American engineer and statistician W. Edwards Deming (1900-1993) was passionate about improvement. Throughout the 20th century Deming’s philosophies and expertise helped to improve efficiency and quality of countless processes and products throughout the world—an impact and legacy that will far exceed his own lifetime. Deming is best known for his influence and impact on the post-war …
Where do you do your best thinking? And why do you think that is where you do your best thinking? I posed this question to my LinkedIn colleagues a few weeks ago, and as I read through the dozens of responses, I quickly noticed some patterns. While this was not a professionally conducted study or …
A couple weeks ago I posted this question on LinkedIn: “Where do you do your best thinking, and why do you think that is where you do your best thinking?” Nearly 60 people answered the question (you can see the original post and read all the comments here) and I was delighted by the wide …
We all view the world through our own experiences and perspectives. Which means that we ourselves are viewed by others through their experiences and perspectives. Inspirational blogger Nanea Hoffman is attributed with penning these words of wisdom: “You can’t control how other people receive your energy.” Hoffman goes on to explain, “Anything you do or …
My friend and colleague Mark Hood, CEO at Spine Team Texas, recently shared some excellent insights with me on how he most effectively engages his team. He writes: Here are four principles I have used throughout my career to motivate and engage my team. ACCESSIBILITY: Make sure your team can reach you easily. For example, return …
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, …
Without a doubt, the answer to the above question is different for different people. Happiness is a mysterious, profound, and very personal thing that is manifested in countless ways in different stages of life for every single person on the planet. That said, obviously many people find happiness in the same things. Just take a …
I recently posed this simple but thought-provoking question to my LinkedIn followers: “If you had just 15 minutes left to live, what would you tell your children are the 3 most important things you learned about how to live a happy life?” I received over 150 responses to my question. Responses ranged from very simple …
I met Barbara Bush on a private parking lot of a large convention hotel in Orlando, Florida. I was the lead executive for a large annual national healthcare meeting and we had booked her as a keynote speaker. Secret Service agents had brought her to the hotel after we flew her on a private jet …
I don’t know about you, but most days (weeks/months/years…) I have more things I want to accomplish than I can possibly do. I like to set goals and make plans and aim high, but very often I find myself frustrated by not being as productive or as successful as I’d hoped when I started my …
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about relationships. Maybe it’s because of my recent focus on mentoring—which is all about relationship. Or maybe it’s just the normal musings of an older man who is in a season of more reflection. Whatever the reason, this has been on my mind, especially one thought I’d like to …
Last week I wrote about what I feel is the #1 thing it takes to be a good mentor. Basically, if you have learned anything during your life and career, then you have insights to share with others! But what are some key traits or qualities of great mentors? Here are 3 that immediately come …
For the past few weeks I’ve been posting about mentoring and how critical it is to learn from world-class mentors—those great leaders who’ve gone before us, as well as ordinary colleagues and peers who may just be a few steps ahead of us. But what does it mean to be a world-class mentor? How do …