I recently shared a quote attributed to George Washington: “Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who make excuses.” This quote and the discussion it generated got me to thinking about excuses and those who frequently use them. In my book Be An Inspirational Leader: Engage, Inspire, Empower, I devoted an entire chapter to the
Ambition, initiative, strong work ethic… all these traits have served me extremely well throughout my career, but particularly well early in my career when I was a young, up-and-coming healthcare leader. From my youth I have been a hard worker, determined to do well, full of ambition, and eager to please. While in college
My friend and colleague Steve Lawler recently shared the following quote by novelist Chuck Palahniuk: “Find joy in everything you choose to do. Every job, relationship, home… it’s your responsibility to love it, or change it.” This quote really resonated with me. I have long said, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me!” and
I recently stumbled across an old email a colleague sent me a few years ago with the link to an article and the words, “You’ll love this.” She was right. The article was one written by author and speaker Jeff Haden, titled “10 Cherished Beliefs of Highly Successful People.” The full article is well worth
I tend to be an observer, an analyzer, and sometimes—I admit—an over-analyzer. I often reflect on interactions and replay conversations in my head, wondering if I handled a situation well or said the right thing. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve followed up with a friend or colleague to double check that a
I recently stumbled across a quote I’ve heard before, though I don’t know who authored it: “Four things you can’t recover: the stone after the throw, the word after it’s said, the occasion after it’s missed, the time after it’s gone.” This got me to thinking about the last article I published, where I asked
Last week I asked the question, “Do you seek to learn?” This week I want to ask a follow-up question: “Do you learn when you lose?” No one likes to lose. But I think leaders especially don’t like to lose. Try as we might to keep our egos out of our leadership, it hurts our
Here is a great question to honestly and very carefully ponder! Do you intentionally and consistently seek out and learn from people who can teach you? You, like me and every human on the planet, can significantly improve in virtually 100% of every area of your life—whether personal, professional or organizational. Whether our leadership, relationships,
