In my newly released book Presidential Leadership: Learning from United States Presidential Libraries & Museums, I share inspiring stories that highlight the leadership strengths of some of the world’s most influential leaders – former U.S. Presidents. Today I want to share some characteristics of inspirational leaders along with a selection of quotes that appear in …
As a healthcare leader, you understand the critical importance of improvement. In all aspects of the healthcare industry, you are always seeking improvement, whether it be more efficient methods, greater financial margins, better quality of care, or simply the daily forward progress of an individual patient’s health concern. Improvement makes the healthcare world go round. …
This week I want to share an excerpt from my book, Presidential Leadership: Learning from United States Presidential Libraries & Museums. The story below can be found in chapter 11, where I highlight selected leadership strengths of former United States President George H. W. Bush through true historical narrative: “One of the first major …
Today’s article is the ninth in a series learning from the book by Paul Smith, Lead With A Story: A Guide to Crafting Business Narratives that Captivate, Convince, and Inspire. In chapters 15 and 16, the author provides excellent advice and riveting stories that leaders can use to motivate, inspire, and build courage among team members …
Franklin D. Roosevelt had plenty of excuses that he could have used to justify taking the easy route and avoiding risk. But he needed no excuses, because he did not take the easy route, and he embraced risk as the welcome companion to opportunity. When struck with a debilitating disease at the age …
Abraham Lincoln is one of the most highly respected and admired leaders in history. His example of strong but gentle leadership has been studied and applauded for generations.
When I reached the chapter about Lincoln in my writing of the book Presidential Leadership: Learning from United States Presidential Libraries & Museums (available October 1st!), I didn’t know where to start. There was so much to say. Which leadership strengths should I focus on? What angle should I take? How do I pick?!
As I considered the possibilities and dug into my research, I happened across…
...Here is a mission, a goal, an intentional strategy worth pursuing with all the energy, wisdom and talent you have. Become the embodiment of profound generosity and love. Achieve this mission and you will profoundly change and improve your own life, as well as the lives of the people you impact and serve.
...Regardless of political party and certainly many personal, professional, and organizational weaknesses, each and every former President of the United States achieved the most powerful, prestigious and influential leadership position in the world!
They overcame many weaknesses, mistakes, and perceived limitations. They focused on…
...It is amazing, the number of people whose actions clearly state, “if you don’t start, you can’t fail.”
Remember, actions speak far louder than words. Via their daily actions, a huge portion of the world’s population consistently act out their belief that, “If you don’t start, you can’t fail.”
They are wrong—dead wrong! Best selling author Seth Godin recently wrote this in his blog…
...“If you see things the right way, losses are opportunities to change and improve.” – John Maxwell
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 pride when we experience failure. As leaders, we’re “supposed to” be successful. We’re “supposed to” have it all together. We’re not supposed to lose.
But we all lose sometime….
...We’ve all had skeptics in our lives. Whether it was a sibling, parent, classmate, coworker, boss, spouse, or a complete stranger—you’ve probably had someone say to you, “You can’t…” or “That will never work…” or “It won’t last…” or some other variation of doubt and skepticism.
Some people are crushed by these kinds of naysayers and let these words of doubt extinguish their dreams. But other people—and I’d consider myself one of these—take skepticism as a challenge…
...As a leader, how easily do you admit weakness or inadequacy? How often do you ask for help? Are you tempted to shelter your ego and muscle through difficulty on your own?
In a blog post this week, speaker, author and leader Michele Cushatt wrote about a recent experience she had that forced her to confront her own weakness and admit that even though she is a leader, she too has moments of need.
In her post Michele shares this piece of wisdom for every leader…
...“Inside every impossible is the word ‘possible’… if only we dare to see it.”
– Lysa TerKeurst
Have you ever been told something was impossible? Have you ever told yourself that something was impossible? Whether it was loudmouthed naysayers or your own quiet doubts, I’m guessing you’ve probably been there before. We all have.
Think back over your life and career…
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