in our …
In his book The Little Book Of Talent: 52 Tips For Improving Your Skills, Daniel Coyle discusses ‘hard, high-precision skills’ versus ‘soft, high-flexibility skills.’ According to Coyle, hard, high-precision skills “have one path to an ideal result; skills that you could imagine being performed by a reliable robot.” Soft, high-flexibility skills “have many paths to a good …