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 …
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, …
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 …
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 …
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 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 …
As a leader, your job, your responsibility, your priority is not to manage nor accept the status quo. Your job, your responsibility, your priority is to personally exemplify continuous improvement and to create and maintain a culture that encourages and supports continuous improvement. That means a culture that encourages, accepts, supports and learns from mistakes. In the chapter …
A couple of years out of high school, I had a job that I absolutely hated. The environment was everything a personal, professional, and organizational development and growth environment should not be! I did not stay long, but long enough to never, ever forget the terrible, degrading, negative-driven environment in which I worked. Even though I absolutely …
Have you ever had a boss that you simply couldn’t stand? I’m sure we’ve all been there—unfortunately, “I hate my boss” is a far too common sentiment! But what about the opposite—have you ever had a boss whom you found it a pleasure to work for? Sandy Morford, CEO of Renovo Solutions, has …
Many people want—even crave—to be leaders so that they can and will have “power over people.” Many leaders want to advance further up the leadership chain of command so that they will have ever-increasing power over people. Power, particularly perceived power over people, is very addictive. For many leaders, their addiction to perceived power over …
As a kid, did you ever make a club with your friends? You might not have had an official clubhouse, like on The Little Rascals, but you probably had a special place you hung out, and certain rules about who could be part of the club. Or maybe you didn’t create a club, but …
As part of the research for my next book, titled Be An Inspirational Leader: Engage, Inspire, Empower, I am interviewing highly successful inspirational leaders from all across America. Following each interview, I contact several colleagues of the person interviewed and ask for additional perspectives regarding the leadership of the individual I interviewed. The response has been …
Sandy Morford, CEO of Los Angeles-based Renovo Solutions, understands the significant challenges and opportunities of leading an organization through difficulty. As a small start-up company several years ago, Renovo Solutions was faced with a frivolous lawsuit by a much larger competitor. The intent was pretty clear: shut down Renovo through financial hardship. Morford …
As a leader, you’re expected to have the answers. Whether the questions are coming from customers, clients, competitors, employees, or the media, it’s important to be equipped with the right answer at the right time. But there is something even more important for leaders than having the right answers. Michael Hyatt recently addressed this topic …
People, including current and future leaders, who truly want to grow, achieve greater success, and become better leaders, spend significant time closely observing and learning from the top performers. In the book The Little Book of Talent, Daniel Coyle writes: “We each live with a ‘windshield’ of people in front of us; one of the keys …