I am currently studying… note that I did not say just “reading”… a simple book entitled Simplicity is Genius. The short, very much to-the-point book was written by Criswell Freeman and published by Delaney Street Press. Overwhelming information, innovation and distractions are racing toward each of us every day, not unlike a huge tsunami. In fact, …
Do people trust you? Think about it… really stop and think about it. Do people trust you implicitly? Are you trusted to be forthright and honest with everyone… all the time? Do people trust that you will be fair… not some of the time, but all of the time? Do people believe and trust that …
If you want to fail… or not come close to your full potential… allow yourself to fall into the alluring, ego-fulfilling trap of assuming, thinking, or even acting from time to time, as if you are infallible! Assume or act as if you are infallible… now there is a guaranteed winning strategy… for failure! Join …
It was an honor to recently serve as moderator and facilitator for the 4th Annual PHTS Leadership Conference for HR Professionals. The conference is specifically designed for senior HR leaders. The conference was co-sponsored by the South Carolina Healthcare Human Resources Association. One segment of the conference focused specifically on Performance Appraisals and Employee Development. David …
If you want to fail… or not come close to your full potential… here is a guaranteed winning strategy! Simply isolate yourself. Join the millions of people who have created their own personal or professional bubble… a guaranteed winning strategy to fail. Dick Cavett had it right when he said, “It’s a rare person who …
Change, particularly as it relates to the personal and professional environment of mankind, has never been more dramatic and rampant. Rapid, radical change is everywhere. Even though it is almost inconceivable to imagine, change is increasing in virtually every area of our personal and professional lives. Rampant, rapid, radical change is not an overstatement. One …
I recently reviewed a book titled The Absolutes of Leadership. The book was written by Philip Crosby, one of the world’s leading consultants in his prime. The book is recommended by Warren Bennis, the world renowned leadership thinker, author and teacher. Suffice it to say that the book contains plenty of excellent food for personal and …
Most unsuccessful people and organizations are highly successful and highly effective at risk aversion. They avoid risk, even prudent risk like the plague! Actions speak louder than words. Most “losers,” most “ultimate failures,” most “unsuccessful” people avoid risk….particularly sound, carefully thought-out, prudent risk. These people and organizations are focused on avoiding perceived or real temporary …
If you could “sit at the feet” and learn from a world-class leader and teacher… in order to understand and avoid The Ten Commandments for Business Failure, would you take the time and expend the energy to do so? A highly successful leader who, for over a decade, was responsible for world-wide operations in over 200 …
It was a distinct honor to recently speak, and lead a discussion for the Notre Dame Club of Dallas, TX on the topic of Leadership Excellence. These successful men and women, still very much engaged with and supportive of The Fighting Irish from Notre Dame, continue to live the vision, mission and values of their Alma …
Traditionally, an eager young (or younger) person, with sincere aspirations to learn, grow and succeed is matched with, or approaches an “older, more experienced, supposedly wiser person” in order to establish a successful mentor/mentee relationship. In almost all cases, it is assumed that virtually all of the value of a mentor/mentee relationship, commonly known as …
In a recent article in Success From Home magazine, John Maxwell does an excellent job of explaining the very important leadership distinction between simply equipping people, verses developing people. Maxwell states that, “When you equip people: You teach them how to do a job. If you show someone how to use a machine or some …
Tom Mathews, Senior Executive Vice Chairman and Co-Founder of World Financial Group (WFG) has written a great little book titled, Aim For The Heart: Leading To Build Great Teams. WFG is a financial services marketing company with offices worldwide. Tom has almost a quarter century of experience building teams and developing leaders in one of the …
Some of the most beautiful and precious gifts in life are wonderful friends and colleagues who provide great personal and professional value by providing highly relevant “tips” from time to time. A perfect example is my long-time friend and colleague, Calvin Colbert. Calvin is a Vice President with Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the well-known and …
Want more security, money, power, clout? Every well-read and well-connected leader has read or heard the advice… become irreplaceable! Bad advice… for a million reasons… very bad advice! For the most part, our planet has done quite well for billions of years before you and I arrived. The people who inhabited our planet for thousands of …
Warren Buffett wrote the forword of a book I am currently studying. Notice I said studying rather than just reading. This excellent book is entitled The Ten Commandments for Business Failure. The book was written by Donald R. Keough, the former president of The Coca-Cola Company. In the forword, Warren Buffet describes his highly successful life-long …
Fortune Magazine, September 14, 2009, featured a fascinating article, with major global opportunities and implications that clearly displays the importance and high rewards of applying the “How Successful People Think” concepts mentioned below. The Fortune article is entitled, The Best New Idea in Business. The “hook” verbiage under the title, designed to attract interest in reading …
Be Silent – Listen – Learn – Prepare – Serve – Lead One of the best and most succinct quotations I have ever read regarding leadership excellence is as follows: We must be silent before we can listen. We must listen before we can learn. We must learn before we can prepare. We must prepare …
Excellence in strategic thinking… and appropriate implementation… align almost perfectly with what virtually every human being defines as success, regardless of how they define success. Successful pastors with growing and vibrant churches think and implement strategically. The same is true for CEOs and senior leaders of all highly successful for profit and not-for-profit organizations across …
Who would argue with the reality that cultivating the potential for greatness is one of the most crucial priorities for any leader? And, by the way, we are all leaders! We are leaders at home, leaders at work, and leaders in multiple organizations and environments in which we are engaged. In addition to cultivating our …