I’ve heard of the term ‘2nd nature’ all my life and never understood what is was or why it mattered until the last few years. Here’s what I think: First, instinct is how we’re hard-wired. An example would be breathing. Next, first nature is something we have to think about, practice, and fail at like […]
Why does ‘falling forward’ matter? It matters because you were born for a reason and you were born to be great and form greatness in others. Even when you fail, you must ‘fall forward’ (be introspective, learn and apply it), towards what you were born to BE and DO. Otherwise, you’ll never make it to […]
Flying back from Denver yesterday, I sat next to a college baseball coach who asked me what I did and remarked – ‘we do the same thing, but CEOs are harder’. Before deplaning, I asked to use his ‘1/40th of the solution’ idea from our chat. It builds community, authentic leadership, and accountability. Here’s what […]
Obstacle: As a leader, admit the fact that you’re naturally more interested in goals than developing people. Action: Instead of delegating a role/task because you don’t have time to do it (to achieve your goals), delegate it because you want to develop people. I, myself, my wife, children and colleagues can feel the difference. The […]
Why do organizations feel they must make a statement on racism? Why do individuals feel they must pressure organizations to make statements on racism? Do these statements simplify or complicate your business? What is the evidence of a net result of these statements in the long-run? Following statements , rules, and laws are the minimum […]
I’ve spoken with dozens of business leaders over the last few months and these are the top 3 new habits that they’re making permanent in their lives. What would be the results of making these 3 new habits permanent? 1. Eating dinner together more times each week as a family. 2. Praying more times and reading […]
One irony/observation is that when things are going well, people aren’t as open to being great men and women and building great organizations or as likely to notice greatness in others as when things are tough… So what? How do you act on this insight? Stay focused on long-term decision making and help your clients do the […]
When things are GREAT, we tend to forget about gratitude. When things are TOUGH, we tend to forget about gratitude. EXCELLENCE begins and ends with gratitude because gratitude is long-term thinking. You don’t get too high or too low… Long-term thinking affects every thought, action, and interaction, everyday. In the long-term, whether things are great […]
MEMORABLE JURY DUTY For the first time last week I was chosen and served on a 6 person jury for a civil case. It reminded me how important it is to have principles to use to make decisions, because we ended-up convicting the defendant. BUILDING DECISIONS ON SAND Some of the jurors were making decisions […]
How many times have you seen the Christmas classic, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ with Jimmy Stewart playing the main character – George Bailey? Why does this movie endure?… IT’S A WAKE-UP CALL. It’s a call to excellence. A result of achieving excellence is being happy today, at this moment and every moment thereafter. Excellence? You’ve […]
